1) The first Rava Dosa (As you know the Dosas turn out well when the pan is at optimum heat – if it is too hot you get blackened Dosas with undercooked interiors, if it is even slightly less hot the Dosa never gets cooked properly and not retrievable. The worst is if you order Rava Dosa and if that happens to be the first one of the day – you are sure to get a gooey, yucky one but skilfully folded and delivered, you take the first bite and you know it !)
After a few formal comforting words, we both settled down.
I started pro actively ..
“ You know, it is becoming more and more difficult to live in Bangalore. The traffic is horrible, any where you go you have to stand in a long line. I regret my decision to move back to India last year. I should have stayed on in the Bay area “
He gave a long sigh and muttered something in low voice –
I could still catch it “ Oh No! Another Type 3.2”
2) The crisp “Ghee Masala Roast” ( No need to explain - As you know there is no dish in the world that could match the Tamilnadu’s signature dish )
He looked like an elder brother. After few cursory formal introductions, we both settled down. Both of us from the IT industry, we quickly fell in to the woes of the industry as a whole, about its sustenance, rising salaries, craze for promotions, attrition, lack of real high talent, inability as a culture to get in to depth ,inter cultural communication issues, etc. The conversation went on and on.
The more and more I talked, my respect for him was increasing. He seemed to have understood the industry so well and surprisingly solutions as well.
He started asking the basic set of questions.
“ How much is the attrition in your company ?” “ I said about 20 %”. He asked “Guess what is the attrition in my company ?” – I made an intelligent guess and said must be below 10%. He laughed , “
You are almost theret, it is about 1 %, that too the people left due to unavoidable personal reasons” I just could not believe. How on earth is that possible!
I could not believe what I just heard. Looking at my puzzled face, he continued. “ Can you make a guess on our customer Satisfaction ?” Having heard the attrition figure, I was cautious. “ I guess it could be 4 on a scale of 5”. Typically in my benchmark 3.5 is an achievement. It was again his turn to laugh “ No, it is 4.9 “
It is simple, if you know what people want ultimately. “ Tell me in your experience what do people want ? why do people leave a company ?”
I did not have to think, “Obvious – It is salary first isn’t it ?”, at least that seems to be the behaviour of the current lot.
“That is precisely the issue, we assume the seemingly obvious”, he continued
“Tell me How does a typical project in the industry run ?”
“ It starts with a tough timeline, already committed by Sales, lack of resources in the beginning. Just talk to customers , you will discover that mostly they do not know what they want exactly. Try a chat with your Boss to see if he can help, he will tell you to improve efficiency and do it with 20% less cost. “
He stopped me, “ Not in our company, it is not our sales, but the development team that decides the timeline. It is not that we run after acquiring projects, we choose our customers. In fact we reject many customers. Then there is no question of squeezing cost, we do things for our satisfaction !”
He must have noticed the expression on my face – a mixture of disbelief and at the same time more questions because of the trust I have built up with this man in such a short time. The conversation continued for a quite long time We debated about leadership, cultural issues, organisation structure, future challenges, etc.
In the end I felt enlightened.
He said, “ Come over, any time you are welcome to see my company. You can talk to my people. You will see for yourself. “ It seemed he wanted say something more, but just stopped short of it at that point. We exchanged cards. His name was P.S.Parthasarathy – I thought it was apt. I said to myself, that I must visit his company. As usual I was caught in the usual everyday conundrum and almost forgot.
Until almost a week later – when Raj called me. Raj, as he is called rather than his full name of Basava Raj, has been chasing me for quite a while. Raj is a senior Director at one of the famous HR consulting groups. In short form a “Head hunter”. He has been telling me that a MNC is particularly interested in me. But, I was not looking out. He was willing to share the details if I sign an NDA. I did not even want to hear the name of the company. But he has been pursuing again saying that the CEO was interested in just having an informal discussion with me over a cup of coffee. This time his tone was different. He simply said “ Hey you must be good, no one has cleared an interview by PSP with such flying colours, Can you meet the HR head this week ? “
3) Hyderabad MLA Pesarattu with Allam Pachadi: ( This is a speciality from Hyderabad – a hot Pesarattu with an overdose of Ginger grinded in, with Ginger chutney, invented at the MLA Hostel. The difference to normal Pesarattu is – It is stuffed with hot Upma like a Masal dosa ! A small Clarification : Hot in the few preceding sentences is not about the temperature !!)
Please remember again the "Ghee Masala Roast“ till the point of - He said, “ Come over, any time you are welcome to see my company. You can talk to my people. You will see for yourself. “ It seemed he wanted say something more, but just stopped short of it at that point. We exchanged cards.
His name was P.S.Parthasarathy – I thought it was apt.
The address was somewhere in Alwarpet, Chennai. Not being a native of Chennai I do not know the difference between Alwarpet and Alwar Thirunagar. Almost a month later I had to visit Chennai to attend a marriage. The marriage was at Mylapore and as I was going to the place in an Autorikshaw reading the name boards on the shops, I noticed that I was passing through Alwarpet. I suddenly remembered the man and the entire conversation. I instructed the driver to stop. I could rummage through my wallet and retrieve the card “P.S. Parthasarathy”. I just tried calling him but only I could get a message saying that the number was not reachable or number did not exist. I could have just left it, but as if by impulse I gave the address and asked the driver to take me there. At least I could say a hello to him. The auto driver gave a strange look and asked “ Which company ?” I said “ Just don’t bother, take me there”. When he dropped me at the address, as I got down, I saw the board “ Raj kamal Film International”.
4) The “ Kari Dosa” as we call at home – roughly translated as “ Carbon Dosa” ( As you know Dosa is mostly Carbohydrate and when Carbohydrates are exposed to high heat the laws of chemistry faithfully work turning them in to Carbon )
Again it is the Crisp Ghee Masala dosa – till the point of : I said to myself, that I must visit his company. As usual I was caught in the usual everyday conundrum and almost forgot.
Until almost a week later – when my boss called me. He was looking with a peculiar frown with his glasses on his nose, and started off without much ado. “ I never thought you have such a bad opinion about our company. And how can you quote confidential data and inside details to a stranger you meet on a flight for the first time ? That fellow PSP was my former colleague, and an absolute rogue- I thought you were smart.” I was thoroughly confused and did not know how to react. “ Just get lost, don’t stand in front of me.”
Dear Friends, that is the end of the story, you could pick one as you wish !
Types of Travelers - Part I
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http://psgtech1986.blogspot.com/2007/12/types-of-travelers.html