2006 A Love Story

She was tall, lanky and beautiful. She had a love life. She had a relation going with a guy, right from college. It was pretty strong until distance separated them. The guy fell out of love, but she did not. She still loved the guy in a way that only women can. The guy made it a habit of constantly abusing her psychologically. And one day said, he's calling it off. She walked in pain for a month. It was not quite evident on her face, but her eyes showed the sorrow deep within.

He was her closest friend at the work place. He had no love life. He just cared for her as a friend. They had lunch together, had coffee together and sat very much near each other. When her relationship with the guy broke up, he was there to console her, pacify her and bring her back to normal. And it was only a natural progression that he fell deep in love with her. Days passed as he watched his passion grow, but he did not have the courage to tell her, lest it break her heart.

Finally, one day over lunch, he told her. As with all women, she took it lightly. She brushed it aside as a joke, as a past-time. But then she realized that he was serious. She is now in a state of confusion. She shares all secrets with her mother. She shared this too, but it did not quite elicit a positive response. She is undecided and has asked him to give her more time to decide.

And then, she asked me. Where do i come in? I am a very close friend of both these people. He has not told me till date that he proposed, but she did. Thats when she asked me what my opinion was. I just smiled. For, I knew, her mind had already given her the answer. As they say, "The Oracle has sopken". If she was not genuinely interested, would she ask him more time for an answer? Wouldnt she she have said no at the outset? Would she fear her mothers reaction? Would she say "I dont know" when i asked her how she felt? I did not give her all the reasons. I just smiled and let her know that "your mind has decided. no matter what i say, it wont influence your decision", and left it at that.

Have i been reading a lot of Sherlock Holmes; have i understood the mind of a lady well enough? Or is it a totally absurd claim? Will no man ever be able to understand a woman? You decide.

Now, how is this going to affect me? Hmmm, dont get the wrong ideas, I wasnt in love with her, but she was a very dear friend. One with whom I often shared a cup of coffee and my many thoughts. Whatever be her reply, I am going to loose a dear friend. If she says yes, I will loose her and the occassional cup of coffee. If she says no, he will get the idea that I persuaded her, and i loose him. Either way, the situation seems to unfold into a double edged sword. And i am worried. This week, one of my dearest friends is gonna go away for a long time. I cannot afford to loose one more.

What shall i do...

Thats how it all started

(--= This is a three part blog. Please read "The Second Month" and "The Last Days" which follow this post =--)

Life has given me some unforgettable memories..some pleasant, some not so. On this occasion I wish to recount one which transformed me...ofcoz this is not about a rendezvous with the spirits, nor is it about a meeting with a living GOD, but is about my training days at Turbo Plus (hereafter referred to as T+), when I was transformed from a greenhorn to a professional...hehe....built up all the hype and let u down aint I??

Those of you who are not pissed off, continue...
Turbo plus is the training center of UST...oh, and btw, UST is where I work. Even before joining, I had heard a lot about its tough schedules...But I was never prepared enough for what lay ahead.

My first days - I remember vividly my first day. I had put on my best blue and had planned on reaching T+ well before 9am. Luck had it that I got an autorikshaw late, and that guy did not know the exact location. He left me half a km adrift of the actual place. Thus I had it that I had to run all my way to the place, with my formal attire not helping things in the least. By the time I reached T+, it was just about 9. I had the good fortune of having friends in the batch, and so did not feel out of place. We all were bundled into a room. 37 nervous wrecks sat there awaiting further instructions. At this point, the team from UST piled in. Niketh was there, along with Viju and Asha. Pleasantries exchanged, welcome extended and they were gone. A very fair lady then stepped into the room and asked us to get the stuff ready. Never realized at that point that, Bindu chechi, as she became later known to us, would play an important part in that transformation. But more on that later, coz I was at that time frantically searching for my passport-size photographs. I searched in vain, only to realize that I might have left it at home...When it was my chance, I gave her my best sheepish smile..she had seen a lot of such cases I presume; she simply said, ok bring it tomorrow...Gawd..Wasnt I relieved...Once it was all done, it was time for some other faculty from T+ to give a lecture...and my o my....a lecture it was...and that was when I first heard of "push technology". Sanu did really have a talent for that...he said, he was always shy of public speaking, but he overcame it by constant practice. one always wondered if he ever did. But then, like Bindu chechi, he too was to become part of ..yea..u guessed it...transforming...

Our first introduction to Rajagopal sir took place the next day. Confidence oozing from every pore, he amazed us with his ability to teach. I learnt that day that learning to code was going to be interesting...To this day, I cannot pass a day without wondering about the role he had in shaping us for the inevitable. He was such an amazing man, that everyone respected and loved him. He taught us only C, C++, Java...but in teaching them, he also taught us what passion could do...

The first month was a real eye opener for us...Drooling in the comfort of having got a job, we were thrown against the harsh reality of actually having to pass the training before we could join...It was as if a time bomb was ticking and we were sitting on top of it, hoping the fuse would be pulled out before it reached the end. Being from a non-IT background, a lot of us found the going really tough...It was only the strength of our relationships that helped us see through these tough times..and in hindsight, it was good that the situation was really tough, coz it gave us the chance to foster some relationships which continue to this day. And so one month later, we had learnt a great deal, and failed in almost all exams...and hence were all far off from the 70% that was needed to see us in UST.

But one month later, we had certainly progressed in our lives. More wonderful friendships, more angles of looking at things, more professional..hmmm yes, the transformation had started...as we progressed into the second month, it was time for retrospection...of putting in more to get to that magic figure of 70%, of finding out where we went wrong and putting things right..

The Second Month

Things were getting too hot to handle...We wouldn’t even have finished one lab when the next theory would have started, and a test would be due. It was getting on my nerves...my score was still not too good...It was when I had serious apprehensions about my ability to cope. Many nights (whenever I got some time to sleep) I would lay awake thinking about this...finally one day it caught up with me...and I broke down...I was sure I could not take any more...But I could of course never show this to anyone else...coz everyone had a totally different concept about me...I was the one who always egged my friends not to get disappointed with the low scores, and here I was breaking down and sobbing...Fortunately, I had the chance to interact with a batchmates husband who had been through the same training. He told me, he had not done too good either initially, but had then gone on to score the requisite marks...we spoke for quite some time that day...and I found my confidence seeping back right in. I always associate that night as one of re-birth...coz I had pretty much given up on myself...
And then started a struggle, in a way I never had before in life...friends got together and did combined studies...people who were good were roped in to take classes again...and then I started appearing for tests with much more confidence...and the results obviously showed...my overall score slowly eked its way up from the low 40s to the high 50s and then broke into the 60s...and I was happy....
We also went on a memorable trip to palaruvi and kuttraalam and also to the beach where munnampakkam was shot...Everyone enjoyed, as it was a much need break from the stress...and as with every tour, this helped us cement those relationships...
This was the month of December and T+ also had Christmas celebrations...and the occasion was made memorable by selection of Christmas friends a week in advance....of course, no one else knew who your friend was....ad u ver supposed to give ur friend a clue everyday and on Christmas eve u had to guess who your friend was...that was way too fun....but the fun was yet to come...and that was new year's eve...Our batch had planned a lot of programs, in which the most anticipated one was the ottamthullal...conceived by one of my best buddies Manu, and orchestrated by another, Sudeep, along with yours truly, it was a runaway success...the story revolved around a guy who joins turbo plus with immense expectations, who then comes to face the realities, and then finally strives very hard to score all the requisite marks...in short, our story....even Rajagopal sir gave a standing ovation when it finished...we topped it off with an introduction of ourselves...it went..."conceived by Manu, not even nearing 70%, sung by Sudeep, not even 60% and Aravind...nearing 70% but not there yet"....and then we in unison cried out loud...."Saaaaaaaaaaar, please make it 70%"....Needles to say we were heroes for a week....

December was drawing to a close and we had mastered almost every basic concept...everything was within our reach, except for the marks...as the final exams drew close, I was at 67% and confident of clearing, by giving a good performance for the final project evaluation and lab exams...And hence came in January...and our final moments at Turbo plus...

The Last Days

The new year dawned with a lot of hope...our lives were being transformed...we were on the verge of getting into the it industry and everyone’s hopes were high...those who had cleared the magic figure had the comfort of being there...those on the verge where confident of making it...but those who were way below were having a hard time...a time similar to what I had during my second month...and people were breaking down here and there....and I could tell them from what I experienced, that they needed to have the courage, the faith that would see them through....
We also had to get our projects ready...fortunately for me, I was put into a team with an exceptional lady...Ramya chechi, who later went on to become our batch topper, with a mark which has not been bettered, i hear. She already had some good ideas...we discussed it and developed it into a fine concept and then presented it to Rajagopal sir. Ours was one of the very few projects which got approved the first day...we were happy and started work in earnest...or should I say Ramya started...we just sat around and gave her moral support...and finally when everything was ready I ran around getting the PowerPoint slides in place, getting all the documents ready and then finally printing them...

Our last evaluation day arrived. We were scheduled to have the project evaluation and the viva, along with a lab exam and then retests for those who still did not clear 70%. Our project was slotted for some time in the afternoon. By the time I went in to face the music, all of my project mates had finished theirs and were sitting in the room.

Jey (the evaluator from UST) : Hello Aravind, these people tell me you have done all this documentation...and SRS and all that stuff...so you are an expert on SRS preparation?
Me: No sir, I am not, I just happen to be good in word.
I dunno if it was that funny, but my project mates, and to my embarrassment Jey, started laughing on this...and I like a buffoon joined in as well.
Jey (in between giggles): So, tell me wht this project is about..
Me: well, it is an...(I blah blahed a lot of things, when Jey cut me in between)
Jey: Ok, so I've got a customer in Delhi. I want to send this to him...So what would you do?
Me: I wud send it to him, Sir..(my mates had started giggling again..Jey might have thought this guy is the batch clown, and cheekiness is his trademark...but I had answered this question in all sincerity.)
Jey: Yes, but how?
Me: In a CD sir...(and my gosh, I melted away to oblivion when I saw Jey and my mates laughing their heads off...I did not realize what the funny thing was...and I obviously had to join in as well...)
Jey: My friend, I wanted to know what u will be sending to him...(Ohh yea, then u gotta ask it that way)
Me: Oh sir, the source code...the (BLAH BLAH continues)
Jey: So will u be sending VB6.0 also along with this(the project was done in VB6.0...)
Me: of course
Jey (his eyes wide open): for a product of 50$, you would send him VB6.0 which would cost 1000$?
Me: Well, he ordered it sir ...so he has to pay up.
Jey: My my...ok friends...you might leave now...thank you...

And there ended my nightmare. I later learnt that all my answers were blunders ...and big ones at that...and then I had that awful sinking feeling...I am not gonna pass....When the marks came out, our project team scored the best marks, with me being second..of course, first was you know who...I was dumbfounded...I came to know later that the evaluators from UST had given rajagopal sir the task of putting the marks...and since he wasn’t there to hear my answers, he gave me a good score based on what I had demonstrated for two months....which really made me feel very happy....Why? two counts...one, I got an approval of my hardwork from rajagopal sir, and two, yipeeeeeeeee...I had crossed the magic figure........now no more retests needed...I was finally gonna see what UST looks like to an employee....I had transformed...from a mere college student to a trainee, and finally to a professional...and IT industry, I had arrived!!!