Moments so Far ...

Date - 29th April 2013 Day - Monday From - Jhansi To - Yeswantpur Karnataka Sampark kranti express was late by about 10 minutes. The tiles were being laid on Jhansi station platform number 3. The tile lair was spitting tobacco around the work site, putting cement glue on top of it, then the tiles and then the measure to check if they were getting aligned properly. Few college students from Andhra, with chappals and unkempt hair, with laptops hanging from shoulder and some full pants were raised by few folds were chatting around the trolley that carries goods items. Two gentlemen were confused if their sampark kranti was on this platform or was it another on other platform. A full bodied gym going muscular educated class youth, aged around 25 was throwing plastic from the biscuit and namkeen packets near his foot and munching along with his uncle. I kept sipping drops of precious water that my dear mother had packed for me. The train came and peop...

The cooking gas prices keep going up. The subsidy rules keep getting amended. First there was linking with Ration Card and now linking with aadhar card. In between, it was mandatory to take the gas book. Every time the warning is "act immediately else your subsidy would be endangered". The fear of losing subsidy send tremors down our spine. These days, you need a dedicated resource just to manage your residential gas connection. We have been using the services of HP (Hindustan Petroleum) gas for last 10 years. They introduced automated system to book the gas using IVRS and it worked well so far. Last month it failed. True test of any service happens when it fails. All the spurious elements surface to kill your spirits. Yes, YOU the CUSTOMER. Imagine doing that to your customers. So we booked the gas on 15th January 2013. Immediately got SMS with booking number and agency name  as SLV Enterprises. On 22nd January an SMS came informing about cash memo number and ...

BESCOM (The electricity utility service provider for Bangalore) has recently changed policy to receive the bills. They have a full fledged office behind Brigade gardenia where they were receiving electricity bills till November 2012. I stood in queue to pay bill in December 2012 for more than an hour. The electricity was not there (Yes, in the electricity office ) and therefore the queue was not moving. They did not have backup power to run a simple computer to receive bill. Finally, when my turn the lady service agent, smiled and said, we don't receive bills anymore here, you have to go to their base sub-station provider namely division S6. So the 1000 plus households of Brigade Gardenia and many more in neighborhood now have to go to JP Nagar 1st phase office or seek alternatives. I went to their recently launched website which asked for account ID on BESCOM bill, I found none so could not register and pay online. So, my research i...

Story begins in 2012. Payback will expire your accumulated points if unused for three years. I learnt it the hard way. So you better know it. Around 20th Dec 2012 , we decided to redeem about some points. After years of regular credit card billing and petrol pump updates we had some points to boast of. I thought of gift to the spouse, when you gift with points you don't peel the pinch of money leaving your wallet. The idea was good and the intention was right. Christmas and new year were on the horizon. Payback site has limited options for duvets, initial choice. Then we searched their partners and found futurebazaar.in interesting. So, redeemed the points for a Titan watch. Christmas came and went. New year came and went. Now lets talk about 2013. Roughly, around 7th January. I called payback.in customer center to have an idea of what's happening. They take the mobile number during the call and then ask for verification again. I argued why you were wastin...

It has been a collaborative effort from both  BSNL(Government led telecom giant in India) and SBI (State Bank Of India) to cause hassle to pay their landline and broadband bill. SBI had a nice feature to make online payments for utilities like electricity and phone. I was using it for a long time. Once they delayed payment of electricity bill (BESCOM) and BESCOM promptly cut the electricity disregarding years of timely payments and loyalty. Anyways, with lot of effort and a little pain the BESCOM guys did turn up late in night at about 11 PM to fix the line, I ended up paying the bill three times over three different mediums. On top of that, they were asking money for chai-pani , a common term for corrupted officials to get extra payments. Recently, the their office in RBI layout has stopped taking payments from 1000 plus residents of Brigade Gardenia. They were able to take payments till last months, now we have to find the nearest Bangalore one center or go to BESC...

First it cut through in front, coming from the side. Then I was stuck behind a stationary broken truck and was slowly turning to right of the road. It continued to honk. I heard a thud noise. The road was full of noise so I ignored the noise. Spouse wondered "Did something hit the car?". I said No. Then it allowed me to go to the right side. I crossed to left side after crossing the broken truck. It raced beside me to send me a message. The driver of the Meru cab was gesturing and waving. Even I got animated and told him "You did not see the broken truck or what?". He pulled down the windows and threw few abuses and went past. Again in super speed. I did not realize then that he had the guts to be aggressive post a deliberate hit. I am sure he would have graduated from auto and recruited by Meru. The cab has distinct identity from outside. I thought they recruited professional drivers but post this ugly incident I really doubt. In the business of making quick ...

from account-upgrade@gmail.com   sender-time Sent at 4:23 AM (GMT-03:00). Current time there: 1:46 AM.  ✆ reply-to serviceupgrade.security@gmail.com to date Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 4:23 AM subject Confirm your account!! mailed-by jagua.com.br hide details   4:23 AM (5 hours ago) Dear Gmail User, This message is from our "Gmail" messaging center to all our subscribers. We wish to inform you all that we are updating our database and e-mail center. Thus, we are currently deleting of all unused / inactive Gmail accounts to create more space for new accounts. To ensure you do not lose your E-mail account during this period, you must confirm to us that your account is still active by responding to this notice with your account information below: 1 - Username: 2 - E-mail: 3 - Password: 4 - Telephone: NOTE: This information will help us upgrade your account to our new F-Secure 2010 version HTK4S anti-virus/anti-spyware and your password will be encrypted with 10...

The battery bay of Dell Inspiron N5010 has a latch that has two positions. Lock and Unlock. The battery shakes a little when you lift the laptop. I thought I should seek Dell Support . Big Mistake number 1. The DVD drives makes a grhoom and a hoom sound, sometimes. I thought I should seek Dell Support. Big Mistake number 2. I called up support after contemplating for a while as to amount of time I will be put on hold. But I had been postponing the above two issues for a while and thought why not try today. I though of chat but the link said all our customers representative are busy, please email. When I went to email it said you should email only for the following 10 things else you should call. So I called. I was quickly connected and shared info. I explained the problem. The Dell customer representative cut me in middle and said she will connect to technical representative . It was about 10 mins before he came online. I spoke the above 2 problems. He could not understand...

So much for the public transport. So much for the public apathy. I was screaming I have lost the mobile and no one moved in the entire bus. Everybody turned around twitched a little and ignored the cry. More than the loss the reaction of the public shocked me. The bus conductor of BMTC bus somewhere in front. He did not bother to intervene. One person offered to call the number but the phone was promptly switched off. Other said you can block the phone by using some code. The doors of the bus were closed. The thief was inside. I could do nothing but get out of the bus. Bus number is 201 and it mostly runs between Banasankari and Koramangala. I had heard stories of people losing mobile phones and purse in 201 but it was a first hand experience for the first time. I called up my spouse and she kept trying to reach BSNL toll free mobile help line number. She was always in queue after choosing the lost mobile option. She visited the nearest BSNL office and they said she had...

It will be close to a month and the laptop is nowhere in sight. I discussed with the sales person for customizing the configuration. Is it possible to upgrade RAM from 3 to 4 as there could be 2 GB per slot? No its not possible. Is it possible to have multiple partitions? I can give two partitions with 60 GB in one and rest in others? Is it possible to give equal partitions? Not possible. You can do it yourself. Do you also share windows OS disk? No we have stopped shipping it a month back. How do I reinstall or update in case of issues? You will have to make your own disk and you can take help of technical assistance post delivery. When will the laptop come? Within a week . The conversation happened on September 1st 2010 . Dell sent me the invoice with 7 days validity. I called back customer care on September 6th 2010 . I would like to place the order. No Sir, you cant the rates have gone up. But your invoice is valid for 7 days .Today is 7th. I dont know ...

Indian railways confirms one ticket in a family ticket where two ladies are travelling along with two kids. There were three tickets in waiting list 123 for past month and half. On the D-day one got confirmed. What will you do with your travel plans if you got into a scenario like that? I got a message yesterday night when I was trying to sleep from chunnu saying "Are you awake?". I ignored the message tuned and cursed the banks for sending their promotions late at night. Moments later I got a call from papa asking what to do in a scenario like this. You love the times in life when you dont know anything but are expected to advise. Mostly such advice gets ignored but you still give. I suggested they go to station and check with the great indian railways ticket collector, the men in black. Then I called chunnu in acknowledgment of his message. After all the message was not from bank. He informed me that the waiting list tickets get automatically canceled. I had never ...

I was in between a client conversation and skype went dead. Usually BSNL broadband dies out once in a while and resetting the router brings back life. I did it several times and nothing happened. Had an immediate imulse of calling 1500 but remembered the rebuke from history and kept on searching for Broadband helpline. FInally found it behind BSNL Landline bill statement 1800 424 1600. Dialled, nothing happened. Tried to call the security of apartment complex. Nothing. Only Dial tone. Tried to call landline number from Mobile phone. Nothing. "Error in connection". Tried to call Wife's mobile number. Nothing. "Error in connection". Tried to call Brothers number.Nothing. "Error in connection". Went down to meet security. He said phone lines are down since 7 and it was already 7:45 PM. Now its 5:30 AM in morning. Checked Mobile. Working. Atleast cellone is up. Checked Landline. The same ringtone ONLY. Frustrating. Called 1500. A sleepy lady voic...

Vivek's washing machine LG : WM3431HS All-In-One Washer and Dryer TITANIUM delivery service is poor. They took away the old washing machine and left the new one packaged and in living room. When I called up Mr. Narayana of Vivek's JP Nagar 2nd phase, Bangalore showroom, here were his responses We are very busy these days and it is not our responsibility to unpackage and install the machine at location of your choice in your house. You don't like the package, Is it not looking good? I will inform LG tomorrow and they dont work on weekend so they can only come on Monday. They generally respond in 24 hours. Would you like to buy some accessories with the machine? So, next time when you buy at Viveks understand their definition of service.  I saw the LG customer care number 1-800-180-9999 on the cardboard package and called them. He said he was sorry for the inconvenience caused. He did not care to take the details on the dealer and thus I dont think LG has any policy...

She was very helful. Her hindi was broken. She was patient with my queries. She works for BBMP in their birth certificates section under Ratnamma. I forgot to ask her name and I am sorry for it. Ratnamma had not yet arrived. I was not even aware of her existence. She gave me the form. She showed me the columns which I needed to fill with the details that was expected from me. The room must have been 3*4 feet and into the corner of the last building beyong Aiyappa temple in Madiwala on Hosur Road in Bangalore. The buildings belonged to BBMP on left hand side after the signal. The road takes you to inner ring road. I mistook it for Sarjapur and missed the first right turn but on second right turn I persisted going straight through Jakkasandra I joined Sarjapur road. I parked the car in front of shop to ask for directions. It was a medical shop. The person outside directed me to the one inside and he would simply nod his head his negation. Poor frustrated unhelpful cleanly dressed guy...

What will all three have in common? First talk about credit card handling charges? If you make payment then Sagar hospitals in Bangalore will charge you 1.5% extra, I dont know what do they handle. I enquired and the cash clerk says only the management knows. If you can handle cash then card is simpler I guess especially when you are dealing with gross money. The small saree shop or hosiery shop in Jayanagar will easily accept the credit card without any handling charges and they deal in petty amounts as compared to Sagar hospitals. Then lets move to paying extra for availing services at odd hours? Bangalore auto wallahs will charge you 50% extra for going beyond 10 PM. Its a different matter that they begin at 9PM itself and they dont charge extra on public holidays or weekend. The management of Sagar hospitals think differently on this too and better the autowallahs. They charge 40% extra both on Sunday as well as on public holidays and their room rentals start inline with hote...

Location : Lift of Sagar Apollo er now its Sagar Hospitals in Jayanagar, Bangalore Actor : A security guard speaking fluent Tamil, a nice expensive watch on wrist and a cool mobile phone Activity : He sits on stool whole day long, pressing the buttons on the lift side and in bad mood starts pressing questions on visitor passes and in good mood is hooked to the phone and cares little. Act : He was chit chatting with him as he does with most security guard and then on one such trip he popped the question. Do you have the change for Rupees 20? Fool : The Guard is well dressed and looks to be a nice guy. He promptly opens his purse and brings out two sharp 10 rupee notes and hands them over to the Guard. Final say : Sir, I dont have twenty rupees now, my man has gone to bring it and he will get back in half an hour. Futile follow ups: Every next trip , the same kind of responses. He never got his twenty rupees back. Benefits: A visitor couple came with their infant and he did not ta...

It started post midnight. I was wrapping up with TV viewing and a cricket match and settled on to some net browsing when she came and said she was worried. I said "Can we wait till morning?". She said call the Doctor its not stopping. It was 12:30 and Dusserah had already begun. I did not realize the celebration but who could guess the almighty designs. I gave in and SMSed the doctor but no reply, she came back and asked "Did you call?". I did then and there. There was a calm Hello from other side as I explained How sorry I was to be disturbing this late in night. The second part of explanantion involved about who the patient was. It was Saturday night and we had met the Doctor on Friday morning but still the memory can get weak with age. She said Oh She, I said Yes, Can you talk to her? Both of them talked for 25 seconds long and Doctor said pass the phone to your husband. She did and she said "Please take her to hospital". There bag was not ready. You ...

I desired to go online to file returns. Its a very funny process. The government has already deducted the tax at source. Your employer has all your tax inputs. Still you would go through the process of collecting Form-16, file returns, print out form-V acknowledgement, send it back to Income tax. Every year, year on year. Is there a better way to optimize this mess and save some taxpayers money to reduce IT staff and this silly process? I put the request on Brigade Gardenia Yahoo Group and promptly neighbourhood responded and urged to go for taxsmile. I did. I tried to go through their demo, but even with BSNL broadband they were slow. Gave up. Registered and chose Gold. Realised that only additional benefit in GOLD plan would be they sending the ITR-V on your behalf instead of you sending it to IT department directly. In both cases you would need to courier either to Bombay taxsmile address or IT Bangalore address. I thought Bangalore would be a cheaper option. This was on saturday. T...

It was 12:10 PM. It was a typical Sunday afternoon. Some habits die hard. Even though every day is Sunday, you still believe that Sunday is "good old times Sunday" which used to be a day on weekend. We have had a series of dal-chaval and roti sabzies for many days now. Dominoes sent SMS a few days back with a coupon code stating "Anniversary.Celebrate with us.Buy 1 get 1 free, Valid till 26th July". I generally don't deny participation in times of celebrations. The temptations ran high and for sometimes later went "dry". The urge to order a pizza sitting on a lazy bangalore afternoon on a "typical sunday" took over. I made the call to 08044448888. He thanked me calling and asked me the area of my residence. The call was redirected to another outlet in Bilekahalli. The lady could not hear my voice. Yes, my sweet humble sound of murmur. The first signs of frustration appeared and I thought of switching providers. Anyways, I called up again and ...

A neat way to pay property tax online if you have a property in bangalore. As launch offer BBMP is not charging extra on credit card payment. You can go to http://218.248.41.198/ and choose form IV or V depending on whether there has been any change in your property from last year. You will need Application number from assessment year 2008-09. The number on top right corner of pink form. If you are lucky to have saved it to your files. Not the white receipt. You will reach a pre-filled form which either you can print to pay in nearest BBMP center or if you have started to trust online gateways and carry a credit card then choose to pay online. Remember to note down the new application number NOW. You never know when you will need them. Online option will lead you to IDBI gateway and there you need to have your credit card handy, your tax details comes pre-filled. You are done with the payment in your cosy little bed. Time for the receipt. You have still not invested in printer. Okay,...