It is not everyday in my professional life that I come across people that I want to keep with me forever. This man had something about him that I always admired. I was never sure what that was but I knew there was something special.
He is one of those kind who does not let you enter his good books, but once you are in, it is nearly impossible to get out of it. I feel that I did make it through. I know I am going to break a lot of hearts when I say this but he did mention on his last day in office with us that "of all the people, he enjoyed working with me the most."
I met him about a year and half ago when I was in London to learn from him. I still have the first diagram that he drew on the white board to explain the overall architecture of a product. I also remember that I out in a lot of effort in documenting whatever I learn from him. The first document that I wrote was in a Q & A where a person is asking questions and an expert is answering them. I never could gather the courage to tell him that when I was writing that document I had his picture in mind and also quoted some of his statements. That remains my most loved and treasured document in my current professional sprint.
Everytime I was in London, he would make sure things were planned to perfection, every evening we were drunk (well almost). He introduced me to the best coffee I have ever had in my entire life (Taylor Street Barista). The sound of the words 'skinny cappuccino please!' is still fresh in my memory. We had a few Old Fashioned in my first visit to London @ Sushi Samba and we loved it. He then made sure he had a new venue ready for us to visit and drink that loved drink of ours whenever I was in London.
Well all of this was outside the office hours. I am in no way hinting that we only enjoyed, we worked together and we did deliver a lot of quality stuff. We shared a great chemistry. Although he was the one who used to guide me through most of the work, he was never shy to take any comments from me and include them. In his leaving card I wrote to him saying that he is the one person to whom I attribute all my technical success of the project. One of the colleagues who read my note on the card also mentioned that "you have attributed all your success to him, there would have been others as well." The answer is yes there are others as well, but technically he is the one person that I have learnt the most.
This picture is all that I have for memories. I would have spent about 6 months in London working with him (while he was working for the same organization) but I never even thought that there could be a day when he would leave the company and go else I would have clicked one picture with him. I am sure this is one the tasks that I want to do on priority next time I am in London. I am sure we will meet whenever I am in London.
I would like to conclude by thanking you mate for all your help support and love throughout the journey. I wish we get a chance to work again in the future. Till then I have a lot of code that we have written together to live with. It has been a pleasure working with you Mr. Preyesh Malde.
