A year doing nothing

Baarish hai khayalo mein sab dhul jaayega,

Roshan rasta naya ek khul jaayega,

Beh jaayega tinka tinka kal ka silsila chalo,

Mil jaayega aur ek haseen kafila chalo,

Dhoop k makaan sa ye,

Hai safar dhalaan sa ye,

Mod mehrabaan sa hai ye

These words were on my mind while stepping into CDAC world on 8th Aug, 2011. So many thoughts were revolving around and I had to wash out those in order to have a fresh start again. I am saying it as a fresh start but in reality it was a risky one. Here's the story of how I landed up at CDAC.

Till May 2010:

I did graduation in IT for namesake, since it was the only option left with me then. Now when the three years of graduation were on the verge of completion; my classmates were planning for MCA or M.Sc.IT. Some started preparing for interviews and some even started doing a trainee job. The final project completed on 17th May, 2010 and I just chilled out for rest of May eating Alphonso mangoes of my home town. 

June-July:

Now what to do next? This question started bothering me. I knew that I didn't have answer to this since I didn't choose this career willingly. There were only two options: either do a post graduation or do a job. Doing M.Sc.IT was completely not of my interest since I did not like syllabus and the foolish me didn't knew that MCA requires an entrance exam which already got conducted in Feb or March. So this option was gone. We could do MCA from IDOL (Institution for Distance and Open Learning); but even that entrance exam was missed. Another option was to do a job. Now companies were hiring graduates as trainee whose stipend was around 8000 per month. After completing a year, we could be employees. I was very clear that I am not doing any trainee job for 8000. I wanted to be a confirmed employee and earn at least 20000 per month; such high aspirations and no plan to make it happen.

August-September:

Results were out in August and friends did apply for Masters, some got jobs, etc. I still had no answer to my question. What I was doing was this: going to the market, buying groceries, going to the bank, paying bills, watching nonsense daily soaps, sitting on the window and watching the rains, eating a lot of maggi, etc. It was during this "doing nothing" phase of life that I became Maggiholic. Now people have too many questions to ask when nothing is happening in your life. Did you put your resume on naukri.com? Are you not able to crack interviews? etc etc. Some even suggested for NIIT and SEED. But I wasn't interested. I wanted to do something correct and in the first go. I know it sounds weird but having experimented myself for three years in graduation I didn't want to go into the trial and error loop. 

October:

Papa's friend recommended going counseling to Mr. Nitin Deshmukh, owner of Gayatri Technolabs. The meeting was for counseling and I was told that its an interview. First of all, I wasn't willing to go since I didn't want to live with a burden of getting job through some references. But I still prepared for it just to keep Papa's word. The office was at National Park; Mama accompanied me. Mr. Nitin Deshmukh asked me only one question on operator overloading in C++. Then he started reading the resume and said, "We recruit only Engineers. But still my friend insisted on guiding you, so I called you." This was enough for me to understand that it wasn't an interview but a counseling session. Then he elaborated the difference between engineering and an IT graduate. I just wanted to get out of the room because the word engineering was going into my head. Thankfully Mama peeped into the room and completely changed the talk. He just asked one question, "What do you recommend Pranita to study further?" To this Mr. Deshmukh replied, "I recommend her to do a course from either NCST (now known as CDAC: Center for Development of Advanced Computing) or an MCA from MET. But the entrance is very tough at NCST; many are unable to crack it." Finally Mama thanked Mr. Deshmukh for his valuable guidance and we both left the office. I was disappointed, not for the fact that I wasn't an engineer, but for getting to know the reality that just an IT graduation could take you nowhere. Mama calmed me down. He said he will find all the information about NCST in next two days. I went home like a statue which was moving physically but gave no response to whatever was asked. Two days later, Mama called me at his home in Andheri. He also did homework of finding everything on website. We reached the CDAC office in Juhu. I enquired for the courses. There were two courses available: FPGDST (Full time Post Graduate Diploma in Advanced Software Technology) for one year and FPGDIS (Full time Post Graduate Diploma in Information Security) for six months. I actually liked the FPGDST Course for its subjects were very interesting. We asked about the entrance exam. The entrance exam was called CST (Competency in Software Technology) and it was held twice a year, in Jan and June. The course is scheduled from Aug to July. I registered for the CST exam and paid the form and fees.

November-December:

Now when I had an answer of what to do next; I got into the process of cracking the CST. It was tough exam, could make out from the sample questions, and it had negative marking. Papa still insisted on searching for a job, but I was firm on my decision. I started going to the Lalbaugh Library for reference books and made notes for myself. Now doing all the nonsense jobs stopped, even sitting in front of the idiot box. I was completely in studies and here few of my friends even got married.

January:

The exam was on 30th Jan, 2011. I utilized this month for revisions. The exam centre was at a school in Dadar, not so difficult to find. For the first time, I was alone sitting on the stairs doing the last minute walk through important formulae. Gone were the days of having classmates around before exam. Now when you choose a different path then you have to walk alone for a while. There were four papers. The exam started at 10 am and completed by 05:30 pm with a 30 minutes lunch break. There was negative marking hence I had to be very careful while selecting the correct option. Moreover it was question of my life ahead so nothing should go wrong. I had the confidence of clearing the exam based on the correct answers I wrote. That very night, I slept peacefully after 8 months.

February-March:

The results were to be declared in April. So what to do now? I kept going to the library, started reading novels. Twilight was first on the list. Simultaneously I started watching the serial "Pyar ki ye ek kahani" on Star One; the love story of a girl and a vampire. When the brain has got nothing to do, it starts random imagination. I started thinking that since I did not fall in love till now, maybe I will fall in love with some vampire. My brother was appearing for SSC exams so I was here to help him out with the revisions and doubt solving, giving tips and tricks, etc. It was like I am repeating Class X after six years. Again my Papa insisted on taking second opinion from his friend who recommended the counseling session. I know it was a question of my life but there wasn't any life or death situation that a second opinion was required. I was anyways sitting at home, why not go out and listen a lecture for free! free! free! Now they were recommending UPSC/MPSC entrance exam and aim to become a Collector. This was never in my dreams. I heard of all the stories etc etc. Finally I made my point clear of having no interest in doing a Collector profession. My result was yet to be declared; I was determined that in worst case if I fail to crack this time then I will prepare for the June exam. I know that neither Papa nor his friend liked my decision; but it was my life and my career.

April:

Results were out in the first week and I did clear the exam. So now what, take the admission asap. The fee was to be paid in two installments: one in April, one in July. I had to convince Papa for he was going to pay money. May be he thought then that was an unprofitable investment and it would rather turn into loss. We visited CDAC, Kharghar to see the infrastructure, hostel, etc etc. We went through the Dahanu Panvel MEMU. I was happy and assured that my choice was not wrong, it was different. Now Papa wanted to meet one of his friend's who recently took a flat in Manasarovar. Listening to one more lecture on life was not of my interest. I had to pay the first installment of the course and also the admission form at CDAC, Juhu. It was the first time for me to travel the Harbour line but there is always first time for everything. There was no smartphone so no m-indicator. I wrote the stations till Kurla in my notepad, self help. I reached Andheri, took the 257 JVPD bus, got down at Apna Bazaar. The childhood holidays at Mama's home did help me know what is where. I got into the cyber, filled the admission form, and took two printouts of the same. Again I took the bus to CDAC. I did the payment and submitted the form with all the attested photocopies of mark sheets. Finally I enrolled myself for FPGDST. I was hungry since I had only bread and butter in the morning; I compensated it with two bottles of Mazza. The scorching sun of April was merciless but my mind and heart were at calm state.

May-June-July:

Three months went into reading Harry Potter series and also the admission processes for my brother. I had to guide him through everything: catching the train, changing to Central line at Dadar station, etc etc. I paid the second installment of fees in July. I was all set for a new journey; it was a bit scary but was worth walking alone. I did get a confirmed job and 20000 per month in hand salary from Asian Paints when I got placement through CDAC.