The Journey From Elephants to Elephant-Sized Data

On my first day at Mitsogo, I was really nervous. However, as I walked over to my desk for the first time, on my desk was a stuffed elephant with the Hexnode logo. I still remember grinning as I held that cute little elephant for the first time. I had no idea what the work culture was like at the time, but I took it as a sign from the universe that I would fit in here. Here is why.

In Hindu mythology, the elephant symbolizes wisdom, understanding and the epitome of removing obstacles in life and pushing through. My love for these majestic creatures could have stemmed from these stories, or it could be due to the simple fact that they are the largest land animals alive. The truth is it doesn’t matter. I’ve had an unfathomable admiration for them ever since I was a child. During my younger years, elephants were a common sight near the temple neighboring my ancestorial home. Even in my college days, I would often visit ancient temples in Kerala where proud elephants would come for festivals and feasts. The more I got closer to them, the more I understood how human these animals are. Just like us, each one of them is unique. Long story short, seeing that little stuffed elephant on my table gave me hope.

Many people don’t know that these giants are ecosystem engineers shaping the very earth they live in. Quoting the Jungle Book, “The elephants created this jungle. Where they’ve made furrows with their tusks, the rivers ran. Where they blew with their trunks, the leaves fell. They made all that belongs.” 

For the past couple of years, I’ve been working as a Process Insights Analyst in Mitsogo. Data analysis has always been my favorite subject, and I have always wanted a job in it. You could say, dealing with elephant sized troves of data had a certain allure to it. An analyst makes sense of all the data flowing through the company. Without us, those data would be just ones and zeroes on a screen.  However, I was worried that a 9 to 5 job would prevent me from enjoying my hobbies. I couldn’t be more wrong. At Mitsogo, I met a bunch of people who realized the importance of fulfilled employees. My love for data analysis and elephants would sound like an unlikely pairing of interests. But that is not rare in this office. People here have made it easy for me to fit in and even find some like-minded people. Even now, I would spend one day a week with mahouts and elephants.