Pool..Networking.

Networking has been the buzz word since the day I started my consulting career. These 4 years in consulting has made me digest the word Netoworking. In the initial stages I always felt that one should be judged by his actions than by his networking skills; always felt that Networking was some kind of a demon which cannot be befriended by a person like me. Don't know if it is for good or bad, i feel, i am getting closer to the art of networking. I somehow realized the importance of networking and also feel that I have had lots of success with my network, though unknowingly. Its time that I master this skill of networking, as I have started to realize that my constant criticism to networking, resulted in understanding the importance and befriend the demon, I thought it was.

Itz the initial friction that needs to be overcome, after that it is always a smooth ride. I learnt the art of playing pool when I was in LA with my friend Mr.Cool and company. Pool was another art that I thought needed lots of skill to play. I remember the first ever team event in my first project in LA, at a billiards place. Everyone was playing pool, and it was all a new game for me which I never tried. That day I spent watching other folks play and chatting with the elderly crowd about the experiences in consulting. Don't know if that served as an inspiration, couple of months later i made my first move towards snooker in the neighbourhood of Irwindale, as usual the credit goes to my friend Mr.Cool for making me take the first steps. After the initial hiccups, the game improved as we know "practice makes a man perfect!". Though there were several other factors (that cannot be revealed here) that inspired us to play the game or do i put it this way 'inspired us to visit the pool place'. Although our other intentions were not successful, we improved the game. After about 3-4 months into my first assignment pool turned out to be one of the must do activities for the weekend. This made us play a better pool that we initially thought we were, ofcourse in our own style. I attribute 90% of my success to my luck and the other 10% to better form. Sometimes we played the game to get ourselves relieved of the regular day to day project pressure. As I always do, play any game with the intention of winning resulted in further interest in the game. After go-live of that project, and departure of friends I landed into the other project based in Mid-West America, my cool friend into UK.

Now in this mid-western town, the project is much more relaxed than the first project. There is always lack of inspiration to work, however searching for reasons to keep myself motivated to be a good consultant. After couple of months into the new project, most of the team had joined together for the first time; as most of the folks were on tax break for sometime. The coming together required a party to get to know everyone in the team. A party at Dave and Busters...

Unlike the first assignment, most of the junta in the project was older folks. As always, I believe I am still the youngest in the project. Living up to the Indian punctuality reached the place 30 minutes after the scheduled time of the event. By the time we were in, most of the junta was already into the serious business of satisfying their hunger. My initial reactions "man where did I land, in the group of oldies; don't know how to spend the rest of the evening." Slowly, junta (the crowd) started moving towards the pool tables. I was with the regular desi team, chatting about the food, etc. The adrenalin gush inside made me slowly move towards the pool table. Waited for an opportunity, grabbed a queue and started playing. I had to lie to my partner that I was playing for the first time. A few minutes into the game, the truth was revealed and I was getting into the rythm. After couple of games I was the man of the hour, being watched by the everyone in the crowd. Thanks to our weekends in the remote pool place in LA, I was transformed into the most watched player at the party, with the shots that found there own targets.

The movement to cherish was the one, when the director of the project was asked by one of the senior managers in the project to pick any one from the crowd and play the game. The Director picked "ME". Wow! There I go to play the game of pool with the Director of the project. Awesome! Started off definsively, got into the rhythm, was never in a position to win; at the same time never far away from my winning. However to one of the daring shots that I took, which did not materialise into the desired result, I lost the game. However, this is one of the first opportunities that gave me the much required recognition in the eyes of the senior folks in the project. Pool gave some time to have a one on one discussion with the director about the project, after the game. By the end of the party, I played 3 games and lost all the 3. However I felt, I was the winner..per the saying "Jo haar kar bee jeet tah hai,,,woh Bazigar keh lata hai". The only thought that was in my mind returning back home was to ..Networking is not a demon any more, but turning out to be good friend..and I think, I have overcome the inertia...I should make it to be a smooth ride...