Of Clients and Names

'Whats the SLA for user id creation?' I inquired my client Line Manager.
'Well, its two working days. Are you having an issue?'
'Hmm Not really...I raised a request for an id creation (for myself) for Test Director (Application) and haven't got that one yet. Okie shall follow it up with the Administrator. Thank you.'

He must have noticed the confused look on my face, for he reached his telephone and dialled the Environment Manager's(EM) number. 'Hi ya, the new user has an issue. I remember approving this request for N.Thirumalaiselvi three days ago. Can you please do the needful? Thanks!'

Amidst the various open Word documents and excel workbooks, 'You have got a new mail' popped up on my email application. As expected, it was from the EM.

Dear Sir (Me: ?????)

We found that your request for an user id is a duplicate request. There exists an user id 1001 on the application and is tagged to your name. If you have raised the request for a password reset, there is a different form to fill in. Please do not hesitate to email me if any clarification is required.

~Thank you.
EM
Hi EM,

I reported to this account only a week back and have not raised any request earlier. I have also confirmed from my managers that they haven't raised any request on my behalf for the same in advance. Can you please provide more information on this ?

~ Selvi

Hi Selvi

Details of your earlier request are as shown below:
Name: Thamaraiselvan
User Id: 1001
Date of Request : 01-Jun-08
Status: Active User

For any clarifications, please ping me.

~EM

Thamaraiselvan Vs Thirumalaiselvi. I laughed heartily. Hmm the EM must have assumed something like the Steve - Stephen, Jan - Jennet, Bob - Robert shortname - first name pairs. I called him up, explained the same and ofcourse got my new user id created!

Not once, but many times, they found Indian names very interesting(sometimes confusing). Some of the interesting observations they made include:

Do not try to derive the short form of names, you might end up in a wrong one. You will never know where to break the name(in the front or at the back) - MuthuKrishnan becomes Muthu. But Thirumalaiselvi doesnot become thirumalai, rather becomes selvi
Shashi(Test Manager) when jumbled becomes Ashish(Project Lead).
Short form of Subramanian is Subbu and not Subu
Sathish and Satish are not the same
Some short names are not exact subset of first names. Bhuvaneswari becomes Bhuvana, while Vigneswari becomes Vicky!
Do not assume the gender of the person based on their first name. Sashiko is a lady, while Sashi is a gentleman.
Anand and Ananth sound the same!
Not to mention the confusion when we introduced three differnt members in the team -Kruthika, Krithiga and Krithika !!!