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Some geeks have all the talent
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Who said IT professionals only talk, eat and sleep technology? Many companies are now taking a keen interest in promoting leisure activities, writes PAROMITA PAIN
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JUGGLING CAREERS WITH ELAN (From left) Sridhar Chandrasekar,
For those who believe all IT professionals usually do is to sit glued to blinking monitors, weekends forgotten, producing realms of code in an sterile environment with little except fat pay cheques at the end of the month to cheer their dreary lives on, the Chennai IT scene might force a rethink. If industry sources are to be believed, then on any given weekday, these so called geeks might be seen hosting TV programmes or heard deejaying radio slots or even working their way to grab lucrative publishing deals.
Professionals aren't just concerned about home and work any longer. Companies, especially those in the IT space, today believe in promoting talent outside the work place and managements take keen interest in the concept of hobbies, at times, even allowing practice during office hours.
Words and notes
Balaji Rajamani, an associate consultant at Virtusa Corporation, is a hard-core technologist at work and an accomplished mandolin player outside of it. Inspired by `Mandolin' Shrinivas during his college days, he is a degree holder from the Shrinivas Institute of World Music (SIOWM). His weekends are devoted to the mandolin and teaching.
With IT defining the way we lead our lives, it is but natural to perceive geeks as a bunch of tech fanatics who speak, eat and talk technology all day long.
The Sify rowing team
Proving it wrong are the members of Sify's Work FUNdas club, formed as an employee motivational programme¸ who actively participate in different sporting and cultural events. The annual Madras Boat Club's rowing tournament, the Paghal Regatta for corporate teams is a time of absolute madness, with different teams battling it out on the waters of the Adyar River. The winners this time, Sify's team broke its own record by being the first company in the history of the M&B Regatta to win the championship six times consecutively.
Sometimes, IT intellectuals also believe in playing together. That's what has made Swift2Fame, the intercorporate cultural competition, gain momentum as more and more IT companies joined in and competed with each other to win the various events. Sify's team went on to win the group dance and a free return ticket to Colombo.
From shaking a leg to yielding a pen with finesse, they have done it all. Arunabha Sengupta, a published author, shows that techies can write more than just complex codes.
An integral part of Cognizant's Quality Team, his first novel, `Labyrinth', came out in 2004 and was internationally published in 2006. The book revolves around the life of a software professional Vikram Gupta. Arunabha' second book, `Bowled Over', a collection of short stories with cricket as its focus, was published recently.
"I never needed to be inspired to write. Whenever I see something happening around me, in software terms, I mentally put a fictional wrapper around it and start testing the resulting product in different scenarios", says Arunabha, putting IT fundas to good literary use.
Sports and anchoring
His associate, Aishwarya, a computer applications graduate, has an impressive track record in table tennis. Currently Number 8 in the State-level (Tamil Nadu) women's category, she is a programmer trainee at Cognizant and is undergoing her entry level training programme at the Cognizant Academy.
Another Cognizantian, Vaishali T. N. is a TV show hostess, happily juggling her career and her interests in media. She hosts two programmes — "Vazhthukkal" and "Enna Samayalo" on Jaya TV.
Balaji Rajamani
"Holding the mike and talking has always been my passion. I ended up hosting most of the shows at school," says Vaishali. When she landed a dream job at Cognizant, she took up the job. "My organisation encouraged me to pursue my passion along with my career," she says.
The hours spent at work seem to make no difference to the pursuance of hobbies. Sridhar Chandrasekar, director marketing, Virtusa, has perfected the art of "Shirsasan" (the Head-Stand). When he was 18, he took a fancy to performing it at the college canteen, park benches, classrooms and moving train compartments. It became a signature card for him to be known as someone who could stand upside down at the drop of the hat. Today, he is a Yoga Shiromani and qualified yoga teacher who doesn't compromise on his practice and manages to continue his routine even while travelling around the world. An avid cyclist, he sometimes cycles to work, with his laptop strapped in a backpack. His cycling has helped him cross every nook and cranny of Chennai. So much so that Sridhar is a walking (or rather a biking) encyclopaedia on street names and landmarks.
With more IT parks all set to come up in the city, the industry is on a roll and so are the tech enthusiasts who have established that they are not just good at fixing spam problems and network issues but are equally adept at leading fulfilling lives at work and outside.
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