My first day at Job and I got so scared as everyone around me was so focused on their work and I felt I will never be able to compete with them.

2006, my first day at my workplace, I was entering the office for the first time with a thought that I am going to work so hard that I will become Manager in just few years.

I will be honest, as I entered my floor, I got scared. There were at least 300 people I could see across the floor. It was pin-drop silence. Everyone’s face was shining, with blue tint coming from computer’s screen. All were working so diligently, no one was talking to anyone else, as if all were just statues placed on chairs.

I have worked in groups earlier at the college level, but we used to talk to each other while working, make jokes, laugh together, share food, help each other, and we used to look like humans with a lot of movements. But here I am, feeling I have to compete with robots and I will never be successful.

I sat on seat allocated to me, bent down, and started the CPU. I didn’t have any task allotted, so I started reading the book which I was carrying with me: Java The Complete Reference.

Hours passed, but no one came to me, to give me any work and it was still the same pin drop silence around me. I wanted to call my mother and tell her, that I am in a different world now, but I didn’t want to make any sound and disturbing people working around me.

Suddenly my friend came running to me, told me that he knows where we can read about our project. He opened a site on internet explorer, and I could see the color of site matching exactly the colors on everyone else’s screen.

I almost felt like part of the company, part of a group, that sense of belongingness rushed through my mind.

Since that day, I work with complete focus, without making a single noise, without any movement.

That site was: Facebook


Rakesh Kalra

Hello, I am Rakesh Kalra. I have more than 15 years of experience working on IT projects, where I have worked on varied complexity of projects and at different levels of roles. I have tried starting my own startups, 3 of those though none of it were successful but gained so much knowledge about business, customers, and the digital world. I love to travel, spend time with my family, and read self-development books.

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