Life 7.0

 Yes, it happened, life moved to a new version. Did I get married? haha, no, it's something else.

The Transition

I was in Berlin, Oct 2018, dream of Europe realized. Though it was just 5-days, but I got a worthy glance of those beautiful cities. It was all a rush for the GotoBerlin conference where Jaideep was doing a stage talk. Paras pitched me in as a co-speaker (because I couldn't get visa for ITB Berlin in March, he wanted to clear-off that flag from my mind. Kind of employee motivation stuff you do). Though I got only 8-minutes of that 45min talk, it was nevertheless a big opportunity on a big big stage.

Berlin stage talk, Oct'19

Next day we were in Amsterdam for another talk at Booking.com office. It was a crazy tour. 

Well everything is rolling awesome, right. Sweet assumption, but truth was far. I was so much in trouble, I blurted out everything to Paras when I came back to India. My finances were stooping and I couldn't see any respite in sight. I remembered, GHE got a four hundred thousand Euro grant in April, the CSR projects were going great, we were hiring more people, I was working my ass-off (no weekends were free) but I was stuck at a meager salary of 40k. When I recovered from pneumonia, I also made a promise to myself that within a year we'll start building our home. It was already 6months so I wanted that answer as well. 

I talked with Paras and he agreed to give me a 20k increment and also fine to relocate me in Chandigarh which was a good prospect as my brother was driving Uber there, plus it will be much cheaper than Gurgaon. 

Excitement

January'19 I said good-bye to the suffocating Gurgaon and moved to Chandigarh with my brother. The city that has been my dream. Full of trees, organized, amazing cheap food, so close to the Himalayas, nice cafe's, lakes, and just 100Kms from home. First month, while we were hunting home, I resumed my running after ages, in the fresh air of this amazing place. We finally found a house in Mohali and we were now settling down in this new abode, haooy, content, but it was all shortlived.

Turbulence ahead

Life turned the switch again. 1st March 2019, I got a distressed call from my sister, my Mom just met with an accident, she had a skull fracture and was unconscious. Me and my brother Mandeep rushed to Ludhiana. We reached around 11PM to find our mother unconscious (under strong sedatives), in the emergency ward of DMC Hospital. The doctors said she's stable and under observation. What followed were the most stressful 3-days (and nights) of my life. My mother had completely lost her senses, tied to the hospital bed, yelling to everyone around. It was difficult to see her like that and we remained so worried about her recovery. But on 4th day it was almost a miracle to see her coming back to normal senses. She was discharged a week later, completely conscious, with a smile on her face.

Mom and Dad, outside DMC Hospital (10th March 2019)

The worries continued for many days due to her bad episodes of difficult breathing and body aches. It took her a couple of months to completely recover, meanwhile my priorities changed completely. I decided to vacate the house that we just rented in Mohali and stay with my mom, kind-of forever. The medical expenses woke me up, and as I saw no comfort from GHE/Paras, I decided to start hunting for a job nearby or start my own coaching classes, or whatever to survive and to be with my mom. I ended up joining my college (NIT Jalandhar) as a Manager of Technology Business Incubator. The salary was less, but my plan was to continue GHE and run this job in parallel. It was frenzied 3 months of applications, calls, interviews, but finally I joined. I got a room within the campus, mess food was good, made some good friends also very quickly (PhD Scholars). Lots of nostalgia also hit me, as I was back in that awesome place after almost 11 years.

Thing about College: An awesome ground for running. And I made a life-long friend, Kulbhushan (a PhD Scholar)

I was now financially in a good state, but in just 2-months the juggle of 2-jobs started to stress me out. Most importantly, Paras expected me to lead some expeditions but I kept saying NO as I had another job to take care of. He wasn't aware so it all piqued up a bit and then in September'19 we had a final talk where I was supposed to either move to Gurgaon again or find another job. Thankfully I had a cushion of another job (and I was tired of working on weekends, and of Paras's false propositions for the future), so I said good-bye to GHE on 30 Oct'19 (exactly 1yr after the Europe trip). It was a convergence of many things, too much work, meager salary, no respect, no transparency, no stakes in the company, and most importantly a fake patronizing attitude which I became quite resentful of.

Total Chaos

Now comes the phase of real struggle. Did I tell my college job was disgusting, to mention the least. Salaries remained due for months, work timings were too strict, work sloths everywhere (typical govt. administration) so nothing moves and the colonial atmosphere where independence and power were nowhere in sight, you were just expected to blindly cringe to the single man in all authority, the college Director. The (empty) Incubator office, which I thought was new, was actually 4yrs old. Imagine, in 4 yrs they couldn't hire staff, and or even procure a single Desktop. I was on a non moving sinking ship, with no growth, no future.

Since I left GHE my salary had plunged again, and here it wasn't coming anywhere on time.. this was it. I was on the brink, surviving on my last savings (PF from Microsoft that I had to withdraw in this crisis). I desperately needed a solution to this. I was now clear, only reasonable move ahead was to join back in corporate, and safest will be IT.

I started sending my CV to my close friends. But sadly I was not getting any interview calls. Apparently, my CV confused the HRs as I went from technical to completely different position in entrepreneurship. Some HRs even recommended that am fit only for a startup. So I tweaked my CV to make it a very very technical, with all IOT projects and team-leading. 

It paid-off, I started getting calls, but interview after interview, I was falling apart. Every interview started with my interesting background but failed on the reality check (coding, problem solving and design). Microsoft (Hyd) was my first call, but I was rejected in the first round. Second call was from Accolite, that was also a big dissapointment. The interview was 3 hours long, and I couldn't solve the problem, and do well in the design question. And then I lost complete confidence after my interview in Microsoft Noida. Dammit, 2 interviews, so embarrassing, I was going blank, completely. I canceled my interviews for OYO (16Dec) as I knew, I was not ready, I needed more time to prepare (or have I lost it completely? Is the fish trying to climb the tree?). 

19 Dec 19 was my interview at Amazon Bangalore (thanks to Ryetika), which I couldn't cancel as they had already done all hotel and flight bookings. A day before my flight to Bangalore, I was mentally broken in confidence, unable to sleep, almost in a state to cry. I got myself together, pulled out my phone and saw a couple of coding problems. Within next 30min I solved them just in my mind, without any pen-paper.. difficult problems I never earlier heard of.. that changed the game!

I landed in Bangalore around 6pm next day. Compared to the winters in Punjab, the warm weather was very comforting and the arrangements were top-notch. The taxi was waiting for me at the airport, an hour later I checked-in to a five-star suite. I stepped out to have a Dosa and Coffee at a Udipi, that felt so good. Back in room, I made a mind to play a psycological bet, to keep my energy high and attack every problem, rest will all depend on the day.

The interview day was exhausting, five interviews, but I just kept my focus, one-at-a-time was my plan for the day. And it went well actually, I solved almost all problems (though not optimal). I was getting good vibes that I may have cracked it, but they kept the final call for the hiring manager. That evening I went to Adhi's place, met his parents, enjoyed amazing food, and was already discussing my plans when I will join in Bangalore.

At a lake, 10min walk from Adhi's house :P

I also went to Hyderabad to check other opportunities before returning to Punjab. I met Karthik, Pooji's husband, US returned, runs his own IT company. It was a small one, but I did pitch him how I can add value to it. 

I kept waiting for that last interview from Amazon for the next 20days as the HM was on leave :( But the wait ended and that interview also went well. So I was just waiting for that final nod, but it was a NO-HIRE, not good enough for an SDE-3. Aaah, so bad! But my confidence was somewhat back and it was just a matter of time I knew. 

I then got a call from Hyundai-Hyderabad, thanks to my friend Soumya who's HR there. The telephonic was in confusion as the profile did not match my experience or skill-set but I could still convince them for the next round. I was sure I cannot continue my NITJ job anymore as it was complete chaos with no future. I wanted to leave everything and goto Hyderabad where I knew so many other opportunities were there, I just need to persistently keep preparing and keep hunting (leaving my mother was a difficult move but this was necessary). But before I do so, I needed some assurance of something, so I called up Karthik. He had some ideas, about clearing GRE, getting a student visa and then partime work in IT in US. Till that materialize, I'll just work in his company in India. I agreed to him and he took a couple of long interviews. He called me to Hyderabad for final discussions.

In all this, the CoVID-19 was looming over the world. India had only 3 cases reported but I knew things can go bad at any time, so I avoided all travels. It was now mid-Feb 2020 and I was getting nervous about my future, so I took the plunge. I just left my college job and now I was a desperate hunter with no income, and about 10Lac loans on my head. Missed to mention, our home construction did finally complete and my family moved in there in Sept'19. For that I had to take a lot of support from friends and a bank loan.

During all this, Paras kept calling me for one or the other reason. Very soon after my quit, he realized it would be difficult to manage his business considering the breadth of work I was handling. As I was also not getting any offer, I too thought to keep that option open, so I went ahead and met him in Gurgaon before continuing my trip to Hyderabad. He was fine to pay me the money I was looking for, in return for a lot of work and responsibilities. This was all sad as he should have done this a year earlier. He showed me the new co-working space that he had arranged. All sweet talk and fancy dreams, and he even went ahead and said, "Say No to all the companies calling you and join us back". I told him, let me come back from Hyderabad and then we'll talk. GHE was my very last option, in case nothing works out for next 6 months. Honestly, I was just keeping it an open option with no intention to join.

In Hyderabad I met Karthik, he showed me his office, a very small one. They work 6-days a week, 9am - 6pm is mandatory. I started going there everyday to get a hang of it. The neighborhood was a bit chaotic, not a typical IT company one. It was a fruit/flower market. The toilet wasn't very clean too, but I figured out a nearby mall where I thought I will go sometimes. And everyone talked in Telugu, which they said they will adapt to English if am part of their meetings. Very humble and young crowd though. It was a new atmosphere, very very different from what I experienced till now, but to be back to IT was my safest bet, so even if it is a small start, I was certain, I will eventually end up in something much bigger. A week passed, Hyundai was not giving any response so I almost assumed they are not interested. I wanted the final answer from Karthik. We sat and discussed about his future plans, where I need to learn, where I can contribute maximum. Relationship manager it is and he needed a commitment of atleast 2 years. At my position, I hardly had anything to negotiate. Then finally the money, 10 lakh p.a. for next six month (including taxes) and then 12 p.a. for the following 1.5yrs. I agreed instantly, this was better than what I was earning in GHE or college, though much lower than I would get in any IT company, but till I crack it, this was a safe option. 2-year commitment was bothering me, but I hardly had any other option. I was supposed to join at the earliest if I want to apply for the student visa in parallel.

Paras was pinging me, already assigning me work, but I gave him a thumbs down. I told him I cracked Hyundai, just to shut him up as I knew, after Karthik confirmed, there was no point in thinking of GHE. 

I started going to office, was mentally getting ready for 9-6 job, 6 days a week. I asked Koushik, a close who also runs his own company, to check the opportunities there. He just said, stay at his guest room, eat the food, prepare for interviews, see his projects also in case I wanted to learn, but he didn't had any projects to engage me in as an employee. I was happy with free food and stay, atleast till I settle in Karthik's office. Koushik's cook was very amazing, all that getting very comforting. Me and Koushik went also for a game of frisbee which was the icing on the cake, life was getting better.

Even better actually, I got a call from Hyundai then. I remember the crazy weekend when I was coding all the Design patterns in C#, super geared, that interview on Monday went out of the roof. I was so happy! The 6-day working was a bit scary, so my next target was to find a job which was 5-days a week, and Hyundai could be that answer. Meanwhile, Anand called me up for some drinks and there I met Sushil Gulati, an old acquaintance of Microsoft, now in HCL, he was looking to hire someone with my skill set. Things were getting promising and then I got a call from Nutanix Bangalore. All-in-all, I was getting confident that I may actually end up soon in a 'normal' IT job. I had one more interview at Hyundai and then I got the offer call, though they took sweet time to give final confirmation. 

During sweet time I gave interviews at another company in Hyderabad, Cyient, and then travelled to Bangalore for Nutanix interview (which actually turned out to be a 6-months contract profile). 3 interviews at Nutanix but the CoVID situation stalled the futher processing. 

Finally, after an apprehension full call from Hyundai's HR, I got a confirmation e-mail.

Finally

Was this prophecy as I mentioned already to Paras I got Hyundai offer, what a convergence! Wohooo! 19Lac Salary, this should end all my woes. An early joining which I had no problem with, I really needed this job! On top of this, CoVID situation was getting worse. On 5th March I joined Hyundai, very interesting day, new work, exciting team, a completely new atmosphere (Koreans have their own way of working, or I should say, to get the work done).

20 days later the entire country went into a lockdown due to high rate of CoVID cases rising.

Today it's 16th August 2020, almost 5-months after that lockdown. I work for Hyundai? no, Microsoft (surprise! suprise!). There is a side story that built up alongside all the above chaos which I should mention now.

After closing the offer with Karthik, I actually went to meet my Microsoft pals, especially Khushboo who was very happy that I was back in Hyderabad. She enlightened me about numerous opportunities in her org and helped me apply for them. Then one fine evening I just-like-that called another Microsoft friend, Pankaj Mantri. He told the Windows team is building up again and I have a good chance. I applied, but they took their time to arrange the interviews and by that time I had already joined Hyundai so I almost made up my mind to not grind myself anymore and just focus on my current job. But then the call came, I was too casual to take it, the HR guy thought am not serious but he still arranged the interview. I did not even prepare as I just thought I wouldn't be able to crack and also, this would be kind of Betrayal to Hyundai and my friend Soumya. Hyundai actually asked me in the last interview, will I go back to Microsoft, to which I (offcourse) said, no, as I want something new (just setting the rhetoric :P). And it will be a bad name for Soumya. But then I talked with my Gandu group, they said, give the interviews first and then talk. Soumya also suggested exactly the same (infact she said, if you crack it, make sure you refer me also :P).

So it was the D-Day, and as Pankaj had told me, I got similar problems to solve. I was then regretting that I should have atleast done those but the day was in my favor and I was already in final round with Hiring Manager after 2-interviews. But then in the round with my HM, Rishad, I screwed it up very badly. He wasn't convinced and he also discussed about my past performance in Microsoft. I remained honest, but showed my enthusiasm well that I would prove to be a good hire. He offered me a lower profile 'level' than my last position, to which I said yes. But still, in apprehensions, he asked me to give one more interview. Luckily that went well and I remained positive, fingers crossed though till I get the confirmation. Alert: Lot of anxious days ahead!

Anxious Anxious!

4days later I get the call. First 30 seconds of lose talks, and I was, dammit, another opportunity gone and then later the HR announced the good news. Wait, did I hear it correctly, yes, he said, Congratulations. 

An nervous week later, I got the numbers: joining bonus + basic + stocks + perks.. let's not go in details, but it was worth of taking all the pain and get out of Hyundai. Then a catch, Microsoft background verification check. Now on any other day, I wouldn't be worried but this time there were stories on my CV which do not exactly match reality.

1. Education: no problem

2. Criminal records: none

3. Career history: 3 issues (My GHE profile wasn't technical, but my CV said otherwise. I did not mention that I was in Hyundai right now, just to ensure there are no hiccups. I never mentioned about my NITJ job.)

It entails, I cannot resign from Hyundai till I get a green signal from the Microsoft BGV team. This was the most anxious 1-month, every single day was painful and Hyundai was also coming to its true colors (apple-to-apple I guess). Hyundai's work was too random, high in volume (& in expectations), in a very distrustful & micro-managed environment. I was now in thoughts, when will I get out of this.

A month later, MS team says, BGV could not complete so they may postpone the joining. I was getting more anxious now. The entire world was in the worst pandemic, and I was stuck in this fragile state where I could not afford to dangle in the middle. But then thankfully they said, if I sign a clause that "any discrepancy in my BGV can lead to my termination", I can join on the same date (4th May). The form came and then I read, it was only my education that was not verified as my college was closed due to the pandemic. That gave me confidence. Still, after signing that clause, I was asked to wait for another week. Finally, 11th May came and I joined Microsoft, back to my dream! What a day it was! 

It wasn't easy for me to get out of Hyundai on such short notice, I had to do a lot of cooking (classified) ;) but it all concluded at the end, just-in-time.

And I finally got the green signal from MS BGV team, almost 2-months after joining. After 3 salaries, life looks quite on track (I had to put in quite an effort to pull the strings together to work back in a technical profile). I have some discipline in place and things look sorted as of now. With a fancy salary, I see myself out of all loans within the next 8-9 months. Am literally living a dream! I can't belive my fortune, as all this happened when the world is amid a pandemic. And it's true indeed, there is always light a the end of the tunnel. After a struggle of almost a year, I am now relaxed and positive about my future.

Let's see when will Life switch to an 8.0 :)