Life @ patni - The First Year!

As the clock strikes 12 tonight, i finish my 3 long years with Patni. phew!!!! as i wrote on Facebook.. its been a roller coaster ride with no puking.. ;)

A lot of times, as the trend is, i am expected to call names to my employer....i am suppose to laugh at Jokes like PATNI stands for Pathetic Appraisal Through No Increments...if i am in good mood, i do.
but most of the times i dont!

If our own experiences form our beliefs i dont see any reason why i should curse Patni.
Bad remuneration! yes sir! i have been through that. Even after a promotion, for a very long time my package has been lesser than that of a Fresher's but there are so many other things that redeem this one fault...

Right from day one i have got good opportunities. I know i would have been loser of a developer had i chosen to remain one. No development aptitude what so ever..Patni gave me a chance to acknowledge the fact, accept it with dignity & move ahead with another alternative...
Testing or what we glorify it by calling Quality Assurance ;)
i would pat my back here a little that i did not succumb to other's opinions about Testing being a loser's job. 99 out of 100 people told me that there was no future in testing & that one day i would repent my decision of changing from Mainframe development to Testing...
few classes in COBOL & i was sorted. Thats when people from FSBU hurried to help me...they wanted people having out of box thinking & analytical aptitude (Glorification yet again ;)) for their prestigious project for ABN AMRO...my mind snapped into action...better be an excellent tester than an average developer... Assessment for the batch of 70 people went on for a whole day... writing papers to fake triage meetings to group discussions... was exhausted at the end of the day...but whoa i was selected.... i was one of those 15 people who would change track from MF to testing....but the real competition was far ahead....only 4 of these 15 would go to the much touted ABN Project...the rest would go to Fidelity...a good option job security wise but i wanted to be one of those 4....so there started a grueling schedule of PPT preparation every single day. we would be given a testing related topic in the afternoon & we were suppose to ready a presentation next day in the morning to be given to our entire team and our Project Manager, two team leads & our BDO. i was a fresher...just out of college..wasnt sure of what to do but kept at it & finally the day arrived when the final lucky 4 were to be selected... speculations were flying high...& finally when my name was announced, i looked straight at my PM. she smiled & my face changed in a second...i am sure it was more like the Fair & Lovely ad where you can see it glowing step by step...mine glowed instantaneously ;)

This project needed me to learn Data Warehousing... Informatica to be precise...
it was a workflow designed for ABN AMRO using Informatica to identify possible transactions with Money Laundering as the purpose. so thats how people turned their black money into white...was amused... learning finance was good but informatica was pain!
all its arrows going in & out of the data models would torture me...i would give up..but my PM was one hell of a motivator...she would single me out, sit with me & teach me personally how to build those horrid data models...i learned & i learned fast...finally when "Data Coverage" module was assigned to me, i was short of heaven by inches... i gave my PM a thankful nod...that was one important module...a smaller one but the most critical....
after four years of being an average engineer struggling to keep up with 40 mandatory marks to keep KTs at the bay, this sense of importance was refreshing...

Slogged my ass off..was terrified to hear UK based client....i would look at my PM intently to understand desperately what the british was blabbering in his propah UK accented English...
at one point of time my desperation would grow so much that i would stare at my PM with as much concentration as the deaf & mute children have to pay to 'understand' whats being told...
a few days like this & i could understand what the British were talking... it went on to become so good that i could scowl at their mention of a recent England vs India cricket match where india had (obviously) lost to them.

As my fate could have it, The Blasted Barclays took over ABN, they scrapped our entire project citing no funds...now now..you have bloody pots of pounds to take over a bank but you dont have enough money to let a project run.
Suddenly we were called in the conference room & we were as good as jobless...our project was no longer on. I had never seen my ever smiling PM that depressed but she still cheered us on..asked us to take this in right spirit & move on....
we were transported from The Desk to The Bench overnight...

my friends, my team, my precious Informatica & my cubicle, my stern but sweet TL who would call me each night at 10 to ask if i had left for the home & my PM....i would miss all of them...i cursed Barclays...i cursed Patni...i cursed everyone around...that was my first Project...my first QTS...my First Test Plan...my first appreciation mail, my first responsibility...it was gone...those who had gone to Fidelity joined us in our mourning but we could feel their involuntary sighs of relief... they were still billable...they were still assets to the company...

there was heartbreak but that was also the first time i realized how a compassionate & good minded guide can teach you so many things in a fleeting moment...

as i stepped inside the float area with heavy heart, i drafted a four liner mail to my PM...whining about the project & thanking her for all her support & personal attention provided...mentor as i called her, i expressed my wish to work under her once more if fate could have it that way...
she replied saying she wished the same but not to have me work 'under' her but 'with' her.... i cried when i read that mail...this sentence has since then with me....
i so hope that one fine day when i become responsible for my team as their manager, i can exhibit atleast 1% of such bigheartedness & down to earth nature...

Patni has given me a lot...it wont end there....i am sure another part will be on its way sooner.. :)