Two Decades

28^th August 1995, a thin, tall, hesitant, individual had joined one of the upcoming IT companies in the Silicon Valley of India. Thin and tall, because that’s how the individual was built, as are most fresh graduates, stepping out of college. Hesitant, because he had no idea what to expect, this being the first job. At the back of the mind, first day of college was coming up again and again and that meant being scared of seniors and ragging. As he slowly ventured into the company premise, he was impressed with the office building, nice and clean, shining floors, security guards, immaculately dressed, standing at the gate etc.

The office bus had dropped bus full of employees, including this individual, at the company gate, ahead of time and hence there were not many people to be seen. The receptionist was also yet to arrive. Watching his each step, he slowly moved towards a room besides the reception, having seen some people inside. In a barely audible voice, he asked, “Excuse me Sir! I am a new joinee. Can you please guide me?”, almost certain that such a question will lead to getting ragged 100%. “Hi! Welcome to ... I am ... You need to go and sit in the room C1, where the new joinee induction will take place. The room is over there”. “Wow, this is some friendly person” is what the individual is thinking and after uttering thanks, he proceeded towards C1. During the day induction formalities happened along with 2-3 sessions from various people talking about the organization. The day went off smoothly.

The individual realized that there were many others in his batch, who didn’t know much about computers or programming and hence the organization had lined up a series of training sessions, covering aspects like hardware, software and even development processes. Well knowing the gaps in his skill set, the individual concentrated in all the sessions and ensured that he did all the practice sessions and reading properly. He wanted to ensure that he became a good programmer quickly.

In time he did achieve good success. His first project was in C language and he seemed to enjoy programming in C. Soon, the client asked for upgrade to C++, then visual C++ and so on. The individual was having a good time and he continued to do so in coming years. From project to project, he kept on adding deeper skills and progressed up the ladder as well. 

Starting as software engineer, he soon had become project lead and soon realized that his interests lay more towards being hands on on technology rather than managing the project. So he moved into the technical stream to progress as an Architect rather than project manager. He was fortunate to bag many awards and due recognition of his skills during the career. In time no one remembered that this individual had joined with no knowledge of programming.

Today, this individual, has completed a milestone in his career. He has completed 20 years in the industry. As he looks back, he has nothing to regret and if given a chance, he will probably want to relive his life as is.

That individual is, yours truly, me. I am still tall, but no longer thin, and definitely not hesitant anymore. I would like to take a moment and thank all my fellow colleagues (seniors, juniors, managers etc.), of all these years, that it was their support and belief in me that has kept me going strong. I wanted to take a few names, but then I run the risk of disappointing some, whose names I may miss out. Those people who have played significant role in my life, know about it anyway.

I cannot say that I look forward to the next 20 years in the industry. Who knows when I might decide to retire, but I surely do look forward to continuous learning and enhancing my skills, and my value to the organization I work for.