Don’t worry. I’m still here.

It’s just that I’ve been a bit tied up, what with all the shifting to another city and setting up house.

I do hope to update soon, with pictures and all.

Today I went to Symantec’s office for the last time. It’s been 4 years 10 months and 3 weeks since I started my first job (and my career) at Symantec, then Veritas.

While I remember many good things, I’m quite sad (not nostalgic) about how the last few days went. The only people who wished me luck (aside of some true friends) were the facilities manager and the person handling the last day formalities. My manager(s) didn’t even bother to have a face-2-face chat/conversation with me.

I remember, a long time ago, how Navneet had gotten pastries for all in the immediate group we worked in. Half the people didn’t even show up, much less wish him. We then decided to give the awesome pastries to the facilities team seeing how they do an amazing job of keeping us comfortable every working day. The phone response and the ecstatic wishes that came his way a few minutes later made it worth the effort.

We win some, we lose some.

I emailed my resignation to my manager on the 23rd of April, 2010. This Friday, 7th May 2010, is my last day in office. I began working at my present company, Symantec, over 4 years ago. It would have been 5 in just over a month (27th June 2010).

That is one hell of a long time to be at a company. It’d think differently if I ran the company, like Manish does. Then I’d want to be around for ever, or at least until I made the company so autonomous that it could run on it’s own while I went and did other things.

Coming back to my current state of mind. It’s been a wild ride here.

Lots of friends made, new things learned, tonnes of chai/coffee consumed, photographs taken, emails written and read, air fuel burned (MountainView, Boston, Minneapolis, Singapore) and very many books read/bought.

I remember the first day. The administrative staff had brought me flowers (as a welcome gift), and Sagar had decided to take me under his wing as his official chai partner. His opening line at fixed times of the day was, “Chai kaun pila raha hai aaj?” [who is buying me tea today?], which was a rhetorical question considering that chai was made and server at the company cafeteria.

I had always been in awe of Sagar from the day he joined, for various reasons. He had prime real estate (one of the corner cubicles on the floor), sat next to me, took me to chai, had an awesome set of creative speakers for good music, and sneezed like there was no tomorrow! His sneezes were are test of the building’s structural integrity, and I must say Mayfair Towers passed with flying colours!

Pankaj, Amit and very many others joined after me, and our team grew from the 10-12 odd to about 25 over the years. It’s sad that the trend is reversing and we are going down in size, even though the recession has ended (or maybe because it has). Oh well.

There were countless movie outings, Quake Arena gameplay sessions (in broad daylight, with our manager joining in as well), coffee conversations with the whole team showing up and crowding tables!

Some of the fun incidents I remember are:

• Brajesh bringing his “sister” to the Veritas Annual Evening. She is now his wife.
• Sonali “aunty” and I making sure to get each other biscuits (a particular one which would get over fairly quicky).
• I and Radhika going through harrowing testing sessions and then taking coffee breaks to discuss current affairs (gossip).
• I and Chris going on a wine tour and getting high on all the wine tastings we consumed.
• Random team lunches and having a ball of a time!
• Traveling for various customer centric events, and meeting colleagues as well as customers. It’s always good to hear a good word about our work/products.
• Met friends like Navneet, who have been both supportive and a guide through tough times.

Well, anyhoo.. things change, people change. I am now off to explore better and bigger opportunities in Bangalore. Pune has been great in many ways, as has Symantec.

.. since I began working and earning my own living. A synopsis:

- I have struggled to save 2/3rds of my salary, but circumstances have led me to save only shy of half.
- I have started on a journey of creating a truly diverse library for myself, and have proved quite successful. I have gathered over a 100 books ranging from titles as wild and whacky as Screw it, let’s do it (Richard Branson) to The Psychology of the Simpsons (Alan Brown,Chris Logan).
- Read about 12 full books and 6 half books (never got around to finishing them).
- Been through office politics that could kill a whale, but also made for interesting learning grounds
- Put on a craptastic amount of weight.
- Taken a total of 3 and 1/2 photographs (interest seems to have died).
- Lost a phone at work (bloody thieving !@$%#?$!)
- Bought a cycle and successfully cycled to work for 3 months (3 miles each way). Had to stop thanks to the rainy season.
- Crashed my external HDD and lost all my data . Trying to recover it with p@#!#!$ software
- Made a couple of good friends
- Had lots of good coffee. You know how people have and make drinking buddies? I made coffee buddies. I even hugged the barista on new years eve (how romantic, I know).
- Met from friends from yesteryears, the good old IITian times when we were gods and there were non better.

So here I am, sitting at work in Milpitas, somewhere in the belly of California’s Silicon Valley (yeah, I so sound like a FOB).

Either which ways, things are running smooth, what with the great weather (which I don’t even get to see since I’m indoors all the time) and amazing colleagues. I’ve met so many folks I’ve only spoken to on the phone oh so regularly. Putting a face to a name/voice is immensely fun, and also helps build a better working relationship.

Work aside, personal life is also blooming. There are so many things to do, so many things to plan, and so many things to relish. I surely will miss this visit for more reasons than one.

The weekend is to be spent with Som and Amit, old time buddies from KGP. I don’t know what Som has planned, but I’m guessing it’s good.

The week after, I’m in Boston and thereabouts meeting some customers and also another product team. Yay for travel!

So the last couple of weeks have been good, and fruitful. A lot of firsts, and then some.

Have been taking life easy, post appraisal at work, which in itself is an interesting process. I do have a post about it, which will come in a day or two. (The reason for my sloppiness in maintaining a diary of everyday events is that my dearest laptop is in the hands of Apple, for it’s logic board was on it’s last leg. I got it fixed, but the fellows have not sealed my laptop correctly, which causes me enormous pain and I have sent it back for them to seal and close correctly.) Coming back to the appraisal process, I am dismayed to note how some people can misconstrue a good self appraisal as a silent pitch for a raise! More on that later.

I have been spending weekends on the bus to and from Mumbai, which makes for interesting reading. I carry with me no less than three literary works (or rather types), ranging from Scientific American to City of Joy by Dominique Lapierr. This not only ensures a variety of reads made available to me, but also ensures that I keep abreast of the latest developments in science, keeping in line with my interest.

This apart, seeing my cousin sister grow up is worth all the shuttling between two cities. Will post some more pictures soon, after i get my beloved laptop back.

So it’s been a while since I’ve had time for myself and for some close ones. Work has been keeping everyone on their toes the last couple of weeks, including me especially.

But today I got back to doing some of the things I love:

• Read a couple of short stories at Crosswords (our local Barnes and Nobles). Discovered an amazing book called the Merck Manual of Medical Information. It’s a truly impressive storehouse of medical knowledge, and makes for interesting (and very long) reading!
   
• Had some good cold coffee, though I need some better!
   
• Came home to my friend, philosopher, guide – Manish. He isn’t doing all too well, which has kind of pissed me off. I have been running with him from doctor to doctor!
   
• Played with my baby sister Kavya, and there will be pictures soon. I know I need to upload pictures from my trip to Punjab also.. soon enough though.

Currently chilling in Mumbai, but will be back in pune tomorrow. In the mean time, what’s your story, morning glory?

I have no idea why, but the last couple of days have been tiring and make me want to run!

I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes
I saw the sign
Life is demanding without understanding
I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes
I saw the sign
No one’s gonna drag you up
To get into the light where you belong
But where do you belong?
                 - Ace of Base

Dedicated to my dearest friend Mayank, on his own behest (:P):

Pee sakte hain roz glassful,
doodh doodh doodh doodh.

Garmi mein daalon doodh mein ice,
doodh ban gaya very nice,
peeyo daily once or twice,
mil jayega tasty surprise.

doodh doodh doodh doodh.
doodh Doodh DOODH!

Doodh hai must in every season,
peeyo doodh for healthy reason,
Rahoge tum fit and fine,
jeeyoge past ninety nine!

doodh doodh doodh doodh.
doodh Doodh DOODH!

Charo ore much gaya shor,
Give me more, GIVE ME MORE!

Oh and deepa, hebby hebby b’day!

.. that I belong. I got these a couple of weeks ago but didn’t have my camera then.