My Career - The Initial Stages

* A series - about my jobs, my acquaintances, life in different metros, friends, girlfriends, incidents and in short, my life till now.

I remember the date vividly. It was March 23rd, 2004 and I was all set to join Syntel India Ltd in Pune as an Associate Software Engineer. Going down the memory lane, I still remember how perplexed and confused I was at that stage. Now let me make this very clear. I studied Btech in Cochin University. To be specific - Bachelor of Technology in Information Technology. But sadly, a year after graduating from college I still didn't understand computers, forget Java, C ... etc.

I was a happy, go-lucky marketing professional with Standard Chartered Bank. I had joined the bank as a Business Development Professional immediately after college. Though the salary was meager (3000 if you achieve targets, else...forget it.), I made in-numerous friends in and around Cochin.

I had befriended a lot of locals during my tenure at the bank and through them, a lot of loving warm hearted people and a lot of bullies too :)

A typical day in my marketing life is as below -

• 8am - get up (if the hangover isn't bad)
• 9am - Report to the office(wearing neatly ironed dress and a tie)
• 9 - 9.30 - Hear nice things from my boss about my dad, grandfather and more in my family lineage
• 10.00 am - Start work (Play rummy with my fellow associates atop Pioneer towers, Marine Drive)
• 10-11.30am - Hard Work(Above activity continues)
• 12pm - Lunch at any place that offers it for less than 10 Rs.
• 1-3pm - Stationery hard work(Sleep at a colleagues place)
• 5 pm - Arrive at the office after ruffling my clothes and hair to resemble a hard-working professional
• 6 pm - 7pm- Meeting with my boss and a bunch of losers.
• 7pm - 9pm - Some bar (With colleagues or my boss, bitching about the other group)
• 10pm - Knock Out.

Now amidst all this, I mastered the so-called art named marketing. Between giving presentations to business teams in different companies to being overwhelmed by the love and affection showered on me by the newly made acquaintances, I did learn marketing.

I worked in the liabilities section of Standard Chartered Bank, and my job involved procuring savings accounts for the bank. No mean task because the account opening amount in SCB was Rs 10,000 at that time.

On non-hard working days, I would walk to random offices or shops and say
"Excuse me, sir, I am from Standard Chartered Bank, Can I have a few minutes of your time? " (In English and Malayalam. Circumstances have even forced me to try out Tamil ).

The replies varied from "Get out before I call the cops" to a decent "Not interested, thank you.". Once a customer says, please have a seat, I will go for the kill.

The process is straightforward. I entrust upon the customer that banking with SCB enhances their social status. For those who don't fall for that gimmick, I use the seasoned marketing campaign(facilities, interest rates, etc.).

My customers in the bank varied from High Net Worth Individuals to butchers, waiters, etc....I love cochin and always will. What they say about Kochiites are 100% true

"You befriend Kochiites, and they will give their life for you". I don't want to mention the opposite scenario. I will narrate an incident that made me realize that.

Now there are some weeks where nothing goes your way, no matter how hard you try. On this particular day, I was exasperated with myself as I was short on accounts and dreaded going back to the bank and incurring my boss's wrath.

I was sitting in a coffee shop opposite my office thinking what to do when Ravi Chettan (head waiter) came across and asked me.

"Pappa" What bothers you?. Why are you so upset?"

I told him about my dilemma. He was quite aware of my predicaments. To live, commute and eat with just 3000 is tough and non-performance would lead to a cut in that amount.

He sat beside me and told. Da, I have 20000 Rs at home. I have kept it for my brother's daughters marriage. If you can return this amount within a week, I will lend you that amount. You go and start 2 accounts in my name.

I quite didn't know what to say. I found my throat getting dry and knew tears would spill out the next moment. Ok, come to my house tomorrow, and I will give you the cash. Ok? and he walked away.
For some, life is so uncomplicated...for others like me, best left unsaid.

So cutting a long story short, within 3 months I got a promotion. They put me on the bank payroll with a salary of 10k and asked me to lead the telemarketing team. What more could I ask for? An excellent salary(in 2002) and the honor of leading a bunch of beautiful girls... Itz a cool job, provided you have the flair.

It was during that time I attended the entrance exam conducted by Syntel at the behest of Thoma (my dear friend). Thanks to Satish, I cleared the exams :)

Now came the tricky part. Personal interview. The interviewer asked me 5 technical questions, and I happily skipped all of them.

"Why should we take you into Syntel. You don't even know the basics" the interviewer told me.

That's precisely the same question my boss at SCB asked me while recruiting me sir" I said...

I told him, Sir, give me a chance and I will prove my mettle.

The interviewer kept staring at me, so I continued.
Now I am a junior officer trainee at the bank...
He just sighed...
Any questions, he asked.

Will I get selected, sir ? He just shrugged...

Mar 21 - 2004

Well, things did work out, and here I am en route to Pune to kick start my career as a Software Engineer (God knows what that is..)


to be continued...