Imagine yourself, all blue eyed standing on an airport thinking that the life ahead is going to be full of excitement, imagining your first salary and all that you would want to do with it and then suddenly you see yourself in Chennai, stranded on Meenambakkam International Airport, drenched in rain with no taxi in sight and absolutely no idea where you want to go. And that is how began my journey into the professional world.
“Your base branch is Chennai and hence no accommodation would be provided to you at our end.” This is what our HR had told us. And so landed 500 odd people in Chennai with only one question on their minds – where next? Everybody was frantic to find a place to stay and to form groups they could stay with. I, on the other hand was concerned about just one thing – food. I was famished. I decided to have some idli-sambhar to rejuvenate my mind.
Some of my friends were already staying in a hotel. I decided to call them and see if there was a place available. Luckily, there was. My bags, like me were soaked by the time I managed to get a taxi. I have no idea how Chennai looked in that one and a half hour drive from the airport to hotel because I did one thing I am best at – sleep. All I remember waking up was the horrible face of the driver demanding more money.
It will be useless to explain the dimensions of the room I was to stay in for the next 3 days because it had everything except dimensions. It had a bed and that’s that. It was the only furnishing in the hole that I am going to refer as room from now on. I met my college friends who were in no better condition than I was. We decided to take a taxi for the next morning. But morning only comes after a night...
Imagine yourself again, in a hole with no cross ventilation, no mosquito repellent and the armies of mosquito drinking away your blood with leisure. Too painful right – so now stop imagining. I believe my blood tasted like sambhar too because I saw many mosqis dead when I woke up the next morning. But wait, did I even sleep that night...
Drenched in sweat, I managed to dress up in formals early morning the next day. The trip to Karapakkam where our induction was to be held, was uneventful with all of us sleeping all the time. If I haven’t told you already, sleep and food are the two biggest priorities of any IT Engineer. I met my friends from college and some of the common things between us were – constant complaining and grumbling. But there is also one other thing common between all of us, which also incidentally forms as one of the characteristics of IT Engineers – to make the best out of worst possible situations. So it was with a smile that we entered our building. Wait a second – it wasn’t just a building anymore. It was our company now.
The induction was comprised of various sessions spread all throughout the day. It was interesting in the beginning but later turned pretty monotonous. We were taught the various virtues of joining the company and various ideals on which it works – which were many actually. “Any incompliance would lead to termination,” we were told by a dangerous looking man.
“Experience Certainty. That’s what our motto is. Experience Certainty,” a person who looked had given a 1000 presentations was telling as we listened to him. “But tell me...Is it EXPERIENCE certainty or Experience CERTAINITY? Where would you put more emphasis?” Nobody dared speak. You cannot be wrong on your first day at job. “No one?” He smiled. “You sir, what do you think it is? EXPERIENCE certainty or Experience CERTAINITY?”
The sir he was referring to was a teary eyed boy who was missing his mom. “Is..is..is it.. Experience CERTAINITY?”
“No young man! It’s EXPERIENCE certainty. You see...any one can promise you certainty. But it is here...yes...right here that you EXPERIENCE it.”
We all clapped like little kids who had just been told that they have free access to a chocolate factory or something. But somewhere I was also thinking on the same lines – “I have a job today. I am as many considered on the road towards standing on my own feet. I can clearly see 5 years ahead now. I have come down to Chennai to allow a certain certainty in my life. But would I EXPERIENCE it?”
Only time would tell...
