A friend of mine

Year 2001, he got into a reputed institute to fulfill his dreams of being an engineer. Fate was in favor of him and he did it successfully. Not a year more, he was out as an engineer in 2005 with a job offer from the dream company of thousands. What else could he ask for in life? He was on top of the world and he felt all the good things in this world were happening to him. But he never knew that it was the calm before the storm, the storm that changed the direction of his life. He had to wait for six months for six months to get the call regarding the joining date from his dream company.

Finally came the date to join. The freshness from his college was there with him. The enthusiasm and his dreams made him perform well for the training. The training was awesome and he thought he was trained to be the best. The technical classes, the language classes, the dining etiquette classes, everything made him feel that he was going to fly to the US the very next day after his training. He was trained on the hottest technology which made him feel updated and confident. He was ready to do any project in his career. Then came the man allocation day of the company. It was time to say good bye to everyone and relocate to the base office. He was relocated to the city that never sleeps “Mumbai”.
For him, being allocated to Mumbai was a surprise as most of his friends got allocated to Bangalore and Chennai. This was the first shock he received in his life but he was yet to realize that “The storm has begun“. There was no other option for him except to fly to Mumbai.

He reached Mumbai along with 5 of his friends. They went to the hotel which was already reserved for them. After being fresh they went to the base office. They were asked to be seated in the conference hall. Three of them including my friend got allocated to a project. The rest of the group considered them to be lucky to get a project on the very first day. The smile which had faded on the being allocated to Mumbai returned. In evening they returned to the hotel with dreams of his new project. Next day my friend was supposed to go to the client’s office. He had no idea about it but had lot of hopes. He got up early morning, took extra care with his dressing. Generously applied his expensive deo as he wanted to leave an impression. He took a brand new shirt and pant from his bag and to add up he wore a tie to make him look professional. He started to recollect the etiquettes and didn’t want to make any sort of mistakes in his dressing on the very first day. He gave a final look I the mirror and felt perfect. The smile was there. His travel to his new office was by train -Mumbai local train. Where else can he get the real feel of Mumbai? His freshness and fragrance must have been a relief to the people around him but the stench of others took away his smile. He just closed his eyes and saw the most luxurious office in the world which he was about to enter. He got down at the station .The building he was supposed to go was nearby .The first look of the building made him feel better. But that was it ,the moment he entered the building his dreams ended and for him that was another turning point in his life.

The office looked like an old Legal court in Trivandrum with wooden chairs and steel cupboards and giant pedestal fans placed all over. The air conditioned dreams ended. The giant fan started blowing his dreams. The first thing he did when he sat on chair, was had some water and loosened up his tie. Then the HR came asked him to fill some forms. He had to take training for 10 days. After the training my friend realized what his job profile was, which worried him as he couldn’t apply any of the hottest technology in which he was trained during the initial training session. The only thing which brought hope to his life was he can travel around India.

The first assignment for him was in Mumbai itself. As he was supposed to go to a new office, my friend again took his expensive deo and another new shirt. It was 5pm in the evening on a Sunday when my friend was asked to report to the new office. He saw the office and was impressed. At last his air-conditioned dreams have returned. Soon he was called and asked to go to the underground of the office. He was a little surprised, but thought that they might want him to see each and every corner of the office. He was just looking in the basement when a guy came to him and said ,”kya re bai ?kya sapna dek rehe ho? utavo boss! ye computer utavo” This was the sound of a storm .The storm in the form of those words hit him hard. My dear friend was asked to lift the computer and place it for the users as next day was go live day. Dreams were shattered and his mind was frozen. He couldn’t do anything but to lift it up. He lifted up another 30 systems and finally the work was over by 130 am and he returned home. The next day he had to come early morning to help the users use the new product, which his dream company has implemented for them. Days went by, my friend became a very useful resource to them. Soon he was send to other places in India and did nothing much but to teach the users to click here and there. He no more had to lift the systems but he never found satisfaction in the job he was doing. He was disturbed with the fact he had no base in his career .He wanted to be an engineer creating new waves in the new technology but here all what he did was teach people where to click to get their job done.
A year was completed in the organization and my friend wanted a change. A year in an organization is nothing big, but still my friend decided to change. But a change was not possible because they found him very efficient in his current profile. The only option left with my friend was to change the organization .This was the firm which he dreamed of being in for years and to serve to his very best. The storm in his life changed everything and gave new experiences. He learned to starve, survive and fight for existence. When he had got the job he had thought that everything in his life was settled and no more struggle was required .But his experiences taught him that the struggle will continue through out his life .The desires and priorities of a man keeps on changing until the very end. Man never ever settles.

My friend now works in a company in his hometown with minimum expectations with an attitude to struggle and survive. He carries a smile always now.

You must be wondering if my friend doesn’t have a name. If you consider your self to be your best friend in life, then I would say this friend is my self.
Lakshman Ganapathy