The Client

So, I joined the new company "X". It was a little weird as everything was new, the infrastructure, the people. But this post is not about the new company X.

Flashback:
When I was interviewing at different companies, I went to a company named "Y". It is a very high profile company and an excellent pay master. The interview did not go well as I had flown down from Kolkata just a day back and hadn’t had a chance to prepare before the interview, so, went anyway, just for the heck of it.

Back to the joining date:

Well, I was told at the time of interview at X that I will have to work at a client location in Bangalore. The name of the company was not mentioned and I was not so sure about that but agreed to it at that time. So on D day (joining date), my manager called me in morning to tell me the name of the client where I was actually supposed to work. It turned out that the client was Y.

OH … MY… GOD…

The manager wanted to introduce me to the client and I was supposed to go through the client interview. (WHICH MEANT I WAS GOING TO BE INTERVIEWED AGAIN AT Y). Suddenly, my stomach churned. I was not sure whether it was the breakfast or the name of the client.

I asked my manager to give me a few days if it was going to be another interview. Luckily he agreed. Then after that for the next few days all I did was read (even in the loo). I had to get through this interview. There was no way around it. The scary part that I wanted to avoid was the person who had taken my interview the first time.

“It’s a big company, may be the requirement is in another team.” I tried to tell this to myself again and again but it never worked. The apprehensions were giving me nightmares. Finally, the D day arrived and luckily the person who interviewed me was somebody else. The interview went just fine and I was supposed to join on the next day.

I was still not very sure about the next day. But I didn’t think I had an alternative. I went to client’s (Y) office and the manager who took my interview introduced me to the team. And then, I was introduced to my lead.

Turns out, he was the same guy who took my interview initially.

I AM GOING TO WORK WITH HIM???????

“We’ve met… right?” This was all he said when we shook hands. I smiled and came up with, “Yes! Absolutely.”

Well, I’ve been working with him since then. Turns out, he is not as bad as he initially seemed to be but then I usually don’t trust people easily and he is no exception.

Revenge of Apy!!

Days go by and I wonder what the heck hit me. I sit on my desk staring at the screen. My life has become more like a pendulum between the lab and my desk .Sometimes I love it. But then there are times when I wonder, where exactly I am heading? I mean, Is this what I want from my life? In my last to last post I wrote about the stuff that I had planned for my Manager. I guess I will continue from there. There are loads of things to tell and I wish I had the time to write it all.

So when I got my new offer letter and date of joining got extended to a date after 2 months, I figured I can relax and have a good time in office. My manager wanted me to suffer in these 2 months and I was really not in a mood for that.

The Monday after Diwali, I was getting ready for office and I felt like talking to R (happens to be my best buddy. He had gone to Kolkata for Diwali then). At that time, he was in a train traveling to Assam. I spoke to his folks who have always treated me like a son. Told them that I miss them and I might come to Kolkata soon. R asked me why I couldn’t come to Assam the same day as it was going to be an amazing trip and they will be covering complete North East India. I was tempted but then suddenly remembered that I was getting ready to go to office and I told him the same. R has the ability of convincing people pretty smoothly, yeah, including me. He just had to tell me that it’s a once in a life time opportunity. I will be able to see Assam, Kaziranga, Shillong, Cherrapunji. In a way, that’s almost complete North east India.

Me, greedy me. I was tempted but going to Guwhati from Bangalore on such a short notice was insane. I mean I didn’t have air tickets and absolutely no idea how to go about everything. He wanted me to reach Guwhati by next morning. I got on net, checked for the availability of tickets. Tickets were available but they were pretty expensive. He had warned me to hurry up as the mobile was going to be out of coverage area as soon as they would enter Assam. In a matter of 30 minutes, I booked the tickets, packed my stuff, left home by 3 and was in air by 5. Phew!!

I made it to Guwhati. Had to stay in Kolkata for a night, for which he had made arrangements. Now, that’s what I call an uncertain life. I was getting ready for office and within 24 hours, I was in Assam(for more details refer to the map of India). The good thing was that my manager sat at a different location. I was still apprehensive as I could not inform him or anyone that I will be away. I was simply absconding. I couldn’t be online in Assam and my mobile was not working either. So, I had no information about office.

I was in Assam for one week and after that we went to Kolkata by train. As soon as we came out of Assam, my phone started working again. It had been one week since I’d gone to office. I was not sure if some one had figured out that I was missing or not as no one in my team sat in that particular office. We were supposed to be in train for the whole day and then suddenly I received an SMS from my manager. It simply said, “Apy, call me back.”.

I was like… O FK!!!!

I was still in train and I had no idea what to tell him. The train had stopped but I was still scared.
What if some Chai wala came shouting Chai Chai Chai …

I called him up anyway. He asked me whether I was on leave on that day. Suddenly it hit me. If he was asking me this question that means he does not know that I bunked my office last week. I told him, "yeah.. I am sick!". He asked me to meet him on next day. NEXT DAY?? R U NUTS?? I told him that I was bed ridden and wont be able to come to office for a week at least.

Suddenly a Chai wala came and everyone around him Shhhed him, asked him to keep his mouth shut. For a while he got scared, wondering if these people were okay. I kept talking to my manager for some more time telling him how miserable I felt. At the end of the call, he asked me once again, “Are u in Bangalore”? By then I was pretty confident about all my lies and with the same confidence I replied, “Of course I am in Bangalore. In fact, I m at home. I tolya I am bedridden for a week.”

Rest one week was fun. Kolkata is an amazing place. That’s where I gave an interview in an amusement park.

So when I joined office after 2 weeks (officially one week), my manager had assigned that work to someone else due to urgency… n I was one free birdie again.