I came. I saw. I lost.

“Go….go…go…aaaaarrrrrrggghhhhhh!!”…The long drawn out scream echoes around the empty bay.I had been encouraging my job to run thru and prove that my code ( on which I spent a record 16 hrs )was finally working.High hopes and flimsy dreams.Thats the stuff a developer’s life is made of.But it more than pays off when finally your code does work .The euphoria never lasts long cos no matter what you do,your ONC will find an error in it.But now I work for a team where we don’t write the code.In retrospect those were the best days of my life and the worst.Worst cos it was hectic and I looked like a hag.(not to say that I look like a bomb now).Best cos I learnt a lot in those days and not just abt coding.I worked under great team leads who always pointed out my strong points before they moved on to the areas of improvement and pushed me when I gave up.It may seem like a small thing but it did mean a lot to the fresher who every time an issue came up,assumed that it must have been cos of something she did.I remember once I read an issue mail from Onsite and moaned “Why ,Oh,why do I always make such dumb mistakes?” only to have my team lead ppoint out that the code had not been written by me.My team leads were very very patient souls to whom I owe every tiny piece of my career with Cognizant.

It’s been 3 years with Cognizant and I cant believe its been 3 years. This is going to be my personal Emmy’s. This is a tribute to all those people in Cognizant who have touched my life and molded me into the professional I am.(O.K. So I like to think of myself as a professional. Stop hooting and bear with me).This post may turn a bit emotional and am writing this with a box of tissues right beside me.For the sake of not embarrassing people,I shall use their nicknames here and this post is written in the order in which I got to know them.

The first person who comes to mind is Gaggy. I know he is going to kill me for puting that nickname on this post but Gaggu dear,u are already used to having me screech Gaggoooooooooo across the continent.So I trust that by now you wud have got used to it.If not consider it my revenge for all the times u teased me with everyone from the security guy to the pantry boy.This guy,I tell u,is the best and nicest team lead you cud ever get.He guided me thru my coding mishaps,dragged me out of my slough of despondency,praised me for my hardwork and kicked me hard when he thought I was being dumb(which was quite a few times).He did the best he could by me and though I was not his best team member ,he is so far the best team lead I have had.From him I learned that hard work always pays.Till date, the man has immense faith in me,much more than I have in myself.Thanks ,Gaggy.Some team on the East coast is real lucky to have u as their ONC right now.

J-ja…I am not the one who gave him this nickname…But here is one guy with endless energy.He never ever gives up.He can get angry and when he does,you don’t want to be near him.A workaholic though he denies it.Always thinks of others first,always positive and terribly terribly patient.He kept telling me to eat on time,not to work too much, to take care of myself and all the while he wud skip meals stating “got lots of work”,work 24hrs and still keep going. A very dynamic person,I personally always think of him as a gentle giant.And he believes in giving everyone a chance.


Sathya Madam,the first time I met her,I was in total awe of her and still am.She is one smart woman.She can be fun but deadly if u get on her wrong side.But she is someone who never remembers your mistakes,who always believes in encouraging you no matter how hopeless you are,can always give you a push when you are down ,has this wacky sense of humour and makes the workplace bright with her pranks. You can have messed up your code like never before but you cant help but smile at this bright eyed lady and her enthusiasm which is infectious indeed.She is absolutely ageless.

Tommy Tucker….chuckle…it’s a nickname my mom came up with for this cool cool guy.I was his birthday present…Chuckle…I joined his team on his birthday…I am yet to see the man lose his cool or yell at someone. And mind you, he has this extra pair of eyes on the back of his head and sees everything that goes on in the team..He has this absolute talent for maintaining an expressionless face and I despaired of making him smile in the first 3 months that I worked with him..But trust me, he could express volumes without speaking a single word.Be it anger,irritation or “don’t-you-think-you-are-being-dumb”emotion.The guy has an awesome sense of humour with a rather rare smile.In spite of all the mistakes I made,I managed not to get on the wrong side of this guy.Firm but with endless patience , he taught me to think for myself though am sure he got a few grey hairs in the process.An absolute professional, I learnt a lot from just observing the guy handle his team.

I must make a mention of all the folks who helped me along the way with a word,a shoulder to lean on,immense faith in me and a friendship which is my pride and joy.I may not be writing paragraphs on them due to time constraint but they are no less important to me.Pappu,Kathri-kathri,Zelvi,Gabbar,Priya,Natty,Abhi.(There are other people who have touched my life but these people are the folks who laid the foundation of my career with Cog.)
A word for a person who is very close to my heart,Viggu.I was privileged to know him, honored by his friendship and humbled by his faith in me.I don’t know if I will ever stop missing you.If there is anyone who can make me smile and cry at the same time,its that guy.The heartache he has left behind has not eased though a year has passed since his demise.Every rung I have climbed,I have had Viggu cheer me on and now I climb on alone but for us both.

Last but definitely not the least,there are 3 people who rejoiced in every certification I took ,every milestone I passed and felt my every defeat much more intensely than I did.They are the reason why I kept going in spite of the urge to give it all up.My parents and my bro.At the risk of sounding clichéd ,I owe it all to them for they never let me give up,pushed me when I doubted myself and have been with me thru the thick and thin. I don’t have enuf words to tell them how much they mean to me and yet,ironically to quote the song ,“It's only words, and words are all I have”.

These are the people who made me fall in love with Cognizant.I don’t pretend that Cog is perfect and that everything that happens here is right.But more than a corporate,to me it resembles a group of people who believe in themselves and that when their team wins,they win.I lost my heart to them.They are the reason why this post is titled - I came. I saw. I lost.