On July 7, 2005, fresh out of college, for my first job, I stepped into Samsung Electronics – Samsung India Software Operations Pvt. Ltd (SISO) office premises at JP Techno Park, Millers Road, Bangalore. Almost 5 years later, on 22nd March 2010, I am here again, at the entrance of this building with grey exterior.
Nestled in the centre of the city, abuzz with activities, surrounded with multi cuisine restaurants, with a view of the towering Vidhana Soudha, floodlights of the Chinnaswamy stadium, trains chugging in and out of the Cantonment railway station from the open and airy cafeteria, the lush green golf course just a walk away, I could not ask for more from my workplace when I joined. With a daily commute of about 10 km from my Airport road residence then and no entry timing restrictions, life was pretty hassle free and interesting. I worked in this premises for roughly 4 months post induction training and then we shifted to Bagmane Tech Park, CV Raman Nagar.
Nestled in the centre of the city, abuzz with activities, surrounded with multi cuisine restaurants, with a view of the towering Vidhana Soudha, floodlights of the Chinnaswamy stadium, trains chugging in and out of the Cantonment railway station from the open and airy cafeteria, the lush green golf course just a walk away, I could not ask for more from my workplace when I joined. With a daily commute of about 10 km from my Airport road residence then and no entry timing restrictions, life was pretty hassle free and interesting. I worked in this premises for roughly 4 months post induction training and then we shifted to Bagmane Tech Park, CV Raman Nagar.
Far away, from the heart of the city, flanked by green foliage and adjacent to a lake, work began in a new 8-storey building at Bagmane Tech Park. It started getting mundane within a week’s time with only offices and high-rise steel/aluminum – glass panel buildings in the vicinity and techies with ID cards dangling from their necks for our sole neighbors. Blame it on the cut off locality; away from all the hustle bustle of Bangalore or the routine that I had set into, the dosage of boredom persisted in good amounts in the new premises.
The boredom quotient was sustained by my husband’s tales of visiting few good restaurants, near his office on Richmond Road, for lunch. Few trips to his office in the evening made me crave even more for being in the centre of the city and use all of its strategic importance. There were offices of all kinds here – courier centers, marketing/sales offices, schools and colleges, lots of buses plied on the road with common man in them, samosa and chai wala up with their sales around the corner; this was a whale of a change from the nexus of techies in which I felt stifled.
However, Bagmane Tech Park, more precisely – Bagmane Lake View – Block B, remained my second home for nearly 3 ½ years, not away from my first one at New Tippasandra. A relocation plan added little difference – our division shifted further deep into the already isolated tech park – we shifted to Bagmane Tridib. It was no better, but a different set of neighbors in adjacent cubicles, getting to know few more of our colleagues, made the 6 month stint at Tridib a good one with no additional complaints.
Then came the news that we were shifting to JP Techno Park, Millers Road. It was all grapevine and we were not too sure till the end. But now I am sure, here I am, writing this post from my new office at JP Techno Park, back from where it all started for me. For me, life has completed a full circle. After an hour’s commute in BMTC bus, I came to Cunningham Road, walked down from the bus stop to office reminiscing my early workdays.
Almost 5 years back, I had no complaints. What is the project in which I will work? What training will I receive; will there be tests like in college during training? How will my teammates treat me? A ton of such questions hogged my mind.
Now, I swiped at the door, entered to find those same meeting rooms, recollected where I sat before, complained about the chairs at the desk, about the route the bus took to reach Shivaji Nagar and contemplated how I am going to manage my morning household chores with commute to work topped with timing restrictions of swiping in by 8.30 am. Things have changed and so have my reactions.
I am happy that I am back in one of the prime locations of the city. The view from the cafeteria was just as awesome as before – with UB city buildings adding more glitz. With IPL season currently in full swing, I pledge to stay back one of the evenings and admire the full power of floodlights from Chinnaswamy stadium. May be I can even hear the cheer and roar from the stadium from my office cafeteria. The contemplating process still runs as a parallel thread in my head like a train on the rail bridge to cantonment station, a pot pourri of feelings, serious thoughts of a hectic routine ahead and some happiness about being away from the lackluster Bagmane Tech Park.
Just some time to get accustomed to my new routine and I can bridge the gap, complete the full circle that life has defined for me.
The boredom quotient was sustained by my husband’s tales of visiting few good restaurants, near his office on Richmond Road, for lunch. Few trips to his office in the evening made me crave even more for being in the centre of the city and use all of its strategic importance. There were offices of all kinds here – courier centers, marketing/sales offices, schools and colleges, lots of buses plied on the road with common man in them, samosa and chai wala up with their sales around the corner; this was a whale of a change from the nexus of techies in which I felt stifled.
However, Bagmane Tech Park, more precisely – Bagmane Lake View – Block B, remained my second home for nearly 3 ½ years, not away from my first one at New Tippasandra. A relocation plan added little difference – our division shifted further deep into the already isolated tech park – we shifted to Bagmane Tridib. It was no better, but a different set of neighbors in adjacent cubicles, getting to know few more of our colleagues, made the 6 month stint at Tridib a good one with no additional complaints.
Then came the news that we were shifting to JP Techno Park, Millers Road. It was all grapevine and we were not too sure till the end. But now I am sure, here I am, writing this post from my new office at JP Techno Park, back from where it all started for me. For me, life has completed a full circle. After an hour’s commute in BMTC bus, I came to Cunningham Road, walked down from the bus stop to office reminiscing my early workdays.
Almost 5 years back, I had no complaints. What is the project in which I will work? What training will I receive; will there be tests like in college during training? How will my teammates treat me? A ton of such questions hogged my mind.
Now, I swiped at the door, entered to find those same meeting rooms, recollected where I sat before, complained about the chairs at the desk, about the route the bus took to reach Shivaji Nagar and contemplated how I am going to manage my morning household chores with commute to work topped with timing restrictions of swiping in by 8.30 am. Things have changed and so have my reactions.
I am happy that I am back in one of the prime locations of the city. The view from the cafeteria was just as awesome as before – with UB city buildings adding more glitz. With IPL season currently in full swing, I pledge to stay back one of the evenings and admire the full power of floodlights from Chinnaswamy stadium. May be I can even hear the cheer and roar from the stadium from my office cafeteria. The contemplating process still runs as a parallel thread in my head like a train on the rail bridge to cantonment station, a pot pourri of feelings, serious thoughts of a hectic routine ahead and some happiness about being away from the lackluster Bagmane Tech Park.
Just some time to get accustomed to my new routine and I can bridge the gap, complete the full circle that life has defined for me.
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