Diwali Exchange Offer Paneer for Pink Slip (P2P)- By Patroz Palal

It was the second week of October. And Shravanthi Pathak still didn’t get a hang of what went wrong. Everything was fine. Clean Slate! Still Amanda Parker, the prospective client, beat retreat– not singing off the outsourcing contract!!

Had it slipped into her kitty, Shravanthi would have had a 25 member QA team, for PICIS healthcare project. And that would have made hers the second largest team, in the Organization. Also it would have been a Divali gift for her. But nothing happened! All she got was an update from Anand Bakshi, VP –Operations, that the project didn’t come thru. Obviously, he wasn’t amused.

Bakshi not been happy is not something news to Shravanthi. She had seen him droning on similar issues many a times. But this time his body language didn’t speak of the same story, like earlier.

To give a gist of the background – Amanda Parker came for the vendor visit during the last week of September. Shravanti had done everything to get the project showcase a succcess. Pepped her team to work on weekends, made appealing decks on company’s infrastructure, project team and QA domain expertise and what not.

She even took Amanda to the company’s exquisite canteen, personally. Ideally she should have taken out Amanda for a lunch at some outside restaurant, but Shravanti thought it pragmatic to showcase the picture perfect canteen, that has sparkling floor, as a precursor to companies ‘Quality Philosophy’. An icing on the top.

Both of them found themselves a vacant table near the serving bay. They ordered bread (Roti) with Paneer butter maslasa. Amanda enjoyed the lunch, for that was her first time experience with an Indian cuisine. She enquired more about Paneer and Shravanti managed to get a fresh unpacked ‘panner’packet from the butler's deck.

Amanda read the package label. ‘Farm Cottage Cheese Paneer, Quality Never Before’. Her intruding eyes preyed on script printed below – …..When packed: 29/10/09!!!. Amanda cried out in annoyance. It’s September, and we have this stuff that we just now eat, packed in October!! Being a Quality Manager from the client side, Amanda was inconsolable for sheer breach in process. Sravanti took all her wits to pacify her and they left for the 2.00 Pm meeting, straight.

By the end of the day Amanda left for California after picking up all necessary documents. The project was slated to kick off by mid of October. And that would have been during the Divali eve.

But first week of October itself, the company came to know from onsite coordinator that the project is not taking shape. The very next hour, since Bakshi updated her , a mail flew into Sravanti’s inbox – it read from Amanda Parker.

Shravanthi,

Hope all is well at your end. And thanks for the Project showcase and you courtesy.

However at this moment, we have decided not to go ahead with your company. Well, how can we believe in your QA process when the food stuff supplied at your canteen, ratified by your company, itself has gross deviation of standards?

Regards
Amanda Parker,Program Manager
NewWest Software Labs.CA

Shravanthi was stunned, reading the email. My God what’s happening, are these people so much finicky about such things- can’t believe. Shravanthi cried out. But there was hardly any sound coming out.

Just then Bakshi called her up into the conference room. Shravanthi entered the room and saw Bakshi was busy with his mobile. Her suspecting eyes also saw something else – a Gift wrapped in fancy paper and pink slip struggling itself underneath….

Is that a Divali gift or is that a golden handshake? Is that a real pink slip? Or is that a Diwali Exchange Offer ……..Paneer for Pink Slip (P2P) types … Shravanthi kept on quipping her grey cells????.....and waited for Bakshi to complete his call.

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