Life in an IT company

Before I begin my blog I would like to say a few words.This is solely my experience and there are people who are also doing outstandingly well in the IT field.My intention is not to discourage anyone from joining an IT company.
Like many of the other engineers in India,I also found my steps into this dream company through a rope called 'campus interview'.Like every other youth ,I was thrilled initially and was eagerly looking forward to my joining.But my thoughts and expectations were all belied.This is what happened.
I was initially posted for training at Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.Being from a non-CSE background I found it slightly difficult to cope up.It was during training that i realised that coming into a few IT companies meant a transition back to school days and not to a corporate life.12 hours of continous classes everyday including Saturdays.No time to stand and stare.It was all like thrusting everything into a garbage bin meaninglessly until it overflowed.After 2 months of such hell, we were finally given our release and I was lucky to get the base branch of my choice.
But the worst was yet to unfold.Our first day was unexpected.We were even denied entrance into the office.We were made to stand outside in the reception for hours together without having the slightest knowledge as to where to go or what to do.It was only by the end of the week that we realised that we were actually on bench which meant we would be allocated a project only later on.We had to even report to office only once a week.Neither were we given a system or a place or person to report you.The common saying for us was ' You come ,you will not be welcomed ,even if you fail to do so ,you wont be reprimanded'.
This was my case for almost 6 months.While most of my friends had been put up in projects I was not.After repeated requests I have been out up into a project just last week.Even now I do not even have a system of my own or a login id or even an access card.Now I am sitting in the temp system alloted me and doing nothing but writing and lamenting about my situation.I get my pay every month but I dunno whether this is a healthy practice but this is the case in most of the leading IT firms in India.So pals! my sincere advice to you is 'NEVER GO TO BIG IT FIRMS' even if they are prepared to wash your feet with money.A small company in hand is worth two big ones in the bush.

THE FREE SPREE

Its high time the definition of shopping is revised from 'the process of procuring goods of absolute necessity for existence' to 'a luxurious form of entertainment where people end up buying most things for the heck of possessing them than utilizing them'. How often have you found yourself filling your shopping cart mostly with least wanted stuff and finally stared aghast at your bill wishing Mr Sense had been somewhere in your vicinity just a few minutes ago? Today shopping has become a ritual to be followed at least twice a week. Its often an uphill task to stay away from a shopping store even at the remote sight of one at mid-nights.
Advertisement agencies these days do extreme justice to their professions. A successful ad is meant to create such a void in one's life that the next thing we do is go on a man-hunt for the product. A single product with a lot of varieties under a number of captivating names and different flavors is bound to give tantrums .For instance, in the hair care section you would find something which says ' meant for dry hair and oily scalp' and another which says ' anti- dandruff shampoo for men'.Enough damage has been done. You would be confused about the kind of hair you have .You would probably walk out with the product a fellow customer picks up.
Todays shopping complexes and constructed with great pomp and splendor .Attractive lights which would make the rotten of vegetables seem ever-green. Air-fresheners and aerosols being circulated by air-conditioners generate a strange odor. A hell lot of labels for each department like under 'personal care'- hand care, hair care, body care etc that you are muddled up about what 'care' is it that you require. Needless to say we walk out with one product from each 'care'.

The word 'Special offer' can work out magic in us. 'Buy four get one free' is the mantra. Though our consumption for ages together would be something less than one, we find ourselves stuffing our carts like a person apparently deprived of food for months .
The last and the most painful part of it all 'THE BILLING' the process where the entire world comes to know the brands and products you supposedly use. Its not a queue but a human chain which could extend upto several light years. This is garnished with busy credit card lines, wrongly billed entries and lest to say tones of weight back-home.

Submitted by
Vijayalakshmi V