New Delhi Times - Gaurav Bhatnagar reporting from New Delhi, India

Yesterday was my last day at Microsoft. It was a mixed feeling. I felt truly sad leaving a great work place but excited too to face a new future. Each Microsoft full time employee (FTEs as they are called) gets a blue ID badge. That blue badge is your identity in Microsoft. When it was time to return the blue badge yesterday, I finally realized that things are really changing. My team mates and myself climbed over one of the famous Microsoft signs on the campus and took a pic.

Apart from the "why are you coming back" questions, I have also been asked the "how can you leave Microsoft" question a lot. It is a testament to Microsoft's reputation as an employer here and especially in India that people find it hard to believe I am leaving. No matter how much ridicule the geeks lays onto Microsoft, for the average computer user Microsoft is the mecca of software engineering. Inspite of all the jokes about blue screens, hangs and bugs, it is still a company greatly admired across the world. Microsoft was my dream company fresh out of college and it mostly lived upto my expectations. The work culture, people, benefits all are a topic in themselves. But for now, it suffices to say, I will miss Microsoft!