Showering in the Rainbow

Swagat, Cybagians. This dance is getting tougher by the year. The dance numbers rock, but so do my bones. Ask the front rows, didn’t you hear my bones cracking? Nonsense. You guys were busy with your own show…. so much energy down here… the electricity just flows up to the stage… and that is what keeps us oldies going. It’s amazing how each Cybagian comes from a different background, joined Cybage for a different reason … yet when it comes to the special bond with Cybage – that special feeling we all share. Makes you wonder, what is this special connection that Cybagians have with Cybage that you don’t see elsewhere? It’s time for a story…

A long time ago, there was an orphanage that housed three best friends. They would chitchat for hours, sharing their dreams, of discovering the outside world. Each wanted a different thing out of life: one was ambitious, one wanted stress-free life, and one wanted to enjoy life. Then once in the thick of a moonless night, they escape the orphanage. For days they travel, hungry and thirsty. One morning, they stumble upon a small river with crystal clear water. As they quench their thirst – they notice a beautiful waterfall that was merging into the river on the opposite bank. The water drops splashing in rainbow colors as they dance with the morning sunrays. It is a mesmerizing sight, the trio wants to cross over. But are unsure, how deep is the water, how strong is the current. Showering in the rainbow will have to wait for another day, they conclude…

The above story resonates well with today’s youth. We make immense sacrifices – years of tough studies and often goodbye to the place of our upbringing before we land up with a job offer. The offer quenches our immediate thirst. But who wants just sips of clear water? We want the rainbow shower! Ironically, the organization that presents us the glimpse of the rainbow, is also the one that stands in our way. So we need to first understand the depth and pace of our organization, bond with our company so as to navigate towards our dreams…

The ambitious friend declares, I am climbing upstream in search of the river crossing. The easy-going friend states – I am exhausted, am going to just hang around here and figure a way to cross. The fun-seeker decides to continue his exploration in the downstream direction. Before goodbyes, three make a pact – ‘Exactly a year from now, we meet on the other side by the waterfall’.

The ambitious friend climbs the river’s path for months, reaches high up in the mountains. But the river gets increasingly rough to cross. Then once he looks down at the valley with miles of river winding in the plains – and feels a great sense of achievement. He falls in love with his vantage point and decides to settle down there. The sloppy terrains were flushed with river ancillaries, abundant with trees that provided a variety of fruits for survival.

Many youngsters join companies to pursue their career ambitions. Climbing the corporate ladder fills them with a great sense of power.

The easy-going friend patiently waits for the seasons to change and the river to shrink. But the flow of water remains constant. Resigned, he clears up his surroundings and starts farming. The soil was fertile because of the nearby river – growing the crops took very little effort. His life was stress free, it provided him plenty of time to relax and explore surrounding areas.

For many professionals, the priority is work-life balance. Put in our official hours, and then spend rest of the personal time at a leisurely pace.

The fun-seeker walks downstream for months. The river keeps getting wider making it even more difficult to cross. Finally he reaches a place where the river met the ocean. It was the most exotic place, with perfect oceanic sunsets. He decides to settle down there. Lucky for him, the food was in no dearth as plenty of fishes swam upstream from the ocean.

Many youngsters join organizations for its healthy ambience and culture – they love the vibrancy of their work place.

All three stages of the river – be it in mountains, in plains, or by the ocean represent three types of organizations that attract like-minded professionals. Some focus on career aspirations, some on work-life balance, and then some on culture and ambience. And of course, each organization services our material needs – be it fruits or vegetables or fish. So which river category does your Cybage fit in… mountains, plains, or ocean? Lets play a game to find out, everyone loves playing games…

Career aspirations. The Indian IT will perhaps remember 2017 as one of the toughest ever. But Cybagians will remember it as the year when the age of our revolutionary DecisionMines first began, a year of highest number of promotions, industry-leading appraisals, and preponing the joining date of its campus recruits. So if you believe your Cybage is meeting your career aspirations, make some serious noise.

Work-life balance. Well, can any organization, in the service industry, in a tough year, deliver terrific growth to its employees, without compromising on their work-life balance? Let’s find out. It’s time for a show of strength, if you are one of those Cybagians who in the last three months, didn’t need to come to work for even one Saturday or Sunday – let’s hear some deafening thunder.

Culture. What is culture? It’s about honesty in dealings; it’s about the courage to not manipulate social media to buy employee loyalties. And that is how and why my friends.. if you visit the world’s most popular employee feedback site Glassdoor.. you will find that amongst all the leading Indian IT companies – your Cybage is ranked the highest in Culture and Values, Overall Rating, and when it comes to Recommending to a friend – we are the undisputed leader. Let’s revalidate, if you believe your Cybage has the best cultural values in the industry – please scream some yeahs.

You see, your organization is not a particular stage of the river. Cybage is an entire river… that focuses on career aspirations, work-life balance and culture/values – all three at the same time to all the employees, and perhaps that feeling of completeness is what binds Cybagians to Cybage!

This is an excellent time to end my story. Except, all of us plus our three friends forgot about the rainbow waterfall! Sure all three friends got what they aspired for. But come every moonless night, they would remember their promise to meet by the rainbow waterfall. The restlessness keeps building till they decide to do something about it.

The ambitious friend resumes his treacherous climb all the way to the mouth of the river from where he could cross over to the other side, and then walk downhill. He no longer wasted time admiring the valley below.

The easy-going friend decides to build a bridge. It was a task that required him to cut trees, make planks, drag them to the river, stabilize them anchors, and keep incrementally building. He forgot about his work-life balance.

The fun-loving friend decides to build a boat. It was a challenging task, he had to tie together a pack of logs, test buoyancy, robustness and leakages by continuous hit and trial. He no longer waited for oceanic sunsets.

After weeks of hard work and strenuous travel, three make it to their reunion by the waterfall. Exhausted, they hug, they cry. Then they turn to jump into the waterfall, and then they freeze. There is no rainbow! You see, the rainbow colors are only visible from the other side of the bank as the drops interacted with the morning sunrays. Then something strange happens. Three friends laugh and laugh as they roll on the ground. They no longer care for the window. They have each other back.

You see, our story was not about the rainbow in the waterfall. It was about the rainbow in our hearts. Our story was not about Cybagian bonds with Cybage, but about Cybagian bonds with other Cybagians! For in an environment where each heart beats for the other heart… – career, work-life balance, culture, wealth creation, and bond with the company itself are merely by-products. And isn’t that what should be every organization’s eventual goal? To gift an environment where we can forge friendships that last a lifetime, create timeless memories like the ones we are doing right now. For what more is to any organizations’ true identity anyways? Our Cybage no matter how pious is merely a river in our personal journey. Many have already crossed it. Many more will cross it. Those who stay back will also retire someday. One such super special person that all Cybagians love .. already retired last year… Cybage cofounder, our former COO and my brother – Deepak Nathani. But Deepak, the moments that we all have shared together, the culture of ‘bringing life to work’ that you gifted Cybage is going to stay forever. So thank you Deepak for putting heartbeats in the organization’s present identity, for being our special rainbow, for nurturing this beautiful river called Cybage – all the way from its birth to the point it met the ocean. Folks, let’s give Cybage’s cofounder, our original hero a standing ovation.. and remember he is old, retired, hard of hearing so make it loud.

And thank you Cybagians… for your warmth, care, for your incredible friendships that make Cybage’s existence worthwhile, for tonight is not merely the celebration of memories, but about the dawn of new beginnings… you see, our journey on the river is over, now we are navigating in the ocean.. and on the other side of the ocean lies an exciting future… so with lots and lots of love and prayers, a great honor and privilege, it is time for me to leave you now with a glimpse of our new rainbow in the horizon…