Clickety Clack went De keyboard

You must have seen those days... the ones where everything just went click...

Things fall into place better than they should yet you know there's something missing. Something wrong somewhere... a darkness around the aura of the place you're considering.

I got a call from a friend a while ago. I was sitting in a movie hall during the interval that had just begun.

"Sunil, would you be interested in a job?"
"Not really... I'm enjoying my job right now"
"but would you consider it? It's a business analyst position in my company"
"send me the profile... what sort of pay are we talking about here?"
"I'll send you the profile"
... 2 minutes later I almost fell of the seat...

Massive amounts of money. I wouldn't have to think twice about taking that house loan, but then what did the job involve?
Documentation (yuck!)?
Not exactly - the other folks'd handle that part.
Team management and mentoring of a team of Business Analysts... in a financial software product company.

Back the truck up a minute... did I just write financial software there? Don't I need a bit of experience in that domain first? I mentioned that repeatedly during the interview process... in fact, the interviews were more monologous - with me asking most of the questions. I expected to be able to get the job, but still didn't know if I wanted to leave my current job what with the release happening early next year... these guys called me to Bangalore to "meet someone who's come down from the US to meet the team".

I went there with a strange feeling. I felt bad that I didn't want the job and was landing up there for an interview, but then kept thinking that I might just take it.

click clack...

Reached Bangalore - quite coincidentally a friend (Bells) was down from the US in the Bangalore office that was in the same building as the company that'd called me. Though it made sense to stay with Bells while I was there (two days that were holidays in my company during which I was planning on being in Bombay, but didn't quite make it).

I reached the office and didn't really get a pleasant vibe. Coming from the company that I'm currently in, that doesn't surprise me much. I don't think I've ever worked in a place where the people I've got to interact with are so... nice doesn't seem strong enough a word, but it's the first one that comes to mind.

Bells told me about his plans to set up a business and I got pepped at the prospect of coming to Bangalore. At any rate, I met the guy who'd come down from the US and sat down with HR to discuss bizzniss...

I think one thing that helped me through the entire process was the I didn't really need the job. It was an option - not one that I particularly wanted, but an option never the less. I'm quite sure I'd have been great in the position and I think I made that clear with every talk I had with them.

I did manage to party a bit while I was there - hit a few of the "regular joints" on the second afternoon, picked up my offer letter in the evening, ran to the airport thinking I'd missed the flight, reached to find that it had been delayed and I was just in time. Managed a window seat despite being the last guy to check in, swapped it for an aisle seat when I got to the plane to let a guy sit next to his girlfriend (sweet aren't I?), then opened the letter.

I've never been so confused in my life. There I was thinking "no matter what happens I'm going to make the right decision anyway..." I wound up listening to about 50 different friends give completely contradictory opinions on what I should do. The most reasonable advice I got was to make a list with wieghted values on pros and cons. I got to it and had a <1% difference in the result. Dad was telling me to go... Ma was telling me to do what I thought was right...

Eventually, I decided to take it and called up Scrooge (one of my closest friends) and asked him if his flat was available - he's got a flat in the same complex as the other company office. The tenants were expected to leave at the end of the next month - clickety clack

Bangalore sans traffic? A new venture to keep me from getting bored? A new life of party opposite TGIF? Where was the block?

In my current organisation, the job's far from done. If I ever think of leaving it's going to be after my product's up and people are using it. I don't think I'd have done myself justice till people are downloading my work and putting it to good use.

With all the clicks
that have come in time
the clock still ticks
while the words still rhyme.

You pick and choose
what you have to do
and when the shoe really fits
that's when you find you.