I believe in destiny. How else would one explain the fact that one fine morning I found myself being transported from the scorching heat of Nagpur to chilly snows of Norway?
Infospectrum India Pvt Ltd gave me an opportunity to work for a month with Applied Radar Physics, as a technical writer. ARP is basically a group of scientists coming together to develop high-end radars. The company is located at Kjeller Teknologisk, near Oslo. The complex also houses a dozen other R & D organizations, specializing in a wide array of fields, right from biotech to nanotech… and then, there is a nuclear reactor as well!
Rather than writing about what food I ate ( which actually wasn’t much more than bread, butter & cheese) and the places I saw (to put it in brief, the entire Oslo), this article will focus on what I learnt as a person.
The most important thing I learnt was some good ethics. Mr. José Navarro had informed he would pick me up at my hotel at 9 am on first day. I was thinking, ‘he would probably be late by half an hour at least, after all he is the Managing Director!’. Imagine my surprise when, upon descending the stairs at 9 am, I found him waiting for me in the hotel lobby!
At work, I hardly found anyone moving about during work hours. In fact for first few days, I was the one who was most often seen moving in and out of the room for trips to coffee machine, etc. The others would rarely budge from their seats, except for work-related matters.
One thing I realized was the immense amount of work you can get done in a single day if you really focus hard and get cracking. I mean, it’s really, really amazing how much time and mental processing power we waste by just letting our minds wander during work.
Lunch time discussions were something I always looked forward too, for they were never about mundane matters. Everyone present (except me, perhaps...) being highly qualified, the talks were always informative and interesting. Mr. Navarro would say something like, “Yesterday on Discovery Channel they showed about radio-pulsars.” And then others would chip in with what they knew. Each one of them has traveled far and wide and it was a treat to hear their experiences. Being in such an elite company naturally widens your thinking horizons and you begin to read more, learn more, so that you aren’t left out!!
Another point I noted was minimal reporting procedures. If José had to tell something to any of his team-members, he would just walk in and say it. In fact most of the communication was verbal. Of course, important information was indeed passed through mails. Perhaps, ARP being a small group and everyone being senior person, verbal communication must have worked fine. But still, I do feel that sometimes we spend more time in writing mails than doing actual work.
Norwegians in general are very, very courteseous and well- mannered. They go to amazing extent to help others, even a stranger like me. And they smile a lot... it comes naturally to them. I would be walking on the streets and many passer-by’s would break into a smile, and say "Good Morning" or something. It really feels very nice. I tried this a few times after coming back to India, and was greeted with weird looks...
Rather than writing about what food I ate ( which actually wasn’t much more than bread, butter & cheese) and the places I saw (to put it in brief, the entire Oslo), this article will focus on what I learnt as a person.
The most important thing I learnt was some good ethics. Mr. José Navarro had informed he would pick me up at my hotel at 9 am on first day. I was thinking, ‘he would probably be late by half an hour at least, after all he is the Managing Director!’. Imagine my surprise when, upon descending the stairs at 9 am, I found him waiting for me in the hotel lobby!
At work, I hardly found anyone moving about during work hours. In fact for first few days, I was the one who was most often seen moving in and out of the room for trips to coffee machine, etc. The others would rarely budge from their seats, except for work-related matters.
One thing I realized was the immense amount of work you can get done in a single day if you really focus hard and get cracking. I mean, it’s really, really amazing how much time and mental processing power we waste by just letting our minds wander during work.
Lunch time discussions were something I always looked forward too, for they were never about mundane matters. Everyone present (except me, perhaps...) being highly qualified, the talks were always informative and interesting. Mr. Navarro would say something like, “Yesterday on Discovery Channel they showed about radio-pulsars.” And then others would chip in with what they knew. Each one of them has traveled far and wide and it was a treat to hear their experiences. Being in such an elite company naturally widens your thinking horizons and you begin to read more, learn more, so that you aren’t left out!!
Another point I noted was minimal reporting procedures. If José had to tell something to any of his team-members, he would just walk in and say it. In fact most of the communication was verbal. Of course, important information was indeed passed through mails. Perhaps, ARP being a small group and everyone being senior person, verbal communication must have worked fine. But still, I do feel that sometimes we spend more time in writing mails than doing actual work.
Norwegians in general are very, very courteseous and well- mannered. They go to amazing extent to help others, even a stranger like me. And they smile a lot... it comes naturally to them. I would be walking on the streets and many passer-by’s would break into a smile, and say "Good Morning" or something. It really feels very nice. I tried this a few times after coming back to India, and was greeted with weird looks...
This visit has taught me a lot professionally and also made me a better individual. Living away from “your” people, you begin to appreciate even the simple pleasures like a chai or a warm sunshine early in morning.
For Norway visit photos, you are invited to browse through my photo album on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/gautamsoman
For Norway visit photos, you are invited to browse through my photo album on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/gautamsoman
