On my last day in Tata Consultancy Services I started from home exactly at 730 AM. With a mixture of emotions ranging from optimism to pensive. The weather was just perfect. A typical Mumbai monsoon day. Very cloudy minus the rains thankfully. And the typical Mumbai roads, concrete roads and still dug up at the sides and even in the middle at some places. With the heavy earth moving machines and the people working, along with the "Work in progress" boards it was like a war hit zone.

It had been two years now that I have been traveling on the same route, more or less. The "Work In Progress" boards had served their purpose on some stretches and come up on some other. Looking back I am surprised. Though the work always seemed slow some human structures had come up along the way giving tangible improvements. But we required the slightest of reasons to criticize the slow, over budgeted infrastructure projects.

Then a though crossed my mind. What about the IT industry? Doesn't the "Work In Progress", slow, over budgeted war hit zone apply to IT too? And doesn't it apply to me? More so when I close a chapter in my life and step into a new one. With the courage or optimism of "To start with something new is a sign of courage, but to improve something existing is a sign of courage".

Well the next time I think of criticizing the "Work In Progress" boards I will think again and will be humble enough to acknowledge that this is how it works, be it a seemingly high tech IT company or a humble municipal corporation.