As I Lived It

Pramode Verma recounts, in this book, his personal and professional journey. Born in Barauli, Bihar, India, Pramode captures his experiences and observations as a young boy growing up in the small towns and big towns of pre-independence Bihar. Taking his chances, and being adventuresome, he goes to Bengaluru for his graduate work and on to his early job postings in Jabalpur, Shillong, Chennai, and New Delhi in the then newly independent India. From India to Canada and then on to the US, in pursuit of higher education as well as a career in the electronics and telecommunication industry, Pramode offers rich details of his life in Canada (Halifax, Montreal, and Ottawa) and in the US where his family lived -- Marlboro, Branchburg and Holmdel in New Jersey; in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and now in a suburb of Tampa, Florida where he lives with his wife Gita.
His professional journey began at the Indian Institute of Science followed by a short but exciting career in the Indian Telecommunication Service. He then moved to Concordia University for his graduate studies, and had a rich and satisfying career at Bell Canada, Bell Laboratories, AT&T, Lucent Technologies, and the University of Oklahoma. Pramode Verma is an alumnus of the Patna Collegiate School, Patna Science College, the Indian Institute of Science, Concordia University, and the University of Pennsylvania.
Offering vignettes of life in rural and small-town India, he peeks into the rarefied world of higher education in Indian universities, and his short-lived but exciting career in the Indian Telecom sector, Pramode then allows us to journey with him to the West – sharing his observations of the work and life in multinational corporations and his experience teaching and learning in major Canadian and American universities. Pramode Verma’s book offers readers a picture of the life, travels, and travails of an aspiring and ambitious young man willing to take his chance and make a mark in life.