The American Dream

ONSHORE (ONSITE in some comapnies) is a word that makes you go nuts. Every one working in the software industry has a facination, a fetish for this word. Well, I am no different and had been dreaming about an "ONSHORE OPPURTUNITY" ever since I made an entry into this industry, or shall I say, ever since I started thinking of entering into this industry.

Getting an Onshore oppurtunity is not easy; you need to be, not capable, intelligent or any thing synonymous, but LUCKY. Yes, Lucky is what you need to be so that you can make it to onshore. And as you all already know, LUCK and I never travel the same route. (A saying in hindi - "Main eer ghat, woh beer ghat").

So, the first 2-2.5 years of my career, I kept on dreaming. To tell you the truth, I had started believing by that time, I will never make it outside Chennai, let alone India. But then, on a saturday, I came to know about a walk-in event at Accenture, and without any document and preparation, I went there. After around 2 hellacious hours of some gruelling questions, the interview was over and, to my surprise(even though the interview went fine), I was selected(I dont know - may be Luck had forgotten the path it was supposed to follow :-)). I had no hesitation in putting my papers for a new jouney at a new place with new hopes.

I joined Accenture in September, 2008 and within five days, was allocated to a project - Although there was no ONSHORE Oppurtunity here also, it made me feel nice considering the 1 year I had spent on BENCH in my previous company. I took up the new role and responsibilities.
The project went on till 31st Jan, 2009 and, thanks to my caring TL, she set up my interview with the manager of a new project. I was selected, and joined the project on 2nd Feb, not even one day on BENCH, Wow.

On the first day of this new project, I met two more guys(Rajeev, the drunkard and Rohit, the kid) who at the first meeting looked carefree, crazy, friendly and many more things. It took us just one day to make friends with rach other. We gelled really well. The intro meeting with the manager, who was at ONSHORE at that time, brought us no surprise; the same old story about how tough the project is, the high expectations and NO ONSHORE OPPURTUNITY.

We toiled hard during the initial stages because, as Rohit rightly says, its a FALTU SYSTEM. After around 5-6 months, we got the surprise of our lives - two ONSHORE Oppurtunities were coming up. All three of us started thinking, Is this real, Will our dreams come true?? This was the hottest topic at the point and we devoted at least 2 hours on a daily basis discussing it.

The rumours were true; and the first person to go to Chicago was Sampath. The duration was three months and Sampath was the luckiest of us all - He did not get a laptop for the first month of his stay. In July, it was Rajeev's turn and we were all really excited for him.

Rajeev at Onshore was a different Rajeev from what we knew him to be. His carefree, naughty attitude was lost, he always sounded tensed, and we could not understand the sudden change in behaviour. I was was going to get all my answers in two months.

The month of September, 2009, and it was my turn. My dream was coming to reality. I was going to live MY AMERICAN DREAM. Really excited, I boarded the BA Flight to London and from London to CHICAGO. I was cherishing every moment of the journey.

And then, after 20 hours of journey, I reached Chicago. To my dismay, I was rattled to find one of my luggages missing. After 2 hours of wait at the BA Help desk, they finally found my luggage. I then headed for the hotel (still with a smile on my face, after all THE AMERICAN DREAM had become a reality)where Rajeev had already booked a room for me. It was 8.30 PM there and Rajeev had only one Beer. So we went to the Liquor shop (HILLSIDE LIQUOR) and got ourselves a carat.

On the way, we got a message about an issue (Oh I forgot to tell you, the role was 24*7 production support, on call during weekends and holidays ). We raced back to the hotel and it took us 30 mins to resolve the issue. I thought it of as a one off case and both of us talked all night over the beers.

The first day at office was also exciting, I met the client managers whom I used to recognise only by there voices. I got my laptop in three days, and the work started. I had planned to visit many places whenever I would get time. Not to be, the role being a 24*7, there was not one day any one of us could enjoy.

Within a month, the AMERICAN DREAM had turned into THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE. All I could do for the entire three months was WORK and the only places I visited were my Office and my Hotel (Also, the TARGET store and the Liquor shop which were at walking distance from the Hotel). It was the same story barring one day, when I and Rajeev took the risk and went to Devon Street and Navy Pier. We were lucky that no issue came up that day and we were safe.

I came back in December and was asked if I wanted to go for a long term. I accepted (determined to enjoy myself this time around, since offshore now has laptop and someone can take care of issues during weekend). On 16th Feb, 2010, I went to Chennai for the interview with a new hope. But, as Navjot Singh Siddhu said in one of his Sidhuisms, "Hope is like a ray of light at the end of a tunnel, But beware my friend, the light might be of a train coming towards you!!", this light was, for sure, of a train which collided with and devastated all the hopes I had. Well, this time, the Consulate rejected my VISA (no one knows why), and I am still here working in the same project, and may I say, waiting for the time when I could really live my AMERICAN DREAM.