Showing posts with label My Corporate Saga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Corporate Saga. Show all posts
A Story of Hope... My Corporate Saga (Part 5)
Neha
Read Part 1, 2, 3 & 4

Like the previous time, home hunting was not an easy task this time around either. The days of the notice period were flying past and we were unable to find a suitable place.

Finally we were able to find something that was close to what we were looking for and, more importantly, fitted in our budget. The night before the final shifting, and also the last night of the notice period, was spent in packing scores of things we had accumulated over a few months.

The morning after, I was woken up by a call. It was from our property agent.

He said there was some problem. Unable to understand it over the telephone, we went to meet him. He took a while to explain that the new landlord wanted some time before deciding if they were willing to let out their apartment to us.

'But hadn't they agreed to it last week when we gave the token money?' I asked

'Well, yes, I had spoken to them. And the token money, that is still with me.' He seemed hesitant in his reply, or may be I anticipated it.

'So you mean to say that you took the token money from us without their approval?' I was ready to tear him apart.

'No, yes... wait, I will speak to them again and call you.'

I wanted to give him a piece of my mind but refrained. We returned. We had no option but to do that.

We sat for several hours on our packed luggage, waiting for his call. We even tried to call him repeatedly. To no avail.

It was past 5 pm when the new tenants of our existing apartment arrived. With their bags and baggage.

My roommate and I looked at each other in despair.

'I guess it's time to take all this to the railway station.' I said matter-of-factly pointing to the piles of our bags and suitcases. And in that moment of being on the brink of breaking down, we both burst out laughing.

So we requested the new tenants to give us some more time and waited for the phone call.

Finally, it came.

Yes, it did bring in good news. The new landlords had agreed that we were reliable enough to live in their apartment and they'd let it out to us.

There were much to be done before we could finally celebrate this news. I rushed to get a vehicle to help us move our stuff.

The next few hours went in negotiations, loading and unloading and a little bit of packing to give us a good night's sleep in our new place.

Once done, we walked to a nearby restaurant for a simple meal of South Indian food. We ate our dinner silently and as each morsel went into our mouth, it was not only our body, but our tired minds and soul that got nourishment.

Today when I am surrounded with problems, I look back to that evening when we sat on our piles of luggage. The evening when we were gripped by the fear of unknown. Nothing seemed to be in our hands. We were waiting all day for a phone call to tell us if we could stay in a place.

We did not know what we would do if that phone call never came, or worse, if we didn't get any accommodation then. We had not thought of it. Or let's say, we did not want to think about it.

And in that moment of despair, we still smiled and laughed. We still had the optimism, the hope and the faith. That little light still shone somewhere in our heart despite our helplessness at that time.

When faced with problems now, I remind myself of moments like those.

I tell myself if I could swim through those, the present ones are too small when compared. I remind myself of the hope we had then and how important it was to hold us together.

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About the series 'My Corporate Saga'
Blogdosts, through this series, I am attempting to share what I have learned in the past 8 years. I have broken down, then stood up, have trusted and have failed. It has been a bitter-sweet journey, which I am trying to bring to you all.

Will come back with more. Till then, take care and stay precious :)
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My Corporate Saga (Part 4) - An Experience that Freaked Me Out!
Neha
As training and work continued, there was another aspect that needed to be taken care of - housing. Delhi was not a new city for me. While in boarding, we usually stayed over in Delhi for a day or two. With so many relatives around always, that was never a problem.

But this time, it was different. I was in the city for good. Though a few days stay at a relative's place could happen, the same could not be extended for ever. So, it was important to find a suitable place too.

Every evening, after returning from office, a friend and I used to meet property dealers and house owners. It was a task. First, we had to place complete trust on the dealer to get us a good deal. Second, finding a deal itself was very difficult; the foremost reason being that people are reluctant to let out rooms to girls.

It was an extensive search loaded with the ugliest of interviews by prospective landlords. Never before I had been confronted with questions as they would ask.

In fact, each one wanted all my visitors to carry along certificates proving that they were related to me. From being asked about our religions and food we ate, we also had to give out a complete history of ourselves and our families. Sometimes, it seemed that we'd receive character certificates from them instead of a room on rent.

We had been given free stay for a week in the company's guest house and needed to find an accommodation at the earliest. After a harrowing experience and an extended stay at the guest house, we were finally able to find a decent 2-rooms set. It had a separate back entry and was on the second floor, while the first floor was occupied by another guy.

Slowly, we started settling down in the new place. It was fun. It was liberating.

And setting up a new home from scratch is an experience you'd not want to miss.

So, we set up our home and figured out the rest for a comfortable stay. We were two girls and our shifts varied by an hour. So, either she or I would reach an hour earlier.

It was one of those tiring work days, when I returned home an hour early. After dropping me at the entrance, the cab sped off. It was summers and so, entering the house from the back entry was not an issue as it faced a park and there was usually someone around even in the late hours.

As I reached the first floor, I noticed that the room's door there was wide open. To reach the stairs, one needed to cross the door and it being wide open at that hour was rare.

Without any second thought, I worked my way towards the staircase. Just as I was about to cross the open door, I heard a sound. On impulse, my head turned left and what I saw left me totally stunned and baffled.

There lay this man on his bed, stark naked. Yes. Naked!!! And he was staring at me. That look in his eyes was unnerving.

I stumbled and almost fell.

Somehow, I gathered myself and hurried towards the stairs and without turning once, reached the door on the second floor.

As I fumbled with the keys, it fell through the stairs (iron jarred ones) and landed beneath on the first floor. I did not know what to do next. There was still an hour for my roommate to arrive and our landlord had moved away, leaving the ground floor vacant. I had to get inside my room asap and had to get those keys to open the door first.

It took all the courage within me to go and fetch the keys. I ran as fast as my feet could take me. Using the light from my mobile phone, I managed to find the key. As I sped towards the stairs with the keys in my hand, I heard a stir behind me.

I did not turn and continued to run. With shaking hands, I opened the lock, stormed into the room and shut myself in immediately.

I stood there for what seemed like eternity, shaken and shocked. My instincts did not work at all. Despite the mobile phone in my hand, I did not know who to call.

After what seemed like hours, I heard a knock on the door. I couldn't move. The knock became consistent and louder. I did not move at all.

Then I heard my name. It was my roommate. Somehow, I opened the door and let her in. She was surprised to find me in the dark room all drenched in sweat. When I told her what had happened, she rushed to check the door lock.

None of us could sleep that night. And by morning, we had made a decision. We called up our landlady and informed her that we could not continue to stay there. We had to start our house hunt again after mere 2 months of going through it all.

Yes, that was the best bet and safest option.

We knew and understood that our safety lay in our hands. There's no one we could trust in a new city. There are certain precautions we need to take at our end and the first step to our safety was a safe home. No matter what the price, that was one thing that could not be compromised upon. As before any one else, it is our responsibility to take care of ourselves.

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About the series - Blogdosts, through this series, I am attempting to share what I have learned in the past 8 years. I have broken down, then stood up, have trusted and have failed. It has been a bitter-sweet journey, which I am trying to bring to you all.

Will come back with more. Till then, take care and stay precious :)
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My Corporate Saga (Part 3) - The Real Job!
Neha
So there I was, brimming with confidence. The fears seemed to have gone away.

After all the celebration and partying over the weekend following the big examination, I was all set for the real work. In fact, I was looking forward to it.

My first job was at a BPO. Like I wrote earlier, I had no idea of the job profile neither at the time of the interview nor when I joined. It was only at the training stage, I got to know what it was actually all about.

The job involved helping UK clients when they called in to claim after their car had an accident and needed repairs or was lost/stolen etc.

After being allotted our respective teams and the initial introduction etc, we were given our workstations. It all looked great. Even though we were employed since the previous three months, we never really felt we were truly working. It was more like being paid for getting trained.

So there we were. Trained and eager to start working. We were assigned to barge calls of some seniors and get some hands-on buddy training. That we did for a week.

Then came the day, when we worked our ways through to our 'own' workstations. The spring in my steps was worth noting. It was like I had it all to conquer the world!

After some important tidbits, our team leader asked to begin taking calls. I put on my headphone solemnly, adjusted the headphone mike and closed my eyes, while waiting to hear the ring. It came in a matter a few seconds.

As I muttered the customary memorized greeting, it was as though my heart was thumping in my mouth. Loudly.

I had just nearly finished, when the speaker at the other end blasted out. I stood up.

The reason?

I had absolutely no idea what the caller was saying. Forget that, I didn't even know if that was a male or female.

I was blank. All I could hear was someone saying something in an incomprehensible language.

Yes, the caller was English.

And I thought I 'knew' English. After all the English movies I had seen, the voice and accent training I had undergone etc etc. English had always been my strong point.

But no. That was not true.

I knew the language. Of course. But I didn't understand the accent. It was all alien to me.

I looked around for help. My team leader came running to me, and signaled to another girl to take my call. By then, the caller was all irritated and blasted off my colleague.

After a lot of empathizing (as they call it in the BPO world), my colleague was able to convince and help the caller. My team leader was anything but impressed. He shrugged it off maturely and told me to carry on and not get hassled by what happened.

It was then I got my next lesson. I thought I knew it all. And may be I did too. But all that was only in theory. Real work needed practice and lots of it. At times, you need to unlearn to learn something new.

I learned this the hard way again. No one told me to try taking a call with somebody alongside to help me. Because we were trained, I thought it was all that was required. However, real work is different from training where situations may be created, but can never be as good as live job hands-on training.

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Blogdosts, this is part of the series 'My Corporate Saga'. I will share my experiences, the challenges I faced, the achievements I accomplished, and the falls I suffered in my eight years of life as a working woman. It will highlight the problems a single girl faces in a new city and in a new job among strangers. It will also tell you how I managed to move along. The sweet and happy moments, the sour and frightening ones, all will be part of this series.

You can read Part 1 & Part 2 here.
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Sorry for not posting for almost a month now. Writer's block keeps hitting me every now and then :(. Any remedy?
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My Corporate Saga (Part 2) - My First Big Examination
Neha
"2 years. That's it. Then you'll have to settle down." This sounded more like a threat.

Finally, after a lot of discussion, debates, arguments and a whole lot of persuasion, I was allowed to work.

When I first stepped on to the Delhi station platform, it was a different feeling. Everything seemed different about this city... The air, the people, the roads, the buildings... everything.

Excitement, jitters, happiness, a but of fear - all kinds of feelings stirred in me. But the most prominent of them all was determination. I knew I was venturing into the unknown, all by myself.

My first day at office was the usual orientation program that was too go on for a week. I learned more every day, of the place I would work in, the kind of work I was required to do, training I needed to take etc etc. I met many people too.

The very first week took me in. One evening, after returning to the guest house, I realized that was not what I wanted to do. I had always wanted to get into journalism, since I knew what a career meant. I worked hard towards it and there I was, in a job I didn't want.

I weighed my options. To return was not one of them. I decided to stay put.

The first difficulty came in the form of house-hunting. It was a terrible experience. When two single girls go out to find a room for themselves, landlords ask all sort of questions. There were occasions when we were almost asked to get out!

Finally, we got a decent two-room set, which seemed okay for the while. Meanwhile, training had started at work.

Each day was a challenging one. And each day, I lost a bit of myself.

My confidence and morale were hit badly. Once we were asked to prepare a short speech.

Public speaking had always been my forte. I prepared all night and the next day and was all set. I started well too. But something happened in between. I stopped and broke down. Right there, in front of an audience of 20-odd people.

I. Broke. Down!

Never before had such a thing happened with me. As soon as I could, I rushed to the nearest phone booth. It was a small store that had the telephone instrument outside on a high stool. I called up my grandfather and cried. Right there, in the middle of the market. People stared at me as they walked past, but I was too absorbed to bother.

Dadaji asked me to return immediately. That night, I laid awake thinking if that was what I wanted to do. Barely 2 weeks and I had already given up. I just wasn't myself anymore. That confident girl who thought she could achieve anything she put her will to had been left behind somewhere.

I was shaken. With no friends around, it was difficult to talk about it. My colleagues were also my competitors, in a way. I could not give up so easily.

Dadaji called me the next morning and simply talked for a while. He didn't mention anything about the previous evening. He asked me about work and the place I was staying in. He, in fact, said to me that he will visit me in autumn.

That was it. Autumn. 4 months from then. He had said it.

He knew I could make it. His words told me that. I got what I needed most at the time. And my grandfather made it all sound so simple. He had done it again - instilled in me the strength and courage to move on.

I returned to work with a new vigor, a new force. This time, I was my own competitor. I had to prove myself wrong. I had to bring back the girl in me who willed her way to what she wanted.

Training went on for three long months. It was excruciating, to say the least. And to think that the real work hadn't even started.

It was Independence Day when we were to have our exit tests. Each of us were to get three attempts to clear it. If not, then that person would be sent to a refresher training.

Out of the 14 of us, my turn was one of the last.

As each one came out after their first attempt, dejection was written all across their faces. That unnerved me. You made just three mistakes and that attempt was gone.

But I knew I had just one attempt with me. Because if I didn't clear then, it would be all over for me. I would go back into my shell.

I barely heard when my name was called. I walked into the room quietly, and took my seat. The examiner ( I still remember his name!) asked if I was ready. I simply smiled.

The test started and went on for what seemed eternity. But wait, I was in for a surprise.

I was enjoying it! Yeah, I was!! I gave answers confidently and was almost speaking as if I had done it all my life!

After it got over, I walked over to get my score.

"You were good. In fact, pretty good. 100%. Yeah!"

I was too stunned to react. I walked out in a daze. When my colleagues saw me, they were sure I had failed too. A friend came up and raised her brows, silently asking me.

"100%." It registered as I said it. Among all the congratulations and hugs, one of the girls who was all fine till then looked at me spitefully and started crying. She was one of the first who couldn't clear the attempt and till others came out with the same result, she was fine.

I can never forget that look. That look had, in a way, spiked my happiness at that moment.

That was my first big examination when I stepped out in the corporate world and it taught me so much.

It taught me to fight on, despite all challenges.

It taught me to believe in myself.

And it gave me my first lesson of the big corporate world - "Tread carefully. Trust, but not blindly. Not everyone here is your friend. Most of them are your competitors. And the people who deserve your trust will come along on their own."

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Blogdosts, through this series, I am attempting to share what I have learned in the past 8 years. I have broken down, then stood up, have trusted and have failed. It has been a bitter-sweet journey, which I am trying to bring to you all.

Will come back with the next part, next week. Till then, take care and stay precious :)
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My Corporate Saga (Part I) - Landing a Job
Neha
Before you leash out on my absence, please blame it on my exams. Having quit my job, I felt obliged to study every possible hour and so the neglect to my space here.

Now that exams are done and over with, I can get back to good old blogging and lots of reading. It's been more than 2 months since I picked a book to read! Oh... and did I tell you that it's now just a wait for my next degree? I have cleared all the exams and the degree should be arriving by July. So, that is another chapter closed... well almost. The last being a full time job.

When I decided to quit my job, everyone around me was startled. And I will be honest enough to say that my decision surprised me too, to some extent. But it was a much thought-and-discussed decision and a much needed one too, due to many reasons. Of course, everyone asked why I was quitting a good profile-well paying job. I had been at it for almost eight years and that is a long time!

When I first appeared for a job interview conducted by a placement agency, I had no clue where I was heading. In fact, I had no intention to give the interview either. It was at the behest of my college friends who went to a closed cyber cafe, got it opened and typed out a CV for me. A simple summary of my educational details and hobbies that they had written on a piece of paper took the form of my first CV.

I sat for the interview, without informing anyone at home. And as the interview progressed, I found myself enjoying them and had that heady feeling you get after clearing interview rounds. It was new. It was exhilarating.

I remember calling up my cousin in between to plan the dinner menu for the next day (it was rakshabandhan the next day) and then lying to my grandfather about having some extra classes in college. (Read on, the lie didn't stick for too long.)

Yes, I couldn't have told my family about the interview. If you know a typical Indian business class family, you'd understand where I am coming from. All my cousins (sisters) got married soon after completing their studies. They may have helped in the family business, but never too overtly. So doing a job was just out of the question.

And there I was, giving an interview for a job I sure didn't want or need. It was all happening too soon and before I knew it, I had cleared it. Though as soon as I left the college premises, I forgot all about it.

Until the next morning.

It was out in the newspapers!

It was the first time that a campus placement was done in our city and there were 6 out of some 350-odd candidates selected. My name was in that list.

My grandfather, who read the newspaper religiously every morning, bellowed out my name which startled me awake. Pointing to the newspaper, he asked me what that was all about? I had no answer.

And then started the mayhem, with both my father and grandfather blaming each other for the drastic step I had taken. I was both amused and frightened. After a lot of chaos and blame-game, it was decided that this matter would be closed then and there.

All went smooth until after a few months. I received a call from the consultancy telling me that companies were coming over for interviews. I gingerly told my grandfather about it. He didn't even bother to hear it out. Yes, that matter was closed for him. Totally.

However something had happened in between.

To me. Within me.

Seeing the other students depressed for not having made it, I realized how important it was for them and how trivial for me. And then I thought at the chance that may be destiny was trying to give me. To spread out my wings. To make my own mark.

That call cemented the fluttering thought within me. I, somehow, convinced my grandfather and assured him that I only wanted to test myself by appearing for the final interviews with the companies directly. He agreed to let me go.

"Just the interview," he said.

I appeared for three interviews and got offer letters from all of them. My family was stunned and I guess happy too. Even before I had appeared for my final year exams, I had three job letters in my hand.

So yes, I got a job without really looking for one. I appeared for interviews like I participated in competitions. It was another challenge for me, which I had to win. May be I was trying to prove a point to myself. I don't really know. In fact, I don't really remember.

That small effort by my friends of getting a CV typed out at a closed cyber cafe had changed my life.

Completely!

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Blogdosts, today I start a new series 'My Corporate Saga'. I will share my experiences, the challenges I faced, the achievements I accomplished, and the falls I suffered in my eight years of life as a working woman. It will highlight the problems a single girl faces in a new city and in a new job among strangers. It will also tell you how I managed to move along. The sweet and happy moments, the sour and frightening ones, all will be part of this series.

Along with this, there will be other new things happening in this space. Those that I had only been thinking about till now :).For now writing takes a front seat in my life... something I have waited for a long long time :)

See you all real soon. Till then, take care and stay precious :)

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