My First day in SOFTCeLL !

Aug 02, 2004 – The day I joined SCG family. One of the days I would remember in my life throughout. My first job, secured with much ease when compared to the battle faced by my friends to secure their first job.

The memories of my first day in SCG still remain fresh. I entered office @ 0920 Hrs. One Mr. Lal Mohammed - one more new comer to the SCG group was waiting. It was his first day too. After formal introductions between us, we settled in the room which I later came to know as the Support / Training room. One Mr. Kumanan came in @ 0925 Hrs. He used to be punctual ….always, something which I witnessed in the later years. He appeared to be a man of 25 years. He is one of the persons who had a strong & stiff moustache I’ve ever seen. He was around 5 & ½ feet tall with a decent physique. He introduced himself & assured support to us whenever we need. His sounded very warm.

Within minutes we were going through the first session…..ANTIVIRUS. Trend Micro, Symantec, and MacAfee – these were the products explained to us. I was turning pale, as I was not able to register even a single bit of the training passed on. As far as IT industry was concerned, all I knew then was to open IE & check mail in my yahoo inbox. I can handle a bit of MS Office. The session was over in 45 minutes. The proceedings were totally in contrast to what I thought! I imagined the proceedings to happen in a much slower pace. Thought I would be given training for a period of one month at least and then I would be put on bench where I can nurture my skills and then I would be gradually pulled in for the real projects. An alarm went out in my mind – Dear Guru, first day, first ball, clean bowled for a DUCK. Kumanan gave us some materials we can use and was gone for a call. It was later I found that a CALL – is a response we give to our clients either by a visit preplanned or out of emergency to sort out an issue / installation / configuration. Lal started working in Windows XP. He simply asked for an Installation CD and started installing Windows XP. I was very impressed with his abilities. I watched him install the OS and then started to install mine on my own. I would have never completed without Lal’s help. In fact, it was Lal who did the installation on my behalf. Another alarm went out….Time for lunch !

We both went down and had a nice meal. Once done with my / our lunch, we came back. I requested Lal, whether he can help me out in learning things. He nodded. He was very warm. I thought, I can pick up things in a week’s time, at least the Windows XP installation. W(h)e installed the OS one more time. Around 1500 hours, Prasad came with tea. We took time to enjoy the tea. Once done, we started again with the installation of OS. By this time Lal was installing Windows server 2003. I was stunned. I asked myself, how many OS does he know? Lal asked me to install Windows XP one more time. For the 4th time, w(h)e installed the OS. Once done, I asked him to tell me how to install the Windows server 2003 OS. He starred at me and then proceeded to explain me that the installation of all the MS OS remains the same more or less. I was relieved. I still remember the number of times I asked him the same question to confirm that the installation procedure remains the same for all MS OS more or less.

It was 1700 Hrs and Lal started to revise the concepts explained by Kumanan. Without much option, I followed suit. It was then I realized that work is something which does not come to you as easily as education. No more spoon feeding. I went through the procedures on installing the Antivirus applications. I found them somewhat easy than the OS installation. Time was 1830 Hrs. I started to think as to what is the closing time? I would take at least 45 minutes to reach home. So I thought it would be better if I can use the restrooms before starting. I need to locate the Lavatory. I asked Lal as to where can I find one. He didn’t know. It was the first question for which Lal didn’t have any answers that day. I thought, I must find it myself. I came out of the support room for the third time that day. Ravi was occupied with some attendance reports. I asked him where the rest rooms are. He responded with directions. He also asked me to relax and have a look around. He also told me where I can find coffee, in case I needed one. For the first time that day, I went into what was called the Sales territory.

Most of the faces were unknown to me. I gazed on my way to the restrooms for Prem / Kumanan. They were the only persons I knew at that time. Prem being the person who interviewed me & Kumanan being my trainer. No luck. On my way back I once again gazed around & Prem was there with his laptop. He was wearing a white shirt and black pant. He was speaking with someone in his mobile. On seeing me he nodded his head. I smiled and came back to the support room. The time was 1915 and not even a single person had risen from his seat to call it a day. I wondered whether I would be able to start at least by 2000 Hrs. Within 5 minutes Prem made his way out. Ravi came into the support room and asked us to meet one Mr. Veera. It was later that I learnt that he was the branch manager. We went to his cabin. He greeted us with a smile and asked us from where we are coming. I told him that I come from Villivakkam. He responded by saying that he also comes from Villivakkam. Out of curiosity, I asked him the exact location of his home. As he told me, I was taken by surprise that he was residing in the street parallel to where I reside. We exchanged pleasant smiles and he asked whether we feel comfortable. He asked us to contact him in case of any help. He looked at his watch and asked us to leave as it was around 1930 Hrs & started to concentrate on what he was doing. I looked at Lal and he smiled his approval to take leave. I happy to finish one of the longest days of my life.