My experience with working life

It has been 4 months since I started working in Symbian, a market leader in Mobile Phone Operating Systems, and almost every handset manufacturer in the world uses our OS for their smartphones- be it Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, LG, Samsung, Panasonic, etc. I must say I have enjoyed the journey so far- mostly since I haven't had terrifying work schedules (yet). We work on Symbian C++, yes the dreaded language which people talked about- so efficient in managing resources on embedded systems such as mobiles but one hell of a time for programmers working on it. I used to wonder about why i would find it difficult- after all I had programmed earlier in C++ and was quite comfortable with it, I thought. But the horror unfolded when I actually tried writing a simple 'hello world' program back in August, in Symbian C++ - I couldn't. The concepts were entirely different and in fact, I struggle even now! Having worked on Java for the past 1 year (where programming was pure bliss) and not having to worry about those wretched pointers and managing memory allocation/deallocation, going back to C++ and its accompanying pointers was a little irritating in the beginning but I doubt if i can help it.

I have been working on User Interface frameworks in Symbian and I must say the entire subject is nothing short of fascinating. Having developed UI in Java Swing and developing dynamic web content with CGI and PHP, Mobile UI was a welcome change. In fact, I have started liking mobile application development so much that I am embarking on the development of 2 to 3 applications for S60 and UIQ platforms which I plan to complete in the next few weeks in the hope that it would sharpen my programming skills in Symbian C++ and give me a deeper sense of achievement as an independent third party developer of Symbian OS applications.

On the personal front, the dramatic change between college life and work life was beginning to show, I have never remembered any kind of fixed timings in college, since we were never attending many classes and were more interested in watching the latest films, visting malls and eateries, or just sitting with friends in the college parking lot and gossiping for hours together. Here, sitting in front of the computer for 8 hours was seriously tiring, even with frequent breaks. There were times when I used to almost doze off to sleep by around 2.30pm sitting straight up in my chair! And what about the time I came home? well it was around 6.30pm and by the time I could say "Jack Robinson" it was time to go to bed. Now I know what it feels like on a friday afternoon when you know you have 2 whole holidays ahead of you- hey that's a lot of time- after all who gets 48 hours of free time!

The entire travelling experience to Whitefield has been awful at times and enjoyable at times. Awful in the cab- cramped seats with little leg-room to stretch out, especially because of my height. And then there was this 'FM' factor- you get to listen to what the cab driver wants- not what you want! Sitting in the cab and watching the driver shifting lanes every 2 mins and having just-misses with almost every vehicle in every turning made me sometimes feel as though I was playing the game 'Midtown Madness' on my computer.

Travelling to office was great whenever I took my bike/car to office since that meant I could ride/drive the way I wanted to- quickly yet safely- enjoying every moment of the 24km stretch. But one thing is for sure- the traffic on this road is terrible. I still remember being stuck in a traffic jam near Marathalli bridge at 7.40am and reaching ofice at 9am one day! And not to mention, when it rains, the travelling time gets multiplied by 2. Irritatingly, the traffic also gets multiplied by 2.

The worst part of going by cab is that I am forced to get ready by 7am. Although I am usually an early bird and waking up early has never been a problem, I found this routine to be quite disgusting- eating breakfast at 6.30am wasn't exactly my idea of a nice morning. Earlier I used to wake up by 5.45am, go for a nice, long 1 hour walk with my dog and read the newspaper for another half an hour. After beginning to work, I have had to cut short my walk to 20 mins, and about the newspaper, all I can do is see the newspaper guy pass me on his bicycle when I wait at my pickup point at 7am.

I was proud about earning my first few months of salary- quite fat amounts by my college-days' standards, but by the first 5 days, the bank balance had come down to 3 digits- ending my pride and joy instantly! I spent many sleepless nights planning how I should manage my salary with a fixed amount of savings, investments and LIC policy premiums but temptation got the better of me during the first 2 months and I ended up with 3 digits in the bank balance yet again. And not to mention- the infamous 'First Salary Treat' ruined my financial status completely. Finally after coming down to the earth after 2 months, expenses have come under control and everything seems to be going according to plan.

After 4 months of working, I fulfilled my ambition- a lifetime achievement for me- my very own car! I decided to trade my trusty, good looking pulsar 200 bike for a 3-year old Hyundai Accent GLS and pay the balance amount in EMIs. The EMI meant that I would have to sacrifice on some fun and miscellaneous expenses but I made up my mind. This was a used, second-hand car but my happiness knew no bounds. Although this was not our first car at home (my dad had bought a maruti 800 way back in 2002 and we then exchanged it for a Maruti Swift in 2006), I somehow felt more excited at the prospect of owning and driving 'My Car' rather than 'My Father's car', even if it meant having to park it on the road everyday.

So much for my experience over the last 4 months

KK