I entered the Diapro Technology building located at Guindy, Chennai on the 18th of June 2005 for the first time. Like everyone else there, I was full of hopes and expectations. Little did I know that hell awaits me a few months down the road (but more on that latter).
Oh … you’re probably wondering who I am and what I am doing here in front of this tech giants office. Let me take you on a little trip down memory lane.
Hi … My name is Sharath and I am BTech graduate (yet another?) from NITC who was recruited by Diapro Technologies for the “technological” operations in India.
To those who aren’t aware – NITC a.k.a National Institute of Technology, Calicut is one of the most prestigious universities in the country. It takes a relatively lot of preparation to crack the entrance exams that can fetch you a seat in this college. And to add to that – there are no payment seats here. So the only way is an excellent score.
Thankfully, I got a chance to study here. Along with the cream of the country, I too received education on various areas of technological developments that had and would hit the earth.
Sorry, I got carried away with my college life. That is an epic on its own. I will reserve that for my next book. For now let’s continue with this one.
So, to cut a long story short, I got placed - like every student dreams of – in one of the largest IT companies in India – Diapro Technologies. And since after getting placed, our college doesn’t let you sit for placements till every one else in class gets placed, I ended with just one offer whereas my fellow batch mates in other classes were getting 3 or 4 offers. Right now if you ask me – I feel like killing the guy who framed that rule. Grrrrrrrr !!!
So … Back to Chennai and 18th June 2005. I arrived with my Uncle (my mom’s elder sisters husband) on his old dappa scooter at the giants office hoping that no one else would notice me traveling on this pre-historic wheels. Come on – I was going to work in an IT company. I had a lot of prestige and “demo” as we used to call it college to show!
In simpler terms, I dint want the bike’s age (and my uncles) to brand me as un-cool.
Me and a lot of other guys and girls wait expectantly in front of the office gates hoping that they will call us in and we will officially get inducted into the company for good.
After waiting for about half an hour – a short bald guy comes and announces that “All fresh recruits are to collect visitor passes from the security gates and then proceed to the conference hall on the first floor”.
The feeling was immense if not overwhelming. We had waited so long for this one moment. We all had borne with all the hardships and grueling nature of a 4 year Engineering degree. And finally he moment of truth had arrived. It’s like having an Orgasm. One just can’t explain what it feels like. It has to be experienced to truly understand what I am talking about.
So … We all rush to security guard who is having a really bad time asking every other eager fresher to stand in queue and collect their passes in peace. Eventually my turn comes and I collect my pass and enter the Diapro building. It’s really funny now when I think about it. I entered the building placing my right foot first and then touching it with my hands (traditional Indian hindu style). It was as if I was entering a temple. Then after that, we all rush into the conference hall on the first floor. There I meet a lot of other “freshers”. People who soon would become my closest friends!
Another hour passes and around 11 am an HR lady enters. And a really HOT lady I must add!!! (Pardon me … The College where I come from doesn’t have any good looking babes per se … So whenever we NITC’ian see a babe – we totally loose all gentlemanly attributes and acts like a set of cave dwellers)
She introduces herself as Sanju. Who cares what her name is, is she married/engaged is the question that’s running through my head. And I can bet a million bucks that it was the same thought that was running through every guy’s head there.
After that, she asks us to submit all our documents. I do that with happiness. I am dying to get this over with so that I officially become an employee.
Once everyone submits their documents, Sanju leaves and announces that the TBI folks will be here to help us out with our loans and bonds.
Oh … I completely forgot to mention about the bond aspect of my offer letter. Diapro has a bond clause per se. It states that I have to pay Rs. 75,000/- upfront to the company if I should be eligible for the offer.
It was a commonplace thing for all these companies that recruit in large numbers to ask for a bond from freshers. But Diapro was the only company that asked for an upfront payment. And since it was obvious that most people couldn’t afford to pay upfront, they had tied up with TBI to provide the necessary loans to these aspiring freshers.
Ok … Back to the story … A gentleman in his early forties enters. He introduces himself as Ramesh, a bank manager at one of TBI’s branches in Bangalore. He now tells us that he will explain to us the terms and condition of the loan. Below is a gist of his explanation:
- Loan will be given at an interest rate of 15.5 %
- A draft for Rs. 75000/- will be issued to Diapro in ur name.
- Diapro will encash the draft if we resign before the bond period of 15 months
- Till the end of 15 months, the Rs. 75000/- will be put into an fixed deposit account and you will get an interest of 4%
- Till the end of the 15-month bond period, your salary account is going to be with TBI. This is mandatory.
- TBI will give you a 15-check leaf book. For extra check leaves you need to pay Rs. 100/- per additional checkbook.
- The check leafs are not pay at par checks. If you use them anywhere else other than Bangalore, it will be treated as an out station check and will take 15 days to clear and also incur a service charge of Rs. 180/- per check.
- The ATM card provided can only be used in TBI ATM’s. If used in any other ATM’s a service fee of Rs. 50/- will be charged per transaction.
- Online banking costs extra if you intend to do online transactions. Else, for checking your balance, etc online, it is free.
- At the end of 15 months, your loan account will be closed, but your salary account will remain. You are welcome to continue with TBI as your banking partner.
After hearing all this, I was wondering – WHAT THE F****!!!
Please understand that this is the year 2005 when private banks like ICICI and HDFC are running from door to door giving everything like unlimited pay at par checks/free online transactions/loans at 9%/Fixed deposit interest rates of 8%/et al.
And then this Ramesh guy comes along and gives us the crappiest of deals, and that too, he has the nerve to make it sound like he’s helping us out.
On doing a quick calculation, I realize that I’ll end up paying 11.5% (15.5% - 4%) on my 75K loan with TBI roughly translates to about 1000 rupees per month. It suddenly strikes me that this is 1000 rupees I have to pay someone else for getting a job.
But then, what can a fresher do. I start thinking, “It’s not all that bad … I have a monthly salary of Rs. 17004/-. Of that if I loose out Rs. 1000/- I still have Rs. 16004/- to live. I have lived with Rs. 2000/- per month in college. I should be able to live a king’s life with this pay!!!”
Poor old me … I didn’t realize that this was a fools paradise I was conjuring up out there!
Finally few more papers have to be signed and then submitted. By then it is 3 pm. Sanju comes in and announces, “You have to report here on 20th April 2005 at 9 am. You will be taken to another of our offices where your induction program will begin.”
At the end of this, a few of us ask her, “Are we employees yet”. She laughs back and says, “No … not yet … after your induction on Monday – that’s when you become official employees. Today was just a document collection event. We do this to save time and effort on the day of your induction.”
All of us are let down by the fact that we still aren’t employees yet.
With a heavy heart, we head back our respective homes. There we eagerly wait for 20th June 2005 to arrive.
