Starting off to Amreeka - The Mumbai Experience

Starting off to Amreeka - The Mumbai Experience

IT means onsite. Let this basic concept be very clear to one and all. If you are working in the IT industry it is your god-given duty to make a pilgrimage to the holy land of US-ville.

Ah well! As luck would have it, I became a software engineer in the summer of 2003 when a certain company called Infosys Technologies Ltd. came to my college to pick up fresh talent. I needed a job after college and I got one in Infy.

After a career spanning over 3.5 years and 4 DCs (transfers), I was asked to take up a responsibility in the US of A. Sounds normal. I was not in a real hurry to leave India nor was I interested but as my credit card debt and miscellaneous debts became too much to handle at a paultry offshore salary of 18k per month and with an impending marriage I thought its a thing I have to do to get some money in my life. So I said YES to US. After a hurried round of shopping and partying, I finally got ready to leave for the land of opportunities. On the faithful day of 16-June-2008, I took my flight to Mumbai at 8:10 pm which was to reach Mumbai at 10:00 pm. From Mumbai I was to take the next flight to Hong Kong at 6:00 in the morning and from Hong-Kong to San Francisco at 2:30 pm(hong-kong time).

So after an eventless flight from Hyd to Mumbai, I reached the Mumbai airport with a worry on my mind as to how can I reduce the wieght of my luggage. I thought I would take a hotel in Mumbai for some time and re-arrange my stuffs into a back-pack and the suitcase and that way I can have two luggages both under 20kg limit. So I was there at the baggage collection in the Mumbai airport when I saw an elderly gentleman by my side and I asked him if he was a native of Mumbai. He said Yes.

Me: "errr...would you by any chance know if there is a good hotel nearby?"

He: " errr...ummm...there would be...but I have to check. Lets do one thing, my driver is coming to pick me up, why dont I drop you somewhere good? "

Me: "...wow..that would be great. Thank you so much!!! I hope its not a problem for you?"

He: " no ...not at all!".

So there we go. We got into his car and then the driver took us to an OK-ish hotel where I kept my suitcase at the reception and asked the manager if they accepted credit card. He said No. And the tariff was 1250 Rs. I had 1000. So it meant I had to go to some ATM. Mr. Rao (the name of the gentleman) offered to take me to an ATM and drop me back. And so I went along with him. We searched around andheri for an ICICI bank ATM but there was none. It was 11:00 pm. So the driver said that he will drop Mr. Rao at home and then we can search for an ATM and thats what we did. After much roaming around we finally came across an SBI ATM where I got the money and the driver (Mr. Tiwari) dropped me at the hotel. I forced a 100 buck on his hands as a thank you and it was the most heart-felt thanks I had ever given to anyone. Here I was a total stranger and I found two total strangers who tagged along with me at 11:00 pm in the night to put me into a decent hotel. Thats Mumbai for you guys. I felt an immediate sense of trust when I met Mr. Rao and his driver. Anyone could have really robbed me off to my jockey underwear but then I did not feel a single strand of fear or cautiousness with these people. They could have been my own Uncle for that matter.

Thus I got myself placed in a room in some corner hotel in Andheri, Mumbai from where I took an auto to the international airport at 3:00 am to catch my flight to Hong-Kong.

I was leaving the shore of my motherland for the first time. Was I excited? You bet! Was I nervous....ya a bit. Was I sad....not in the least. Was I happy...? dont know...but I was at peace. Maybe this trip does mark an epoch in my career. Maybe now I can find some answers. Only time can tell...