As tall as the Utility Building!

What's common between the once iconic Utility building (bengaluru) and I?

Hint: Both are 70s vintage3?and took on the Y2K issue head on? ??

Double? hint: Both have 25 stories (while I may not have a story per floor, I have stories that can floor!) ??

If it did not help, let me then start off with a context setting.

I recently completed 25 quick, short, and fantastic years in the IT Industry and with TCS this November 2024.

Man, what a ride and more!

Like the Utility building, I believe I am standing strong on the foundation laid by mind-blowing experiences, with a fascinating squad of peers, colleagues, teams, and lifelong friends.

In this note, i attempt to describe my journey with my colleagues, that transformed a young shy un, fresh out of college, into someone who built relationships and can navigate any waters with style.

If i were to summarize, my modus operandi (in hindsight) across these 25 years

• Everything I did, or try, was with an intent to do better than what was expected. Even slightly better helps, to begin with. And then it becomes a pattern, finally settling into an addiction [think thirst and persistence]
• Asked a lot of questions, AND raised my hand before I was asked. Both traits instill a certain level of confidence and self-belief. Build these [think focus]
• Furiously competed with my peers and seniors. There was exponential fun and greater learnings this way. Helps bring out the best in everyone [think showmanship]
• Moved around?(nomadish) every 4-5 years, from my known circle, group, and comfort zone, while at my best, consistently. Helped widen perspectives and forced me to learn and outperform [think networking, creating opportunities]

A big shout out to all my peers, colleagues, teams, and clients i have worked with, on the same side or opposite ends of the table, you are my people.

You pushed my buttons, and I pushed yours! ??

You all made the trip worth it.

A few from my list with whom I have worked, learnt from, grown together, gone to battle, or even prepped as battle ready leaders (in chronological sequence):

Mahesh, Karthik, Nagi, Lalit, Ramesh, Vallish Ramu, Subhasish, Rupam, Vidya Nair, Sada Siva, Anil, Anand, Komma, Himangshu, Venky, Sreelatha, Guru, Rajeev, Reddy, V Ram, Debashis - we helped put together one of the largest and best transformations I have been lucky to witness, at the very start of my career. Vallish - you and i were the first (out of college) team members to start off the journey in Chennai and what a ride from there on. It was magical to see Mahesh, Karthik, Lalit and so many others in action and soak the knowhow. I am still riding on this high!

Vivek, Krishna, Shree Raj, Ramesh, Suresh, Saro, Nagi, CS Saraswathi, SVN, Deepa, Satya BVV, Venkitesh, KNV, Suneeta, Vidya, Ganesh, JP, Ashok, Kaba, Karthigeyan, Satheesh, Ratan, Maha, Sasi, Anand, Arul, Anjana, Uma - we grew up together and helped build one of the greatest platforms for the Capital Markets space. (Nagi, thank you for accepting my zero defect module ??)

These were my audacious days with SVN, Satya, Deepa, Suneeta, KNV, Venkitesh and the PLs (Krish, Raj, Nagi, Ramesh, Lalit, Suresh), all competing to see who is the best and could survive the onslaught of expectations from us as Module leads and 2-3 years of experience then (we documented Business Requirements, wrote tech specs, designed the DB & components, built the damn components, got them working and shipped them too?? And what countless discussions between the MLs and PLs gang (moderated by Vivek who had his hands, legs and head full ??) ! My golden period where we learnt how to build a product from scratch and have fun while at it.

Omkar, Srivatsa, Suresh, Rekha, Guru, George, Sudhir, Stalin, Santhosh, Vinyas, CKS, Sivakumar, Sivaraman, Jey, Vidya R - Real life example of how the forming, storming, norming and performing stages played out. When you have both Murphy and Tuckman rooting for you??, its bound to get exciting. We finally brought in stability & predictability in experience and quality. Happy to see many of your careers take off from here.

Lakshmi, Bipin, Kartik, Srikanth, Subbu, Prakash - fantastic team and leaders, it was great navigating some of the situations with you all together and giving it our best. A very mature and advanced engagement setup that was a different experience.

Sumit, Sona, Riyaz, Rakesh, Prasanna, Ashwajeet, Ankur, Sushil, Maggie, Praveen, Srikanta, Prashanth, Girish, Manish, Anirban, Jena - My current (and some ex) partners in crime. Fantastic scale and intriguing operating model. Brilliant team. Wonderful to be part of this group where we looked at scaling beyond scale. Fabulous trajectory and proud of having built some of the foundational blocks that will carry this momentum forward.

You put us in any situation / room, and we sure will stir up victory or blast the walls off with our energy. ??

Amazing knowing all of you, working alongside you, and creating proud stories.

Kudos to my gang as well, who help kept sanity around - BMS Bulls (95BB Mech) and my KV NAL psychos ??. You know who you are and how much you alma mater (pun whatever) to me...

As I soak in this milestone, I am looking forward to scripting my next innings.

p.s.: all credit to my better half for proof reading this note and any missing tags is duly also credited to her ??, she has been an integral part of my journey, both at work and on the personal front, thank you Vidya. At some point, she has had the realization that she was seeing too much of me, at home and in office, and called it quits ??

1 A fantastic mural (around 30 feet in size) by fearless collective adorns the space. A true tribute to the BBMP Pourakarmikas, people who battle it out on the streets, to help keep Bengaluru cleaner..

2 On a serious note, i am hoping that the civic authorities take note of the current state of the building and do everything that's needed to bring it back to its once bustling glory...

3 though I am from the late 70s era ??

? to think now that we had the entire world run behind updating systems to handle the dreaded date change, and I had just started my career then! Lord save the world from us programmers ??