git switch -c new-endeavors -f infosys 👋

After eight years at Infosys, I had to write a farewell note. The ones I have read — and the ones I have written before — usually feel like form letters with the names changed. I wanted this one to actually sound like me.

So I wrote it the only way I know how: as a sequence of git commands.

If you have ever used git, you already know how to read this. If you have not — every line is a real git command, and the words after the # are the human translation. The story is the same either way.

I also built a small standalone web app of the whole thing, so it reads more like a live terminal than a static page:

👉 ganesankar.github.io/git-switch-f-infy

Open whichever feels right — the post below has more breathing room, the web app has the blinking cat.

INIT : How it began 🌱

$ git init                                  # Joined at 2018 — new company, new team, huge expectations. 🌱
$ git config --global user.name  "Ganesan Karuppaiya"
$ git config --global user.email "ganesan.karuppaiya@íñf█ṡÿṡ.com"
$ git config --global init.defaultBranch  learning-and-grow   # the only branch I ever wanted to live on. 📚
$ git config --global core.empathy  true    # learned and set globally. 🤝
$ git config --global core.kindness true    # same. and never going to --unset. 💛
$ git config --list                         # turns out, the values you gave me will stay configured for life. 💛

STATUS : How it went... ❤️

$ git status                                # On branch learning. Clean working tree. Heart: full. ❤️
$ git add .                                 # Staged every lesson, every laugh, every funny moment. 😄
$ git add -p                                # Some moments picked carefully, bit by bit — they were so special. ✨
$ git diff                                  # The me who walked in vs. Me standing here today — massive diff. 😅
$ git diff HEAD                             # Even compared to yesterday, time changed me. 🙂
$ git diff --cached THANKS.md               # Reviewing what I am about to say, one last time. 🥲

EXIT : How it ended ... 📜

$ git commit -m "feat: joined with huge expectations, gained a lifetime of growth" 🌱
$ git commit -am "learn: tech, people, patience, kindness — all merged into me" 🤝
$ git commit --amend -m "fix: not just an infocision, thanks to you all" 🙌
$ git log --stat                            # Look at all the files of my life this place touched. 📂
$ git log -p THANKS.md                      # Every line here was written by some trust and some space. 🙏
$ git show HEAD                             # The latest version of me — built on top of all of you. 💪
$ git log --oneline --decorate --graph      # A graph of memories, branching, merging, never linear, always beautiful. 🌳✨

WHILE LEAVING : What I carry with me ... 🎒

$ ls -la                                    # The artifacts of this chapter — files written with intent. 📂
README.md                                   # who I am — co-authored by every one of you 📖
CONTRIBUTING.md                             # the unwritten code: kindness, ownership, candor 🤝
CHANGELOG.md                                # versions of me, one release per learning 📝
THANKS.md                                   # the longest file in this repo — still not long enough 💛
LICENSE.md                                  # the permission you all gave me to grow without judgment 📜

CROSSROADS : Stay In Infosys vs Bigger Dreams 🛤️

$ git branch                                # Being honest, I wished to keep this branch checked out forever. 🥺
$ git switch -c stay-in-infy                # I would have happily kept committing here for years to come. 💛
$ git checkout stay-in-infy                 # But the situation around me is no longer the same. 🥺
$ git merge bigger-dreams                   # And there are bigger dreams quietly asking to be merged in. 🌠
$ git branch -d stay-in-infy                # So, with respect and a grateful heart, I am closing this branch. 🙏

ALSO : While leaving ☕

$ git stash push -m "wip: unfinished projects, inside jokes, coffee chats ☕"
$ git stash list                            # All safely parked in my heart. 💛
$ git stash pop                             # Will be replayed every time I think of you. 💭

LETTING GO : With heavy heart ... 🕊️

$ git restore THANKS.md                     # I cannot undo the goodbye, but…
$ git restore --staged regrets.md           # I unstage every regret — only gratitude remains. 🙏
$ git reset --soft HEAD~1                   # I undo nothing of what we built — I keep all the changes with me. 🎒
$ git reset --hard bitterness               # error: pathspec 'bitterness' did not match anything. Good. There is none. 😊
$ git revert <any-hard-day>                 # The tough days? Reverted by the kindness you all showed. 🤗

ALSO : What I leave behind ... 🙅

$ cat .gitignore                            # Things this repo was never going to track.
bitterness
regrets/
gossip.log
*.drama
node_modules/                               # we depended on each other, not on libraries 🤝

HANDOVER - Logging out and moving on 🔑

$ git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD           # infy-tech-lead
$ git checkout -b new-endeavors             # Switched to a new branch 'new-endeavors'. 🚀
$ git push origin --delete infy-tech-lead   # Letting this role go — gently, gratefully. 🙏
$ git rm ganesan.karuppaiya@íñf█ṡÿṡ.com     # Removing my login from these halls — but never from this story. 🪪
$ git mv infosys new-endeavors              # Moving my path to the next chapter, carrying the lessons along. 📁✨
$ git tag -a v1.0-farewell -m "Final farewell note — with love" 💝
$ git push origin v1.0-farewell             # Tagging this chapter so I never lose its commit hash in memory. 🏷️

I WISH : To keep in touch 🤝

$ git remote add friends `https://ganesankar.github.io`
$ git remote -v
  friends   https://ganesankar.github.io  (fetch)
  friends   https://ganesankar.github.io  (push)
$ git fetch friends                         # I will check on you. Often. 👀🙂
$ git pull --rebase friends main            # And if life lets me, may rebase my path to cross yours again. 🛤️
$ git blame me                              # To point who shaped me, `git blame` points straight to all of you. 🙏
$ git clone <this-culture> to-my-next-team  # Maybe taking a clone of this culture wherever I go next. 🌟

COMMAND NOT EXIST: See you around 👋

$ git help goodbye
'goodbye' is not a git command. See 'git --help'.
# Maybe that is the point — this is not really a goodbye. 🙂

HIGHLIGHTS : What I rewind now ...

$ git log --oneline --decorate --graph --author="[ganesan.karuppaiya]"
* (HEAD -> new-endeavors, tag: v1.0-farewell) Farewell, with gratitude 🌸
* `release(production)`: many launches, calm midnights — predictability earned, not gifted 📦
* `experiment(playground)`: POCs, hackathons, side quests — never stopped tinkering 🧪
* `style(craft)`: code reviews, design systems, accessibility — quality as a default 🎨
* `hotfix(production)`: showed up for the fires, not just mine — calm hands, clear heads 🔥
* `docs(awards)`: continuously recognized and appreciated for the work — forever humbled 🙏
* `chore(interviews)`: brought new talent into the family — every "yes" felt like a win 🧑‍💻
* `merge(friendships)`: the colleagues who became family — quietly, completely, they built me 🤝
* `ops(rfp)`: led RFPs across multiple pursuits — won some, learned from all 📑
* `refactor(full-stack)`: UI → API → Infra → Data — given the room to learn every layer 🔁
* `feat(homecoming)` 🇮🇳: returned home — an unavoidable situation called me back 🏠
* `feat(usa)` 🇺🇸: on-site at Beaverton, Nike World Headquarters — privileged to work alongside great people ✨
* `feat(canada)` 🇨🇦: based out of Vancouver — explored a beautiful country and learned a beautiful culture 🍁
* `feat(nike)`: shipped multiple B2B applications for Nike — from concept to scale 👟
* `feat(ajio)`: on-site in Bangalore — built a retail B2B application for AJIO from the ground up 🛍️
* `learn`: people > process, kindness > KPIs 💛
* `feat(joined)`: as a Tech Lead — huge expectations, hungrier mind 🌱
* `Initial Commit`: a stranger walked in 👋

ATLAST : Hoping for the best ...

$ git status
On branch new-endeavors                    # Nothing to commit yet, but everything to remember. 💫

OUTRO : The story under the commands

The git commands are a costume. The story underneath is plain.

I joined a infosys almost a decade ago. I am leaving it now. In between, I shipped some things, learned more, and met a small set of people who became the actual reason I kept turning up. That is the part the commands cannot capture.

To everyone who taught me, paired with me, escalated my bugs and forgave my mistakes — thank you for the eight years.

That is the only commit I will not be reverting.