Appearance !!!

How important is your first appearance? It’s a question for which there are lot of answers or may be you can hardly get the right answer. I am just penning down my experience here, which might be true in some cases and may be otherwise in rest of the cases.

I have lot of friends in my life and hardly anyone who hate me once they start speaking to me and interacting with me. But what about those who just end up analyzing things from just my appearance? Is it right on their part to just come to a conclusion about a person without even knowing him/her closely and deciding how he/she might be? Not correct in my sense, specially because sometimes people don’t appear the way everyone wants them to be and for some God has not given that pleasant looks which otherwise would convert to make them a better "looking" person. I don’t know where do I belong, but the way the things have turned up it’s a mixed feeling till now.

I grew up with the same friends from my nursery till my 10th Std. So most of them were with my growth and they already knew how I was... But things were quiet different starting PUC. Some of my classmates from school continued college in the same institution, but there were also many people who joined our college. Now, how do you feel when you see a person with dark complexion, grey hairs and most of the time Red-eyes, with a good built? Scared?? I was just describing myself here.... J just recalling those days I remember some of my friends back then were scared, and little apprehensive about my looks and behavior. But then after sometime, when everyone started interacting things settled down and thankfully they knew that I am a more friendly person J

2 years just flew off and then I had to again go out for my engineering, and this time almost everyone were new to the college and every face was new to each other. The guys trying to look for some pretty and good looking faces and the girls trying to find a handsome hunk among the good looking set of people!!! Every person had their own perceptions of every other person. And in my case, the same old story repeated once again... People thinking that I would be rude, not so friendly person and many things which I don’t want to point out. J Thankfully, after some days and months later people slowly knew what kind of a person I am. Some I think continued to have the initial perceptions correct according to them, and many realized that I was indeed a friendly person... J and the rest is history!! J J

A saying which I read recently struck me – “Always remember that you never get a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression!!” How true is this? I can proudly say that I have proved it wrong… In fact, I can safely assume that I have never impressed anyone in my first appearance. It was always the subsequent ones that made the difference… J

Things have of course changed with time…Or may be people think I am really old enough to have grey hairs. J Hope the “looks” prove to be good when it matters the most... Fingers crossed J

4 Years!!!

Hi All,

Another day, Another TGIF.... But Today's TGIF is a little different than all the TGIF's that we have had in the past 4 years... by the EOD, we would be completing 4 years of a great beginning in our professional Career...

It’s my duty, honor and privilege to remind my fellow batch mates of July 23rd, 2007 - we have completed another cycle. A Cycle of 4 years... which started 8 years back, when we all joined the professional course with dreams which most of us never dreamt of...

Let’s rewind our lives 8 years...When we all joined the engineering colleges, the beautiful unmatchable days of our lives!!!

Has anything changed for me?

Many things... and fortunately most of the changes were for good. As it’s always the case, Change is inevitable, but what’s within our control is to manage and adapt to the change. Have I been successful? Yes, to an extent.

What changed first?

As always like every one of us, I had my own fears on what was in store for me, doubts on my own abilities as I had to stay away from home to face the dreadful world. But a small part of me also said, Go ahead, the supreme power above will manage it for you. And as it ended up, he did manage it well ;)

At the end of 4 years, I was in another comfort zone, I had made loads of friends with whom I enjoyed to the extent and at the same time learnt a lot of things... Engineering college was the turning point of my life. At that point, I thought nothing in life could be better. But then it was all over, and another change was waiting for me....

What followed?

What followed was another change, Change called "Infosys" and as I mentioned with every change we have the same feeling that follow. The apprehension and a little confidence.

When I joined this institution, I still had doubts on my ability to survive. The doubts were growing with each day of the first few days at infosys during the training, whatever I attempted was a failure. At one point of time, I had almost thought that the only way forward was to get out. But again, one small part of me also said, he has pushed you till here, he will push you a little more... but only if you wish to... and as it turned out, at the end of 4 months of the "Intense" training, I was successful.

Again these 4 months were enough to make myself get into another comfort zone. The environment that this great institution gave me was simply the best. The exposure that I got in those 4 months, the feeling of happiness, the feeling of Infosys, nothing in this world can match it...

What then followed was another change, a minor one. Infy ready Software Engineer at Mysore campus and the best holiday that i can ever dream of. The royal bench made sure I was comfortable in every possible way. It lasted for not 1 or 2 but for complete 6 months. Those were the days, when I reached office not before noon, just to enjoy the beauty of Infosys and left back home after completing exactly the stipulated magic 9.15 hrs at the campus J

But then, Change was waiting for me. I was moved into production and started working with ABN AMRO account. A set of new people, new work and again the fear and a little confidence. It changed with time, I was happy to learn, happy to enjoy, happy to make myself count and happy to make myself comfortable.

Was it the end?

Not at all, I had to undergo another change, a good one.

Change of location, change of continent and i reached, Amsterdam. With a new challenge, a new opportunity and a new environment, it’s more than a year here and guess what; I am as comfortable as ever ;)

But with comfort what i am expecting is another "Change"... and what’s that? Only time will tell...

Did these changes "change" anything in me?

Yes, every change in my life up until now has helped me grow. At every change, I have gained more and lost less (including the extra kilos J), I have learnt more, I have made more friends who value for who I am and I hope that the "Process" continues...

And to end the note, as I have said in my "Yearly" mails before- "Infosys" has given me more reasons to be happy than sad, and hope the journey continues...

Wishing everyone the best "change" in life.

Signing off from Amsterdam,

Yours truly,

Devidas S Maller.

Emp No- 89337.
Time: 2:00 AM CET J