Idea Exchange

by Prashant V Shrivastava
Generally, an email from the HR would contain anticipated content but this was different. The subject line was now common and she could read a couple of initial words when she got a notification in her smart phone’s email program. These were the words that had become known across the company.
She was one of the chosen employees who had to leave the organization amid cash crunch and share value fall. The company had been struggling to keep pace with its competitors for last one year and had lost many famous and permanent customers.  Office and market were abuzz with plenty of reasons that included the ouster of Mr. Smith as CEO last year, not investing into mobile applications timely, and accepting more work than the company could complete, and so on.
After the Q3 results were announced, many freshers and mid-aged employees had accepted offers from other companies. Veterans who were sitting on higher posts were struggling to find a matching salary job so they were showing as they were loyal to the company.
The company last month had informed that some positions may be closed forever. Today was though a happy Friday morning, many employees received an email that they have to hand over all that they had in their possession to a special team, and take cheque of their dues and leave for home.
As many as 25 employees were sacked that day as per speculations. This otherwise noisy office was stunned silent that morning. People who never ever opened a laptop without a coffee were also had their eyes glued to the email program.
It was there in the air but people believed that their manager would never give their names to HR. But even managers were helpless.
Neha was broken from inside but she was known for her courage in the office. She was not supposed to cry. She looked around and rushed to the washroom. Inside the closure, she cried but did not let her voice come out.
She could clearly see her dream flat being shattered. She had paid all her cash savings as down payment to the builder and she knew it was only the way forward. There was no option of any return. Although her flat had got all the clearance and check from the bank, she knew the EMI was just a couple of weeks ahead.
Having cried for a couple of minutes, she felt good. She realized that this was not the end of life. She could pay the first EMI with whatever advance the company pays and find a new job in the meanwhile.
Idea Exchange by Prashant V Shrivastava

She got back to her seat and began to collect all her personal files into one folder. She then uploaded all those to a Cloud drive. She deleted all the personal content and confidently got up to hand over the laptop and other accessories to the administration. She was smiling and as confident as she was always."You can take a salary of two months in advance along with payment of 13 days of the current month. We will deduct the tax from this income," the HR said in a hollow voice.
"How much will be the tax?" She asked."25689 rupees Neha." The HR lifted her head from her computer to talk to Neha.
The HR was surprised to see Neha all normal. She was busy with her phone as usual."And if you can bring your investment proof in one month, we can adjust that," the HR added."Deduct this money and prepare my cheque. I will dump this laptop meanwhile," said Neha.Before the HR could say something, she was gone.--------------"I will not break down," she told herself and opened the freelance job website. She found many projects that she could handle. She applied for all of them and believed that she will get at least a few.She prepared her study room like an office, pledged to be as serious, and as disciplined as she was in the office.
Days passed but she did not hear back from any of the job posters. Little worried, she also updated her resume on job sites.
Another week passed and now she was restless. Although she could still afford to live in her rented house for next two month, but her home loan EMI was her big worry. She needed a job or work within next one month so that by the end of the second month, she has a salary or payment in the bank.-----------------While sifting through social media, she read about a requirement of writing a few blog posts about telecom domain. She was with a telecom company for past few years and knew all the nitty gritty but she was not a writer.
She let this opportunity go and searched for some programming jobs. Most of the jobs she was finding needed a group of 2-3 people of different skill sets. And she was all alone.
Tensed and worried, she skipped the noodles she had ordered and fell asleep on the sofa. She woke up around 10:30 next morning as she heard the doorbell.
It was the engineer from water purifier company. He had come for a regular service."My RO purifier is fine," she said to him.
"This is routine service checkup madam. If you do not want, just sign here so that I can update my records," he was polite and a gentleman.
"Then go ahead and complete your job," she opened the door.
An expensive watch, high-end smartphone, branded shoes, his accessories looked interesting to her. "You maintain a good life. You earn well I guess," she said looking at her.
"Well, I was a software engineer until last month. I was sacked and did not find a suitable job. Working as a hardware field boy to sustain," he said as he emptied the purifier's tank in the sink."I even can't do such jobs," she told herself.
"Don’t you have the smart tablet connected to company's central database where all the records can be maintained? You could even take my sign on the tab using a stylus," she said while signing an odd piece of receipt.
"And I can develop that. I will make a proposal and give it to my company. Here is our card," he said as he left the apartment.
"Great, I just handed over a million-dollar idea for free," she kicked herself.
"What if I join hands with this man and we create the proposal together. He knows people in the company which is the first requirement to get started," she said and rushed towards the lift.
After 5 minutes, she was back in her apartment. He had left so was the idea. The card he had given had an only toll-free number of the company and no other clue about him.
"Once again I have let an opportunity go so easily. I know I am not comfortable taking orders. I want my own venture. I am a born entrepreneur and have been blessed with so many skills. People with ordinary skills are leading or commanding me," she was anguished at herself._____Fed up with herself and situation around her, she dialed the toll-free number of the company. A man picked up the phone. "I need to speak to the secretary to the CEO. I have to send a proposal and need an email address," she finished.
"You can tell me the proposal madam," the person replied.
"My proposal is a business offering. I cannot discuss in the call center," she fumed.
"Well, you are talking to the CEO only," he said with civility."Unbelievable!" She said.
"Agree. But that’s the only truth madam," the voice at the other end was calm and sincere."Please write down my email address and I will revert with my opinion on your proposal," he maintained the professional tone, which was now impressive to Neha.
She noted down the email and prepared the best proposal she could. Another couple of days passed but she did not hear a word from the RO Company. She knew even a startup or small-scale company looks for a company name before awarding an order.
She decided to take a break from her tensed life and visit her parents. She packed and loaded stuff into her car. She had only reached 10 miles from home and she noticed a push notification. It was from the RO Company. She calmly parked the car and jumped in ecstasy. The appointment was next morning.
Next morning when she reached the office of RO Company, it was actually a room in a flat. An elderly man guided her to the room and left. In less than a minute, the same person appeared who had come for RO service at Neha’s place. She was not surprised as she was expecting surprises already.“This is my Dad’s business. When I lost the job, he resigned and handed this chair over to me. This was no profit no loss company so far as we had maintenance contract of a famous RO company,” he said while offering her coffee.
“I am starting to save money so that I can pay EMIs to the flat I purchased last year. This is why I started doing fieldwork as well,” he added.
“So, you invited me to earn brownie points in the eyes of a girl?” she was rude with smiling lips.“See, I liked your proposal and I think we can do it together,” he tried to appear professional.“This project needs one person’s effort of 100 hours. You can do it yourself or I will do it—on my terms,” she said. A stunned silence followed.
“Okay, then you do it,” he said.
“I will pay your fees,” he said.“Strange.”
“Why so”
You are saving money by not appointing field boys and you are ready to pay me 50k rupees for the project which is a value add to the company. But, as of now, you need to put your business on track.“Don’t act foolish,” she said and got up to leave.
“Can you help with documentation then?” he asked a strange question.
“What makes you think I can do documentation,” she assumed her chair back.
“Your proposal is full of polished English. And I can pay you enough for your articles without acting foolish or being prodigal,” he said.
She picked her clutch and left with a smile.The boy knew she would not show up. And Neha was of the same opinion.
“What a waste of time,” she sped her car.
After two days had passed, she still remembered the boy and his stupid act. And since she had nothing to do, she thought to help him out.
She asked him to send over details of his company and she would write marketing blogs for him.She spent two days on the first blog but subsequent ones took less time. These few blogs made her feel fresh and new.
“Am I also a writer,” she asked herself while applying body lotion in the washroom.
She recalled about the project she had seen on social media the other day. She searched and luckily, that project still was waiting for able takers. She accepted that and wrote some precise and amazing blog posts.
She now was accepting writing projects and diversity of subjects she needed to write on kept her interested and entertained.
In her first month of being a writer, she made half of the salary she used to get in her last company. She was excited.----------------------One day suddenly she met Shekhar again.
“I want to thank you for your idea and support. I have got a maintenance contract for an international company today. They were impressed by technological advancements we offer. And the advancement is none other than that project that you had suggested,” he said in a single breath.
“Cool,” she said and began to walk away.
By now, Shekhar had realized that she was not happy to have given a great project idea to someone else. And now that idea has flourished.
“Actually, I too need to thank you, Shekhar,” he was surprised to see her close to him.
“Your idea of documentation worked for me. I wrote more blogs and now maintain documentation of two companies. I make enough money and live like a free bird,” this was the most polite tone of her he had even listened.“I am glad indeed,” Shekhar said with a smile.
“We deserve a party. How about a co“Of course madam,” Shekhar wore his goggles and began to follow her.



Photo on Visual Hunt