Flashback

Four days...15 months of my life relived. Visited the office where I received my first ever paycheck. I suppose its one of those things that'll always stay with you, that feeling when you see the 'fruits of your labour' in your bank account statement for the very first time. I guess some people might recall theirs with distaste, but, I like, most, am rather fond of Infosys Mangalore or MInfy as it is referred to by insiders. In the context of the ubiquitous world of software development, most people think of misprints and typos when they see Mangalore instead of the B city. This one though is Infy's first development centers (DC) outside blore. Enough with the trivia...but it was a special feeling to see the office which was still under construction when our batch of trainees moved in early 2001 (after 3 months of training in the far-less-imposing old office in the 'Star of Bombay' complex). Looking at the office building flash by as the bus entered the city in the early morning hours, I could so easily recall the excitement of moving into those spanking new cubicles with the then state-of-the-art compaq machines. The gym, rec centre, landscaping etc were only completed in the subsequent months before NRN formally inagurated the DC.

Disembarked at Saibeen complex...the hep hangout place pre-mall and multiplex days where had P pick me up and we went to his 'penthouse' apartment...the days of 3-4 20-odd year olds in 2-3 BHK apartments seem to be long gone :) Had a good view of the city and while the weather was familiarly balmy, the hundreds of coconut trees swaying to the breeze surely beat the view in the concrete jungle.

Was a working day for the employed, so napped for a couple of hours and joined the others at office for lunch. The instant visitors photo ID i was handed at security said 2 things; i was exactly that..a visitor and that this place now had the security of a nuclear research facility. Even though I was only allowed until the lobby, P & A made calls and I met a whole lot of project-mates, roomies, bosses (the 'ex' is implied). Got ribbed about the weight I'd apparently put on in the last 2-3 odd years, of course i claimed it was all muscle ;) But apart from the 15 odd familiar faces, there were a lot of completely different folk milling about with the everpresent ID card dangling out of various pockets. Guess you can put down the sense of ownership to nostalgia..but this felt...well...familiar...

Will take a couple more posts to do justice to the trip...more later...