Love of My Life - Part 7

TCS..!!

 

18 August 2005 to 8 Febuary 2008 - My 2.5 years with TCS have been extremely enriching and I look at it with immense satisfaction. Whether it was ILP, Sol Del, VMS, Treks, PJs, Dilbert or anything for that matter. In one word it was - FANTASTIC.

 

ILP was filled with a lot of masti and a lot of routine work. It just extended college life by another 2 months. I really enjoyed the challenge of the project, and it was really satisfying when we won the appreciation of our Professors. All the PJs and the regular college-like life sprinkled with a little bit of hostel-like life ensured that the journey marked the start of a warm career in TCS.

 

At the end of ILP, I had a memorable trip back to Rajasthan and Delhi. I can never forget how every incident made me feel lucky in that trip. It was just stunning to say the least. When I got back to Mumbai, post-induction, some of us were made to wait on the bench. After exactly a week, and on my mom's birthday, I joined Phoenix Solution Delivery Project to work with GE Commercial Finance Fleet Services (Europe).

 

I was as confused as an Englishman in France! The irony is that France customers ensured that I dont end up knowing nothing about the French People. In the way I could, I accepted the role, responsibility and tasks given to me. I dont quite remember rejecting any task during my tenure in TCS. Big or small, critical or trivial - I accepted it with equal joy and confidence.

 

Initially worked in small modules grasping some technical knowledge and making myself familiar with people and work. Working with any kind of a person is always a learning experience because each person is different and unique.

 

Gradually within a couple of months, I had to switch to different technologies and somehow was able to make myself comfortable in each of them. This meant that I could never be a technical expert, but it also meant that I would know about all different technologies.

 

All my leads have been vastly different starting from Sanghamitra as my ML, Uday, Vaibhav and Kunal as my Project Leads, Indra, Kalpesh and Murali as my Project Managers. I dont quite find much of a similarity in any of them! But each of them were fantastic when it came to doing their job. Each one of them taught me extremely valuable lessons!

 

The first major boost came when Vaibhav wanted me to join his project though I was a near-fresher. He always taught one to fish than feed the person. Oh yes, I am a vegetarian and this is just one of his phrases. :-) The confidence when someone genuinely believes in you is highly motivating. I remember coming to office in a plaster when he was the PL. The responsibility and accountability always motivated me.

 

At the end of a year, I began to stretch my wings. I got to lead a project, have my PM fight for my appraisal and be wanted by my PM! Each of this moulded my career in TCS. As Kalpesh left the team, Murali continued the confidence in me. Kalpesh's farewell also introduced me to Aneesha who happens to be a very good friend and sister. She happens to have an ear to all the gyan that I give.

 

Each manager brings a fresh approach to the job, and hence at times change of roles can bring about positive results. I moved on from handling a single project to as many as five projects at once. Each of them being in different phases.

 

All my projects have been special - ELTO, Dolphin Reports, GDB, Flex Fleet, Customer Management, Imaging, Road Tax, IFC amongst others. Each of them have their crests and troughs. The French Projects were the most challenging!

 

During my second year, with the confidence that work gave me, I stretched my wings a little and ensured that my life takes a value-adding route. I joined the VMS team and made excellent friends. Shabbir, Megha, Sai, Ritu, Kasi, Shilpi, Anuj and Jyoti apart from others. It was something that I always wanted to do and with a little bit of initiative could not only contribute but also gain a lot of personal satisfaction.

 

TCS was a super wonderful experience and I cannot thank my stars enough for it. I made an extremely wise decision to join TCS. There is a want to associate myself again with TCS sometime in the future, maybe in some other form, as TCS will always remain very close to my heart for the wonderful time I had there. Despite all the PJs I cracked and Dilberts I sent, I got so much of love from everyone - that I can call the road perfect!