One Last Hurrah

The dust is finally settling down across the Northern skies facing my cubicle. It's peach dark outside. Those retreating rains are still beating ferociously on the window panes- perhaps resonating with the emotions which exemplify my stay at Manhattan Associates. Today is my last day at Manhattan and I still yearn for more of those enticing moments that drove me every day to the office. I am sitting in my cubicle, scribbling down last few words before those IT people scoot off with my most prized possession, my desktop. Those riveting memories of year and a half are zooming from all quarters across my cerebrum.

Manhattan Associates, an office...Naaaaah....It was and it is an institution for me. I left my college with excitement in heart yet with apprehension about unfathomed corporate world. I departed from Cognizant with disillusioned mind and strong revulsion towards professional life. I am bidding adieu to Manhattan with sense of accomplishment, fulfillment and gratification with scores of amazing experiences. Just a while back I was browsing through the lines that I wrote about my first few days at Manhattan.
http://horacruxinmind.blogspot.com/2006/05/wish-affection-is-bestowed-not-by.html
Indeed, for a change my judgment wasn't wrong. There was something different about Manhattan that drove me to scribble those lines during the beginning of my tenure. And there is a mystic aura about it which holds me back today to sit and pen down one final epilogue.


What was it that made my innings a sweet cameo at Manhattan? Very hard to pick one instance; certainly there are many vying for top slot but the one which tops my list is the respect that I got as a professional and as human being. A while back I was reading series of interviews by JRD Tata. A discernible point that JRD made in his interviews, time and again, was the emphasis on human values and welfare of employees in running an organization. Nothing can replace human quotient in an organization- Not work, not even money. He believed in it and that's why Tatas are most revered industrialist in the country today. In modern times when invariably all organizations are humming the mantra of "Cut Cost, Make Profit" at drop of the hat, the respect for human entity is slowly loosing it's relevance in corporate world. An ideal case in point is tagging fellow employees as Resource. I treat it as insult on individual’s existence and sensibilities. I hate it big time- I don’t want to loose my identity in crowd where thousands are ready to replace me in wink of a second. Perhaps, one of the driving forces to leave my previous organization. I love every bit of "Corporate De-toxifiction" that I underwent in past year and half at Manhattan. I hope to pinch out every bit of inhuman ingredient that I have imbibed in coming two years.

The most striking aspect that evokes my mind about Manhattan is as soon as you enter the premise; there is Margret, our receptionist, greeting you with a beaming smile. After all it doesn’t cost you fortune to pass a warm compliment early in the day. Being a relatively small organization, Manhattan carries lot of positives. People in responsible positions know you first hand. You don’t expect any favor yet there is a comfort zone enveloping your conscious that if ever I need some one there are people to help me out. There are several big organizations making hypocritical statement of employee favored environment. I suspect how many of them actually implement it first hand. I find there is a gargantuan gap between what these companies’ CEOs say and what the company actually practices I have a point to put across to these organizations- An organization is like a tree. It depends on its gardeners whether they want it to be a Eucalyptus tree- tall in size, arrogance personified but bearing no fruits or a Banyan tree- Dense, leafy yet erected with grounded humility. Excuses will be plenty to sabotage such seemingly utopian theory, yet very few possess zeal required to make a positive difference amidst people around.

An individual's ownership to the company begins only when he has personal association with every single brick of the foundation. I loved my first day at Manhattan because my cubicle had my name engraved on it and my desktop wasn’t meant to be shared with others. It may sound trivial and frivolous .But I had come from an organization where the moment you finish your project there are bunch of people hovering around your cubicle like vultures, ready to pounce on your desktop and occupy your space- Metaphorically, you are rendered homeless for days. At Manhattan my cubicle bore my name in big bold letters "Adarsh Abhineet" my desktop had single ownership with user id “aabhineet”- I possessed it and I have carried the insignia with me. One of the fallouts of growing organization is lack of association in succeeding generation of employees. I believe more than anything else it’s because of unplanned, inorganic growth. True there are demands to be met but what about existing plate that you have in your hand. Why do organizations prefer loosing an experienced goose in favor of hundred Turks?

The team that I joined at Manhattan saw a swift transition from elderly statesmen governing the show to youthful tyros bringing in much needed exuberance, passion and charm. What drives a person to office everyday? Work- I think very few would pitch in for this. Money- A sizeable lot but with passion lasting as long as daffodils live. Great team mates with fun filled work environment- I loved it and looked forward to every morning to see those beautiful smiling faces again. After all who likes a gloomy boss with stiffed upper lipped, ears crammed between big headphones, team mates??? Ironically, when I joined Manhattan it took me almost four months to get along with my team mates. Presumably, I was too skeptical about corporate culture that I never wanted to metamorphose a professional relationship to a personal level. I just grin at the suggestion made by my team mates that initial perception about me was of a serious, no-nonsense person with limited aptitude for words in the mouth. I regret now why I lost four valuable months in allowing the hypothetical veil, surrounding my persona, to uncover. People make a place/group charming or hackneyed and gloomy for an individual. Negative vibes, cynical attitude will always try to overwhelm system. It’s the human spirit complemented by camaraderie that drives a team, a project and an organization. I experienced it first hand at Manhattan and I cherished every bit of it.



Ah! How can I miss out mentioning my love affair with office gymnasium when I refer to Manhattan!! It was the sanctum where I spent maximum time with myself, my thoughts and talked to my sub conscious. Every day the gym stored a challenge for me- 4.5 KM in 20 minutes of treadmill, 225 KCal of cardio, 15 Ibs of triceps, 20 lbs of chest and so on. I used to fail one day. Come back, with intense vigor the next morning to surmount my adversary. Failed again!! Perhaps, determination wasn’t there. Third morning the intensity was more severe, grit more concentrated and target was well and truly conquered. It was fight within me and I rejoiced every inch of victory that I achieved. Gym was my meditative centre. The freshness and vibrancy after workout invariably escorted me through out the day. At times gym was my second home. Every morning seemed painful getting out of comfort of the bed, yet discipline overruled lackadaisical attitude and a habit was well and truly engraved in my mind.


People often cite innumerable reasons to leave an organization. I believe as long as every morning presents itself with challenge to conquer an individual’s Intelligence Quotient and every evening has an incentive to trigger an individual’s Emotional Quotient to return to the work place next morning, issue of iteration will never cripple an organization. It’s hard to achieve, but definitely not impossible to comprehend. Manhattan has and will have issues and as the organization will grow, there will be unforeseen ailments posing serious obstacle. But as they say:

Sweet are the uses of adversity,which,
like a toad,though ugly and venomous,
wears yet a presious jewel in its head

For the moment, I sign off as the last drop of the rain trickles down the window. The journey has come to an end and new errand is in offing. After all I believe in fading away from the scene when people are still wondering “Why” before they pose the question “Why Not?”