Changing Ecosystems and lives

Xperience Cognizant '12 turned out to be one of those rare dreams which you
live to witness happen right in front of you. It was an absolute privilege
to be a part of this mega event which has for certain been successful in
changing many lives in more ways than one. For all my peers who went there
with expectations and those who went with none, this turned out to be
something which is so difficult to put down on paper. The way XPC '12
beautifully weaved the latest technology at Cognizant to their
unparalleled work culture,from their contribution to society to their
overeagerness to serve their clients in the most sincere fashion was simply
fantastic.

Day 1: It all started with the Kolkata team landing at the Chennai Airport
and our very first destination was the Indian Operations Headquarters at
Thoraipakkam. Set across god knows how many acres of land, the vastness and
beauty of the place took everyone by surprise. After we registered and
given our respective ID cards(special mention for the three pretty T-shirts
:P), it was time for XPC '12 to finally kick off. Mr. Rajeev Menon set the
tone nicely for the things to come. Then it was Mr. Sowri
Santhakrishnan,who talked to the young ambassadors from across the country
at length and showed great patience in asnwering to their questions,some
really smart and some not quite. Mr. Ramkumar spoke at length on
Cognizant's differentiators,on where the potential for future business lies
and what can we expect a few years down the line.Mr.Sukumar gave us
thorough insight into the company's DNA and how strong is the feeling of
belongingness among the employees. How Cognizant is always keen on
Innovation and encourages everybody to be innovative in whatever capacity
that might be. It was a wonderful experience listening to these people
speak, people who have been there done that. To say we learnt a lot,would
be such an understatement.

All work and no play, makes us grumpy and cranky! So Pramodh Bhai took the
responsibilty on himself to indulge in some real good fun. From that woobly
woosh cheeky dance to the role reversal,it was great fun. It din't take us
long to make friends, sharing same birth month was reason enough to team up
and slug it out against others to
win this one. From tearing up a new pair of socks,to finding a 50 paisa
coin we did well as a team and kudos to Yanna Rascalas to have won that
thing! How you doing Rascalas?

The role play event back at the hotel during evening was sheer fun. To have
put together such cool and interesting acts at such short notice was really
smart on our parts. Work over,play was done. Now it was just party time!
The Cognizant dance troupe put together a brilliant dance act,soared the
adrenaline levels up and then left the dance floor to us people. DJ time!
We danced,danced some more and then danced again.

Day 2: We had our breakfast at the hotel and then our first stop for the
day was Siruseri training facility complex. Saransh gave us a detailed
sketch of the training process,how fresh recruits are trained for being top
IT professionals. There were some trainees as well to answer our queries
pertaining to the training period. Post that was a brainstorming session of
Business quiz. It was college versus college and RCCIIT,Beleghata made it
to the top six thereby being the only one from Kolkata to do that. And it
was indeed a prestigious moment to have secured the third prize at the end
of it, the final rounds I mean. Feels good inside to have won something for
your college,isn't it folks?

Next destination,Temple Bay Radisson Hotel. Next task, to put up a
presentation on a topic. Time was of the essence as we had hardly much of
that. Nevertheless everyone made the best of whatever little precious time
they got and put up a good show. This was followed up with the prize
distribution ceremony,wherein all the winners(and I really hate using this
term for what I feel every single one of us were winners) were rewarded
with exciting gift vouchers. We happily posed on stage flaunting our
certificates and prizes,shook hands and descended feeling victorious.

And just as it is the tradition here in Cognizant,if you work really hard
you earn yourself the right to party even harder. And that's what we
exactly got for ourselves. Another DJ night and everyone of us for the
second time in as many nights,hit the dance floor. We danced with anybody
and everybody till we were so hungry that we couldn't further. Time to
break the fast and dig in. Day 2 ends.

Day 3: The last day of  XPC'12 started with us having another bread with fried bacon strips,boiled egg,chicken sausages,lemon juice and some croissants too. Okay,I was just hungry! Moving onto our first destination,which none of us really expected us to be taken to was the beach. While we were expecting some more officials of the company to come and talk to us about the company ,we were surprised and remained opened-jaw when we saw the bus entering the beach. We were at last hit by the splash of the sea at Chennai.  After a few minutes of playing with the sand and sea-water and having a mini photo-shoot,we were headed towards 'DAKSHINACHITRA'.

DAKSHINACHITRA  is the heritage spot of the whole of South India. The stories behind the culture and heritage of the states of Andhra Pradesh,Kerala,Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were so beautifully portrayed to us by story-telling and a beautiful lady dancing and explaining to us that we remained mesmerized throughout the day. Not only did we remain listening to stories,we were made to play many games by the volunteers there which were simply full of fun. One of the many games was the POT-BREAKING game which is a game played by South-Indians in ancient times.And of course there were prizes for us when we won the games. Apart from that we also saw the handicrafts displayed in various shops across DAKSHINACHITRA. Lastly,we were treated with the traditional South Indian food and beverages.

It was indeed once in a lifetime experience for us to be a part of this fun fest. It's not about just work here, it's about being part of one big happy family who sweat it out together during work hours and party even harder after that. The fundamental principle which drives the complany and their employees is simple- Passion. Be it work or be it partying,. they do that passionately. So for all you young budding engineers out there,on the brink of entering the business world the place where you should be is Cognizant :)


We take this opportunity to thank the Kolkata HR team of Mr.Arya Guha Majumder,Mr. Arnab Das and Mr.Sibaji Ganguli. :)

-Prateek Sarkar and Sayanti Roy,RCCIIT Beliaghata.