TLDR: Hyderabad -> Goa -> Hyderabad (bidding farewell)
-> Gurgaon -> Hyderabad -> Gurgaon -> Lucknow -> Gurgaon
(bidding farewell) -> finally Hyderabad
October 6, 2014
I was at office and my head was spinning. It wasn't the
three day Goan trip that took its toll, it was the sucking Omar travels bus,
which took 16 hours to crawl back from Goa to Hyderabad, that did. However, it
was not the only reason, afterall it was 6 hours better than the time it took
to travel from Hyd to Goa! My head spun also because I had to immediately join
office as soon as I disembarked at Hyderabad. I couldn't afford one more
holiday. Why? Yes, I was on notice period! :)
Flashback
I had resigned from my position at MAQ on August 29 and was
serving an "over 1 month" notice period. Something I was longing for
since past few years. Better late than never! It was an awesome notice period.
Threw lots of parties, hung out with friends and experienced nearly everything
I missed while working. Days during notice period are the best an Engineer can
ever live. Period! So this was all in September, now back to the month of
October which was so special that it found its way on my blog.
October 9, 2014
The head recovered in few days but not the peeling. It
happens after you get sunburned. Yes, Goa can do that to you if you don't wear
a hat or put on a sun cream while trying to visit every single place in a
stretch of just three days. However, each of my body part, including the hair
which I have in plenty, suddenly got sober on October 9. That moment came when
Amazon HR called and told that I had to appear for my last round of interviews
on Oct 17.
Arrghh! I had never done so much of planning in my life. I had
to join Q3 in next couple of days before which I had to bid adieu Hyderabad,
throw couple of parties and transfer goods to Gurgaon. The amazon interview was
an addition to this already hectic schedule. Nevertheless, I thought of giving
it a shot. I believed this month of October, although hectic, had something in
it to offer, something big!
October 11 - 16, 2014
I reached Gurgaon on Oct 11 and the six days I stayed there
were not very pleasing. There happened many things that really depressed me.
For one, I lived with a friend in a room which was half the size of one bedroom
of the 2 BHK flat where I used to live in Hyderabad. Second, the new company I
joined was an even smaller organization than the previous one offering same
kind of projects. Bagging higher package and eagerness to leave the previous
employer were the only reasons why I joined this firm. Third, people at Gurgaon
had no patience whatsoever! They used to run like dogs towards the exit as soon
as Metro doors were opened. The auto wallas were apathetic towards stray dogs,
crushing them wherever they got an opportunity. That still appeared kind given
that car drivers considered every other being as a stray dog who could be
crushed at sight.
May be Gurgaon isn't that bad and the aforementioned
allegations are true about every other city in India. May be I feel much more
comfortable being at Hyderabad because I have spent here three long years and
everything seems to be just "in place". Whatever! At that time I
decided to return back for good. But (there's always a 'but' to make the story
interesting) I could only get back if I had an offer from a larger firm,
coupled with a better package. Else, the earlier decision of leaving MAQ
wouldn't make any sense. This October 17 interview was one last resort.
October 17, 2014
I was sitting in the interview room at Amazon development
center contemplating about the whole journey. What was the point? Why should
there come a moment in life which if expunged from the timeline does not make
any difference overall? What if I am not recruited, what would be the point of
taking risk of bunking a newly joined office, traveling over thousand
kilometers and running from one center to another for giving interviews? What
if I eliminate this one day in my life, would that make any difference? It
should! And to make it count I will have to nail it!
I was pulled out from deep sea of thoughts as my cell phone
suddenly woke up to life and beeped. It was an SMS from my mother. It was a
thrilling news. That afternoon my sister delivered a baby boy and I became a
mama :) I quickly checked the WhatsApp and found pictures of both of them. They
were looking healthy and my bhanja was sleeping with his mouth open :D
May be this was the point! May be I was destined to get this
news in Hyderabad. Or was there more to come? I just wanted to book a flight
and meet my little guy and sis ASAP. Alas! They were thousands of kilometers
away from me in Perth. I didn't notice but out of happiness I was holding the
cell so tightly that I could have broken the already cracked glass. But a
sudden creak of the door saved it. It was the recruiting manager and my second
round of interview was just about to begin. I had to calm my nerves and return
back to normal.
October 21, 2014
Diwali was about to come. I was upset about not being at
home during the festival even when home was so near. After the Friday bunk I
didn't want to take another holiday. After all, I was a new recruit and didn't
want to portray myself as an "employee-who-bunks-a-lot". I was
sitting in despair at office when my phone rang. I had no idea who could it be.
I ran to the corridor and picked up the phone. It was the HR recruiter who gave
me the news that I was recruited at Amazon. My heart skipped a beat. Telling nearly
everyone gave I vent to my feelings. Aakhir khushi baatne se badhti hai ;)
I was happy but catuious. I wanted to plan things better.
After working in a firm just for eight days I had all sorts of options
available. Should I just run away without any experience letter? Who needs it?
Or should I tell them a lie about pursuing higher education at some
"very-famous-earlier-thought-not-gettable" institute. But then I
decided not to hurry and give it some time. Let the offer letter come, then
resign and leave with dignity.
October 27, 2014
It was the day when I received the offer letter. My
happiness took over and all my endeavour to be cautious failed. I planned
everything like a jerk. I decided to skip the normal 30 day notice period, get
relieved early and go home. Joining at Amazon was on November 10, so I had
plenty of time with me and I didn't want to waste that time working at Q3.
However, I never knew that not serving the 30 day notice period would hurt my
compensation and I would not get a salary! Anyways, I immediately resigned and
as per plan started pushing HR and my manager to provide the last dates as soon
as possible.
Last days of October 2014
Peaceful days they were. Spent my days at home explaining
parents how big a firm I am going to join and how my decision of moving back to
Hyderabad wasn't bad. Dad discussed my plans for future. As far as the
conversation concerned financial stuff I was an active speaker. However, when
it moved onto marriage and other stuff I used to fall back and behave like
"jeez! not now!". Finally I also got opportunity to talk to my sis
and "hardly-speaking-only-crying" bhanja over skype :) They both
looked adorable.
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