"...He has had it today..." said one of the Js.

"...He has had it today..." said one of the Js.

NOV05LC1 was the name of our training batch that joined Infosys at the fabulous Mysore training campus on Nov 7, 2005, right after completing our engineering. Our batch included engineering grads from across the country and various domains—computers, IT, electronics, electrical, mechanical, civil, production, chemical etc. Many of us often wondered about the purpose of pursuing such diverse fields only to end up at a software firm to learn coding.

After being blown away by the mesmerizing 330+ acre campus, complete with mind-blowing facilities and five-star-level room amenities, we were subjected to a grueling classroom training program. Our classrooms were enormous, accommodating over 300 of us. Seating was organized alphabetically by first name, with the front row starting with As, followed by Bs. The Cs & Ds were in the next row or two. Us Js were somewhere in between. I found myself alongside Jagannath, Jagdeep, Jai, Janardhan, Janmin, Jatin, Jayashree, Jeet, Jibin, Jigar, Jobin, Joel, Jitendra, Jomy and a few other Js.

Our assignments often kept us up until the wee hours of the night, with breaks only for runs to the laundromat to get our clothes washed. The taxing training schedule often caused many of us to doze off during sessions.

In one of the sessions, one of the Cs could no longer resist the pull of Goddess Nidra Devi and fell asleep. Folks around him kept nudging him, but nothing worked. Bro probably slept his way into another multiverse. A few minutes later, the trainer walked towards that side of the classroom. We all knew the sleeping guy was going to get it. However, the trainer glanced at him and moved on. We then realized that while some trainers merely woke us up, others just let us sleep. None ever got upset.

One day a guy asked a trainer, "How do you not get bothered when you see one of us sleeping?" The trainer smiled, his glowing white teeth perfectly complementing his black mustache. "We all know that you folks are putting in a lot of effort to learn something completely new. Some of you aren't used to being away from your family, and I'm sure that's taxing as well. Everyone has their own battles and priorities. If you fall asleep in class, it means you need rest more than the training at that moment. Besides, people who want to get ahead will do so even if they sleep through some classes. The difference is, they catch up on what's lost when they are better focused."

Two things were clear from this training experience. First, irrespective of one's family and educational background, anyone could learn anything if subjected to methodical training methods delivered by empathetic trainers, provided they put their mind to it. Second, people are in charge of their own growth. Some of the folks seen sleeping here have made significant strides in their respective careers in the past 19 years.

I guess we all learned the power of power naps early in our careers, though.