Well, I’m back! 🙂 It’s been a busy year. I left RM plc, where I started my IT career, for TCS (Tata Consultancy Services). Change is often difficult but when it is from a small but vibrant company like RM (~3000 employees) to the largest IT services company in Asia (TCS – ~1,50,000 employees) there is no way to describe it. The new environment is challenging, crowded and you will feel like a tiny drop in the vast ocean! I’m currently assigned to Gen Re (General Reinsurance Corporation) account.
TCS Siruseri
I left RM on 25th Sept 2009 and joined TCS on 30th Sept 2009. The work location is in SIPCOT IT Park, Siruseri, Chennai, India. The Wipro office, which I considered till 16th of Sept 2009, is a few kilometers away in Sholinganallur. Sirusri is still a village in the outskirts of Chennai, around 32 kms from Central.
The campus is huge! It’s TCS’s dream project and once completed will house over 20,000 engineers. It’s so big that beauty of the entire structure can be appreciated only from above, in an aerial view. As of now only half of the project is completed.
Life in Chennai
Two mallu TCSians and myself rented a two bedroom apartment in Navalur, 3 kms away from TCS Siruseri. Navalur is still a village but it is improving. I brought my Motor Bike from Kerala. There is a Kerala Mess in Navalur which is keeping me in shape! Also a good broadband plan is available from Tata Indicom Broadband and fortunately their WiMax tower is line of sight with my apartment.
Chennai life is just fine except the heat. Now, in May, it’s 45+ degrees outside. I’m sweating 24/7 and drinking more than 4 liters of water every day. There is no way you can go out for a weekend trip. It’s plain simple killing me.
Future Plans
I’ve decided to go for Masters in Computer Science from UK! I’m evaluating offers from University of Manchester, Warwick, Newcastle and Liverpool; Edinburgh was rejected and still no news from York. As of now University of Manchester is the most likely choice; with only condition being IELTS 6.5 score!