I'm Hired

...finally the 1 month saga of job hunt is over. 9 to 6 routine starts Monday. Got so accustomed to leading a lazy life the past 2 months, that the thought of going back to work is unsettling now. No more brunches or afternoon soaps on TV and a quick evening nap or crouched in the sofa all day with a novel :(

By the way I take back all those statements about Pune being great. The city's weather sucks! I step out of the house for 30 mins without an umberella and it goes puouring and here I'm stranded.

View from the glass cube ........

For the first time in 2 weeks, I ventured in to the Pune city last afternoon. Thanks to a personal interview scheduled for late afternoon. This has been my first break and a lil closer to being hired. More than the interview itself, the experience of getting to the venue was memorable. Hopping 3 autos as the rickshaw drivers took advantage of the situation and distance and quoted a totally unreasonable price which I agreed to pay, I reached the venue in 1 piece on time. Pune very much qualifies to be called the "City of Potholes". To my surprise the only people I found at the venue were a bunch of carpenters and masons carrying bricks and cement. Confused if I had applied for a tech job or a Civil one, I found my way through a maze of staircases and hallways. It took one final phone call to reach the destination.

As expected I waited a good 40 mins before the interviewer made an appearance. Anticipating this would happen, I went prepared with my copy of "Animal Farm" and was entertaining myself with the chapters where Mollie disappears, the revolution (Battle of the cowshed) and Jones getting ousted. What a timing ..just about then the "panel" made an appearance. For some reason, through out the day, the word "panel" sent shivers through me. The thought of 2-3 panel shooting questions is intimidating. But I survived.

I was in a naughty mood giving no thought to the outcome of the interview. Midway, my eyes feel on a board outside the glass door that had bulleted points on various steps to be followed for delivery during a Software Project Lifecycle. Glimpses of the movie "The Usual Suspects" came before me with BW weaving the story. I was so tempted to do the same...Overall I had fun the 2 hours I waited in the glass cube observing the world outside!

School days are back?

It feels like I'm back at college again. Never in the past 6 years have I been surrounded with so many technical articles or holed up in a room with a laptop pouring over technical specifications day in day out! Every interview in this goddamn city feels like a viva of college. I couldn't believe it that all the interviews so far have been stereotypical focusing on textbook definitions right from HTTP .......Pune is no match to Bangalore in terms of tech jobs. So watch out if you are thinking of moving to Pune without a job. I'm actually toying with the idea with encouragement from V about doing freelancing fulltime and giving up this corporate job juggling all the time!

Our house too resembles a college dorm with books strewn around everywhere as V is preparing for GMAT. Hopefully all of this would be over soon...

Otherwise, Pune is nice. It rains incessantly ...I haven't seen sunshine for more than 10 days now.

Live from Pune

It has been one hell of a week. A lot of travel, packing, moving and unpacking. I was shocked to see how much of stuff we have when the Packers and Movers started putting together everything. It took them over 10 hours to assemble everything into 84 boxes. Yes 84! If packing was exhausting, then unpacking completely drained me out of senses.

The 1 hour flight from Bangalore to Pune last Thursday was uneventful. The landing however totally shook me. The runway was very slippery after the incessant rains. My first glimpse of Pune was not a memorable one. We plunged into total darkness outside the airport in a shady black and yellow Ambassador car that would have been easily more than 30 years old. It turns out that call taxis or city cabs haven't yet reached this side of India. So it is the monopoly of these pre paid cars at the airports. Take it or walk your way into the city.

The city welcomed us with wetness and darkness. Apparently, there are no roads in Pune. Only traces of concrete for more than a 20 Km stretch from the airport. Narrow lanes, congestion as you would expect anywhere in India. All those who claim infrastructure is a mess in Bangalore must visit Pune. There is none to begin with and get messy. The saving grace here is that the population is not as high as Bangalore. This is the Bangalore of 1999.

Thankfully, the area where we live is pretty good. Very spacious, a lot of open space and greenery. No congestion at all any time of the day given the fact it is on the outskirts. Sometimes I get the feeling I'm living amongst a retired bunch of people! I have started loving this side of Pune. Applying for a telephone conn that would have taken me more than a week in Bangalore took just a day here. Trust is still intact as in any town. The IT bug hasn't bitten this city in its entirety here yet. The bungalow we have rented is quite big and I'm having a great time decorating it. Taking out all the stuff that have occupied a corner of our lofts in our Bangalore apartment. In general, people are very accommodative and the transition into this city has been wonderful.

Tomorrow is Ganesh Chaturthi (festion of Elephant god). Maharashtra is very famous for this festival and we are quite excited to be here this year.

No luck on the job front yet! A product company turned me down yesterday citing I was no good. Suckers! Must have been one hell of a company! Quite demotivating.

More glimpses of Pune with some pictures soon....