My Experiences with People: NRTPKP

I had known the name of this “Gulti” from Vijay. I was introduced to him by Vijay himself when I landed up in Delhi - N.R.T. Phani Kumar Parasa. Probably after his parents and himself, only I can expand the abbreviation in his name. ;-)

A dynamic, complex character which one can hardly understand and manage. He is a living mystery for any manager and he is always a challenge when he sticks to his words. Hardly few friends are there in his life because he can never be understood so easily by anyone.

Mysterious character because, he does not share anything bad and sad parts of his life; he only shares the good things and tries to spread the smile. He is always there to help the needy. The assistance he has given to so many new people who have joined the team is just not possible with any one of us, because we would be busy solving our own problems.

If we ignore his temper, we can find the mildest person on the earth. I owe my respect to his parents who has given such a wonderful person to this world. No manager would afford to lose a person like Phani, because he is hard working, loyal and dedicated team member. His hard work is to be rewarded and I am sure days are not too far that he gets his reward. He is so close to my heart because of his attitude. Somewhere he resembles me, when I started up with Infosys.

He becomes my teacher, because he expects very less from this life. For me he is a hero for various obvious reasons. I thank my manager who created an opportunity to work with this person. Many people might not like him for his harsh tone of speaking and blunt comments. But, he speaks out the heart and does what his heart says. Bro – whatever it is, you are just HERO, the living Super Man. The determination he has shown to fight the problems of his life is a inspiration for me.

SKK…. FUAH…. You are the MAN!!

My Experiences with People: Le Macha....

Between us, there has always been a discomfort I feel when we met first in the “Mt. McKinley”. His talks always irritated me. I felt he acts over smart and does not take anything seriously. This feeling continued in my mind even after knowing him for 2 year. Gradually my notion towards him started to change or he changed a little to get into the main stream.

In the beginning somewhere I was getting a feel of a competitor and did not like his attitude of showing himself to be the best in what he does. Gradually, when we started in same team and sat beside each other, got to know each other so well that we started complimented each other’s work and were good team workers.

As a person he may not be the perfect, but he always focused on perfecting ONES work and that “ONE” was never him probably until the last year. His ideas moved many of the people up the ladder. He remained always a plank of the ladder of others success. To an extent even I have used his to the fullest extent in my success. He would act as if he knew everything, but I can with 100% guarantee say that he did not know how to say “NO” and all of his managers would agree with me.

Always tried to help others, and he never expected in return. One thing I hated in him is that he helped who don’t deserve to be helped and some lazy bugs who would always remain dependant on him. Such helps really ruined his image to an extent. I remember every manager knew him very well but no one could help him because he himself was not ready to say “NO” to some his “friends”. I have had several fights with him in this regard.

Finally, when we landed up in Gurgaon, the most challenging phase of our career, we both were each other’s punching bags to take out our frustrations. We had sleepless nights and round the clock strategies at the Dhabas eating rotis and sipping liters of Tea. For Vijay, those 2 years were very crucial because he could stand on his own feet, take a pause from all “friends” and think about himself. He explored himself and understood what he has to achieve, what he could have achieved and where he would have been if he had done this a couple of years ago.

Vijay, the Virus – a minute body on this earth, like a microbe, very complicated character. When we start analyzing a problem to find a solution, he starts his analysis with a solution to find a problem to it. I was speaking to a common friend of us, and we accepted one fact that, Vijay can never know how to define a problem, because he always sees a solution. That’s where he earns my respect. 

I might have had hatred to the core because of some of his actions. But, many a times he is the one who has been a friend in need for me. So he is a friend indeed. If this page is not in a sequence, then please do not blame me, because I remembered his e-city house while writing this.

Now, you might be in confusion, whether Vijay is a Friend or a Foe to me! That’s Vijay for you!! CONFUSION!!!

My Experiences with People: Sir is Always "SIR"

You might have already read my “Entry into Professional World”. Once I got into the Team Yahoo! We were taken to a team where everyone was working on some unique colorful tools on the computer screen and talking some rocket science. We were given some shared systems which I had to share with Robin and Shikha (the Model girl). While we were working on there was fellow, hurrying here and there and everyone called him with suffix “Sir” and I thought he is one of the senior guys.

We did something in that system which I do not remember today. Later on we were put into content review. I was getting bored doing these reviews and like an angel, Pervez Bhai came to me and asked do you know MS Excel. I said “Yes, the basics I can handle”. He did some test on my excel skills. After two days I was all of a sudden called to work with EAM team. I was introduced to the team and I was surprised to see that “Sir” had joined just 2-3 months before us. When asked Pervez Bhai about him he said, “His name is Jayaprakash, and he was a lecturer somewhere in Mangalore, so we call him Sir, JP Sir!!” The moment he said Mangalore, my heart started beating with “son of soil” rhythm. I went up to him and spoke to him in Tulu and managed to get an introduction and background. Since then we have been closely connected with each other. 

Ganesh, JP and me belonging to same district of Karnataka had shared a very good rapport and has been maintaining that rapport throughout.

JP, as a person to me is a revolutionary, rebel and speaks out his heart. May not be liked by many but I respect him for the same fact because he has proved to me that he does what he says. He sticks to his words and it makes you feel he is very stubborn.

But, the other face of JP, is only felt by very few of his team member s and peers. JP’s mild gesture towards people in trouble, fun loving guy and enjoys watching others enjoying. He is always seen like an activist, however he is the mildest person I have ever felt.

Ganesh and I have never got dual mind in sharing our problems with JP. He has been a guide for us in many ways. He has been a motivator in tough times; he has been a critic when things are not going the right way. But he has never loaded us with his thoughts.

Probably, he is also a reason for my transition from Corporate to teaching. We have had several discussions around Politics, education and social systems. These discussions ended with what are our contributions towards these? His ideas and my opinions have always matched.

I have seen his personal life and closely watched the difficulties he had. But his focus and determination to achieve goal has been spectacular in every problems he has faced; may be professional or personal.

Whenever we meet (Ganesh, JP and me), like Gannu says, we don’t have to think to start a conversation. It starts with “Bokka Vishesha, Sir?” (What news? In Tulu) and ends “Barode” (See ya). We have never found a need for any filler in conversations. Though we hardly speak to each other on calls and speak only when we meet, somewhere our hearts are connected forever.

JP Sir, You have proved the saying “Failure is the stepping stone to Success”. Because no failures could stop you from doing the right thing and you have succeeded in your life because of your efforts, focus and determination. That’s why you remain teacher besides a friend.

 You are the ROCK STAR of Life and keep it ROCKING!!

My Experiences with People: Jack Of All - Master of the Most - Gannu

You call him genius and he means exactly what you call him! He call him fool – he will make you laugh!! You have questions – He has answers! You have confusions – He can confuse you to that extent that you will be feared to get confused anymore!

Everything he does he does with lot of effort and learns everything he does. Don’t be surprised to see him become “Ghajani”. He might ask you what’s your name frequently though he knows you from last 7-8 years. He might have forgotten your name but will not forget your personality.

He enjoys every moment and makes you part of his joy. He is my “Raj Kapoor” of Mera Naam Joker. He never reveals the pain hidden in heart! Probably very few has seen him crying and actually I feel good that he has considered me to be one amongst them with whom he can share his sorrows.

A person with a funny gesture has a serious philosopher in him and has seen the scariest face of the life many times but still has enjoyed every part of his life the he wanted. A craziest fellow I have ever met who can do anything to make his surrounding laugh and fill it with joy. 

A foodie who always drops into restaurants and gives you his reviews in such a way that you would really like to go and try it out. I remember we both had several varieties of mocktales in “Sahib Sindh Sulthan” of Forum, Bangalore and we spent around 15 minutes in the washroom.

I have seen in him growing from an “awful” photographer to an “awesome” photographer in no time with regular practice. And this attitude of his actually inspires me. He doesn’t care whom he is approaching to learn things. He just wants to learn new things everytime.

Personally, even today I am unable find an answer to this. Is he blessed to have a mom like his mom or was his mom blessed to have a talented son like this? What I can say is that they complimented each other. All qualities I see in him are, I am sure, are inherent from his mom and sadly she is no more with us but she will remain a part of my memories.

I haven’t spoken to him for a while now. Still I remember him every moment because he has let mark in my life which cannot be erased so easily. He has always been a well wisher for me, a friend in need, emotional backup, a good colleague, a stress buster and of all A VERY GOOD FRIEND for lifetime!

He is none other than – Gannu: Ganesha Sundar Rao V! Love you Bro!! Keep Rocking!!!

My Experiences with People : Swe...

I don’t remember exactly when I met her. But she came into our Process as a team leader of media ops team. When she came in it never made me feel any change in the floor. I just felt she is just another team leader on the floor. Even today I don’t remember exact place and time or date how we got to know each other so well. Probably Robin was the one who introduced us.

What I remember is there were many good looking, gorgeous or beautiful girls in the team and always enjoyed looking at them during the breaks.;-) Once we were introduced to each other, there was no one who could stop us from knowing each other.

Every day, we would go to the Café Coffee Day in the Infosys campus or the Terminal food court, have some tea or coffee or some snacks and talk all possible gossips. I would take the topic to Politics which I love the most and she hates it the most. Every month at least once we would visit the Subway and relish the subs there. When we had known each other so well the time had come to depart and I chose to get transferred to Delhi. But the distance could not be a barrier. We would call each other at least once a week and speak for hours together. Many a times my roommates felt that I am speaking to my girlfriend.

We both shared every happenings of our life, good, bad, personal or impersonal. Whatever that comes to our mind we would share with each other. There is not a single day that we have not fought. Our conversation would be incomplete without a “Thu” from her.

She is such a great friend to me that I would not afford lose her and I found her in Infosys. She is none other than “Swetha N Kadam”.

As a colleague, she has always shared her views on team management and as a veteran to me in management has always guided me in my managerial actions whenever I have asked for a help.

Most important role she has played in life is in the form of Critic. Probably her blunt criticisms have honed my personalities to this extent. Many a times before taking a decision I would think if Swetha was here what would be her question to me and what would I answer to her?

As I said earlier, we shared every aspect our life and she was always a support throughout my tough times in my personal life. Supported in every step I took and cautioned when it was a wrong one. Even when I decided to quit the job get into higher studies, she posed as many questions as possible which would come in my student life and ensured that I am ready for any kind of troubles I would be facing.

Swetha – a character in my life which gave many special moments but what I learnt professionally is “Work-Life Balance”. Personally, everyday is a new learning with her.

Even today we both use ourselves as punching bags and stress busters and Vijay, the Virus joins with us. Vijay will be a part of coming episodes.

Love you Buddy! Sorry, but could not resist from sharing this precious part of my life in this blog. And the worst part is that we have never a clicked photo together!!