Thursday, January 31, 2013

In God's Own Country..


After a 6-month long wait, TCS asked me to join them on December 26th, 2012.The longest period of my stay at home, after 2001, had been finally broken. In the act of thinking about my family, friends, 'what's next', and the 'act of change’ I had put on 5kgs to my weight.  With emotions running high, I was all set for the next big thing in my life-starting my career as an Assistant System Engineer-Trainee.  It was time for me to answer ‘When will you start working?’, ’Did you complete your degree?’, ’Why don’t you try another company?’, and many more. My next location on cards was Trivandrum.

Finally, a new dream had arrived to the land referred to as ‘‘God’s own country’’. The dream was something very new of its own kind. It had no definite form, but was all set to be realized.

 We, (Me and my B.E. college friends), reached Trivandrum on 25th December,2012. And the journey began.

Lucky me!!!
 After finishing all the documentation and other formalities, I was posted in EIS domain. For the information of all the non-TCSers, EIS means Engineering and Industrial Services. It is considered to be special and fashionable in TCS than other IT domains for graduates from ECE,EE and Mech.

 I had never thought, even in my wildest dreams, that I would be working for Embedded designs in TCS(EIS). I was lucky enough to get Bangalore as my base location. It was all great to have our accommodation within a kilometer from the TCS campus. The series of good things continued as I got 'morning shift' and the nicest of all teams-T170.

Lessons Learnt in Trivandrum (The first 30 days of ILP)

*Believe in Miracles
Getting mapped in Embedded systems (EIS) with Bangalore as base location.

*Never be Pre-judgmental
Me, and my friend were standing in front of the Domino’s (in Tejaswini). We both discussed on what to order and couldn't make a decision.  I thought of asking the lady in the shop to help us out. We were framing some bits in Malayalam to talk to her. As soon as I started with my question in Malayalam she replied, ”How can I help you out, sir? You can choose from the menu and place your order. ” I was baffled and didn't utter a single word after that. Next few visits to the Domino’s made me feel that her English is too good.

  *Honesty is the best policy
 It was 8.30 in the night when we came back after an outing at Poovar backwaters. The excitement for the day was not yet finished when we found out that my friend had lost his cellphone. He tried calling the number again and again. After a few tries he almost gave up. All of a sudden someone picked the call and told my friend to collect the phone from him. He was the same guy from whose stall we had panipuri, the previous day. After returning the phone he said, ”Bhaiyya, main toh khush hoon.Mujhe kisi aur ki cheez nahi chahiye”.
And we have our evening chats in the same stall at least twice in a week.

*A Park doesn't always mean fun.

 

*You are Unique,just like Everyone else

Before coming to this place, I thought I was damn good at few things. But now I feel like the whole world is much better than me in every aspect. Seriously, TCS is a pool of unbeatable talents.

Still, I do console myself that I’m unique, just like everyone else.

*Music unites
I am in one of the most diverse team in ILP, Trivandrum. We have people from U.P., Uttarakhand , Gujarat, Rajasthan , J&K, A.P., Karnataka, Kerala etc
Our team had been to various places during the weekends. We all differ in cultures, languages, states etc.  But Music unites us. Music has no boundaries. As soon as the song starts we all start dancing. There is a sense of oneness among us, unknowingly.

(Next time I listen to ‘Hookah bar’, I’ll start dancing without my conscience.)

 I always like to quote- ‘Without music, life would be a mistake’.

*The most enjoyable part of any trip is its travel.
Trips to Varkala beach and Ponmudi hills with the Group members.

*Spread the Happiness
It was the last day of 2012. We had been to (Roma)Juice center to have some fruit juice after dinner. As soon as we occupied our seats the owner of the shop gave us some sweets and wished us a happy year ahead.

The old guy said, “Actually, TCSers are our main customers. We are planning to extend our shop. So I thought of sharing this happiness. Would you like to have some wine?”
“No. Thanks for the sweets” we replied in a gentle tone.


*Friendships happen…You don’t plan them

*Learning is Fun
During weekends and leisure periods, I have started learning Malayalam and Telugu from my colleagues and trying to be an expert in Hindi as well. Learning a language is great fun. It checks your hold over your mother tongue and English.
I guess, by the end of this training, I’ll be able to speak in broken Malayalam and Telugu.

*Kannada sounds different these days.
I am not an ardent fan of Kannada, but the language appears to be so endearing these days. Kannada songs have taken a dimension these days. Some unknown person who speaks kannada, or who is from Karnataka suddenly strikes a chord and becomes someone whom you are acquainted from ages.

*When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry!!

A mere phone call to my parents informing about my first salary made me emotional. Trust me,first salary feels like heaven.


To be continued (Hopefully)..


P.S.  “I scarcely remember counting upon happiness—I look not for it if it be not in the present hour—nothing startles me beyond the moment. The setting sun will always set me to rights, or if a sparrow comes before my Window I take part in its existence and pick about the gravel.” 
― John Keats

Indeed, Life is all about living the moment to its core.

Please feel free to comment(anything) 

38 comments:

  1. all the best bro..
    With best wishes...
    - chethan GR

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  2. Great article dude, really enjoyed reading it.
    One of the best part in this articles is the usage of punctuation, very precisely used.

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  3. Really nice Harish...
    Capturing what happens in every BE's first job in your own words must have been real fun..Reminds of my own experience...
    Come up with more of your writings..
    and it makes me laugh imagining your expression at the Domino's lady...!

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    1. Thanks a lot Ashwini..Will try to write as much as possible in the coming days.. I share Domino's experience to everyone that i meet these days..

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  4. Awesome :) Feels great to read :P but i am little jealous ;)(touchwood).Have an awesome time there :).

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    1. Thanks Archana..Happy to hear that you are jealous. You too have a great time over there.

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  5. Wonderfully penned, enjoyed reading completely. Enjoy every moment !
    keep writing :-)

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  6. Its really really awesome...loved ur words..all d best for ur future.. :)

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  7. wow....2 gud harish...:D
    just loved it...keep writing!!!

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  8. phenomenal....I can still hold these rejoicing moments in my eyes...hats off to trivandrum!!!thanks to harish..

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  9. Really awesome . felt happy throughout the article.

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  10. what should i prepare before ilp for Eis domaim??

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    Replies
    1. Get your documents ready and brush -up your B.E. fundamentals. Have a great time at ILP,Trivandrum.

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  11. what training do mechanical engineer get in eis domain? programing language or design software?

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    1. Hi Shreepad,
      It'll be mainly on design software (Mech related) and there'll be a generic training on programming also.

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  12. it was good to hear that u r from eis .i didnot observed any eis tcser who posted their experience .i was selected for eis from mechanical engineer...what type of trainning do they give us pls inform

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    1. Thanks a lot. It'll be related to mechanical software tools and generic programming. Based on the business requirements there will changes in training.

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  13. Hi harish. I felt good reading your experience.i just wanted to ask a few questions.I am from Shimoga(karnataka) 2014 ECE passed out.Even i have been mapped to TCS EIS stream.what pre learning or courses might be helpful at TCS ?....and i have been doing ECE projects as a hobby since 2 years(15 projects) would these be of any help to me.?...and can i contact you....?

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    1. Hi Nithish,
      Thanks a lot. Don't worry and Keep calm. ILP will be a very enjoyable learning experience. Just go through programming basics, revise B.E. fundamentals and you'll relish this ILP. You can contact me @ +91-9986829720

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  15. Hi harish,
    Congrats on your first salary and all your other achievements. I have been recruited by TCS myself in 2013 and am in the first phase mentioned by you ("The long Wait"). The blog was really awesome!!. I would like to know what happened in 2013? and whats going on currently.
    Apart from that, I'm from a mechanical background (and have been placed in EIS). I would like to know if you can give me any idea as to what mechanical guys actually do in TCS EIS. And how do they decide as to when to give the offer letter?

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    1. Hi Charan,
      I'm glad that you liked my blog. Enjoy the waiting period and brush up your B.E. fundamentals. You can reach me @ +91-9986829720

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  16. its very inspiring and AWESOME bro......:)

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  17. now TCS is going to come to our college for recruitment..nd i m from ELECTRONICS & INSTRUMENTATION branch...can u give me any suggestions .....as i want to get selected in TCS engineering industy services side...???

    thank u sir

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  19. Hi Harish,
    Congratulations for your job and this wonderful article as well.
    I had a few queries:
    1) I am a Mech final year student placed in EIS.
    Approximately how long will I have to wait for my joining(2015 passout)
    2) I am very interested to work in TCS, but will I get projects that will further enhance my Mechanical skills and knowledge or will my role be restricted to IT?
    Thanks

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Salil. Your joining will be issued based on your college's ranking and the projects will be assigned on business requirements.

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  20. best of luck man for ur future....

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