Its been long, really long since I wrote anything. I have always wanted to write, but never did get the time. Even when I did get the time, I did not have the mood to write. Such is my plight.
Yet, here I am writing something once more.
Writing does help me focus, it clears my head of all the noise.
So I write today, at a stage where I am as confused as I have ever been in my 23 years of life.
At this point of my life, I can clearly demarcate my life into 3 portions.
Life till Engineering
Life at Titan
Life at IIM Kashipur
Life till Engineering was good. Yes, there were hiccups, but at the end of the day everything was sorted out. I lived in a cocoon of sorts, where you had a shield around you protecting you from your own mistakes. Well, I did make a lot of mistakes. Most people do I presume and this cocoon of mine protected me well. I came out unscathed, but well learned.
I was placed at one of the better companies at my college campus placements and was ready for a new journey.
I still remember the KPN bus at 1:00 PM that took me to Hosur at 6 in the evening. I checked into Sivaranjini and the rest as they say, is History.
Life at Titan was a phase of my life, which changed me.
It was the first time I was living alone.
It was the first time I was living in a new city.
It was the first time I was earning.
It was a lot of firsts and the folks at Titan did really take care of me. The friends from my batch of new GETs and the overall experience of freedom, life at your own pace, life at your own will ,did indeed get to me.
Yet, there was there was something left to be done. The CAT was to be belled.
This was a stone that was pulling me from flying higher, to put it pessimistically or it was the stone that kept me from losing myself to the ravages of the sky.
Either way, it was there and even with this small constraint we did have a swell of a time. (I did bell the puny creature it at the end)
What else, I ask myself ?
Well there was a lot of firsts and there was a lot of learning.
I learnt to clean the house, I learnt to wash my own clothes and hang them to dry. I learnt to cook, I learnt to live wake up on my own and go to work (On time). I learnt to handle responsibility.
I learnt to interact with people. I made some awesome friends out of strangers. The group at Titan consisted of some of the most like minded individuals I have ever met. The chemistry was just right and the fire works were amazing.
The intense discussions (Read : Debates and Fights), the food, the one plus one pizzas, the walks, the music nights (Special Mention Mr. Srivatsan Sampath, Mr. Lakshmi Narayanan).
Aishvarya Enclave a place that I called home for a year will always be a part of me. The name will for ever bring a smile to my lips and a tear to my eye. Such was the life I lived for a year at Hosur.
Moving on to the factory life in itself. The factory, the tea breaks and lunch breaks. The factory wanderings, the chats near the tree in front of Heat Treatment, the corporate expeditions, the meetings and competitions.
The JOB!! The reason why I was in Hosur, away from family.
My job was something I enjoyed. I was the distribution planner for the International Business Division. A really fancy tag and yes a really fancy job. I job that was like a crash course in management and it was a perfect precursor to my MBA. A job that helped my answer the question of “Why MBA ?”
My department as such was one of the best places to be in the Factory and the people were some of the best people I have met in my life.
The early stages of my job was not really something I expected. A mechanical engineer sitting in front of a computer and calculating stock (Read Inventory). It was something I did not understand. Channels, Distribution, Sales, Throughput.
“What the hell ??”
“Guys, put me in the shop floor already.”
Well they did not and neither did I ask them to. I learnt. I really learnt a lot.
The tangible things I learnt was “Excel” and SAP. (Useful yes, but not as useful as whats coming next)
There were a lot of other soft things that I imbibed by practice and doing.
I learnt to talk to people, I learnt to talk to people nicely and in a way that will make them happy (In a good way). In the end, I learnt to be nice to people and I realized everyone wants to be nice. Its just that someone has to start that somewhere, if you initiate this you will always get a positive response. It is a virtuous cycle.
I have missed out a lot. You just cannot compile everything you did in a year suddenly out of no where.
I am now trying to list down some more stuff over here.
Hosur’s cold. I lived in Chennai for 22 years of my life. The lowest temperature I have experience in Chennai was 20 degrees and this is most likely the temperature at night, in the middle of peak winter.
The cold at Hosur was biting and I did have trouble for a couple of months. Still I persevered and now I am in a place which is going to teach me what real cold is. (Winter is coming)
Well then again, I say bring it on….
Kashipur, I am waiting!!
Finally,
GOAAAA!!
How can I miss that, this takes the pie. A trip to remember, a trip that took me to places I have never seen before and states that I have never experienced before (Read: I am a non-alcoholic and that status did not change in GOA)
Goa was good.
Somethings cannot be put into words. Remembering and reminiscing Goa, the only thing that I wish to say is that, boys I LOVE YOU all..
We will have a trip somewhere, just like we promised each other. I shall see to it personally. 4 more years to go!!
Well the final leg of the journey at Hosur was abrupt, bitter sweet and too ephemeral to recollect. One day I was sitting happily sending watches to Bahrain and Singapore. The next day I was busy packing my bags and saying my goodbyes.
Well such is the vagary of life and “Change my friends, is the only constant.”
Life just happened. I did not even have time to think what was happening. Looking back now, what happened in those 12 months seem almost magical.
In a span of 7 days, I traveled from Hosur to Chennai to Delhi to Kashipur and back to Bangalore to Hosur, said my goodbyes and went over to Chennai for my return to Kashipur. Well that was a lot of travelling and the change was really tough to digest at first.
I was feeling highly insecure
I was in a place where I did not know the common tongue,
In a place with strangers all around me yet again,
In a place that was both welcoming and terrifying,
In a place where I did not know whether I could stand my own, in the competition.
In a place where I was feeling naked for the first time in my life!!
What happened next is a tale for another night.
For now…
Good Night.
There will be a lot of mistakes in the passage. I did not care to edit it and everything was written down as it came to my mind.
Grammar rules might have been broken and some places may not make sense.
Yet that is how I want it to be!!
To the entire GET Batch 2014
Keep in touch, Fellas!!
My Discovery of India 