tower 8

After Smitha left Wipro, and after Kunal was moved to support, I did indeed work quite hard on what we called “Process Tracker” in order to understand what we were trying to achieve by using all those complex “drops” and even more complex stored procedures. While I do acknowledge the help I received from Dasam Sandeepu and world famous (Akshay) and of course a couple of other people, tower 8 was of immense help. There were times I would think hard and not come to a conclusion. There were times when Jyothi or someone else would point out a bug and I would have to dive deep to touch the rock bottom. Those were the times I felt tired and sometimes helpless. I don’t remember when and how exactly I got this idea but I started sitting on the stairs at the entrance of tower 8. The afternoon sun would not only give warmth but also get rid of my tiresomeness and unblock my mind. Stephen used to look down from sixth floor and always thought that I was trying to get a tan J believe me! I was not getting a tan. I was warming my head J If I was not satisfied just sitting on the stairs, I would go for a walk to amul and walk back with a mango dolly in my hand or sipping kool cafe. When I was a bit careless (which I often was), I would walk into coffee day on the way and get an iced caramel or mocha and complete my walk to amul and back. After about eight months of falling in love with the tower 8 entrance and those occasional walks, we moved to tower 14 in EC-4. Amidst all that excitement about moving to a new place I couldn’t help noticing that I would actually be missing tower 8 and the walks. In May that year I took a transfer to Hyderabad. A different project, a different account, and a different set of people. I did not quite miss people from Bangalore except for maybe Pankil, who of course never writes. Akshay was always on MSN until Janani came along (that is a different story) and so was Dasam Sandeep. But I longed for tower 8. The wonderful tower 8 which was almost human to me. In mid may and subsequent summer months and winter months in Hyderabad Wipro office, I wished I had never come to Hyderabad. I made great friends like JP and Peeyush and yet, tower 8 seemed the only place where I would attain ultimate salvation. I came back to Bangalore back to tower 14 (courtesy Dileep and thanks to him, I had a perfect marriage-office balance) and sometimes thought about how nice it was in tower 8 for I must admit, my second stint in tower 14 was not all that rosy! Today, thirteen months after quitting Wipro, I miss tower 8. I once again long for those lonely afternoon walks and my attempts at acquiring a tan J I wonder how I never felt lonely in spite of actually walking and sitting alone! I miss that place. I really do.