"And here we are today." Sadique concluded as she sat with Amit sipping tea. The two had been college friends and had experienced good and difficult times together. After college, Sadique got placed in his dream company i.e. L&T Switchgear. He had found work in his primary field, electrical engineering. Amit, not as bright as Sadique, had to settle for a job in the software industry. Clearly, this was not what he wanted. However, they both decided to pursue careers with big dreams to chase. Frankfurt For the first six months, Sadique Khan worked as a production engineer in L&T's Switchgear division in Faridabad. He was gregarious by nature and made many friends in the office. His work responsibilities required a lot of interaction with his colleagues and he felt comfortable dealing with people. His manager and colleagues thought highly of him. No wonder, after six months, the company appointed him for a six-month training program in “Advanced Panel Design” at a reputed institute in Frankfurt, Germany. He was the blue-eyed boy from L&T Switchgear. The company expected him to complete the training program and transfer the knowledge to his colleagues in India, so as to boost research and development at L&T Switchgear, India. The training program was tough and Sadique's coach had full faith in his abilities. He was confident that Sadique would complete the training successfully and meet the company's expectations. Sadique was excited about his first visit abroad. He didn't expect it so soon. Frankfurt airport was beautiful. He captured the bird's eye view in his camera. However, the first shock came at the airport, where the security agents, after seeing his name, began to... in the middle of a sheet of paper... ask to use the local language in a organization, especially in official meetings. . In Germany, my batchmates in the training program stuck to English, even though their accents were funny. Each made sure the others understood by confirming and receiving feedback from them from time to time. But I still think they are very self-centered people. Amit: On the contrary, they may not be self-centered at all. Here's how things are over there. That's just how I am. That's all. We're not like that, so we find it surprising. In an organization, one must accept such "inconsistencies" and move on. Sadique: I guess so. In truth, we have both learned a lot over the last year. On this same day last year, we were inexperienced college kids, all enthused about the "corporate lifestyle" with all kinds of rosy pictures in our minds. This was then. And here we are today.