I still remember my manager’s words, “This world is not very far for an IT professional” My manager gave this remark when I was intentionally joking in one of my presentations on the article “The Cells of Europe” by saying Europe is a dream.
I worked on a Human Machine Interface project for a leading cellphone company in Europe as my first software project ever. Moreover, it was a mere coincidence that I got an onsite opportunity to visit France for some project work. My manager stopped by me and said, “See, managers are often right.”
When I landed at Paris CDG airport, the beauty of it overwhelmed me. I still do not know where I got the confidence, knowing that I don’t feel confident enough to travel alone. Still, I roamed around the airport for four hours until my senses asserted me to take a bus to my hotel.
On my way to the Hotel, I saw some hoardings and ads flashing on the screen by the road, definitely not of “U” rating as per Indian censor standards. I was uncomfortable but was enjoying being honest.
The next day, when I reached the office, my client manager introduced me to others and showed me my workstation. When my login got created, I tried logging in, and my id was blocked due to excessive failed attempts. I realized the French keyboard layout is very different, and I started looking to the keyboard every 2nd second to type an email. As I looked down every time to rediscover the ABCs, my client started calling me down-to-earth!
One day during lunch my client asked my age. OMG, why is he asking my age? It is not a crime to ask a guy’s age, though, but still, I was curious to know why he asked the same. And, to answer me, he said, “It is always glad to see young Indians like you start working so early and taking high responsibilities. We can’t imagine our boys and girls start their career so early”. I was surprised by this comment and said to myself, “I never realized I am so young!”.
Next weekend I went to Paris from Lemans (my work location) by SVG. An older woman sitting by me asked whether I am an Indian. I thought to have some fun and asked her to choose one of the four options as Bengali, Oriya, Marathi & Indian. She said, you are an Indian… I said, “How do you know that?” She said, “You look like an Indian guy.” “Wow…” is what I could reply. I concluded, “world’s two biggest populations (China & India) could be identified anywhere in this world.”
She started asking about spicy foods and ended in Indian Marriages. I was an undergraduate in cooking and a bachelor on the bench, so I explained what my master friends think about these two topics. She was overwhelmed by my response on marriages in India, and I realized that we do have a culture of strong relationships and a concept of long bonding in India. “Weird but true!”
I saw one more wonder of the world (Tajmahal was my first wonder ever seen) and kept telling myself that it is a Cellphone Tower until I reached the very bottom of the Eiffel. It has been the greatest modern architecture ever built. The same day I visited the Louvre Museum and got fascinated by the Monalisa smile. With spirits, high I made fun of all the paintings and statues throughout Louvre until I was reminded something about “Khajuraho” by my friend. “We also have similar culture crafted.”
My assignment was a short one, and it ended quickly like this story, but I still remember those days in France as whatever I experienced there reminded me of something or other about India. I think nothing is too far, and the entire world is within our reach, but we are somehow going far from something that is supposed to be the closest one than anything.
