22nd September, 2013...Finally the day had arrived which was long awaited for. Yes we stepped into Infosys, Mysore. After a lengthy interval of nearly two years of our recruitment (Oct, 2011) INF (Infosys nickname hereafter) with its arms wide open welcomed us showcasing its mesmerizing, giant and an exotic training campus. In the interimINF had not missed a single opportunity to assert us times and more by its very affirmative emails and letters. And therefore we had also shown our adequate faith and commitment towards INFs sound image.

Laden with bulk of baggage we almost forgot our fatigue and became aflame as never before. The woe of retiring from our lovely homes for at least 4 months had taken a back seat for a moment. We were greeted convivially right from the very first security guard at the entrance to every other new face we glanced to. As soon as we were inside the distinguished Mysore campus, we were asked to keep our bona fides handy and organized. Not much to our surprise we were able to sense that we have entered into a world of rules and decree, where only nature has its own guidelines (Let me introduce you to We-Triptika Bhandari One of my cute and very lazy close buddies since Std. 8th.We have been enjoying and sharing lives and have many beautiful memories together.Sana Parveen A Chinese look cute little creative friend from college. We share many common likes: D

Sanjay Aswani-A strong and fun loving hero who will have a say in everything you talk about. He is the best/worst critique since time immemorial. :D (Spare me Sanjay)

and myself. From Jodhpur to Mysore via Ahmadabad and Bangalore we had a journey never like before, waiting in excess of tiredness at Bangalore Airport, loading ourselves with the puffed out luggage into a single miniature taxi and finally reaching to the destination(. This we will be joined by 4 more fun lovers (After a few formalities where we had successfully proved our legality, we were appropriated to a huge hall where we were briefed about some more form filling .I wonder if the database handling this huge amount of particulars gets crashed one day .No worries INF is not an immature kiddie in any respect. Theres a way out to everything.So, very excited and relieved we were given a temporary identity card and room keys. We 3 (Trips, Sana and myself had requested for same room but were bluntly refused .We did not dare to make another attempt and mutely accepted our respective keys and headed in a queue which had no happy faces.

We announced our building numbers and three were glad getting the same Block No.63.As soon as Sana disclosed the room number 203, I was utterly surprised seeing the same digits on my key .We managed to console our unhappy friend-Trips and went ahead to the Tempo Traveler which took us to our respective buildings. The vehicle took some twists and turns and had stopped on a meandering way amidst lush green landscape and beautifully crafted spacious buildings numbered clearly. Ours was 63!So fascinated with the marvelous building, we were very curious to witness our stay, our rooms. Few girls around had already brought Mr. Camera into action(Another tempo had already got our luggage in front of our buildings and we were supposed to carry them to our rooms. We carried the bigger one and struggled to reach to 2nd floor, taking pauses more than required so as to take delight of the view .Once we reached the room, needless to say ,nothing in world would have given us so much joy at that time. The stunning fully furnished room with oversized beds having feather like mattress did steal our hearts for a moment. The silky off white curtains were sliding over the crystal clear glass door and allowing the sun rays to make a hidden entrance in the room. Two huge wardrobes having a digital locker possessed every feature we would not have even wished for. The tall, luminous mirror was the perfect match for a selfie .Last but not the least, the washroom was no less than a neatly and delicately crafted exquisite area which had left us spellbound for sure. I wish to bring to your notice that we were completely taken away by the beauty of our rooms and our bag packs waiting for their owners had became orphans for those minutes: D

Happiness becomes double when shared and so did we. Calls and texts . to let everybody know for the next few months we will be source of countless pictures.

Indeed INF provides you nothing less than premier quality and in turn expects paramount usage of your caliber (All of us had contacted our friends and flattering conversations were going on. We decided to meet up to explore the divine campus which was supposed to be our training regiment for the next couple of months.

Here come the furious 4.Ashish Nahar : A silent spectator whose actions speak louder than words. One of my close friends since college.

Divya Chopra: An ambitious beauty with brain lady. Used to be my study partner and responsible to get me out of my sleep in college days.

Aditi Garg: A studious and gracious, music lover who loves to be the topper!Abhianv Gehlot: A humble, modest and a very pleasant gentleman.We all have pursued B.Tech in Comp Science from the Jodhpur Institute of Technology (JIET) and destiny wanted us to be together in this lovely place too!

All of us got very relaxed and felt a bit home like after meeting our regional friends as there was no sight of someone we could go and speak in Hindi!!

Very tired and very excited to unpack what INF has got in for us, we waved a good night as the next day required us to be seated and glare at the effective presentations and listen attentively to the management.

23rd September, was the day of Induction. We were made seated in a gigantic and a round shaped architecture which is INFs peculiarity :The superstructure MULTIPLEX (which screens movies for Infoscians).One after the other we were briefed about the rules, regulations, processes and guidelines we had to abide by until we are employees of INF. People from top management showcased their oratory talent and we all were all ears to them. Its a matter to think upon that very polite spoken and decently dressed individuals nevertheless do flaunt subtly when working in Corporate!

We were no more only visitors but had to make ourselves accustomed to the pleasant climate, utterly civilized people and morally upright behavior .Today if we look back and ponder ,certainly INF has inculcated a sense of duty ,a sense of honor and a sense of responsibility which has helped us becoming a wiser individual (From 24th September till a week, we had to undergo a GENERIC training which was to brush up our basics and prepare us for the bigger thing way ahead. Post this training; a test was to be conducted which was to decide whether the trainee is eligible for a FASTRACK course or an INTERMEDIATE one. As the name suggests, the brighter students sailed across...to mention it was the very brilliant ABHINAV amongst us .So ABHINAV was to become a full time employee sooner than all 7 of us, as we had to experience an extra month of training because INF believes in equality of status: D

In high spirit, we took our non qualification very optimistic and were happy as our stay was extended by a month at least, if all goes well.Now, the next on list was the INTERMEDIATE training which went on for nearly a month. We had our classes in Global Education Center (as INF calls it) and to be frank we took so many days to convince ourselves to go, sit and learn in a place which serves other purpose.

On the first sight of the Global Education Center (GEC1 and GEC2) one could not believe in their wildest dreams that its a place where computers/machines are in most population. The massive white stoned angelic monument which is intrigued with fine grained marbles is a perfect sight to gaze upon. It is no less than a kings palace serving those extravagant and stunning vistas which will mesmerize you deep inside. You ought to not even take off your eyes from even a single artifact which have been brought together to hold its viewers spellbound. The fountain show at night in front of the main entrance adds enormous beauty to the already enthralling and shining structure. For the initial days, until we became close relatives to the GEC, our phones galleries were overloaded with the videos and images of this picturesque monument.

We started having regular classes commencing @9:00 AM sharp, missing which you were to become a focus of eyes entering into a class of more than 200 odd people. From morning till evening we had so much in our plates to learn, perform and reciprocate as well. One thing we were very curious of every single day was the instructor who was to come to take up the session as they were all unique in their own way. Some would be young and carefree, would put themselves in our shoes and therefore were fun to listen to. Few of them were in their 30s-40, peeping through those thick spectacles and expecting the 400+ ears/eyes to remain in action until they are done exhausting their tremendous insight upon us. Lastly a very few of them had already impressed us by their smart and quirky mannerisms and undoubtedly we looked forward to them.

Every day it was a routine that we 8 will meet @lunch and blabber out the happenings of half a day.

Out of the 8 vibrant Food Courts of INF, we used to assemble and fill our voracious stomachs at MAGNA which was at the below most floor of GEC. One who reach earliest would take at least 8 coupons pertaining to 8 different meals including north Indian/southern/Chinese / .WhatsApp was undoubtedly a savior to let us know each others locus in an area flocked by hundreds of trainees.Standing in endless queues had become our habit and we would cheerfully pass our time chatting about every nonsense stuff, after all much of sense/wisdom was getting through our tender brains while in classes. Once each one was one the table and all the 8 plates were placed, and then only we used to lift up the forks/spoons/hands. No matter how much time we had to wait for everyone to be there,8 of us had shown our full commitment to equality of numbers! I remember once two of us had gone to pick a parcel from the main gate which would consume minimum 30-40 mins round the trip, with all the plates eagerly waiting our intervention ,we patiently waited for their arrival and galloped over food only once all ensured their presence.

Some actions are weird to perform but still we are comfortable exercising them (Having a juice post lunch was our ground rule no matter how much filled we were. Those exotic fresh fruit juices from Metro Cool were tempting enough to make us stand in yet another queue. Worth to mention, our group treasurer was Abhinav (later Sanjay and Ashish also showed joined in),we would hand over a fixed decided amount to him, following which others were not required to spend a single penny on common spending .And all the guys have done their jobs in a flawless manner! Big thanks to our bankers. (Then comes the worst part of the day, post lunch sessions! Initially it was difficult to avoid naps in those cozy chairs and air conditioned rooms, but gradually we were required to get more serious towards our assignments and evaluations. As days passed, we were moulded into a more appreciative and less ignorant person.Indeed INF has numerous incentives to deliver to its future employees .Evenings went by strolling in those finely built pathways which would remain as clean and shiny as they were existing in vacuum .Hats off to the facilities guys for their diligent efforts to make INF look youthful and charming round the clock. To much of our surprise we could not believe our eyes, that a giant tech-company like INF is equally concerned about the leisure and fun activities as well. Our first reaction to the praiseworthy RECREATION CENTER(RC) was just Wow!!!. A bleeding blue pool with delicately polished surface made us feel there could be no place better than this. The splendid Gym endowed with those sophisticated machines and instruments were extremely fascinating. The Bowling alley welcomed us with emphatic background music, exposing its features lavishly. To get you relaxed and afresh RC also facilitates you with the very alluring Steam Bath. You gonna definitely feel hot-off-the-press after those 20-25 mins of unfamiliar experience.

The list goes endless, INF would knock its residers and visitors their socks off, boasting about the marvelous facilities it was offering to its pupil. There is Aerobics to keep you fit and healthy, Yoga to let yourself in peace with self, Music Practice to let your talent speak for you. The sport lovers would not take a day off from playing and sweating in the very exciting Badminton Courts, Table Tennis, Lawn Tennis, BasketBall, Volleyball, and Rock Climbing. For those who are insiders,INF would greet you as well, with Carrom, Snooker .The Indian Cricket Lovers would be more in love with the game seeing the walloping cricket ground .I am sure ,the athletes would not have witnessed an extraordinary racing track displaying its terrific beauty. Here comes the panoramic view.

You are all by yourself, once you pay a meager Rs.300 per month for all of the above mentioned stupendous facilities. Yes I am in my senses and not joking (INF was keeping on surprising us and at every other amazement we expected more.Afterall humans are greedy! :DWe were not allowed to get along any electrical device including iron box. To surprise us even more we were facilitated with the LaundroMarts making us feel at home with precisely fitted iron stands. Gosh! Those large washing machines were so efficiently working, you would get your clothes accurately washed and dried in just an hour. We had to dedicate few hours of one day out of our weekend for this necessary task.

The nights were pleasant , with all the street lights turned on ,people in groups sitting and gossiping, few busy on long calls, few adventurous ones trying out cycle stunts, few roaming and getting lost in themselves, INF has everything to make us feel delightful and relieved after spending an accomplished day. We used to sit late nights on weekends and chatter and share out experiences, laugh out our stomachs and talk useless for hours. (Our first outing was to The Mysore Palace and The Zoo. The very distinguished palace was a beautiful sight and the antique paintings and belongings of the Wadiyar dynasty were simply worth witnessing. Out there, we clicked few pictures to mark our arrival and headed towards the Zoo. The Mysore Zoo inhibits more animals and birds we have heard of. The variety of colorful birds and the description displayed would tickle you off about the greatness of nature. The Zoo covers a huge area which has been clearly fit with signboards which would help one traverse the way out with ease. It is certainly a must visit to experience and appreciate the creativity of the Almighty.

Our visit to the well known Bridavan Gardens was mesmerizing too. Though not maintained properly currently, the lavish gardens had once attracted mammoth gathering and was a famous spot for shooting scenes for movies.

Now was the time for celebration, it was ADITIs birthday. We had presented her a collage gorged with Mysore Pictures framed by the very proficient VIRTUAL STUDIO. Following her birthday, we made it a rule to present everyone a collection of pictures which would surely see a change in the center image:D

I remember, we had gone for weeks together to Garuda Mall ,Habitat Mall and the mighty Mall of Mysore in quest of a legal gift for Aditis Birthday as we decided to gift her only what she needed at that moment.(behaved mature enough) :D. And Aditi ended up disclosing her wish for FOOTWEARS. Nevertheless ,it was super fun (Next in queue Sanjay,Ashish,Sana and Abhinav all got their presents in time ,according to need and complimented with a collage needless to say :DWanted to mention here, those temporary identity cards were soon replaced by the digital chip cards with our photos engraved on them.INF would not believe in you until you are subjected to sensors legalizing your finger prints..Yes every swipe out and swipe in stand in need of our unique finger prints.Fridays were looked forward desperately for the forth coming weekend and for The Dominos Delight! We dare not miss even a single One-On-Offer by Dominos in another lovely FC(Food Court) Fiesta. Weekends were reserved for our very own TONIF(Taste of North Indian Food),right outside the INF Campus, serving taste matching to the North Indian cuisine-particularly Shahi Panner,Daal Makhani and Naan ( which inside campus was nowhere to find.

Dussehra (Dasara) was on the cards and we thought of devoting ourselves for the very famous Mysore style celebration. Over the years Mysore has become synonymous with the Dasara (or Dussehra) festival. It is the most extravagant festival of Mysore. According to Hindu mythology the festival celebrates and commemorates the victory of Goddess Chamundeshwari after slaying the demon Mahishasura and the triumph of good over evil.

We went in full excitement and vigor to witness the pompous celebration and somehow managed a shady place in a shop of the main market. It was a state organized procession consisting of floats, the police and their bands, mounted guards in royal livery and folk artists and musicians. The mighty decorated colorful elephants are the integral part of the celebration.

Drenched in sweat under the scorching sun the city was immersed in the grandeur of the festival and so were we. While returning, much to our amusement we were seeing Mysore decorated as never before. The palace lit by candescent golden bulbs presented a beautiful sight. The roads, shops and market were ornamented lavishly. Yes Mysore was submerged in a golden veil and had become an epitome of beauty for those few days.In a need of break from the daily classes, much to our relief a long Diwali weekend was on calendar. The weather was blissful and we packed our bags for a two day trip to Ooty. Cutting out our way through the Bandipur National Park with the sight of the most common animal including deer,neel-gai ,peacocks it was a thrilling journey and fascinating road journey .We roamed around the captivating hill station ,visited all the tourist spots, loaded our mobile galleries with pictures and concluded our very memorable stay at the enchanting place. We ran like never before from the gate and swiped in our cards exact @9:30PM after which we were not allowed to enter the campus. (Few days later we also visited to the mighty waterfalls of Shivasamudram and the artistic temple. Back to our beloved GEC, it was time we were to get allocations for our respective streams i.e. the third and the final step of the ladder STREAM TRAINING.Sana ,Sanjay and Divya obtained SAP and Aditi,Triptika,Ashish and Myself got BI(Business Intellegince).The Fastrack guy Abhinav did not have to climb the second step ladder ,he was already undergoing his stream training in MainFrames. (Our days were to become more occupied and GEC was adamant enough to catch hold of us till late evenings. We had to appear for regular evaluations which were divided into 3 Formal assessments(FAs).We had to undertake unvarying objective and subjective tests which would eventually add up to our final score. Objective Exams behaved abnormally and one could not predict his/her score as they would differ largely in consecutive attempts. The subjective exams had proved to be our saviors most of the time (

Our fun and frolic meanwhile had seen no hindrance meanwhile after all we are efficient time managers.(Out of the two days of every weekend one day was occupied standing in long queues and obtaining the movie tickets. I can recall the time was Dhoom 2 was screened, we all had woke up early and came and stood in the already elongated queue @6:30 AM to watch the show @10:0 AM.To our dismay the tickets got over just before us and to our joy we became the first members of the queue for the afternoon-1:30 show. Finally we were granted the tickets after showing our endless dedication for the long awaited Amir Khan starrer.

INF celebrates every festival with great vigor and pomp. Also showcasing the talent in a multitude of thousands of pupil is in INFs genes. It was a gala time when PARICHAY-the yearly cultural festival, was in row. The INFUSION-the sports festival was the opportunity for the sporty ones to flaunt their talent. Frequent town halls with eminent personality witnessed a huge gathering and a series of discussions took place.STRAP the yearly business event was a home for big names of industry disposing off their insight to the youngsters.INF greets and appreciates all its achievers and successful employees by honoring them with awards and accolades.

Also we had a mesmerizing evening with the melodious queen Shreya Ghoshal as part of one of the yearly festival.With so much of happening around how days had passed silently, we got to know only when Divya got transferred to Pune. It was hard to bid her good-bye as we had become so much customary of each other. Few days after we had to bid another adieu to Abhinav when he got allocated to Pune in late December.

January was overloaded as we had to work on the final project and ensure we get good score. With everybody quite busy in the project we used to meet only during meals. The time gradually progressed and we were entitled to become employees for INF. Till now were Trainees.The day each one us were so much anxious about had come when we were to get our locations. Sana and Sanjay got Bangalore, Triptika and Aditi got Pune,(lucky ones,Abhinav and Divya were already there),Ashish got Hyderabad and I would not like to recall that level of disappointment and dismay when my screen flashed with TRIVANDRUM .The only one location everyone was praying they dont get posted too, except few of them. I had literally cried and planned to quit company. My parents (mom in particular) were equally convinced to call me back. Dad somehow asked me to explore any chances of swapping if there. To my rescue, a classmate named Nidheesh had appeared whose preference was Trivandrum due to proximity from his home town. I was allocated to Mysore once again! Today also I dont have words to thank my savoir whom I owe upon time post training. Thank you so much dude! Ashish also had swapped with someone who wanted to go to Hyderabad and Mysore was the only option he was getting. Finally the enthralling 8 had to dispense and I and Ashish had to propose a farewell to Sana, Sanjay, Triptika, and Aditi. It was difficult to wave those good byes remembering the joyous and lovely moments we had shared together.But it is rightly said, One should move to greener pastures with time .

All of us remain much occupied in our lives that we dont get to meet often. Life is a struggle if one aspires to trace its journey on own. Remembering and cherishing those moments gives a smile and a sense of satisfaction about what we have accomplished. Each one of you is special. Keep rocking! Miss you guys (INF has been a glorious period of my life. So much to learn, so much to experience, so much to explore. It has rightly taught to live up to ones morals, ethics and live life freely and righteously.Man is a social animal who cannot live on its own. In unison with the factINF has given a towering number of wonderful friends/colleagues who have been part of the good moments spent together. My sincere thanks and regards to:

Mousumi Maam(Very understanding and admirable SPM)Thilak (A wonderful and brilliant team lead)Amanda ,Geethika,Naziya,Divya,Nishikant,Sheshadri,Ashish,Manoj,Sunil,Arjun,Sanal(The stupendous team) including the entire consumer the entire Consumer Portfolio.-Keep on achieving(

Sumathy,Kaviya,Sarada,Shruthi (My housemates)

Yash,Kunal,Himani,Pushpit,Shweta,Govind,Nikita,Akanksha,Renu,Tanuj,Anirudh,Gaurav,Sushma and all the guys of the 23rd Sept Champs.You rock! (

PS, This is not a farewell note, just a testimonial for Infosys, Mysore! Good Luck everyone. (