Hey, I am going to WORK!!!!!!!

The year was 1997. The day was June 27^th. And I had just woken up into a warm morning cooled by the humming Air Conditioners within the confines of my room at home. I lay motionless in the bed listening to my watch ticking the seconds off counting down to the biggest moment of my then life – the first day of work. My parents got me the best dress to wear, new sandals and what not and I started nervously, clad in my new dress, new sandals, new hair band and a stunning breakfast by my mom, almost spill a drop of sambhar on my new dress, and took my bike to get to work. To Work! How awfully strange it sounded on that day to say I was going to ‘Work’!
It felt so much like a newborn baby, with nary an idea what to expect out of a career – except that, it should be ‘great’. The nervous pride of beginning a career in a dream company overshadowed the nostalgic memories that were being created in those very minutes. It was still like good ol’ college days, and the first few weeks of training meant I would continue to pour over notes and write exams and wait for results. The 90-member class room – where I always sat in the middle row – seemed just another extension of the college-day classes.
And when one such session was in progress we were told not to call the instructors ‘sir’ like we were so used to calling the college professors, but to call them by name; it was the corporate culture, after all. “Welcome to the corporate world”, one of the instructors had told us with an ironic smirk on his face. Life was never going to be the same again.
Well, it never was. Eleven years later, today, there is just the sepia tinted picture of those days etched in memory. I continued to work for that company for 8yrs where my career was born on this day and brought up this far; where I grew from an anxious kid into the stuff that adulthood is made of. Today, I know why it’s hard to write software, why they call customer the king, and why they taught stress management in college. I know age and energy are inversely proportional, and, needs and responsibilities increase with income. And I also know that choosing the seat next to the emergency exit gives you the maximum leg room in flights.
So eleven years, it has been. Enough time for a newborn to go to school. And that’s how long it has been since my professional life was born. A stutter here and a stumble there, but it has kept moving nevertheless

Vidya,

Very well said..I have been working for 7 years now... Still remember all those days :)
With Technology changing each day, even today i feel like am in college, learning new stuff.. and really enjoy doing so..

Congrats on completing so many successful years of Work Life :)

Regards,
Archana

Dear Vidya,

So very well written!! Vidya I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post!!
Thats quite nice to see the stability factor in your work which is kinda extinct now,nowadays they are all hopping from one job to the other,very few actually give enough time to grow with the organisation and yearn an Internal job promotion.Each year in the workplace is definitely a milestone where you learn so much and find that ultimately youve reached a place youve only dreamed of.
Your post made me nostalgic and I remembered the time i went on my first job all so excited yet unaware of whats gonna happen and well it was a fantastic experience one that I would always cherish just like that of the birth of my daughter because that day ,the day I got my first job in an event organisation, a new me was born.

Love,
Devika

All ..very well said...I remember one of my cousin saying..no matter how old we grow..but when we join a new job or a project the first day ..its always new...always the butterflies in stomach..not knowing what to expect or what not to...how to handle etc..etc..but however that feeling also makes us feel good...

Dear Vidya
WOW !!!!!!!!!!!! Please accept my salutation to you as a writer.. you rock!
One of my biggest regrets is that I miss reading great threads due to time constraint.
These past few days I did not want to start any thread as I really wanted to read some.. and boy am I glad I did. So very well written. Liked how you started and the new stuff etc and sambhar almost spilt.
Now you know about the leg room too.. and so much more you know today. I cannot agree with you more on Customer is King. Best wishes for a long successful and fullfilling career for you:)
cant wait to read more of yours! Great going..

Hi Vidya

I enjoyed reading this snippet of yours. It did make me mull over my experience of my 1st job! True... 1st job experience is always to be cherished since it really transforms one, from an academic world to the "real" world!

Cheers!

dear vidya,
well written!!!very true that with technology changing everyday learning never ends!!!!
regards
pavi

Dear Vidhya,

That was a great piece of writing! You have taken us all, back down the memory lane....i was also trying to remember all the first days i have had and that peculiar tingling sensation we have when facing something new and exciting.........but as we grow older , we know what to expect and those small excitements just give way to Accepting things isn't it.....at least i feel so after almost 25 years of my first day at my job!( Well my first job ended on the first day was another story when my father realised that marketing job was not the job for me and dragged me to get a Banker'S temporary job where i lasted only 20 days!) I was not a a career woman having had dancing as more than a hobby to fall back on, but now and then i have ventured to interesting jobs and it used to be exciting! Mmmmm, where are those days gone by i wonder!

Hi Vidya madam,
Nice writeup. I actually for your years of contribution for the same organisation. These days, very few people stay with the same company for more than 2 years. As if it is a custom, people look for a change once they reach this 2/2.5 years in a company. I have been working for the same organisation since 3 years, and the first question i usually encounter from my friends/relatives is " Arey, you are in the same company" and some pitful smiles too. And the worse, my parents too caught up with this trend and asking me now and then "did u keep your resume, did you attend any interview? Dont you want to grow in your career?". Strange, people simply dont understand that i am perfectly comfortable with the work, environment, growth and my pay here.

Dear Vidya,
I could related to this piece, one of the finest specimens of writing, emotionally as well. You know why? My daughter joined AIG as a Management Trainee just a few weeks ago.
And when she got her seat, her own phone, a mail ID from the company, all as good as getting an identity itself, she shot her first mail to me.

None of the womenfolk in our family had ever gone to work. (My wife, my sister or any of my brothers' wives have never ever worked before). So letting our daughter work was a major decision for Indhu and me. We naturally sided with our princess.

In her mail she wrote to me: "Dad, you can now lift your collars in pride, for I am officially the first professional woman in our family."

I was as much proud with her mail as I am happy with your post.

I need to place on record my appreciation for the beautiful command you have over the language.
Well done, Vidya.
regards,