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

3 Years!!! :)

Hi All,

Good morning... Congrats for completing another year of work life and still surviving in it ... Cheers.. We have all completed 3 years of working life...

As always, its time to recall the good old times, cherish those times again for a min or two... and then again get back to our normal schedule... J

And as part of the tradition, it’s my pleasure to pen down a few things which I want to share with you all on this yet another special day of my life.

Dated: 23rd July 2010:

Today, its 3 years since we have started one of the exiting journey of life... For some it may have been good, for some it would have been not so good. But personally it’s been very much satisfying... If someone had asked me 5 years back, where I would be in next 5 years... I would have stared at them with a blank face. But I am happy it’s a little different today… I am sure the foundation has been laid for a good decent and a happy future. Frankly, I have not achieved much in last 3 years other than some good and nice friends and few satisfying moments at work.

I want to just look back what I meant when I said Foundation has been laid for a good future. Every person in my opinion should see from where he/she actually came into existence, in what kind of environment he/she was bought up, where he is today due to his efforts in his life and then think whether he/she has got what they actually deserve.

From where I came into existence- A tricky question, even I don’t know and I am sure most of you might not know much about it in your own lives. Why do I say so? It’s simply because we were not in our own senses. Everything that happened around us was taken care by our parents. We were ignorant of the happenings and the way things were going on in our lives. When we were carefree, our parents took care of us taking all the pain and difficulties to live their life and responsibility to bring us up.

What kind of environment I was bought up – A very clean, healthy, decent environment. My parents made sure I was getting the best of the lot. Good education, Good food, good “scolding” teaching me lessons of life. They did everything possible and spent their life in bringing me up in the best possible way. Every small thing was taken care. I wanted everything that was beyond our limits, but they provided the best within their limits without second thought. It was not the best of the best, but it couldn’t have been better. And may be those little things have helped me become a better person today.

How things were for me- Now, imagine this- A person having no idea what his future would be, totally careless about the most important thing- studies and scoring good marks. Spending time in totally useless things, always wasting time. That was me, and it did not mean that I was very bad at things I did, but I was not the best. Now when it mattered the most, I got the best ranking in entrance exam – 18027/38000 J J The way I see it today, there were as many people behind me as in front of me. I feel that was really the best thing that happened.

Everything that happened after this is like a fairy tale- a happy one. I joined the engineering college and had to stay away from home. This is when I realized the real value of life. Being away from home made me realize how much I missed my parents, how much I love and care for them, and it bought in me a sense of responsibility. College life was great and the best was the 3^rd year.

To cut a long story short, I was lucky enough to end up getting placed at Infosys at the end of 3^rd year.

I have tried to recall only the best of the worst situations as shortly as possible, and for some it might feel, it was most comfortable life that I have had. It wasn’t actually the case, there are lot of things that has happened in last 25 years of existence. But no complains, it’s been a pleasure.

And what has happened after I joined infy? Nothing much actually, it has been a smooth ride until now, it had few manageable speed breakers as well. Now like every other person, I work for a living. What do I mean by living? Living means having a life, better than what you had experienced before.

Now has infy helped me earn this living? In 3 letters- Yes...

This company has made me achieve some of the unimaginable dreams of my life. One such small dream was achieved recently and I would like to share this with you all.

It was just close to 3 years at infy, more than that, it was only close to 2 years in ABN account. But I was one of those lucky guys who got this opportunity to travel onsite to Amsterdam, Netherlands. And travel onsite meant I was going to earn more than what we generally used to. It meant I will have opportunity to spend something extra than regular. I sent my first salary from onsite to my parents and clear off the debt. And then I knew that there would be considerable amount left with my parents. Now my mother’s long lasting dream was to get a Refrigerator for home, my father’s small dream to get a LCD TV for home. I told them, this is the right time to get it. And it so happened last week that they have got a LCD TV, and a two door Refrigerator. It was a happy moment for my parents and a very proud moment for me. My mother was explaining me how the new fridge is and how good the quality of images in TV is, over the phone. I could feel the happiness and was feeling happier here in Amsterdam. The next day she calls and continues to explain more abt it. She had actually put the pulav into the top door of the fridge which was the freezer instead of the below compartment of the fridge. She was laughing uncontrollably explaining the situation and how they struggled to heat the pulav and eat it. J Sad that I am far away from them when I should be with them during such small happy moments. But I guess for people like me, we need to sacrifice something to get something better. I definitely do not want the same happiness to continue, I would like to be back home when such small and beautiful things happen in my life.

Now getting off the sentimental mode, It’s been 3 years at Infosys and I feel extremely proud and happy the way the company has treated me as an employee. I am all geared up to continue for another year here at infosys….

"Infosys" has given me more reasons to be happy than sad, and hope the journey continues…

Wishing everyone a nice day and a happy year ahead. All the Best.

Signing off from Amsterdam,

Yours truly,

Devidas S Maller.

Emp No- 89337.

Time: 2:00 AM CET J

One year up and Still going strong.... :)

This was written keeping in my mind the ppl in our training batch...

23rd July 2007- One year since…
A day when I had to change myself from student life, the fun I had, the freedom I had, –To- something which is called “The Corporate Life”. I was joining “Infosys Technologies Limited”. But something different was in store for me and my batch. It was like we had changed our college and have joined a new one, where we all were new. The new ‘Toughest’ semester had begun with our new ‘Principal’ I mean the “HR” introducing us and making us aware of the new rules and regulations of the “College” and courses etc...

The first one week was great, we just had the induction sessions from morning till evening and then I and my roomie went on the cycle exploring the wonderful Blore DC. The way the first week had gone by, we had this thought that Professional life is so easy. But the Real courses started from the 2nd week. We had to undergo ‘Regression’ sessions on all the subjects which we had during our engineering, what we had studied in 4 years (A repeat for the people who had done engineering in Computers and for others it was new subjects), was covered well and finished within 2 months. We had the regular module tests and then the compre exam. I remember the day when we had our compre Hands On (Practical’s basically) which will be cherished throughout my life. Naah!!!! Don’t get me wrong here… I remember that day not because of the exam but that day it was Kailash Kher at the infy campus who was simply Rocking. Though we had our important exam on Monday (Compre exam), we had no choice but to forget everything and enjoy the show. The best part was, I and some of my friends got a chance to meet him, speak to him and take pic`s with him. Hmmmm … we had got a motivation to study well for the exam, though I don’t want to tell how well the exam went on… :P

We were expecting our main stream which would decide our future at Infosys and elsewhere. i.e., which platform we all will be trained. Everybody was expecting the stream to be either Java, Dot Net, but the best news came to us that we will be trained in “Mainframes”. Though I had not expected anything like java or dot net, I was scared, the only reason being that I had only heard about mainframes 2 or 3 times in my engineering. :) Nothing more nothing less… :) We were lucky to have the best trainers for this course, I would thank each of them … I know I used to think “Y these people are giving us such tough times” But today after one year I can just thank them because those tough times have made our life easy now … The training was indeed a wonderful, unforgettable, included fun, enjoyment, tough times etc... I have had this opportunity of meeting some of the best people, made some best friends, friends for Life… Also I thank the almighty for giving me the strength to complete it successfully.

We all were shifted to different DC`s after our training, I was lucky to get into Mysore DC. Like the first week of induction, here too I had this opportunity of exploring the Mysore DC… Not for one week but for “5 Full months”. :P :P It really took me 5 months to explore it… n god had given me all the time in the world… I was on “Bench” for 5 months. It was a gr8 time… I almost loved being a “Software Engineer” :) But every good thing has an end... and so did my bench... I was shifted to “IVS”(Testing projects) from “BCMD”(development projects) two months back...now I am enjoying the “Testing” times... :) Hope I have some “Development” in my life soon :P .

My heartfelt thanks to each one of those who has made my life easy... Wishing everyone a great success and a wonderful life filled with happiness and fun…. Enjoy. Keep smiling and Keep in touch… Cheers.

P.S: I did not get time to cover everything what I thought… wanted to write more… May be some other time... :)

2 Years back !!

Dated : 5th June 2008.

Two Years Back – 5th June 2006.

A Dream company for most people in India, A Company where every software engineer dreams to be in. Yes, “Infosys Technologies Limited” had come for the campus placements to our college “Canara Engineering College, Mangalore”.

With not much of a hope I gave the written test as I had done for a few other companies. Then the results :) :) the most awaited part and believe it or not, out of 450 odd people from 7 engineering colleges in the region, only 35 got shortlisted .HR told it was an Average performance from all. The names were called one after the other which included students from other colleges and then the names from our college. 34 names were already called and then the 35th name …”Devidas S Maller”. Yes mine was the last name in the list. God!! , how lucky I was :):) but wait, I had to clear one more round.

My interview was at around 5.30 in the evening which went on well, this was the case in other companies also but none of them called my name in the final list. We all gathered in a room where the names of the people who were finally selected were to be announced. When I heard my name between all the others I felt I was the luckiest person in the whole world. I, for a moment, closed my eyes thanked GOD one more time and then there was hugging each other, congratulating each other .The Best Moment Of MY life. :):)

Another interesting thing was that I had not told my parents that I had a campus interview that day, I had to call them up to inform about my selection. I tried calling my home again and again but no one would pick the call. I was waiting to inform my parents first, before I could spread the news to my other friends and relatives. Somehow I was feeling very bad that I had not told my parents that I had the campus interview, but a deep sense of satisfaction was there within me because for all the previous companies I had informed them but only to disappoint them at the end of the day.

But today was different, again I called up home. It was 9.30 pm. My mother picked the call. I just had to tell her the news but before that I had to ask her where she was from evening. And the answer was “Temple”, it was then I realized why I was selected today and not any other day. Then I told her the news and all I could hear was my mother screaming with happiness and telling my dad about the news. :) :) I guess this was the moment for which I was waiting for a long time. I was happier for the reason that I made my parents happy , I had tears in my eyes, may be for the first time, these tears had come out, because of joy and happiness.

One Year Back – 5th June 2007.

We had our last day of engineering. We had our project lab which was scheduled from 8.00 am to 11.00 am. But the sad part was it went on till 2.00pm, the reason being our project was not up to the mark. But I did not mind the delay or the scolding’s from the external because this was the last day of the wonderful four years of my life. This day was one of the worst days in my engineering life. Just as my group came out of the lab, we were thinking whatever happened had happened; we just have to enjoy the rest of the day. We were exhausted as we did not sleep the night before, and had to take rest but there was no sleep in my eyes.

After lunch we went to the hostel and explained the horrible experience we had in the lab. After that I went to the college cyber. As I was thinking this was one of those days which had nothing good for me, I opened my mailbox to see a mail from, yes “Infosys Technologies Limited” asking me to join the company for the training from 23rd July 2007.

Same day one year ago Infosys made be the happiest person, one year later again I was happy because of Infosys. :) :) Today it is not those happy days because I miss my college, my friends and all the fun I had. :( :( Hope to get some good news from Infosys by the End of Day. :) :)