Rupashree Pradhan

“I thought I was a good Team Lead in my company but it felt like everyone who used to work under me were ganging up against me. One of the demerits of being in a senior position is that you can do thousands of good things for people, but if you get angry once, that’s it, everyone goes against you. I hope people would have seen a different side of me, an emotional one.

After joining the organization, I was posted to West Bengal and then got transferred to Bangalore. I belonged to a small village in Odisha. Needless to say, I was awestruck by the buildings and corporate culture. When I returned to Bhubaneswar after a span of few years, I wasn’t thrilled. I was trying my best to adjust with the change and stay happy. I got into a project as a team lead and used to work hard every day. However, the team hadn’t accepted me as their lead… it felt like they weren’t happy and spoke ill about me most the time. I was aware of this but I kept on moving.

After a couple of months, I got a call from my sister, she said that our father has been in an accident and they are rushing him towards the hospital in our village. They were taking him to the hospital in the village. I was in shock. I called my friend. She had been through a similar situation. She asked me to calm down. She suggested me to bring my father to Bhubaneswar and get him treated there.

When I brought this up, my father and most of my family members didn’t agree. They thought it would be convenient to get him treated in the village as the entire family was there. It took me a lot of efforts to convince them to bring him to Bhubaneswar.

We arranged an ambulance since my father was completely bedridden. Throughout the journey I never blinked once, I was looking outside the road and praying endlessly. When we reached Bhubaneswar, I took care of everything. I don’t know how I got all this strength, but I did it. I used to be afraid of hospitals, but I knew that this time I had to find the courage and handle everything all by myself.

I got my second shock when my nephew suddenly fell sick. I took the charge again. He had bronchiolitis and was supposed to go for a procedure.  When I asked the doctor what was the risk involved in this process, he said – ‘It’s either 0% or 100%’. It felt like a shock. I couldn’t tell about this to my sister or anyone as they wouldn’t be able to handle this pain. I kept quiet throughout even though it was killing me from the inside. When the procedure happened for the very first time, it wasn’t a success but the doctor informed that they had identified the root cause of it and it would be alright in the next procedure. I had to go through the same dilemma again, hoping and praying every day for him to get well as early as possible. The second procedure was a success and I couldn’t stop thanking God. It was then when I informed about it to my father and he was crying like anything. I myself was tearing up so badly. It felt like a rock has been lifted from my shoulder.

I have always been a jolly and helpful person. I love my job in the office. Even if someone isn’t that close to me, I try my best to help him or her out. That has always been my nature. In the IT world, when you are a senior person, people think that you are heartless or ruthless but what they don’t understand is that we are all human being as well. Even we go through a lot in our personal life and we have a story of our own. We are just trying to do our job and just like everyone else, we need affection, love, and a some kindness from others.

Total Work Experience : 10.9 Years ( Infosys, IBM)