What am I up to
“What are you up to these days?” – is probably the question that I have been asked the most in the last 3 months. But the interesting thing is that my answer, irrespective of what I say, is always followed by the same next question – “No, What I mean is that what are you REALLY up to these days?” It’s really hard for people to believe that somebody will leave Microsoft and join a much smaller company back in India (and I don’t blame them for it, I agree that it’s really not too common).
The straight answer is that I have joined a company in Noida in the capacity of a technical lead. The company is growing really aggressively and is a good fit for anybody who is ambitious and believes in growing with a pre-IPO company. There, definitely, is a lot of difference between the work cultures here and at Microsoft (more on that later) but I can assure you that positives and negatives both almost balance out each other. I will get back to the “not too straight” answer in a later post, and there definitely is going to be news in that.
The last 3 months have been really happening for me, both in a positive and not so positive ways. On the positive side – I am much closer to my family, have met a lot of influential people, learnt a lot about technical and people management, and about the Indian system in general – besides enjoying the delicious indian food and the road side pani-puris (water balls). And on the other hand, I have never experienced death more closely than I was when I was a part of the accident that took place between our bus and a truck leaving 13 people dead. Luckily, I got out safe with just a minor fracture in the neck area and bruises here and there.
So, life has shown me many ups and downs in these months- though the former outweighs the latter by a order of magnitude and I feel all the more confident that my decision to come back was right. Never in these 3 months have I regretted my decision of coming back (okay, with the exception when I am busy hurling abuses at the chaotic traffic in Delhi). Other than that, India has really really developed a lot in the last few years and I only see it improving more and more in the coming days.
As I write this, my belief that it makes more sense for a Indian sofware professional to be in India only gets strengthened. It’s really a logical decision and not just an emotional decision, as many people thought when I was coming back.
Stay tuned for tomorrow – I am going to describe some interesting services in India!
Hei Ashish!
Good to hear of your experiences in the past few months. Very interesting reading and well written. Looking forward to more posts from you.
Your ex-team mate…:)
Hey Nihit, What a pleasant surprise to see you here. Heard from Vinod that things are moving well in the team. Things have also been hectic for me with this new venture but it’s really really exciting at the same time. Keep in touch
I am glad that you are happy about your decision to come back. I too want to come back but my husband who is also an IITian does not want to come back….. Till now I used to curse IITian guys for not havinf the zeal to come back
You changed my mind.
Being a Microsoftian myself and someone who years to leave it all and go back to India it was defintely interesting read this..hope you have recovered from that horrilbe accident though.
Soy, believe me when I say that I have met a lot of IITians in the past few months who were in the US and have come back to India. And I certainly believe that this is the right time to come back. And then India has really changed (developed) a lot, you will not miss the normal comforts if you stay in the right areas.
Parul, thanks for the concern – I have also met a lot of ex-MSFTians here who have come back in the last few years. It may still be not too late
hi ashish
in fact this is my first blog reading and it intrigues me. u r not only a software engg but a good writer. if u have time
tell me how one can start on this interesting hobby.
Hi Ashish,
Nice Writing keep it up….
I really Enjoy reading your experience even though I don’t know U …
Regards
Kiran
Hi Ashish,
thanks for your writing. Iam planning to come back to India but still thinking over. Any suggestions?
Regards
Pooja
Ashish, a very good article. The best way I can summarize is that today in India the Quality of life is much better than the US, and yes we have problems and the daily nonsense but in the bigger scheme of things we are much better off in India. As you mentioned that living single is no picnic along with the elderly who have become free baby sitters for their grand children willingly or unwillingly. And for them it is labelled a “Golden Cage”, where they don’t drive, stay at home and the children too busy to take them anywhere, so that is where they get so depressed. Yes it is a part of paying back, and there is nothing wrong with it. I wish that all the NRI’s can post articles to a group create by yahoo (NRIHELP) and share their thoughts, ideas and experiences so that we can help each other and streamline the processes. Sounds like Microsoft – Processes!. I have gone back a year and half ago after being Right Sized at a very large Telecom company after 15 years – where is the job security, we need to make our own. Yes you may say that we are making dollars but have you looked at the other side of it, such as wear and tear on your body, long hours, unappreciative bosses, living alone, etc… Ask yourself – Is it worth it ? Yes you have that in India also but there are other things there that make up for the difference. As you get older your views and philosophy change and you see things in a very different light. I have picked up a book “The Elephant Paradigm” it is an excellent book so far about half way done. The bottom line is that we need to get off our asses and start making a change rather than accepting the way things are. Remember that competition has worked wonders so let us work on the Civic sense that is needed in India. Let’s set an example. When we travel overseas we are supposedly very good citizens of the new land where as in India we treat it like “Dirt”, WHY ! What is lacking for the NRI’s is that there is no central point of information which is badly needed as in the US they may not help you but there is enough documentation to help you through. What I keep running into is that people don’t want to help thinking that it will reduce their value, they just say “Humko Malum Nahi Hein” (I don’t know anything). Anyway this was supposed to be a well done posting but felt the urge to vent out in the hopes that I have struck a nerve. Thank you for your time.
Its so good to read this – I am also keen to come back to India and kind of double-minded right now.
very nice article and thanks for sharing info. It will help up to come back in near future.
Thank you for sharing your experiences…a good read. Its good to have a one time experience staying in US though, but yes want to come back soon…It always more in developing countries than in developed country….
Hi, Great Article, I have been staying out of India at Shanghai. I am confused if I should move back to Inida or take a step to Australia. It is becoming a tough call..
Interesting article. Would really help if you can throw some thoughts on the research about coming back to India. What is the best process and how we can make the best out of the MS education from USA, in India.
Interesting article!!
So how did you discover your new company?