Raat Baaki...

What is worse than getting up at 5:00 AM on a Sunday morning? Well getting up and get to work. And this work does not involve any heavy coding for an unachievable deadline. Nor is it working on a real nasty support issue which needs the mind of Mr. Byomkesh Bakshi to figure out the microscopic bug hidden beneath several layers of complex code. This work at this unearthly hour is waiting on call for 2 hours just to begin testing which would actually take only 10 minutes to complete but which cannot be started unless those people on call tell you to start. Sleepless nights, test of patience and a nasty sense of humor is all IT is about and I am li(o)ving IT!

Kaahe ka loving ji. You know during these moments, I feel the need to go back to my school days. It was the time when sleepless nights meant drinking tea at midnight and going to sleep right after that, with a sense of accomplishment. My tea making skills were developed in those days and at the risk of sounding arrogant I can say that a cup of tea made by yours truly today can keep you tarotaaza for very long hours. During this time I also learned how to overcome every obstacle that would come between me and my sleep. A kilometer long syllabus, an exam deadline and even a strong caffeine shot would not come between me and the love of my life. My mom would be very upset with me. These kitchen sojourns at night were disturbing her annual budget for tea leaves, milk and sugar and were doing no good to my grades which never were of any good anyway, not to mention the disturbances to her sleep and those of our neighbors who would be rudely awakened because of some tea making tools slipping out of my hands and creating havoc!

2 hours 20 minutes and 33 seconds: Still no sign of the green signal to start testing. Which means I am going to continue writing some more.

Hmm. So after some sleepless nights which my folks had to endure because of my preparation for engineering entrance exams, they were very happy to see me off to Indore, supposedly for engineering. Now, the sleepless nights I had during this phase of my life and in this city are the kind of stuff dreams are made of. You know how life in hostel is, right? You might have lived one yourself and felt that you have become a much better person after all those years or you must have seen some of your friends getting brain-damaged irreversibly living one. Essentially depends on the perspective. Now I do not ever remember my hostel sleeping ever. An early sleeper would go to sleep at 1:00 AM. The late sleeper would crash at 3:00-4:00 AM. And if you think that these late nights had anything to do with engineering, then you are mistaken my friend. These nights were filled with loads of cooking on an electric coil heater, reading novels, watching movies, playing computer games on PCs borrowed from friends and seniors, having late night talks with people who used to matter the most, climbing on top of the water tank to feel on top of the world and etc etc. I was charmed by the charm of night.

2 hours 50 minutes and 57 seconds: No testing yet. And yes it took me 30 minutes and 24 seconds to finish the last paragraph.

Those great and awesome nights finally got over. We all, including and specially my parents, were more surprised than happy when I finally got a job. And once at work, I realized the value of a good night’s sleep. Maan! These companies make you sweat! Ok, I did not sweat because my office was air conditioned (which by the way was a great change in the status of my life after bearing scorching Indore heat). I drank coffee like the talli of your mohalla drinks desi tharra. A coffee vending machine right behind my desk did not help much and I had so much coffee in the last few years that my circulatory system was pumping coffee to every nook and corner of my body, my blood tests were tested for the presence of chicory which came negative because I was having pure coffee. There was no sugar present in the system because I like my coffee bitter and strong. And I guess that was what I was turning into as well – bitter and strong, strong yet bitter, better but bitter. (Something like Betty bought some butter…LOL)

A few good things happened which you all are aware of if you read the last few posts. My bitterness has definitely reduced, my coffee intake is miniscule (I am an occasional drinker now :P ) but work still keeps me up. The Saturday night sleep is one of the most crucial elements for having a reasonable working week. This Saturday night has been fried to this long awaiting call. So beware my colleagues, clients, customers and managers! We are going to have a hell of a time together. :-)

3 hours 0 minutes 10 seconds: I just dialed in again and there is no sight of testing starting anytime soon. Life, I tell you!!