today is Saturday, November 24, and i celebrated Thanksgiving 2007 in India. 2 days ago we commemorated our most wonderful of American holidays with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn on the cob, and rack of lamb.
"now Rizwan," you might be saying. "just hang on a second there. how did you get all of those things in India? surely you can't just get turkey of all things in the Motherland!"
well, let me tell you about this little shindig we had Thursday night. first of all, the food was all prepared by one of the best chefs in Bangalore. although the chef's attempt at pumpkin pie was less than sub-par, the rest of the food was superb. and as for the turkeys: imported from Delhi, and i'm sure that even those were imported from overseas. the turkeys alone cost Rs 250 per kilogram, or approximately $13.75 per pound. they ordered 20 kilograms, which is a grand total of Rs 5000, or about $125. that's quite a bit of money for just turkey, especially in India.
but the fact that we had this fantastic food in India is not even the best part. the kicker was that we had all of this for free. our Human Resources department put the entire program together, which was really fantastic. [considering how incompetent and useless the department has been over the past four months, this seemed to be a reconciliatory move on their part, and it was much appreciated.]
i must say, i still am ITCHING to get back to the US, but moments like this make the wait easier to bear.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
India: how I'll miss thee.
*** NOTE: This post was written for another blog I guest-write for [CK Tutors], so if the tone seems a bit formal, please understand I had to write a little more professionally than I normally would here. ***
I have two months to go before I leave India, hopefully for good, and I've been reflecting today on my time here so far. And all this time I should have been studying for that exam I have tomorrow. Oh well.
One thing is for sure: I will not miss this country. Everything, every place, and everyone has its ups and downs, its pros and cons. Today we're talking about India, the Motherland, the Bharat, Hindustan. The land of my ancestors, the land I never knew until 4 months ago, and the land to which I will most likely never return.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not writing this with a bitter tongue. There are a number of good things to say about India, and I'll mention those in just a bit. But to help you understand where I'm coming from and why I feel the way I do, allow me to quickly recap the past four months:
Better examples come from the clothing industry. Tailors abound in India, even in dinky little Mysore where I've been for the past 4 months. I found one tailor here in particular who has been tremendously helpful - very well-educated, actually used to work for my company himself for a short bit before he and his brother decided to open up their own clothing and tailoring shop. Now he's very successful and enjoys what he does.
But I digress. If you've ever been to Tommy Hilfiger in the summer months and come across their white linen pants, which retail for about USD 70, you are about to appreciate what I have to say. Remember that the Tommy pants are pre-made somewhere on the other side of the world, and the price you pay goes not towards the stitching but to the corporation. Sometimes it's worth it to do that, but sometimes you can get fantastic deals if you're in, say, a country like India. I've had FOUR pairs of such pants made - not off the rack but tailored to my body - at about USD 25 for each pair. And when I say tailored I do mean tailored. I mean the tailor takes about 7 different measurements around my lower half, then cuts the requisite amount of linen material, then tells me to come back in a few days when he will have them ready. And every one of them fits me exceptionally well. In fact as I type this post I'm wearing my black pair.
In short, clothing here is fantastic. So is any kind of travel, compared to the US. Flying from Bangalore to Delhi and back again [about a 3-hour flight each way] set me back Rs 8000, or approximately USD 200. Try finding that kind of deal in the States.
And if you think I'm having a financial blast here, imagine how my UK counterparts feel. The exchange rate for them is approximately Rs 80 to the British pound, so their quid stretches even further than the dollar!
However, even with all of these great things here, I know deep down that this is not home, nor will it ever be. No matter how much I love the fantastic deals and the cheap food and inexpensive travel, I will never get used to the extreme poverty, the terrible infrastructure [driving on even nicely paved roads here is akin to rollerblading on gravel] and the cultural nuances that truly make me appreciate how good we have it in the States. I will cherish this six-month experience for the rest of my life, but I don't think I could do it all over again if I was given the option.
Soon, in two months' time, I will be saying NAMASTE to India and HELLO to the US. Until then, I'm counting down.
I have two months to go before I leave India, hopefully for good, and I've been reflecting today on my time here so far. And all this time I should have been studying for that exam I have tomorrow. Oh well.
One thing is for sure: I will not miss this country. Everything, every place, and everyone has its ups and downs, its pros and cons. Today we're talking about India, the Motherland, the Bharat, Hindustan. The land of my ancestors, the land I never knew until 4 months ago, and the land to which I will most likely never return.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not writing this with a bitter tongue. There are a number of good things to say about India, and I'll mention those in just a bit. But to help you understand where I'm coming from and why I feel the way I do, allow me to quickly recap the past four months:
- I am constantly harassed by 10-year-olds holding their baby siblings asking for money.
- There's nothing like seeing grown men, little children and sometimes the occasional woman all urinating or defecating in public. Really.
- Severe lack of communication, both within my company and without, makes for a very difficult and uncertain life.
- No order at all. The word "line" - which is very commonly known here as a "queue" [ahh, the remnants of British colonialism still manifest themselves in the most subtle of ways] - is absolutely ignored. Try to behave civilly when placing a food order and you will undoubtedly be shoved, pushed and ignored out of the way.
- India claims that officially, English is its business medium. All transactions must be conducted in the colonizers' native tongue [as I like to call it], and my company specifically mandates that at all times English will be spoken on campus and in all business dealings. Unfortunately, in order for this to truly work at the global level, the Indian education system [see my previous post], particularly with respect to how English is taught, needs a critical overhaul, because in its current state, the English spoken by native Indians around me is shoddy at best and abysmal at worst.
Better examples come from the clothing industry. Tailors abound in India, even in dinky little Mysore where I've been for the past 4 months. I found one tailor here in particular who has been tremendously helpful - very well-educated, actually used to work for my company himself for a short bit before he and his brother decided to open up their own clothing and tailoring shop. Now he's very successful and enjoys what he does.
But I digress. If you've ever been to Tommy Hilfiger in the summer months and come across their white linen pants, which retail for about USD 70, you are about to appreciate what I have to say. Remember that the Tommy pants are pre-made somewhere on the other side of the world, and the price you pay goes not towards the stitching but to the corporation. Sometimes it's worth it to do that, but sometimes you can get fantastic deals if you're in, say, a country like India. I've had FOUR pairs of such pants made - not off the rack but tailored to my body - at about USD 25 for each pair. And when I say tailored I do mean tailored. I mean the tailor takes about 7 different measurements around my lower half, then cuts the requisite amount of linen material, then tells me to come back in a few days when he will have them ready. And every one of them fits me exceptionally well. In fact as I type this post I'm wearing my black pair.
In short, clothing here is fantastic. So is any kind of travel, compared to the US. Flying from Bangalore to Delhi and back again [about a 3-hour flight each way] set me back Rs 8000, or approximately USD 200. Try finding that kind of deal in the States.
And if you think I'm having a financial blast here, imagine how my UK counterparts feel. The exchange rate for them is approximately Rs 80 to the British pound, so their quid stretches even further than the dollar!
However, even with all of these great things here, I know deep down that this is not home, nor will it ever be. No matter how much I love the fantastic deals and the cheap food and inexpensive travel, I will never get used to the extreme poverty, the terrible infrastructure [driving on even nicely paved roads here is akin to rollerblading on gravel] and the cultural nuances that truly make me appreciate how good we have it in the States. I will cherish this six-month experience for the rest of my life, but I don't think I could do it all over again if I was given the option.
Soon, in two months' time, I will be saying NAMASTE to India and HELLO to the US. Until then, I'm counting down.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
I was deep in enemy territory ...
and i pulled the pin, cocked my arm, and right as i launched my arm forward -
- the grenade exploded in my hand.
the ear-deafening explosion, the eye-searing flash of white, white light, and the pain.
my hand was on fire. i couldn't hear out of my right ear - in fact all i could hear was someone screaming like a lunatic, and in my complete disorientation it took me a while to realize that the screams were coming from me. i was on the floor, rolling around and screaming, "oh God! my hand!"
they came running to check. "is my hand OK?" i asked, too blinded and too afraid to see for myself.
"yeah, there's some bleeding," he responded. "we need to get you to a doctor right away."
went to the clinic, was seen right away by the doctor and nurse on duty, and was released that night, so apparently the damage wasn't too bad.
as i write this post the following day, i have been treated for burns and lacerations on my right hand, and my hearing in my right ear is spotty at best. it will take time for me to recover, but let's take stock: i have all 5 fingers, so that's good. and although i've sustained hearing loss in my right ear, it is neither total nor permanent, which means that eventually i'll make a healthy recovery.
by the way, this entire story is true, except you substitute "crappy Indian fireworks" - or, more accurately, "Rhino Bomb" - for the word "grenade."
apparently there's video of the whole thing. can't wait to see that.
- the grenade exploded in my hand.
the ear-deafening explosion, the eye-searing flash of white, white light, and the pain.
my hand was on fire. i couldn't hear out of my right ear - in fact all i could hear was someone screaming like a lunatic, and in my complete disorientation it took me a while to realize that the screams were coming from me. i was on the floor, rolling around and screaming, "oh God! my hand!"
they came running to check. "is my hand OK?" i asked, too blinded and too afraid to see for myself.
"yeah, there's some bleeding," he responded. "we need to get you to a doctor right away."
went to the clinic, was seen right away by the doctor and nurse on duty, and was released that night, so apparently the damage wasn't too bad.
as i write this post the following day, i have been treated for burns and lacerations on my right hand, and my hearing in my right ear is spotty at best. it will take time for me to recover, but let's take stock: i have all 5 fingers, so that's good. and although i've sustained hearing loss in my right ear, it is neither total nor permanent, which means that eventually i'll make a healthy recovery.
by the way, this entire story is true, except you substitute "crappy Indian fireworks" - or, more accurately, "Rhino Bomb" - for the word "grenade."
apparently there's video of the whole thing. can't wait to see that.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Why the Indian system of instruction needs a makeover - STAT.
i've become more and more disillusioned with the manner in which classes are conducted here in India. granted, i've never sat in on an engineering or computer science class at an Indian college or university, but it's safe to say that an instructor here at the company is a product of his/her intellectual and academic atmosphere.
and then we wonder why the Indians have lower levels of self-esteem and confidence in general and are naturally disposed to a level of academic immaturity never before exhibited by people our age in the States.
we're sitting in class and an instructor is teaching us on subject ABC. behind the instructor is a projected PowerPoint slide with 5 or 6 bullet-pointed sentences. across the top of the slide is a big question: "why ABC?" and each sentence on the slide is one facet to answering this question. clearly then, the answers to the question are right there in front of us.
the instructor asks, "so why ABC?"
and then waits.
and waits some more.
he wants an answer!
sir, i want to say. the answers are right there. we can see them.
but i remain silent.
instructor continues waiting. no one answers - it seems an exercise in futility, as we would simply be reading the answers off the slide.
enduring silence.
finally the instructor speaks. turning around to glance at the slide, he ticks off the answers on the slide, which were there in front of us the entire time.
boy, THAT was hard.
so now, mr instructor, let me ask you -- why do you ask us simple
questions with obvious answers? are you testing our ability to think critically - in which case you have failed miserably, since there is no need to do so with the answers right there - or are you testing our ability to read - in which case we should be sitting in a remedial English class, not company training?
this is the way in which classes are taught everyday at this company. and again, while i haven't been to an Indian university, the instructors at the front of the class and my Indian counterparts all around me are products of their academic and intellectual environments. therefore i feel it's safe to assume that this is how classes are taught at Indian universities as well. if you ask redundant, childish questions that require no thought or foresight at all to answer, then you are robbing your students of two things: (a) the spirit of inquiry and the thirst for knowledge, which have guided and advanced our species over the past 3000 years, and (b) the ability to think critically, which as a software engineer working for a global IT services company is crucial to say the least.
good job, India. way to spoon-feed your kids until they're 30 years old. you still changing their diapers regularly too?
also: lack of focus on the entire class. we're sitting in a classroom that has 4 rows of tables and chairs, split down the middle of the room to create a sort of aisle from the front of the room to the back. it just so happens that whenever real, substantial questions are asked [and those are few and far between, believe me], answers tend to come from my side of the classroom. i've been watching my instructors and they all exhibit the same behavioral patterns. this one in particular, standing in front of us right now, is looking almost EXCLUSIVELY at my half the classroom, thereby effectively ignoring 50% of his listening constituency. on top of that, he directs all of his questions and remarks to (a) those who have already answered one of his previous questions - as if he expects more out of them, which i'm sure he does - and/or (b) those who make direct eye contact with him. you look him in the eye for 5 seconds and he will latch on to you like an ocular leech and not let go.
hey mr instructor, i want to say. how about focusing on the rest of your audience? they're important too. pay them some attention - it might enrich their learning experience.
it's not the accent that bothers me, or even the slight nuances in English vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure [many of which are, linguistically and grammatically speaking, flat-out wrong]. it's the actual method of teaching. the word ineffective automatically comes to mind, but it doesn't do justice to the system. it barely scratches the surface.
stifling.
hmm. that's a little better.
not conducive to the pursuit of knowledge.
getting closer.
how about stabbing yourself in the back and shooting yourself in the foot at the same time.
i like that one best.
and then we wonder why the Indians have lower levels of self-esteem and confidence in general and are naturally disposed to a level of academic immaturity never before exhibited by people our age in the States.
we're sitting in class and an instructor is teaching us on subject ABC. behind the instructor is a projected PowerPoint slide with 5 or 6 bullet-pointed sentences. across the top of the slide is a big question: "why ABC?" and each sentence on the slide is one facet to answering this question. clearly then, the answers to the question are right there in front of us.
the instructor asks, "so why ABC?"
and then waits.
and waits some more.
he wants an answer!
sir, i want to say. the answers are right there. we can see them.
but i remain silent.
instructor continues waiting. no one answers - it seems an exercise in futility, as we would simply be reading the answers off the slide.
enduring silence.
finally the instructor speaks. turning around to glance at the slide, he ticks off the answers on the slide, which were there in front of us the entire time.
boy, THAT was hard.
so now, mr instructor, let me ask you -- why do you ask us simple
questions with obvious answers? are you testing our ability to think critically - in which case you have failed miserably, since there is no need to do so with the answers right there - or are you testing our ability to read - in which case we should be sitting in a remedial English class, not company training?
this is the way in which classes are taught everyday at this company. and again, while i haven't been to an Indian university, the instructors at the front of the class and my Indian counterparts all around me are products of their academic and intellectual environments. therefore i feel it's safe to assume that this is how classes are taught at Indian universities as well. if you ask redundant, childish questions that require no thought or foresight at all to answer, then you are robbing your students of two things: (a) the spirit of inquiry and the thirst for knowledge, which have guided and advanced our species over the past 3000 years, and (b) the ability to think critically, which as a software engineer working for a global IT services company is crucial to say the least.
good job, India. way to spoon-feed your kids until they're 30 years old. you still changing their diapers regularly too?
also: lack of focus on the entire class. we're sitting in a classroom that has 4 rows of tables and chairs, split down the middle of the room to create a sort of aisle from the front of the room to the back. it just so happens that whenever real, substantial questions are asked [and those are few and far between, believe me], answers tend to come from my side of the classroom. i've been watching my instructors and they all exhibit the same behavioral patterns. this one in particular, standing in front of us right now, is looking almost EXCLUSIVELY at my half the classroom, thereby effectively ignoring 50% of his listening constituency. on top of that, he directs all of his questions and remarks to (a) those who have already answered one of his previous questions - as if he expects more out of them, which i'm sure he does - and/or (b) those who make direct eye contact with him. you look him in the eye for 5 seconds and he will latch on to you like an ocular leech and not let go.
hey mr instructor, i want to say. how about focusing on the rest of your audience? they're important too. pay them some attention - it might enrich their learning experience.
it's not the accent that bothers me, or even the slight nuances in English vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure [many of which are, linguistically and grammatically speaking, flat-out wrong]. it's the actual method of teaching. the word ineffective automatically comes to mind, but it doesn't do justice to the system. it barely scratches the surface.
stifling.
hmm. that's a little better.
not conducive to the pursuit of knowledge.
getting closer.
how about stabbing yourself in the back and shooting yourself in the foot at the same time.
i like that one best.
I yelled at an innocent man today.
i went to do my laundry here on campus. setup is you pay for the laundry [Rs. 20, or $0.50, for one washer/one dryer] at the reception building on the way to the laundry facilities, then when you get there you give your receipt to one of the cleaning guys whose responsibility it is to manage the place. guy will take your receipt, pull a coin out of his pocket, and use it to activate the necessary number of washers and dryers.
today i had 2 loads - one whites [meaning HOT water], one bright colors [meaning COLD water]. so i get to the laundry place, get my 2 washers set up, add the detergent, and the guy closes the door. but then he starts both cycles without me setting the water temperature first. asshole jumped the gun. but hey, no problem, i think. on the whites one i set the temp to "hot." and then i move to the other washer and press the "cold" button.
and nothing happens.
i try again. nothing.
the washer is set on "perm press," which is bad news bears for my clothes inside.
i tell the guy, who's still standing next to me, "this one isn't working. what can we do?"
he says, in terrible broken English, "sorry sir, can't do anything."
"what?" i say. "this machine is broken. stop the cycle, let me pull my clothes out, and i'll move them into another washer."
he repeats, "sorry sir, this is your washer."
i get a little annoyed. "i need cold water."
"this is fine."
"no, i need COLD. this is not cold."
[Indian head wobble] "sorry sir, this is fine."
"it's NOT fine! i need COLD!"
"ok ok, one second."
guy runs off, comes back 30 seconds with manager in tow. by now i'm starting to build up steam.
manager: "this machine works, sir."
"yeah but it's not cold water. i need cold water."
manager, pushing button, "ok it's not working."
"right, so can i switch my clothes into another washer?"
"no, the door is locked [sure enough it is], you will have to wait 25 minutes."
me, now really pissed: "what? but the entire cycle takes 25 minutes! this guy pressed the button before i did, he's the one to blame. i didn't do this!"
"yeah, he's new guy."
now i'm seething. "and that's my fault?! do something about this! i need cold water. pull the plug, turn the machine off, do what you need to do so i can get my clothes out of there!"
all this time the new guy is standing there, clearly not sure what to do here but just as clearly slighted by my direct personal attack on him.
"ok ok," says manager. then yelling in Kannada: "switch it off from the back!"
machine switches off. i switch out my clothes into a washer that actually works. start the new cycle - with COLD water, thank God - and sit down to read a book.
about 5 minutes later the harshness of my words, and the icy tone of my voice, during the confrontation make me realize that i'm not this mean. usually i'm level-headed, i keep my cool, and i know how to talk to people. but more importantly, guy didn't deserve that. i feel bad.
i see guy and manager talking 10 feet away. i stand up, walk over.
"hi. i'm really sorry. i was upset and i should not have yelled at you. i'm sorry."
[Indian head wobble] "no problem sir."
just like that. instant forgiveness.
---
and that's when i felt REALLY bad. he was so quick to forgive. he made an honest mistake - he was trying to help me out with the first machine - and i carried it out into a 10-minute episode in which i belittled another person. something he most certainly did not deserve.
sometimes, i wish i could forgive that easily and that quickly in my life.
today i had 2 loads - one whites [meaning HOT water], one bright colors [meaning COLD water]. so i get to the laundry place, get my 2 washers set up, add the detergent, and the guy closes the door. but then he starts both cycles without me setting the water temperature first. asshole jumped the gun. but hey, no problem, i think. on the whites one i set the temp to "hot." and then i move to the other washer and press the "cold" button.
and nothing happens.
i try again. nothing.
the washer is set on "perm press," which is bad news bears for my clothes inside.
i tell the guy, who's still standing next to me, "this one isn't working. what can we do?"
he says, in terrible broken English, "sorry sir, can't do anything."
"what?" i say. "this machine is broken. stop the cycle, let me pull my clothes out, and i'll move them into another washer."
he repeats, "sorry sir, this is your washer."
i get a little annoyed. "i need cold water."
"this is fine."
"no, i need COLD. this is not cold."
[Indian head wobble] "sorry sir, this is fine."
"it's NOT fine! i need COLD!"
"ok ok, one second."
guy runs off, comes back 30 seconds with manager in tow. by now i'm starting to build up steam.
manager: "this machine works, sir."
"yeah but it's not cold water. i need cold water."
manager, pushing button, "ok it's not working."
"right, so can i switch my clothes into another washer?"
"no, the door is locked [sure enough it is], you will have to wait 25 minutes."
me, now really pissed: "what? but the entire cycle takes 25 minutes! this guy pressed the button before i did, he's the one to blame. i didn't do this!"
"yeah, he's new guy."
now i'm seething. "and that's my fault?! do something about this! i need cold water. pull the plug, turn the machine off, do what you need to do so i can get my clothes out of there!"
all this time the new guy is standing there, clearly not sure what to do here but just as clearly slighted by my direct personal attack on him.
"ok ok," says manager. then yelling in Kannada: "switch it off from the back!"
machine switches off. i switch out my clothes into a washer that actually works. start the new cycle - with COLD water, thank God - and sit down to read a book.
about 5 minutes later the harshness of my words, and the icy tone of my voice, during the confrontation make me realize that i'm not this mean. usually i'm level-headed, i keep my cool, and i know how to talk to people. but more importantly, guy didn't deserve that. i feel bad.
i see guy and manager talking 10 feet away. i stand up, walk over.
"hi. i'm really sorry. i was upset and i should not have yelled at you. i'm sorry."
[Indian head wobble] "no problem sir."
just like that. instant forgiveness.
---
and that's when i felt REALLY bad. he was so quick to forgive. he made an honest mistake - he was trying to help me out with the first machine - and i carried it out into a 10-minute episode in which i belittled another person. something he most certainly did not deserve.
sometimes, i wish i could forgive that easily and that quickly in my life.
Kerala -- God's Own Country.
quick post: 6 friends and i [actually the same group i went to the Golden Triangle with, minus one guy] traveled southwest to the Arabian Sea coast, to the small state of Kerala this past weekend. recap of adventure [which was really more R&R than adventure]:
leave Mysore Wednesday night on a comfortable bus and settle in for the 12-hour overnight journey.
arrive Thursday morning in Alappuzha, go down to the docks, and pick out a houseboat similar to [but nicer than] this one:
spend the next 24 hours on the houseboat chilling and floating lazily along the backwaters.
Friday morning load into the bus and make a 3-hour journey up to Kochi, where we bum around all day and go to a Kathakali show. spend the night in Kochi.
leave Kochi Saturday afternoon and drive further north to Vypeen Island, where we spend all day on the beach. watch the sun set over the Arabian Sea. leave that night, stopping only for dinner on the way back home.
arrive in Mysore around 7:30 am Sunday.
you can see all my pictures here.
enjoy!
leave Mysore Wednesday night on a comfortable bus and settle in for the 12-hour overnight journey.
arrive Thursday morning in Alappuzha, go down to the docks, and pick out a houseboat similar to [but nicer than] this one:
spend the next 24 hours on the houseboat chilling and floating lazily along the backwaters.
Friday morning load into the bus and make a 3-hour journey up to Kochi, where we bum around all day and go to a Kathakali show. spend the night in Kochi.
leave Kochi Saturday afternoon and drive further north to Vypeen Island, where we spend all day on the beach. watch the sun set over the Arabian Sea. leave that night, stopping only for dinner on the way back home.
arrive in Mysore around 7:30 am Sunday.
you can see all my pictures here.
enjoy!
Monday, October 29, 2007
New Job Title: [Associate] Business Analyst
OK so I was hired by my company with the title of "Software Engineer." Before I was hired, I asked my recruiters what exactly I would be getting into. A lot of us [there are over 80 of us from the US here] had the same question, since many have come from non-technical [liberal arts] backgrounds. And what they told us was that we would undergo a very intensive, technically-oriented six-month training in Mysore that would focus on programming techniques, coding, new technologies, all that, but when we go back to the States we won't be programmers but business analysts.
See, this company works only because of its patented delivery model. Think about it. A client in the US needs some IT solutions for his company. He contacts us. Analysts and consultants living in the US meet with company execs, determine what exactly the client needs, design specifications and prepare technical documents. They pass those things on to programmers in India, and then they go to bed. While the US sleeps, India is wide, wide awake. Programmers put together what needs to be done, pass it back to the consultants, then go to bed. While India sleeps, the US is wide, wide awake. Analysts and consultants on site are responsible for implementing and seeing the solution through to completion.
So basically the reason we were hired is because we're already familiar with US business culture and practices. We can speak English 100 times better than the Indians here. US clients [which provide our company with the overwhelming majority of its business and revenues] would feel more comfortable with US consultants. And we're more comfortable with client interfacing.
So under that understanding we signed up. At the same time though, we understood that the reason we were undergoing a six-month technical training was because our company is an IT solutions company. All of its employees who work for and with clients should have a fair understanding of programming concepts. They want us to be prepared to do on-site coding and maintenance - small stuff - if the need arises, although large-scale hardcore programming is left to our Indian counterparts.
So with all that said, things went terribly wrong. We were in training for over 3 months, and the people who are responsible for all company-wide entry-level training have just now realized that we are NOT going to be programmers! Clearly, US HR understood this, and they communicated that to us, but India HR apparently does not understand what is going on. [Lack of communication and miscommunication are two of our biggest problems in this company. It's abysmal.] We're not even the first US batch! We're the third! And only now that we've made a ruckus are they starting to understand that we're doing the client interface side of the business, not the coding side.
So to that end, Education & Research [E&R] put together a separate training stream that took us out of the technical training we were in 2 weeks ago and put us into a training that will actually explain to us, and help us prepare for, what we will be doing once we return to the States. So that's good news because now I don't feel like my training here will be a total waste. I mean it's great we've learned all this technical stuff and all, because it only makes me better-rounded and more marketable if/when I move on to another company, but in the immediate short-term, my first concern is being able to do my job well. And I know people who have joined the company and gone through the same training in the previous two US batches, and they've felt when they get back to the States that this training didn't really prepare them for their job in the US.
So now it's been a week and a half or so, and things are going swimmingly well. We have our first exam tomorrow [Wednesday], and it will be part multiple-choice objective, part open-ended subjective, which is almost exactly like my college exams. They've named this new stream Business Analyst training, and upon returning to the US we will have new titles. Officially for company purposes, as of right now we're still Software Engineers, but by the time we get back to the States there should be a new job role created called, most probably, Associate Business Analyst, which then opens up opportunities either as a BA or as serving in some other client-interfacing capacity.
Just thought I'd share.
See, this company works only because of its patented delivery model. Think about it. A client in the US needs some IT solutions for his company. He contacts us. Analysts and consultants living in the US meet with company execs, determine what exactly the client needs, design specifications and prepare technical documents. They pass those things on to programmers in India, and then they go to bed. While the US sleeps, India is wide, wide awake. Programmers put together what needs to be done, pass it back to the consultants, then go to bed. While India sleeps, the US is wide, wide awake. Analysts and consultants on site are responsible for implementing and seeing the solution through to completion.
So basically the reason we were hired is because we're already familiar with US business culture and practices. We can speak English 100 times better than the Indians here. US clients [which provide our company with the overwhelming majority of its business and revenues] would feel more comfortable with US consultants. And we're more comfortable with client interfacing.
So under that understanding we signed up. At the same time though, we understood that the reason we were undergoing a six-month technical training was because our company is an IT solutions company. All of its employees who work for and with clients should have a fair understanding of programming concepts. They want us to be prepared to do on-site coding and maintenance - small stuff - if the need arises, although large-scale hardcore programming is left to our Indian counterparts.
So with all that said, things went terribly wrong. We were in training for over 3 months, and the people who are responsible for all company-wide entry-level training have just now realized that we are NOT going to be programmers! Clearly, US HR understood this, and they communicated that to us, but India HR apparently does not understand what is going on. [Lack of communication and miscommunication are two of our biggest problems in this company. It's abysmal.] We're not even the first US batch! We're the third! And only now that we've made a ruckus are they starting to understand that we're doing the client interface side of the business, not the coding side.
So to that end, Education & Research [E&R] put together a separate training stream that took us out of the technical training we were in 2 weeks ago and put us into a training that will actually explain to us, and help us prepare for, what we will be doing once we return to the States. So that's good news because now I don't feel like my training here will be a total waste. I mean it's great we've learned all this technical stuff and all, because it only makes me better-rounded and more marketable if/when I move on to another company, but in the immediate short-term, my first concern is being able to do my job well. And I know people who have joined the company and gone through the same training in the previous two US batches, and they've felt when they get back to the States that this training didn't really prepare them for their job in the US.
So now it's been a week and a half or so, and things are going swimmingly well. We have our first exam tomorrow [Wednesday], and it will be part multiple-choice objective, part open-ended subjective, which is almost exactly like my college exams. They've named this new stream Business Analyst training, and upon returning to the US we will have new titles. Officially for company purposes, as of right now we're still Software Engineers, but by the time we get back to the States there should be a new job role created called, most probably, Associate Business Analyst, which then opens up opportunities either as a BA or as serving in some other client-interfacing capacity.
Just thought I'd share.
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