Dear Jhalak, our interview is a little late because I simply didn’t get around to it sooner. Nevertheless, I would like to welcome you once again – even after 6 weeks. What is it like to be the only woman among all our developers? Are you behaving yourself?
Yes, definitely. They have all welcomed me very well and are doing their best to get me up to speed quickly. I’m sitting right next to Hardik, who is more or less my main contact person. Some of my colleagues also come from India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. So we understand each other. 😊
You told me over lunch the other day that you come from a small town in central India. Small is always relative?
With a population of 180,000, Guna is not very big, even by German standards. 😉 To put it in context, it is located about 600 km south of New Delhi. I grew up in Guna. Before I came to HNS, I lived in Bangalore. There I worked as a Senior Test Engineer at GlobalLogic (Hitachi Group).
So something similar to what you’re going to do here?
I am responsible for the quality assurance of our products. This means that I develop test plans, carry out tests, find errors and report them to my colleagues so that they can be fixed. In terms of the area of work, it’s quite similar to my previous job. But of course the two products are very different. At GlobalLogic, I tested the Magento framework, which is an open-source e-commerce platform. Here at HNS, we have completely different technical requirements. But let’s not go into too much depth. I don’t want to bore you 😉
I’ll tell you when it gets too complicated for me. But you’re right, it won’t be long now… One last question on the professional side: What appeals to you about working for us?
There are many different aspects that I find fascinating about my role here. I work in a very diverse team. I really like that. Moreover, everything is so fast-moving in. You must never stand still. That really appeals to me. Our products reach a large number of customers. So we must not allow ourselves any weaknesses. I love being part of this puzzle where everyone contributes to making us a little better every day.
I’m always most interested in what you do outside the sacred HNS walls. Who are you? What makes you special? Just tell us about it.
My private life is probably best summed up in one sentence: “It’s all in the mix!”. Since I’ve been in Berlin, I’ve been on a kind of mission to get to know the city. At the weekends and after work, you’ll find me somewhere in the city streets. I get lost sometimes, but I always discover something interesting. I came to Germany with my husband and he loves discovering new things as much as I do. So it’s the perfect match. 😊
What is your favorite place so far? Apart from your apartment.
The Spreewald. I don’t have to think twice. Yes, I know, it’s not Berlin. But for me, it looks like heaven on earth. It is so incredibly beautiful. I love it. But I also have an absolute favorite place in Berlin. Lake Tegel. Forest and water together is unbeatable in my eyes.
You can cook pretty well and are very organized. I’ve never seen anyone here with such high-quality Tupperware in the kitchen.
Oh yes, I love cooking. When it comes to culinary delights, I am very keen to experiment. My kitchen is like a laboratory. Either my experiments go wrong or they turn out really well. Fortunately, my husband always serves as a test subject. He is everything I cook and doesn’t hold back with his opinion either. But apart from that, I’m a very open person. I just love chatting to other people and finding out new things about them. I’m always up for a piece of cake and tea in the afternoon.
Good to know. If there’s one thing Berlin has, it’s hip cafés that are all waiting to be tried out. There is simply nothing here that does not exist.
I’ve heard that too. I’m going to explore them all 😉
Thank you very much for the entertaining interview. We are delighted that you are bringing some momentum to our programming.
