Back in Bareilly, Obsessed with Computers

Using computers was one thing I learned during the one year I spent in Baroda. By the time I came back to Bareilly, I was obsessed with computers and technology

In an earlier post, I wrote about taking up a job with GSW and moving from Bareilly to Baroda. I spent one year there before coming to the conclusion that there wasn’t really anything much for me to do at GSW – I was contributing no real value and hence had no future in Baroda. My employers agreed with me and it was decided I would return to Bareilly and look for other options there. The story continues here.

So, after spending one year in Baroda with GSW, I was back in Bareilly, unemployed, with zero earnings and no savings. I was now 23 years old and felt a pressing need to do something useful with my life. In Baroda, Kamal ji had allowed me to use his computer, on which I had proceeded to learn the basics of AutoCAD. In the process, I had become deeply interested in computers and what one could do with these wonderful machines. While motorcycles and motorcycle racing remained my primary passions, computers and technology were now a close second. In addition to the motorcycle magazines I bought every month, I now also started reading whatever Indian and foreign computer magazines that I could get my hands on. I was like a sponge, soaking in every bit of computer-related information that I could find, reading endlessly and always looking at ways of finding something related to computers that I could do. It never occurred to me that not having a computer engineering background and no formal training in using computers could ever be an impediment in doing something related to computers. But the question that remained unanswered was, what exactly did I want to do?

Lost and Clueless: Moving from Lucknow to Bareilly

I landed up in Bareilly in 1993, with no friends, nothing much to do and no clue about the direction in which my life would go. All I had was my trusty old Yamaha RX100, the piles of motorcycle magazines which I bought every month and a Casio keyboard that I played regularly. Incidentally, this pic of me pulling a wheelie on my RX100 was clicked by my father!

In 1993, I completed my graduation from Lucknow University and was clueless about what to do next. Unlike young people today, who have access to a great amount of information online and who seem to have their entire careers planned out by the time they clear class 12, I guess our generation was different. In the early-1990s, study and career options were pretty limited – at least in Lucknow – and most people studied to be doctors, engineers or lawyers. Doing an MBA was becoming quite popular and some were even opting for the newly-announced CFA (chartered financial analyst) course. Other options included chartered accountancy, the civil services, joining the armed forces or perhaps joining a bank or the LIC.