The culture shock at Oracle ...

... Or top five lessons that only TCS can teach you

1. You believe something is not being done correctly or fairly. You get yourself all worked up to raise the issue and for the subsequent big fight you think will follow. You play the devil's advocate with yourself. You consider the minutest details of the issue. Finally, you bring the issue to the notice of the relevant person and guess what - he accepts it just like that and corrects it! (You think it’s your lucky day)

2. You want to go for a one-day leave on the Friday following a public holiday on Thursday. You notify your manager in writing two months in advance because you know there are many others from your team who would want to take that particular Friday off. You fully expect a rejection from your manager anyway and are ready to argue your case to 'win' the leave. Then you receive an e-mail response from your manager - "Sure Sameer, go ahead. Its ok if you notify me just a day in advance so that I can remember :-)" (You attribute his 'good mood' to his wife's parents finally leaving)

3. Your manager asks you when is a good time to discuss and finalize your objectives for the quarter. You think, "Yeah sure - DISCUSS - right!" Anyway, you fix up a time. Your manager is slightly late because he was in another important meeting. He profusely apologizes for his tardiness, and then shows you a printout of what he thinks your objectives should be. He then actually initiates a discussion and asks for your opinion on those objectives (why is he trying to put up a show of having a discussion?! Could he be gay and interested in spending time with boys?) He then asks if you agree with those objectives and if not, what objectives would you be most comfortable with. (You fall off your chair).

4. You want to ask for a transfer to another city because that other city happens to be your hometown and because your old parents are ailing in that other city. You get your resignation letter ready because you know that getting a transfer will be tougher than finding another job. Anyway, you gather the courage to walk up to your manager and are ready to 'beg' for a transfer. Your manager responds with a "Sure, when do you want a transfer?” (You think you have started to hear things and rush to schedule an appointment with an ENT specialist).

5. You want to enter with your non-Oracle friend into the Oracle office. You fully expect him to be stopped 10 times before he is allowed to get in and even if he does get in, he would have to limit himself only to the reception area. Well, your friend and you pass through the outer compound gate and no one stops you. (You are relieved). You get him inside the building gate and no one stops you. (You are a little surprised - have these guards gone on a strike?). You get him to the reception area and still no questions asked. (You feel weak in your knees - what’s going on - is a mystery force field controlling everyone's brains in the office?!). You then walk him right to your desk and yet no uncomfortable questions, except pleasant hellos. (You faint).

Welcome to Oracle.

Graphic Traffic

Just like its weather, the folks in Bangalore are quite pleasant. They have a big smile and are mostly helpful - quite well mannered as such.

Now, put this polite, well-meaning Bangalorite on the driver's seat and he will transform into a Bang-galore-rite. When on wheels, all of them share a common trait - no regard whatsoever for life, even their own!

No helmets around. No concept of 'lanes'. A vehicle will overtake you from the right; then even before it has finished overtaking, it will sharply swerve left to turn into a perpendicular lane. At a four-way intersection where there is no signal, you will find a vehicle taking a left jammed between four vehicles heeded towards Delhi, Mumbai, Kokatta and Chennai. A traffic cop at an intersection looks away for a while and a sneaky mobike driver just dashes across the road, avoiding incoming traffic.

The only 'best practice' that I find is in how the signals operate. As usual, a signal goes from Green to Orange to Red. What is different here is that even while turning green, the same sequence if followed - Red to Orange to Green. I think the extra Orange step that warns motorists that Green is coming up, is a welcome addition.

Overall, I will famously say - I used to think the traffic in Mumbai is the worst. Then I saw Bangalore.

01-Mar-2006

Today is a mixed bag at Oracle. Part drudgery of finally submitting the bulky joining forms, part legwork in trying to get the photo I-card and part newness in meeting new people. One thing I notice is that there are silos between different business units within Oracle. For one, there is a receptionist on each floor. I would think just one reception for all floors along with security personnel on each floor should be enough. Another – services such as HR, recruitment, etc. are not shared services, causing possible duplication of headcount. Of course, since these different business units are different legal entities, sharing resources may create account complexities. But is that reason enough to duplicate?

28-Feb-2006

While reading maps to understand the city, I notice that a large number of locality names are very English like. For example – Richmond Circle, where my hotel is. Or John Nagar, Cox Town, Cleveland, Cooke Town or Murphy Town. Even a few roads like Victoria Road, Brigade or Millers Road. I think the names provide an interesting twist to the city. It will be a pity when (not if) politicians decide to rename these to Vellamma Road, Bhasker or Malu Road.

Today I hone my argumentative skills with Rikshaw-waalas. While going to the Oracle office (my first day today!) I get into a Rikshaw who senses that I am new. He very plainly says – I will take you by short cut sir, please pay me 70 rupees only. When I tell him that I know the charges are 30 rupees, he shoots right back without as much as blinking an eye-lid – Ok, then give me 35 rupees. That little swine!

While returning back to the hotel, the rik guy again somehow senses that I am new and he decides to take me by a longer route. So he takes a right, then another right, then another right and almost gets me to the place I started from! I point this out to him and he mutters something under his breath and drives on. That little swine!

Bangalored!

27-Feb-2006
The day starts off in Mumbai with the silence shattered by the insistent chime of the alarm. It is still dark; as dark as one would expect it to be at 4:30 a.m. Motivating myself to motivate Vaibhav to wake up feels like running the final stretch of a 42 km marathon up a 30 degree incline.

After dropping Vaibhav at Kora Kendra bus stop for the bus to Pune, I am dropped home on Ram’s bike. He tells me from first hand experience that Bangalore is better than Pune. I am surprised and tell him that it is for the first time that I am hearing it the other way round!

Cut to the Kingfisher flight to Bangalore (Bengalooru? Bengaluru?) in which I have Sachin (of the TV program ‘Naach Baliye’) as my adjacent seat passenger. He is so ordinary looking that I would surely not notice him in a crowd of two people. After landing, I get into a pre-paid taxi to Hotel Ramanashree. On my way out of the airport, a guy offering a free-for-life credit card accosts me. I laugh and decline, but think that the guy should be credited for coming up with an innovative place to sell his wares!

The taxi driver is very courteous – I will soon find out that his big smiles and soft talk is not a flash in the pan, but runs through hotel staff, oracle receptionist, even support staff and security guards at Oracle. A queer thing I notice is that most vehicles kill their engines at signal stops. I notice this only because it is so unusually silent inspite of so many cars around. Also there are a high number of traffic cops manually directing the show rather than letting the lights do the singing.

Now all of us have heard about the traffic nightmare in Bangalore. Well, I must count myself lucky not to have experienced this first hand yet, but what I do notice is that a number of streets are one-way streets. This seems to be a stopgap solution for traffic woes. Must mention though, that even after making the roads one way, these are still not broad enough to decongest the growing traffic population.

Job Searched!

Alls well that ends well.

So the story is that for all the trials and tribulations, I end up with three top notch offers.

Now I know for a fact that when news magazines scream about lack of experienced manpower and when companies classify Oracle Apps as a hotskill, they are truly reflecting the ground reality.