Kalinga – on and off board

To sum up the life at Mindtree Kalinga, it was a wonderful experience of highs and lows which has paved ways for a tremendous change in the self-development that is essentially crucial to progress (and not just merely survive!) in this competitive world. Not to forget the upgradation in skillset achieved in the process that will last a lifetime. However, to say Orchard only a training program will be too hideous. The journey has been like you are being shown a mountain which you are going to climb. You might not have trekked ever before but at each and every feat you achieve, what you had thought earlier as beyond your limits, you will definitely say to yourself ‘Welcome to Possible’!

It’s been two months since I left Kalinga and onboarded my base location in Pune. The Minds I teamed up with learning during Base camp and Engineering camp are now dissipated across several states. The number of teammates though filtered, the memories made in the college life post-college life builds a strong network with whom we can connect on a friendly basis and also update ourselves with the technological advancements going on elsewhere. This impact that Kalinga has on it’s Campus Minds is something which is a boon and this makes us efficient team players. Kalinga had been a powerpack journey to be very precise; the whole duration of three months made us realize the vitality of learning and more importantly- learning together with relentless dedication. Anyone who has been a campus mind will acknowledge the ways of how the ambience of the place together with the Orchard program pushes everyone to do their best. There were time constraints, there was discipline to maintain and apart from these, we had to be profession ready as soon as possible to cut the fear of re-training or termination. 

The best thing which the organization does, is allocate technologies to us. At our level, we might be total new to the technology we are being trained in but MTK leverages all its channels wonderfully and sets them with all faith in us. Ofcourse, that is how anyone will update himself according to the market demands later in life. That’s just the first step where we began to love Mindtree. Coming to the track, as we meet like-minded people, we learn together for almost two-third of every single day.  Have you seen any war movie where soldiers from an entire country hailing from different regions fight together for a common cause? Campus Minds were no different there, when they group together and fill those common study rooms which are facilitated throughout the campus. 

There were so many battles such that it felt too long and tedious, such that it feels like giving up. This is where Kalinga helps rebuilding the spirit as it was in first day and it is only possible that external powers be effective on someone if that person has an inward motivation of not quitting. Mentors, people function representatives, optimist colleagues, all together putting so much faith in you when you have none left. The whole ideology was to stay focused on the ways to be developed, rest all concerns like laundry and security can be taken care of. That is the second instance where we get attached to Kalinga.

After all those days of learning were over and it was time to showcase the skills we possess, the scenario in the base location is entirely different. Since both training and job are totally different factors to compare, therefore I am not digging deep into it but the mentorship provided in MTK was one abundant resource for our growth in the bigger picture. Adapting to that flexibility of equating curiosity with discovering solutions is the strongest weapon that Campus Minds have in the corporate world. The attitude-adaptation gained, thus, is how Minds who had their training from Kalinga are looked forward to hopefully. Though two months is really a very short time to explore the working of the industry, but being a Kalinga Mind, it won’t be a mammoth task. It’s like ‘Let me try, I can do it’ coming more than ‘I am afraid if I can do it’ when any business requirement reaches the desk.

In an entire three month training period, there is no count to the assessments I have appeared, the record breaking sleeplessness I had, not to forget the fun I enjoyed, the awesome people I came across and the better version that I became due to Mindtree. There happened to be events and team outings as well to cut off the saturation of continuous learning. 

Kalinga has lot to offer indeed, from the warm welcome by seniors on the first day to the constant support by mentors and not to forget the people function representatives. The best part is that nobody sees anyone as inferior and that’s the biggest reason why life at Kalinga becomes a memory. Many more things in life become smooth due to the practices at Kalinga apart from the learning flexibility. There would be rants and grumbles initially about the stipend commonly but only when Campus minds become Mindtree Minds, they become thankful to Mindtree for teaching them financial management in a way. What else? To respect dignity of labour, there was ‘One Good Deed’ where we did things that we might not have got the chance to do anytime before. And the list of praises go on, in the name of the training experience. 

Now that we have turned into Mindtree Minds and are independently capable enough to play a major role for the company’s growth, the number of ways the struggling era of Kalinga makes life now a complete cake walk. When we were told that we Minds can now avail 6 days work from home every month, our jaws fell down in shock. It’s not just that there are relaxations and ease everywhere but the company makes things easier for you so that you can focus on the work assigned. 

Here at Pune, we have a small office but there is something about Mindtree which will help you see the bigger picture where you need to focus on. The learning policies, the working hour’s policy and so on are the most unique policies in any IT company and I have found that no other company is so fatherly regarding upgradation of their employees like Mindtree is. Though, Integrity policy is a serious issue and we have witnessed the pain of it right from Kalinga, and that is how Mindtree aims to keep an open and healthy relation with all Minds. It’s obvious for an organization who so generously builds faith and nurtures the seeds, to have some common expectations. These would seem silly at first but once you get to step in the work environment, the miraculous atmosphere that Mindtree has and yet more amazing work-life balance that Mindtree has, is the result of the small decisions it takes to cater Minds with the care they need.

The once in a lifetime achievement of getting placement in Mindtree has made my living more worthy as I learn, I prosper, I count as somebody capable apart from earning my own bread which makes my true recognition. Infact, everyone has their recognition in Mindtree. That too is intentionally/anonymously trained in Kalinga where the moral is imbibed in us that the only competition that one can have is with himself/herself. And that was all my experience. Other Minds have their experiences in which gym, basketball, chess, friends, CCD, programming, music, Bhubaneshwar, etc. might have played a vital role in their journey. Here we have a lifetime of stories to listen and explore - each inspiring, each relatable and each with the same excitement like any other. Though the Path of Life, the Games Room, the classrooms named on herbal trees, see these stories every day, batches after batches; even though it was a one-time thing for anyone among us and yet memorable. Probably, that is how knowledge is as these stories- they never end.