How it all began....!

You know how every time that you are at work, you don’t feel like working, just want to laze around and then your boss/supervisor comes and shatters that beautiful image to say “You think your Pappa owns this company!!??!!”

Well, in my case, I can actually turn around and say “Yes!” But that is where MY beautiful image shatters! For all those who thought working in “Pappa’s” company was a piece of cake, clearly never met mine.

So when I decided to not go down the beaten path of the on-campus placements in the IT industry and do something on my own, little did I know what was in store for me. In an attempt to make me learn things myself and stand on my own two feet immediately, I was given a seemingly simple task – Open an office for iQuest Consultants in Bangalore from scratch. The reason I use the word “seemingly” is that its sounds simple to do that when you just hear it, but ground reality is very different. From deciding the size of the office to bargaining for the rent; from deciding the location of the office to deciding the seating arrangement of it; from haggling with furniture manufacturers to bargaining with computer equipment suppliers; from taking a call on the capacity of the UPS to banging my head with Airtel.. phew!! and the list goes on. But that really wasn’t the biggest challenge. The biggest challenge was actually convincing people (brokers, suppliers, candidates etc) that somebody who looks like me (for all those who don’t know how I look, let’s just say that I have been mistaken for a 16 yr old on more than one occasion) was actually interested in setting up an entire functioning office.

And thus ensued the long days that had no lunch breaks, no work timings, min 3 hrs of travelling, bike rides behind weird men, sitting alone in office watching the electrician/carpenter make the place look functional, waiting for candidates to turn up, lots of disappointment and at times, tears…

Convincing candidates who turned up for interviews about the credibility of the company was an uphill task. But I am very grateful to the people who did join us and help kick start the operations. There were days when I thought to myself “What have I got myself into!!”

Well, the end result of all of this was 1^st March, when a proud boss (and father) announced the opening, rather re-opening, of the Bangalore center of iQuest Consultants as we know it today. We have come a very long way from there and this past year has been more of a learning experience for me than my 4 yrs of engineering put together! Anyways, with a small pat on my back and big dreams in my eyes, me and the Bangalore team set our best foot forward to celebrate another year of working hard, laughing, partying, learning and living! Here’s to us and the entire iQuest family! Cheers!!

Author of the Post: Ms. Divisha Upadhayaya, (Center Head, Bangalore Branch)

iQuesters at Bangalore Branch