Chennai Diaries

First Salary & Giving Back My first salary was credited. It wasn’t a full-month salary—just for 20 days—but it was still my first. Telling my parents about it made me feel proud. I bought a box of sweets for every close relative, gifted a high-quality wallet to my father with a note that said, "Abbu, you’ll always be my hero," and offered something to the teacher who had taught me the fundamentals of my religion, proper Quran recitation, and its correct pronunciation—for free. Shraddha’s Birthday & The Laptop Bag Run On December 3rd, we went to claim the laptop bag offered by the company. Since it had to be collected from a different office, six of us took an auto-rickshaw during lunch break. That’s when we found out—it was Shraddha’s birthday! So, while returning after collecting the bags, we stopped by a bakery, got a cake, and celebrated. Even the auto driver got a piece. Shifting Rooms – Goodbye 204, Hello 107 On December 7th, I changed my room. The window in 204...

November 12, 2024 – The Onboarding Day The big day had arrived. The first step into corporate life. The first job. The first paycheck incoming. Everything was set—except my formal clothes. See, I had ironed them before packing, but thanks to the oh-so-gentle handling of my luggage during the journey, my clothes looked like they had been through a wrestling match. No big deal, I thought. I'll just iron them in the morning. Then Chennai decided to welcome me with a thunderstorm. Heavy rain. No electricity. No iron. No crisp formals. I had two options— Wear my wrinkled shirt and look like I just rolled out of bed. Wear a polo T-shirt and pretend I made a conscious fashion choice. I went with option two. We—me, Raj, Tushar, and Aditya—booked a cab and reached the company campus, and guess what? Everyone was wearing formal shirts. I, on the other hand, looked like I had just walked in from a casual weekend brunch. Awkward. HRs verified our original documents to process our RFID-enabled...

     Today is February 2nd (Sunday) 2025, and it’s officially Day 84  since I landed in Chennai. Today, while having "Lemon rice" as breakfast at my PG’s mess, I had a sudden thought—why not blog about my experience? Maybe years later, I’ll read this and laugh (or cry) at how clueless I was. I want to document everything from the start, so this might take a while. Consider this Part 1.  Buckle up! The Journey Begins My adventure started on November 10th . As a fresher, I was thrilled about my job at a multinational company and excited to step into corporate life. But what made this even more special? I’m the first engineer in my family. Actually, scratch that—I’m the first graduate in my family. So, yeah, you can imagine the happiness (and pressure). Graduating with an 8.8 CGPA and landing an on-campus placement was a huge win. Honestly, as I write this, I feel grateful and pretty proud of myself.  Go me! Now, traveling from Nanded to Chennai wasn’t a ...