The First Day

1015 am - Office Car Park

Warman and I, after a long, tedious journey and exhibition of unwavering concentration, crafty manoeuvering skills and patience finally made it - to our office. (I have no doubt that Warman would beat Alonso any day, on Bangalore roads!)

The first day. We did not exactly expect a lavish reception with flowers, cards and long-winding smiles and encouraging pep-talk (that happens at the Ritz Hotel, New York - we had a case study on that!) but what happened out there beat our expectations hands down.

1020 am - Office

Voila ! The office gate. Two striped glass-doors. One huge rectangular glass sheet on the side which proudly proclaims that THIS is the haven of the "best analytical minds in Supply Chain Management" and we both staring at it with a sense of pride and achievement at having made the cut. Then, we see that in all its glory, the doors are LOCKED. Yeah, locked. And you saw the time right !

1030 am - Bench Outside Office

Now, since our Senior Manager is in by 1030 we had decided to wait outside our office where there are some wooden benches a-la the ones besides Thames, London.

Now, I must accept humbly that I have never been to London, but over here I do acknowledge the contribution of my dear friend, philosopher and guide Karan Johar for allowing me to have a taste of London from the cosy comforts of the front row of a theatre. So, we both, Warman and I, sat down (NOT a-la Kajol & ShahRukh!) and discussed India's economy, shares to invest in what company, what would be the implications of Mallya's 'friendly' investment in Air Deccan. (We are MBAs, our discussions are strictly business-oriented!)

1045 am - Still There

15 minutes, by which time we have by using our awesome analytical skills have narrowed down and nearly found a solution to India's economic problems as well as our current financial ones, we decided to call our Sr. Manager.

"I am working from home today. Yesterday, Gaurav had not come. Nilesh will come at 12. Am not sure whether Raj would make it today. And Milind's bro is in town. So, he might as well not be around. Call up Milind to enquire about Raj."

By this time, we both wanted to say "I'm loving it!".

1100 am - We will Join TODAY

Having called up Milind we were assured that Raj would definitely be there and we assumed by default, before Nilesh. Hope, you see, hope !

1125 am - Made It !! Nearly :(

25 minutes later Gaurav turns up.

During this time, we had concluded without any doubt that we are at the right place. THIS is where we were destined to work. No fixed time to enter office. No compulsion for new entrants to be skeptical, to be unnecessarily formal - THIS is what a workplace should be like. It reinforced our idea that there ARE people like us out there who are competitive yet not obsessed by it, who are professional with a sense of balance, who are confident and not insecure, who would not assume much importance to a new entrant but would treat them just as one of theirs. We were impressed.

And then, Gaurav says "I don't have the key" (To which my immediate thought was "AV has")

1205 pm - Finally !

So, all three of us went to the nearby Cafe Coffee Day outlet. And again discussed you-know-what. Half an hour later, we decided to check. And lo behold. There was light inside !

I can bet that of all the guys of our batch, no one would even come remotely close to the experience that we have had. A locked door, a wait of one-and-a-half hour, no induction or orientation - something of a novelty which only a start-up can assure. The indications are positive. Only time will tell, whether this is the 2nd good decision of my life. Till then, continue to do what we did from 1020 to 1205 !