Hey folks,
CNN IBN had invited Freedom Blogs on the occassion of Independence Day. I decided to write down my thoughts about our country. Apparently, they picked it and have posted it on their site. I don't know if they have selected all of them or is it random or is it because liked the article. So, I won't brag about the same :-). Here's a link to my article
http://www.ibnlive.com/blogs/iday2007/blog_story.php?id=46778
If you go back one page, you can view some more blogs, a few are very well written - Worth a read..!!!
-Deepesh.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Friday, August 3, 2007
The tyranny of Auto-drivers
It may be an abrupt start, but I really don't want to waste any time in getting to the point. For the past few weeks, I have been travelling from home to work and back via autorickshaws. 22 years in this city and let's say, I have been travelling by ricks since 1999 - a long 8 years, I have never witnessed the attitude of rickshaw drivers that I have seen in this period of time. Let me paint you a picture of the conversations I had with rickshaw-walas everyday -
Week 1 : I am a newbie....
Me : Magarpatta City ???
RW : 25 Rs extra.
Me : It's 9.00 A.M ..Not P.M...Are you kidding me ?
RW : turning his face around "Aana hai toh aao..."
We all must have read or heard about the comity among these folks sometime or the other. I got to play the victim this time. I had to come to terms with him. Trust me, if one of them says no, none will agree.
Week 2 : I act smart..But, they are smarter...
Me : Hadapsar ??
RW : Hadapsar mein kahan ?
Me : Near Hadapsar signal ....Sundar Sankul
(I did not want to mention Magarpatta City..Sundar Sankul is a residential complex near Magarpatta City).
RW : 20 Rs extra...
Me : Why should I pay you extra ?? It's not even late night ...
RW : We don't find customers back from there. And the Rickshawwalas there don't allow us to occupy positions at their stops/stands.
Me : What crap?? Let's go..Let me see who stops you..
After some argument, I had to agree for 15 Rs extra..
Week 3 : A bit more smarter .. I hid my I-card and tried to pull the right chords...
Same conversation happened and he asked me for extra money...
Me : I am one of your first customers for the day. If you say no, you might have to bear the brunt of an ill-omened day. (They have a concept called BONI or something similar, where-in the first customer for the day is to be treated with respect. I capitalized on that)
RW : (thinking....) Okay, fine..Let's go..!!!
This argument did not work with everyone though, so I knew I had to come up with something new to survice my final week....
Week 4 : The final week...Not a single Rejection..Yippie...
Same initial conversation..
RW : Where in Hadapsar ??
Me : MegaCentre ..It's right at the signal...
RW : Okay, fine ..Let's go...
Once, we reached the front gate of MegaCentre..
Me : Arrey...Shit..The front gate is closed to outsiders..You will have to take the backside route..
The backside gate is through Magarpatta city..I'll guide you..
RW : (looked baffled) Aaahh..okay...!!!
Finally, he dropped me at Magarpatta city and left. I knew what I had done was wrong in general, but, the animosity that had filled me up over these days had forced me to do so.
I must admit that on a couple of instances, I had my share of good luck with acquiescent rickshaw-walas.
But, on the contrary, one of the instances is worth describing :
One evening, a rickshaw-wala agreed to go by regular fare and on the way, he told me to pay him extra. I refuted adamantly. He argued incessantly and gave irrelevant arguments like
"Hum gareeb hain..!! Main public service karta hoon...Aapki regular salary hai..Hamari baat samjho...bla bla bla..".
The yapping got intolerable and I had to tell him to shut-up or stop the rick. I, definitely, did not want him to stop the rick, since that would land me in a little-or-no-transport zone. Fortunately, he carried on. On reaching home, he refused to pay back the whole balance. It was a meagre amount, but I had already had enough of this crap. I saw a couple of cops standing close-by and threatened to call them. Afraid that he was, he returned the amount. Infact, he even offered me extra money......
Till date, I cannot understand the reason behind this change of attitude and mendicant-like behaviour. What makes them do this ?? And most of you might not know, but these folks make a neat 15-17K each month. Even if we deduct the overhauling and diesel charges, they are left with 10K.
I have learnt a lesson and I hope that people who read this blog will be more careful in the future.
-Deepesh.
Week 1 : I am a newbie....
Me : Magarpatta City ???
RW : 25 Rs extra.
Me : It's 9.00 A.M ..Not P.M...Are you kidding me ?
RW : turning his face around "Aana hai toh aao..."
We all must have read or heard about the comity among these folks sometime or the other. I got to play the victim this time. I had to come to terms with him. Trust me, if one of them says no, none will agree.
Week 2 : I act smart..But, they are smarter...
Me : Hadapsar ??
RW : Hadapsar mein kahan ?
Me : Near Hadapsar signal ....Sundar Sankul
(I did not want to mention Magarpatta City..Sundar Sankul is a residential complex near Magarpatta City).
RW : 20 Rs extra...
Me : Why should I pay you extra ?? It's not even late night ...
RW : We don't find customers back from there. And the Rickshawwalas there don't allow us to occupy positions at their stops/stands.
Me : What crap?? Let's go..Let me see who stops you..
After some argument, I had to agree for 15 Rs extra..
Week 3 : A bit more smarter .. I hid my I-card and tried to pull the right chords...
Same conversation happened and he asked me for extra money...
Me : I am one of your first customers for the day. If you say no, you might have to bear the brunt of an ill-omened day. (They have a concept called BONI or something similar, where-in the first customer for the day is to be treated with respect. I capitalized on that)
RW : (thinking....) Okay, fine..Let's go..!!!
This argument did not work with everyone though, so I knew I had to come up with something new to survice my final week....
Week 4 : The final week...Not a single Rejection..Yippie...
Same initial conversation..
RW : Where in Hadapsar ??
Me : MegaCentre ..It's right at the signal...
RW : Okay, fine ..Let's go...
Once, we reached the front gate of MegaCentre..
Me : Arrey...Shit..The front gate is closed to outsiders..You will have to take the backside route..
The backside gate is through Magarpatta city..I'll guide you..
RW : (looked baffled) Aaahh..okay...!!!
Finally, he dropped me at Magarpatta city and left. I knew what I had done was wrong in general, but, the animosity that had filled me up over these days had forced me to do so.
I must admit that on a couple of instances, I had my share of good luck with acquiescent rickshaw-walas.
But, on the contrary, one of the instances is worth describing :
One evening, a rickshaw-wala agreed to go by regular fare and on the way, he told me to pay him extra. I refuted adamantly. He argued incessantly and gave irrelevant arguments like
"Hum gareeb hain..!! Main public service karta hoon...Aapki regular salary hai..Hamari baat samjho...bla bla bla..".
The yapping got intolerable and I had to tell him to shut-up or stop the rick. I, definitely, did not want him to stop the rick, since that would land me in a little-or-no-transport zone. Fortunately, he carried on. On reaching home, he refused to pay back the whole balance. It was a meagre amount, but I had already had enough of this crap. I saw a couple of cops standing close-by and threatened to call them. Afraid that he was, he returned the amount. Infact, he even offered me extra money......
Till date, I cannot understand the reason behind this change of attitude and mendicant-like behaviour. What makes them do this ?? And most of you might not know, but these folks make a neat 15-17K each month. Even if we deduct the overhauling and diesel charges, they are left with 10K.
I have learnt a lesson and I hope that people who read this blog will be more careful in the future.
-Deepesh.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
A Passion worth 15 lakhs....
Hey,
Did any of you happen to read an article regarding a loaded Jalandhar wastrel dishing out 15 lacs for a cool cellphone number ? And the reason for this outlay - he got a compliment from a friend for one of his earlier numbers, which he found easy to remember. Wooow..!!!!
Give it a thought - how easy or cumbersome would it be for someone to remember a cellphone number ?
My first argument would be - who the hell remembers phone numbers ? I mean, as far as I am aware, everyone stores them in their cellphones.
Secondly, anyone who calls you often, eventually might remember your number. So, the onus, if I may say so, is on the caller, not on the one holding the number.
On the other hand, I appreciate his allegiance towards his passion. He claims to be fond of collecting such unique numbers. Anyone who does not share his passion, like me, would not agree with him. For instance, I am passionate about cellphones and like to switch frequently. So, anyone, who is not of the same view, would consider me a lamebrain and a spendthrift.
Coming back to this lad's case, the passion seems to have landed him in trouble. Well, the Income Tax department guys are known to be lurking for such preys. So, a week past this news came out, they sniffed their way to his doorstep, only to find that its not only cellphone numbers, its cars as well. Apparently, he has fleet of cars, all bearing unparalleled numbers.
I am unable to fathom the amount he might have had to shell out for these numbers considering he paid a whopping 15 lacs for cellphone numbers.
Man, what is wrong with him?? 15 lacs ?? for just numbers ?? that too for someone else's convenience ???
On the one hand, we have a plethora of schemes being launched by all the cellphone companies to make sure their customers can stay away from lengthier bills and on the other hand, we have people who are willing to cover up for the possible losses of these operators. Fair enough...!!Going by that, the more people start bidding for cellphone numbers, the cellphone charges will plummet further. Good for you and me..what say?
-Deepesh.
Did any of you happen to read an article regarding a loaded Jalandhar wastrel dishing out 15 lacs for a cool cellphone number ? And the reason for this outlay - he got a compliment from a friend for one of his earlier numbers, which he found easy to remember. Wooow..!!!!
Give it a thought - how easy or cumbersome would it be for someone to remember a cellphone number ?
My first argument would be - who the hell remembers phone numbers ? I mean, as far as I am aware, everyone stores them in their cellphones.
Secondly, anyone who calls you often, eventually might remember your number. So, the onus, if I may say so, is on the caller, not on the one holding the number.
On the other hand, I appreciate his allegiance towards his passion. He claims to be fond of collecting such unique numbers. Anyone who does not share his passion, like me, would not agree with him. For instance, I am passionate about cellphones and like to switch frequently. So, anyone, who is not of the same view, would consider me a lamebrain and a spendthrift.
Coming back to this lad's case, the passion seems to have landed him in trouble. Well, the Income Tax department guys are known to be lurking for such preys. So, a week past this news came out, they sniffed their way to his doorstep, only to find that its not only cellphone numbers, its cars as well. Apparently, he has fleet of cars, all bearing unparalleled numbers.
I am unable to fathom the amount he might have had to shell out for these numbers considering he paid a whopping 15 lacs for cellphone numbers.
Man, what is wrong with him?? 15 lacs ?? for just numbers ?? that too for someone else's convenience ???
On the one hand, we have a plethora of schemes being launched by all the cellphone companies to make sure their customers can stay away from lengthier bills and on the other hand, we have people who are willing to cover up for the possible losses of these operators. Fair enough...!!Going by that, the more people start bidding for cellphone numbers, the cellphone charges will plummet further. Good for you and me..what say?
-Deepesh.
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