Tuesday Jan 21st 1997
Mumbai
This is the day I was waiting. My first day in IT job. Perhaps my 3rd day in Mumbai. Syntel was the company I was about to join. They are closed on Sunday and Monday to sync up with USA timings. The day was big as this was also a day I have been waiting. I wanted to earn some huge bucks and prove to my father that his efforts in me did not go into drain and also wanted to make him happy. All his younger days were spent running after the daily bread for him and his family which consisted of 4 younger brothers, one younger sister and mother. His dad passed away when he was in his mid teens and he had to take the responsibility of the feeding the family at a very young age. He always wanted to study and loved earning degrees. He earned his second masters in Sociology after he retired from his Service. His first masters being in Telugu. He also did B.L and the diplomas he got, I do not know the count.
Anyway my father gave up his life, career and started working as a assistant in a Mess in JNTU Kakinada. Everyday in the morning, he used to travel about 5 miles on his bi-cycle to work. All his meals including breakfast were at the mess he used to work. He did not have the comfort of having breakfast at home as it would unbalance the finances for the month. He always aimed to take his brothers to a stage where he will have to raise his head to look for them. I remember few people including my mother telling me an old story. My grandmother could not see one person working so hard to bring up his family and always suggested to my dad to have his younger brothers give up their studies and make some money to the family so that my dad would not have to struggle so hard. To this my dad's response always was "I already gaveup my life. Let them go to school, study and have a good life. Why should they end up like me?". And this is what has happened. All his brothers leaped great heights in their career and none of them had any financial pressures unlike my dad in the later part of life. So, thru this job, I wanted to give my dad what he missed and lost.
Anyway, all this started few months ago. I did my PG in Nuclear Physics and was looking to take up a career as a lecturer in a college and I got into it as well. I always thought that you get a job in a reputed degree college you are paid an handsome amount. But my to utter shock, I found that what all I was thinking/dreaming is all wrong and the fact is too faaaaaaar from the planning I was making..The lecturers were paid few thousand rupees and making the ends meet with that salary was too difficult. One option was to stay in this job and make money with the extra tutions the students always wanted..I never understood why and how it was helping them. The other was to explore career in a different industry.
One day, me and my best buddy R.Sreedhar was sitting on the shore of the beach near my home. He just came from a Bangalore trip. He did his masters in Pure Physics and was working as a medical
representative. A few of my college mates who did their graduation with us and later M.C.A were in Bangalore and working in IT. One of them is B.Satyanarayana. This guy was as smart/dumb as me or Sreedhar. Sreedhar during our casual conversation asked me if i knew how much Satyanarayana earns in a month. I, who was making hardly Rs.2000.00 per month replied or asked "5000.00?". He had a hearty laugh and said "No..He makes Rs.10,000.00 per month". This came as a surprise to me. I remember reading in my Matriculation Social Studies book that President of India earns a salary of Rs.10,000 and for some reasons, I always thought President was the highest paid person. So dumb I was. He then said that we can also make good money by getting into IT and explained the dearth if IT professionals in India and the demand they have for fixing the Y2000 problem. I was so fascinated to hear that and Sreedhar explained that ALIT (Ashok Leyland Information Technology) in Bangalore was offering a course in this area. The fee for the course is Rs.40,000 and there would be campus interviews and if selected we will end up in the Rs.10000 salary bracket and if for some reasons we cannot make thru the campus interview, the market is open and definitely we would end up getting a job with a good pay.
All this triggered me. But how will I get Rs.40,000 was the question. My father is retired few years ago and still works as a part-time lecturer to make the ends meet. When my father heard about this from Sreedhar, he as always being a great father thought of my future and thought that I should join this course. His plan to arrange money was by pledging the house he built with lots of pain and suffering. And in the due course, I was to clear the loan and get back the house. I was in a big dilemma now. What if I cannot find a job? How will I clear the loan? These questions were bothering me. Sreedhar was giving me confidence by explaining examples of people who are fit for nothing finding a job after this course. First of all, I wanted to have a backup plan incase I return empty handed after the course in Bangalore. If I have to come back, I will always get the lecturer job and by putting in extra effort (Private tutions to people who always wanted), I thought I can clear the loan. Though my father did not have to pledge his house, he got the loan from his friend Shri Kumar garu. Oneday he noticed that my father was not as calm as he was and upon inquiry, he found the whole plan of pledging the home and the the tight timelines for this whole procedure. He loaned the money to my father till the bank provides him the money based on the pledge. Even today, whenever I speak to Kumar garu, I tell and thank him that because of his kind gesture that day, we are what we are today. Who knows, if he did not loan to my father and the banks could not give the money to my dad at the time we really wanted, I would still be making only few thousand rupees working as a lecturer. Thank you very much Kumar garu..You made our lives..
My Bangalore program went smooth and I got selected and got the job offer in the campus interview.
When I was coming back to Vizag from Bangalore, my father wanted me to visit Tirupathi and take the blessings of Lord Venkateswara and Thank him for helping me in my tried times. I never saw logic in this. I always believed that the only reason I got this job is my Dad. The pain he took to bring us up and put me where I am today cannot be measured. It is easy to give a great life to a disciplined son but to give a good life to an indisciplined son is never never easy. Only he could do that. And it made sense to bow and thank Kumar garu but not to anyone who had no share in the success. But I could not say No to him. So, I visited Tirupathi and did go to temple. But I did not want to bracket the Tiruathi Lord with my father. My father is way above than him.
I was in Vizag for few days and when it was time to go to Mumbai, my dad was checking the auspicious days and times which made me little mad. I argued with him but he always won since my argument with him never breached the line of disrespect towards him. I had to go on a day that was not in my plan. I have planned to join a few guys in Hyderabad who did their course with me and got selected for Syntel and go with them to Hyd. So, I left Vizag on a bad note with little mad for my dad orthodox and conservative thoughts.
The words he said before leaving Vizag will be never forgotten. They always helped me to keep me grounded. He said "You are now going to a different place. You will meet different people and make many friends. But never forget where you come from and what your background is". I do not exactly know what he meant. Did he mean that I might get into things I should never get into? Illegal or immoral activities? Do not know..Only he knows..
Coming back to the career defining day..
I along with bunch of friends went to the office of Syntel. They were expecting us and we were all taken to an orientation room and getting ourselves introduced..A HR opens the door, yells my name and tells me that there is a phone call for me. I was wondering who it is as we do not have a phone at home in Vizag. The call was from Renuka whom I do not know or seen only heard of. She happens to be a distant cousin. I take the phone and from the other side "Hi..Subbarao..This is Renuka..Sorry Subbarao to tell you this..Your dad died yesterday.."
