Of Ink, Pennings And Pittoresco's!

For Sale: iPod Touch 4th Generation India Bangalore

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:23:00 +0000

I am posting this advert on behalf of my dearest friend Rahul Pradhan, an avid blogger and a brilliant photographer.

My iPod Touch (4^th Generation) is for sale. Please find details below:

- Model: iPod Touch 4^th Generation
- Condition: Excellent
- Some of the features:
o Latest iOS 5 operating system
o 3.5 inch touchscreen with crystal clear Retina™ display
o Color: Black (Front), Chrome (Back)
o Massive 32 GB of storage
o Wi-Fi
o Fully accessible with iTunes for songs and podcasts
o Fully accessible with Apple Store with over 5,00,000 apps
o Front and back camera with HD video recording
o iCloud service available
o FaceTime (over Wi-Fi) video conversation with iPod Touch4/iPhone/iPad
o Excellent music and video/movie playback quality
o Plus many more!
- Ownership details:
o Single and First owner
o Got as a gift, NEW, in October, 2010
- Standard accessories:
o Original iPod earphones (have normal wear)
o Original iPod data cable
o Original iPod case with user manual
- Freebies:
o Griffin silicone flexi-wrap case (worth about INR 1,250/-)
o Dell stereo earphones (Black) (worth about INR 500/-)
- Sale details:
o Selling price: INR ~~14,000/-~~ 12,000 (Non negotiable)
o Selling location: Bangalore (Shipping to India OK but shipping charges extra)
o Selling reason: Too many devices so selling off phone and iPod to buy a good phone instead.
o Current Flipkart Rate for same item, NEW : INR 19,900/-

Contact details below:

- Rahul.Pradhn@Gmail.com

- 98808-33553

Crazy Indian judiciary and a clown Congress Government

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:22:00 +0000

Instead of focusing on the core issues like deteriorating Indian currency, the economy, terrorism or even sports, the Government and the judiciary is now busy looking to prosecute “21 sites for offences of promoting enmity between classes & causing prejudice to national integration” and that includes biggies like Google.

What the heck?

Sibalism has now defined the new depth of political nadir.

I always believed that the Congress government would lose the next elections because of anti-incumbency factor but it appears there is more than just Anna and the factor.

In one of the comments written below one of the article that published this trending story, a pro-government individual has pointed out:-

The case relates to some of the objectionable/hate-promoting content dumped into these social media sites by our own folks (maybe the person living/working next to you) and the sites not acting to remove them despite complaints (flagging as you call it). If Google engineers are smart enough to design and develop Ad Sense (that peeks into your email for keywords and displays relevant ads), they are surely smart enough to create filters that auto-flag hate posts/groups.

So, you want Google to censor every flagged comment, first verifying that it promotes hate or enmity(Ho Ho! That’s a freaking programmers nightmare) and censor every post that someone proves promotes hate. That sounds like the death-knell to the freedom of media, speech and expression.

Do I need to say more?

The internet is mammoth and I don’t believe terrorists and hate groups are influenced more by the internet than their company of friends or upbringing or their social conditions. And what about the cases against these companies? That will go on for ages like as in the case of “Indian citizen” Kasab. Yeah, he can apply for permanent residency now.

The Government probably would not have got a huge backslash from me if they started with NROP( read backwards[rb]) censorship first if they said it promotes XES(rb) and could argue it was “the cause” for the blowing population. But, media censorship on social networking or forums or the internet? That’s absurd.

I wanted the Government to go the China way but not this way. But, what can I do but vent out my anger and blog here.

Saada Haq, Aithe Rakh and Govt FTW(rb)!!

India Today Book Club becomes BagItToday but still fraudulent?

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:52:00 +0000

So, it just came across my mind to check how India Today Book Club was doing and was it still doing what it did best?

My article was a thunderous hit on the web and featured on top of Google searches. And WOW! ITBC doesn’t exist now. Its been rechristened “BagItToday.com”. I’d be happy to find out if my blog was one of the reasons of why they had to remove the brand name. Serves them right!

But, they don’t seem to have learnt a lesson yet. Have they?

What are your views? Let me know of your experiences.

Thus cometh 2012 at Royal Orchid Resort, Yelahanka!

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:37:00 +0000

The prospects of having a great new year celebration didn’t look high as I was having fever on Friday- yet again! But, as always, I take illness as a challenge following notes from the old and the wise. So, I asked a bucket full of hot water to have my legs soaked in and repeated this at least twice. So by afternoon on the 31st, I was busy making calls to the Pradhan’s and the Das’s to plan something and include the Tewari’s because I felt I could make it.

My friend’s circle(including my family) are notorious for making great plans in the 11th hour. So, we headed off to the Royal Orchid Resort Yelahanka to celebrate the transgression of 2011 into 2012.

The first thing on my mind and I could hear Ritu mumbling behind me was SEE-ROK[ Transposed version of the word ‘Roksee’=liquor]. We had opted for VIP passes with unlimited IMFL(Indian Made Foreign Liquor) and unlimited food. So, we headed straightaway to the food and beverages section. The first impression wasn’t great at all and stayed like that till the end.

I am not sure if Royal Orchid was directly involved in the new year’s bash but unlike my previous experiences with the chain, it was pathetic and sad.

I am a bit sleepy now so, let me summarize the Royal Orchid event in five lines:

a) The event was disorganized. Queue was too long in food stalls and there were less counters.

b) Liquor wasn’t unlimited. The bar closed way too early.

c) There was shortage of food. The kitchen closed early.

d) Police lathi-charged on a few. Why and what the heck?

e) The entire show(including DJ Suketu’s performance) was not worth the money

- My advice to everyone is to avoid Royal Orchid events like this…Believe me, its not worth the money!

The only great thing was our dancing and enjoying quality time with my family and friends.

Wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous new year 2012!

Honda Activa 2006 for sale in Bangalore

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 11:10:00 +0000

• Make: Honda Activa
• Model: 2006
• Metallic Grey Color
• Excellent Condition- a few negligible bruises

• Single owner

• Insurance is unclaimed till date

• Bangalore Registration

• Proper documents available, Insurance valid till next year, Loan clearance letter is with the owner but RC book has not been updated.

• Meter Reading is at 39000 kilometers.
• Price Rs.31,000/-

Immediate Sale

For pictures & more information, please contact "m a i l f o r s a c h i n AT g m a i l d o t c o m" or reply to this post with your e-mail address/ phone number for further communication.

Bangalore Metro Rail Service

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 08:24:00 +0000

Finally, the much awaited Namma Bengalooru Metro service starts this Thursday October 20 2011.

The first stage will cover the following routes:-

Mahatma Gandhi Road Station towards Byappanahalli(vice-versa) through Sir M. Visheshwarya, Vidhan Soudha, Cubbon Park, MG Road, Halasaru, Indiranagar and Swami Vivekananda Road(Old Madras Road).

The trains will stop for 30 seconds each at each station and will run at a frequency of 30 minutes.

To quote BMRCL MD N Sivasailam:

"The Bangalore Metro, in terms of technology, is comparable to any metro rail system in the world - in Europe , USA or China - and is even ahead of some of them"

According to a report in the TOI, "Trains will be Wi-Fi enabled, so passengers can use laptops, tablets as well as mobile internet."

As an "immigrant" but permanent resident of this lovely city, I am pretty excited to go on my maiden metro trip and am hoping it will be this weekend.

Here is my route map on how I will reach the station:

Well, just in case you did not get it, the idea was to boast how close I stay to the metro station :)

Simply bored!

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 07:11:00 +0000

It is crazy to be "Simply Bored"!

I know that the tendency to be bored isn't great and it wasn't so just a couple of weeks back; Everything was going like I had planned- new job, working from home, closer to home, higher salary, peaceful nights...Then came a thought- I will hit the gym & I did so religiously until I fell ill(YET YET AGAIN!) on October 3rd 2011. With the illness, I finally scaled new heights in my antibiotics dosage- a third-generation antibiotics was prescribed by the doctor. What the heck is wrong with my immune system? I wish I could unravel the mystery of my recurring illness especially with my throat. Come next week and I will be going for a head-to-toe checkup. But that's not the point. It has simply disturbed my momentum in life. And nowadays, I feel this constant urge to be restless & bored without doing anything.

And in my boredom, I tend to shift my focus to something else. I "unwillingly" read articles on www.timesofindia.com and pity readers like myself who have to go through so much of torture reading their articles. You should read the level of "crap" that they write- both content-wise and grammar-wise. www.thehindu.com seems to be better. Then, I go to www.thesun.co.uk for my daily dose of celebrity & "masala" news. Sometimes, the contents are NSFW and I have to hurry through the stories.

Facebook doesn't entice me anymore though I love watching status updates of others, just out of my curiousity to know how others are faring.

What else? TV is full of Anna Hazare "mania", Advanis and the Gandhis. In short, additions to make your boredom more miserable.

Last but not the least, whatever is being earned is graciously being spent literally washing off the burning desire to possess a cruiser-bike soon.

So, at the end of the day, there is boredom again and the cycle continues....

Yes, it is crazy to be "SIMPLY BORED!!""

How to activate voicemail on Bharti Airtel Postpaid mobile in Bangalore?

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:58:00 +0000

If you know the answer, please do leave me a comment about how to set it up. But, believe me when I say- Airtel have no clue about it themselves.

Originally, not an Airtel customer and frustrated with Idea’s hold-on-call that lasted for a good 10-15 minutes everytime I called them, I thought of doing my first MNP(Mobile Number Portability) to Airtel.

I had a good history with Airtel and was very impressed by their QoS- a term that doesn’t exist in their dictionary now.

My request was as simple as activating voicemail. Who wants to get a call from office at 4 am when he/she has reached home at 2 am? Yes, unfortunately, that was my poor story way back in March. But again, what if something got messed up terribly? I needed a workaround and thus subscribed to Rs. 20/- a month SMP(Smart Mail Plus). Thus began my frustration.

Trust me when I say that I have followed the correct escalation matrix :-

a) Call to Airtel Customer Care (121) at 50p for 3 minutes. Roughly about 2 hour

b) Talk with floor supervisors. Roughly about ½ hr@50p per 3 minutes.

c) E-Mail to customer care: 121@in.airtel.com. Roughly about 6 times.

d) Escalation e-mail to South Nodal team. Once

e) Visiting the nearest Airtel Store. They know just one thing- Dial 121 from the store.

Finally

f) Threatening to disconnect call and go for an alternative service provider. 3 times.

Its utterly unbelievable folks but they’d rather lose a customer than take a sincere effort to resolve the issue. They have stopped replying to my e-mails or calling me now to take the issue to resolution.

In a nutshell, it’s been a frustrating experience. I am going for a MNP again tomorrow, not for a VMS (now that I have changed my job & it’s not required) but only as a way of peaceful protest against a now sub-standard bunch of so called technical & customer service executives of Bharti Airtel.

Sunil Mittal is a rich guy. He would not mind losing a customer who paid Rs. 1422.33 as a “parting gift” to the company. That is just Rs. 17067.96 a year…

But, remember Airtel- HFZ hai !

UPDATE

For you reference, Smart Mail Plus procedure is as follows:

Now MNP Port in customers can use smart mail service on 52555. Customer to dial USSD Short Code *321*671# for activation.

Activate:
Call 52668 (toll free) to activate or deactivate

Charges:
Monthly rental of Rs 15/- for existing customers. Rs.20/- for new activationRetrieving 75ps, Call 52667 (for settings) @ Rs 3/min

Features:
- Call gets diverted to Voicemail(VM) under the following conditions
When the customer is out of reach
When Mobile is Switched Off
If unreachable
- Smart mail working condition when in roaming
In not reachable mode
Switched Off mode

- Get Missed Call Information(MCI) thru sms under the above conditions:
- All VM notifications or Missed call Information notifications will include mobile number and time.
- Retrieval of all VM on IVR 52666 or retrieval of a particular number VM on IVR 52666** (specified in sms).
- Retrieval of messages while in Roaming or even from a local Landline

Retrieval:
- Call 52666(75ps) for retrieval of all VMs or 52666** as specified in the sms for a particular voicemail
- For Landline retrieval call 9945501491, enter mobile number and password* to access VMs
- Customer can retrieve while roaming by calling ten digit number 9945501491(roaming rates) after password* verification.

For Settings:
- Call 52667(Rs3/min)
- Set your Password
- Record your personalized message or select a pre-recorded message
- Set messages as default message, Person specific message or Alternate message(define time period)

Super service from HP Customer Care, Bangalore

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 20:56:00 +0000

Possibly, one of the only reasons to keep me awake this moment! I have just been out of an hour long call with BMC Support. These two days have been 'freaking' hell! Not that I am complaining about the work or the hours but get thoroughly frustrated to 'over-commitment' of the biggies!

Anyways....

It has been a long time since I last blogged. A blogger since 2004 and an early-bird, of late I have been busy shuffling between tiring work hours and the need to commit to my personal duties.

Having said that, I would not been blogging at this hour hadn't it been for the timely support of HP's Service Center in Indiranagar, Bangalore.

My HP laptop is again up and running...

A month back, I was informed that the laptop would not boot. A little later, there was a yellow line on the screen(Read: Permanent Damage) and a little later

Since it was purchased in the U.S through www.deals2buy.com and at that moment did not care about international warranty, So, I wasn't expecting much from the Service Center- Maha Electronics at 13th Main Indira nagar.

On enquiry, I was bridged to the customer care and they said that the laptop wasn't supported in India.

With this, I was left with the only option that I usually follow to get the best out of any support- I spoke to the manager Mr. Rajeev who first empathized, sympathized and then said he would "work on that on a best effort basis" to get it working and asked me to leave the laptop there.

Days passed and we were getting impatient but the most pleasing part was that the Service Center guys kept informing that the "Hold your breath" FREE replacement was on its way.

Finally, it arrived yesterday much to our immense delight. And today, I received a call from HG Padmaraju(the engineer) that the "Hold your breath again!" FREE LCD replacement had arrived and we could get that replaced whenever we wanted to.

That's like a stress buster, ain't it?

On a closing note, I don't know why I keep writing about "Customer Rights" and "Customer Experiences". My cousin Anand teases me with the line "Jaago Grahak Jaago"

Yes, indeed! I was "awakened" by this excellent customer support. Kudos to HP and the Maha guys..

Google Instant is such a pain in the neck

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 02:37:00 +0000

There is no way to turn this off permanently and if you have a slow internet connection, it becomes a real thorn.

I liked every feature of Google but this is one that I really want Google to take off their feature list.

I hope they are listening…!

What to do in Tampa, Florida!

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 00:47:00 +0000

Laying on my bed after a long day at work, I am having a good feeling and it's not related to work at all!

Technically, 8 working days from now and I will be back home to Bengalooru- Yeah! Heaven only knows how I much I adore that place?

However, as I am rewinding my emot state during my 4 months stay here at Tampa Bay, I know for sure that I like this place and wish to come back here again but this time with my family.

There are 9 things that I could think of that would summarize my "good feeling" for the place:-

Weather : Not as perfect as Bangalore but ask someone from Minneapolis and they would say- it's Paradise
Marts and Malls: Walmart, CompUSA, Best Buy, Target, Whole Foods, International Plaza, International Flea Market(Tampa's own cheap market), Dollar Store. There is a whole bunch of malls and shopping marts here. And for all other things, there is craigslist.
Night-Life & Clubs: It's a bachelor's heaven here. From gentlemen's club to night-clubs, the place apparently ranks in the Top 10's of the world. If you don't believe me, read more about Joe Redner in the Wikipedia.
Downtown & YBor City: If you are in Tampa, you would certainly visit downtown and YBor City. From Hookah bars to beer joints, the center around the 8th Avenue is alive from about 9:30 pm to 3 :00 am to 3:30 am in the morning
Close to Miami and Orlando: These are the three tourist hotspots namely for beaches and theme parks. Miami is like a 5 hour drive and Orlando is around 2 hours from Tampa.
People: Good "civilized" people…
Something "Indian": For an Indian, one of our prime requisites will be the availability of Indian stores- there are plenty of restaurants and departmental stores here to get Indian food. (I guess nowadays its not an issue anywhere in the world: D). Oh, did I forget to mention that I watched two Indian Tamil movies here at Tampa?-Enthiran The Robot and Manmadhan Ambu !
HART service: The bus service is pretty fine compared to where I was in the US before (Plano, TX). You can take unlimited rides in a day with a 3.75$ bus-pass OR go for an unlimited ride monthly pass at 60$. Of course, the buses are not available round the clock but it's available every half an hour during the day and before midnight. Saturday and Sunday follows a different schedule.
Compact: All the places that you would want to go or visit is close to each other.

Yeah, it's been an effen-tastic experience!!

Google nahi hota to kya hota?- The Plot!

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:32:00 +0000

I was thinking of crappy movie titles like "Shiva ka Insaaf" starring not the Great destructor himself but Jaggu Da when this thought came in. What about a movie "Google nahi hota to kya hota?"

When unrealistic themes and uncommon events have become a part of big banner movies, this title looks like it could rock filmdom. Google has become a part of our lives. No matter how big a company Microsoft is or will remain so; it will never be a Google.

The six letters that you would type to get to Google is now your last respite for everything ain't it? From codes to coats and to scorns or corns, you will get every piece of information there and that information is sometimes what your life would stake upon. Of course, Wikipedia has a lot to do with Google's popularity index but it rocks with or without it.

Now, as for the plot: - I'd like to make it simple, a direct lift from "Main Meri Patni or Woh". No one else fits the bill then our dear Rajpal Yadav a.k.a Jhun Jhun. It will be about a village simpleton who discovers the "magic" of Google and how it changes his life and life around him?

And that too, when someone tells him "You can get everything at Google".

Our guy is a loser by all means- education, sick parents, intolerant neighbors and "lafangey" friends. Lost his girl- Raima Sen a.k.a Bulbool to his nemesis Mukesh Tiwari a.k.a. Bheera- the tough guy! The audience feels his sorrow and will cry with him when the girl he secretly admired and thought was in love with him confesses her marriage to the guy who bullies him.

There is no Hanuman Temple in the village by a river that is dry. The villagers are still complaining about the drought and the corrupt politicians. The world is about to come to an end for our simple guy.

Just then, a hoarding comes up in the nearby town for Google Freshers with that simple tag line.

Thus begins Jhun Jhun's endeavor to learn computers, internet, googling in that order. From Facebook to Orkut to "How to make a coke bomb?", our protagonist is everywhere, scrapping, commenting, liking and showing off his "grey matter"!

Oh, by the way, did I forget to mention how he opens up his own Facebook group called "Jhun Jhun Ki Kahani, Forum Ki Jubaani" where he lambasts his village sarpanch and MLA of the area in his own simple way.

"Sabb kahtey hain dengey Roti Kapda Makaan, hum kahtey hain do sirf ek paan ki dukaan"

When events like the "Pink Chaddi" campaign can do wonders, I'd expect Jhun Jhun to do more than just TimesNow or NDTV but be interviewed by CNN and esteemed honoraries like our dear Borat Sagdiyev.

Lastly, there will be some item songs by Sonakshi Sinha.

Now, that you got the plot and sure find it interesting, you have got to watch the movie..?

PS: I would not do a 5 point someone here but just in case VVC is reading this, man, all that you need to do is to pay me a humble few thousand dollars and you can have the rest of the story. Of course, I need my name in the credit scroll using Trebuchet MS size 66 font yellow on a black background!

How do I convert ₹ into $?

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 21:14:00 +0000

How do I convert ₹ into $?

Google mail (GMAIL) Distribution List

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:32:00 +0000

HOW DO I CREATE DISTRIBUTION LIST IN GMAIL?

Go to Contacts on the left pane of your webmail.

Step 1: Search for the contact

Step 2: Check mark the contact

Step 3: Go to groups and either add to existing group or create a new group by using the Add to… option

Step 4: Repeat the same for your other contacts as well.

To use the DL, type the group name and gmail will automatically populate your contacts in the group.

Dedicated to Zitarians because we miss out including our nearies for important e-mails once a while!

YouTube.com smitten by Vuvuzela?

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:15:00 +0000

I had not seen this before and came across it accidentally. But, this is interesting.

Open the below video in YouTube.com and click on the “soccer ball” icon in the video.

Yes, your worst dreams will come true. It is indeed the Vuvuzela.

Note: This appears to work Mozilla Firefox and not in IE.

The agony of Vuvuzela and the World Cup in Africa 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 04:11:00 +0000

You sit in your comfy beanie with a bottle of beer and some chips in front of the 32 inch LCD television. I don’t want to be disturbed today, I say. After all, it is the first match of the World Cup Soccer 2010 and you are all ears until the match begins.

Image courtesy: Wikipedia.

But, then began the agony of Vuvuzela- the native African horn. I know it might be a very “sacred” instrument to our African mates but without any personal vendetta against any race, it is a nuisance to me.

For the first few minutes, I was able to concentrate on the game and enjoyed Santos firing all cylinders. This lad is the player for the future. I am sure we will hear a lot about him in the coming years.

The excitement however was overshadowed by the ever increasing Vuvuzela. I could barely hear the commentator. I pitied the Poor Mexicans! It appears the Africans have an invisible 12th force called Vuvuzela. In crude comparisons, it might be what car horns are for us Bangaloreans. An American tourist would go crazy here.

Can you believe that for the sheer fear of going deaf or having a hallucinating VUVU effect, I watched the match on mute occasionally checking if the Vuvu sound is still there. But, it never did…

I thought Indian cricket supporters were the craziest zealots. But, if the chips are down, they tend to sober. Not the South Africans. Above all, they have nothing to lose and yes, beer is allowed.

So, what to do? Psychologically weaken(“deafen”) your opponents with the Vuvuzela!

Guess it did have an impact on me and I couldn’t be awake to watch the French play Uruguay.

What's one thing you own that you should probably throw away, but never will?

noreply@blogger.com (Somewhere in between...) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:30:00 +0000

Wow, I don't know. That's a good question. Next one please ;-)

Ask me anything

FIFA Flashback and my best teams for 2010 World Cup Soccer

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 10:05:00 +0000

Nothing excites me more than that World Cup. Over the past few years, I have been but smitten by only one game- Soccer. The curve of smite was however smoothly undulating. Sometimes, I had the tremendous urge to write a blog post during a live match but never went to the extreme of staying up late night to watch Barcelona vs. Real Madrid at the Bernabeu stadium. I know a couple of my nearies do that, sometimes even to the extent of skipping office, working from home or going late to work or skipping classes. For the matter of the fact, Spanish or any other league never excites me as much as the EPL. Soccer was born in England like Cricket and the passion surrounding the game in that country is overwhelming. However, seeing an amalgamation of top class players at the world stage is even more fascinating.

In 1986, as a very young kid, I vaguely remember something that took our small town by storm. It was like as if the phrase “Paint the town red” had an edit and Kalimpong was painted all in “Blue and White”. Yes, it was the Mexican wave that did a Tsunami to everyone. As I grew up, I realized that a GOD was born in the year 1986 who could whiz everyone with his magical left footer and could even get an invisible hand to create a spell at desperate times.

Then came the 90’s, Italia 90. The God was still there but an old man in his last world cup surprised everyone with his last burst of youth and exuberance- Toto Salvatore Schillachi. I was a devout of the God and was surprised to see my father support Italy. But, to my sheer delight, the Azzuris were beaten by the eventual runners up in the semifinals. Lost but there was always this inside happiness that “my team” beat “my father’s”.

1994 and the GOD was sent home so quick that we never realized what hit us. Then, it was the Roberto Baggio and Romario love story and what a cruel end to Baggio’s career. 1998 and 2006 was all about the birth and death of Zidane. 2002 was all about the big Ronaldo. So, what looks like in store for this year?

All of us have favorites but assumption is the toughest task amongst all. Who would have expected Davio Suker and Oleg Salenko to take the golden boot and teams like South Korea and Croatia to reach the semis. These lowly’s nearly made it to the coveted prize. However, having said that history has shown that only one out of the four in semis have been the lowly’s. The rest have always been the big cats of world soccer.

Many have predicted that there is going to be an African song this year. But, I would like to rule that out. European and South American football is well too ahead in terms of exposure and the extra mental strength. Of course, the African continent has nothing to lose and can play their heart and soul out but I don’t see them going past the Quarters. I am completely ruling out the Asians here.

An obviously debatable statement but I would rank perennial favorites Brazil and the rejuvenated English team as the best teams for this world cup.

Brazil has always shown the uncanny ability to rise like the phoenix(Recall the COPA America tournament starring Adriano? and not to forget their WC qualification campaign in 2002). That’s what champions are made up of…veins of steel!! A five time winner will always have the strongest team in any sport.

England is also a very strong contender and that makes them the dark horse for the tourney. Capello’s men look rock solid on paper. Its been a long wait for the red and the white who won their only World Cup in 1966. Can Gerrard be that inspirational leader? Most certainly, I think so. Ahh! Remember the Champions League final not so many years ago?

image SRC: Wikipedia and Google Image Srch

People would certainly agree or refute my statement but that is what this WC fever is about..

Everyone will have their teams but in the back of the mind, the million dollar question lingers:-

Which country will be crowned the 2010 World Cup Soccer champions?

Gorkhaland Awareness Campaign- One man’s selfless endeavor to realize a million’s dream.

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:21:00 +0000

I promised to put this up on my blog a week back but he knows how “entangled” I am. I know him for about 2 years now and I know he “breathes”, “talks” and has only one deepest belief and “unfulfilled” dream- the creation of Gorkhaland. We argue on how unfeasible the creation of this state may seem. But, I still believe we need aspirants like him- selfless and innocent. This has been put up for you Bhai- can’t express how much we love you !!

Hello….hi
Again I’m here to bore you…..but this time it would be a short write up regarding the prevailing situation of our future Gorkhaland !!.. ….I know you all are great readers and reading a few extra characters wont tax you..hola….smiles again!!
….Last letter of 10th March was overwhelmingly welcomed by our readers..Our constructive criticism worked to some extent. While we also had few complaining our writings .Anyway we too accept all kind of feedbacks from you all. What matters is that end justifies the means…Our end should be Gorkhaland after all and thenceforth new dawn of overall and collective progressiveness.
Back some days we have witnessed a lot of happenings …Veteran leader kanu Sanyal , once the flag bearer and initiator of Naxalite Movement epicentring in Naksalbari (once partner of Charu Majumdar ) died ..He used to support Gorkhaland Cause and right to self determination of oppressed people. May his soul rest in peace.
We sometime tease BG’s commanders being fatter with ongoing movement …but perhaps pressure for them is also huge…Inward and outward pressure..lol . Mr. Bimal Gurung though did not end his life on march 10 but did surprise people of Kurseong’s Naya Busty on April 1st 2010 by surprise visit…Interestingly leaders are connecting to people somehow…..Good thing is that BG is people friendly… having uncanny knack for getting people’s support..(hmm ..doesn’t need MBA in HR/PR)
Yesterday Lepcha youth Association has come with violent protest against the newspater , The Statement’s false reporting..The Stateman reported that Lepchas were happy to be under the rule of WB Govt and they don’t want Separate state…and so sparking huge n somehow violent protest in kalimpong bazaar…!! Important lesson to be learnt is Unity…If different communities can unite why not different Hill Leaders from different political background…GJM, AIGL, CPRM,GNLF,CONG, etc all should unite and work single handedly.. “Mr Giri, Mr Rajen Mukhia , Mr Madan tamang, ..are u listening??...people want that…and so on please do that..!!”… We should have kind of Joint Action Committee by now…We should have JAC comprising of all parties..
Recently::Last Official Tripartie meeting in Delhi saw the talks on demarcation of territory for autonomous region…negotiations still going on….More autonomy?? But Getting Home Deppt wud be just fine but tis difficult to get …
State is always best solution…Union territory also is win win solution for all…Interestingly we have come to know that there is a possibility of state within a state like Meghalaya was in Assam for some time….
"The solution, perhaps, lies in adopting a model similar to the one tried through the Assam Reorganisation (Meghalaya) Act 1969 [ARMA, 69]. This legislation was made possible by the Constitution (Twentysecond Amendment) Act, 1969, which, by inserting Article 244A, intro-duced a rather original idea into the Constitution in relation to the State of Assam. This Article made it possible to establish an “Autonomous State” within the State of Assam. Not many may remember that before Meghalaya became a full-fledged State, it was constituted as an “Autonomous State” within Assam with its own Chief Minister, Cabinet and Legislative Assembly. Under ARMA 69, Meghalaya was constituted 40 years ago, in January 1970, as an “autonomous state” within the State of Assam. Full-fledged Statehood for Meghalaya, came somewhat later under the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act 1971, when the States of Manipur and Tripura were also established. As the 1969 law, which established Meghalaya as an “autonomous state” within Assam, was not worked for long, being overtaken by the 1971 legislation, the ARMA 69 approach in resolving some festering disputes has not received a full trial and has not been adequately explored.
…Go tell ur dad, uncles and perhaps to GJM members that Gorkhaland Awareness Campaign
Had some valid ideas…Ideas are free here..hahas..!!
Another Good news is that a large no. of contract teachers might just be put in regular pay roll..After all they deserve that for working for so long with peanuts-salary! ..Thanks to JSTO..!!
Lastly we wish you great Easter weekend and thank you for your precious time reading with us!!
Regards
GAC

BSNL 3g in Bangalore and configuration on HTC Touch

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:26:00 +0000

If you have a 3g compatible phone, why not go for 3g service? That was the thought which suddenly crossed my mind when I saw the offer pamphlet at BSNL office, Banaswadi.

The process to get one(especially postpaid) is like not too simple and I had to wait for 3 hours before I got the card. And since I had forgotten to carry my 3g phone, I could not test the connectivity there itself.

Back home and it was a “deja-vu”. The customer care folks aren’t aware of what needs to be done for 3g to work and I had to research enough before getting the actual settings from a blog.

Further, like the customer care, I did not know what the symbols “G”, “E” and “H”(coming at the top of the mobile display) stood for. For the unaware, G stands for GPRS, E for EDGE and H stands for 3.5 G.

And guess what? I am getting 3.5g signal at my apartment. I tried the internet yesterday using the SIM and it comes at a whooping .97 Mb/second download speed. After using it for a few minutes, I switched off the data connection as 3g connection comes with a price: 250 Mb free and thereafter per 10Kb, 1 paise is charged.

The two drawback is that the 3g signal is not caught everywhere. For e.g) While at work in Whitefield, the signal changes to EDGE. The second drawback is that there is an amazing number of call drops.

But it does feel good to have a state of the art technology at your hands.

MobileStore India cash-back offer: A story of how internet helped me get my money back!

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:24:00 +0000

Read comments in the end to find out how I got my cash-back…

Mindless blogging….

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:01:00 +0000

It is 8:05 pm IST and I am waiting to go out. It has been a “normal” weekend.. and suddenly Kalpana interrupts. It is escalation time again and I quickly attend to Sanishcha’s needs. BURP she goes and it is mission accomplished. That took about five minutes and am back to blogging again.

I am still seeking for excitement. I don’t know why there is a sudden rush of energy in me and I would want to spend my weekend doing something worthwhile. Tomorrow starts a hectic on call week till Tuesday next week and though I am excited to get behind the steering of my new i10 on 25th of March, yet I don’t still have the same feeling of fresh happiness.

Why is there a feeling of incompleteness? I don’t know why am blogging about this state of mind. I would call it Mindless. Perhaps I need a break from the never ending wants… Perhaps I need to read a book.

The other thing that crosses my mind now is to setup BSNL broadband in the new house. I have been twice to the office and now they have been telling me that there is no DP box for the building and it would take a week to come. And as I am on-call, I need to get some arrangement done.

Okay…now I need to go out and will write this post once I am back (8:19 pm)

Back at 9:02 pm

I wanted to have an evening ride on my old Activa Honda. She has grown old.. 3+ years and 33k kms done, she is still the champ though not with the same power and pull. Still reminds me of the picture I took on her after the buy at 256/15- proud owner and with a distinct L on the front and the rear. She reminds me that priorities keep changing in one’s life. She was ever there and though it was scary to ride a two-wheeler in Bangalore, she was irreplaceable. And now with Sanischa coming to our lives, she has to be play a second fiddle to the car.

Anyways…So what is next for the week? Hmmm… Get a wireless internet connection or wait for BSNL. If I wait for BSNL, then I have to be at office from 6:30 in the morning to 6:30 in the evening. It is difficult but manageable. Set up the “final”(?) bit of wood-work for the new house(the Puja altar and the bookshelf).

Here are some exclusive pictures for my audiences:

Call the cable guy again and get the cable connection done(I thought the deal from Hathway at 220 channels, 1 free set-top box, 2 connections at Rs. 200 was damn good).

What else?

Start hitting the gym… Will I …Won’t I .. . ahm…..

Eureka Forbes customer feedback.

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:40:00 +0000

Here’s another one and the only one where I possibly went wrong in the end and tendered an apology.

I purchased a water purifier system(WPS) sometime in January directly from the Eureka Forbes(EF) office in KR Puram. Though there are lot of WPS companies available, yet, I chose EF simply because of the number of its service centers in India and the brand name. The team lead Satheesh PM(name unchanged) promised me a free re-installation anywhere in Bangalore within a period of 3 months. This was my pre-requisite for buying the WPS. My experience with customer service from people over the past few months has/had been dismal so I thought of getting it hand-written on the purchase invoice.

So, when my new apartment was almost ready, I called up Satheesh and politely asked him for a free re-installation. He informed me that I should be calling him a day before I shifted. So when the day arrived, I called him up. However, even after twenty odd tries wherein the phone rang, I received no response. The next day, I received a message saying he was out of station. I was fine with it and since it was already weekend, I thought it would be best to call him on Monday. On Monday, I called him again and this time he picked up the phone and noted the new and old address. Also, he seemed to remember his promise of a free reinstallation and informed me that the technician would be notified and gave me the number of Narayanamoorthy(NM) who could be contacted to get the details of the technician. I called up NM the following morning and enquired about when the technician would be arriving. He gave me the date and time and then informed me that it would NOT be a free service that Satheesh promised but a paid one. I argued that Satheesh had promised me a free-reinstallation and that I had the written proof for the same.

Now Mr NM informed me that he had spoken with Satheesh who said that he had never promised any customer and possibly the technician(guy who installs) might have written that on the invoice. So, I called up Satheesh again but could not reach him(Phone rang but he doesn’t pick up). By this time, I was already pissed off and so called up Mr NM and asked him on who should be contacted for escalation. Mr NM directed me to Mr. Ali who also had a similar line of NO-FREE reinstallation. I blasted him about Satheesh’s broken promise, EF’s service and threatened to create a ruckus and report in the internet if they made me come to their office. I believed this had no impact on them.

So, I sent an SMS to Satheesh informing him that I would escalate the issue to his higher superiors and that I had a written proof and would report in the internet about EF’s failed promise. Thereafter, Satheesh replied stating he was in a conference somewhere out of station and that he would look to ensure that a free reinstallation is done.

The SMS had worked and the next day, the technician was there at my old residence to shift the WPS. I had also asked for a clamp stand for the purifier’s wall mounting and of course, I was ready to pay the price. Since I was caught up with some other work, I directed the technician to my residence and became busy. After about an hour, when I returned home, I was informed that the base of the WPS had a crack and that the technician had left in a hurry after installing the wall mount without testing if it was working fine. By this time, I was furious and sent an SMS to Satheesh who replied stating that Mr. Raju, the service manager should be contacted.

Raju was quick to act on the request and I could hear him shout at his technician over the phone on the second line. After several calls and in about 2 hours, the technician was back and he cooled me off with a single line. “The WPS was full when I emptied the contents at your old address. If there is leakage now, then its my problem and if there is no leakage, then it was already in that condition”. That made sense and I waited for him to pour water on the empty WPS. And as he said, there was no leakage. It appears that Protec+(the WPS) has a hollow space between the actual system and the base. So, even though the base had cracked(God knows when?), it hadn’t leaked.

Immediately, on realizing my fault, I apologized to the technician who bore the brunt of his manager’s wrath and to his manager Mr. Raju himself who had done the work with great sense of customer support.

The entire episode ended with mixed feelings for me.

Raju did a great job but Satheesh-the architect of the chaos failed me repeatedly. The technician was just and deserved a pat for his thought.

Cane furniture(including cushions) for SALE, Banaswadi, Bangalore- 2+2+1

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:54:00 +0000

For immediate sale. Price: Rs. 8000/-. Contact mailforsachin[AT]gmail.com.

The faulty booking system of Makemytrip.com and lessons learnt

noreply@blogger.com (Sash Sheen) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:27:00 +0000

Situation: You are in urgent need of an airline ticket and you think of using one of the supposedly famous ticketing service to get your bookings done. The journey between x and y is long and since your kid and wife is travelling, you are looking forward for a) a direct flight b) a direct flight with one stop or c)a break journey(in that preferred order). Login to the booking portal and select the flight. Proceed to the payment gateway and do the booking. Then, comes the message- the transaction FAILED. Now you need to wait for 7 days to get the refund back and what’s more worse, you don’t get back the money you paid for the insurance.

What actually happened:

The search was for a flight from Bangalore to Bagdogra. Though there were other options available, the fact that the flight was a “one stop direct flight” attracted me to do the booking. Note the lure in circle.

Then, I proceed to the gateway and for the second time in six bookings, the transaction failed with a generic message.

Customers can never understand why transaction fails because the company never tells you why it failed. All that I know is that my money is gone for a week. The last time I had a failed transaction, I had to make a last moment effort and was forced to get my dad a train ticket instead from CCU to IXB.(See snapshot above). To my ill fate, one out of the two flights for the destination failed in the payment gateway.

I could neither cancel the successful one because the cancellation fees is quite a sum nor did I have the courage to do a direct booking because the price was exorbitant. Was the system faulty right from the onset? I would never know! A jet flight from CCU to IXB at Rs. 1800 during festive season- AMAZING. Reminded me of the Air Deccan days!!

Now, let me come back to the investigation of my most recent failed transaction. Bewildered after being a victim of the faulty system for a second time, I checked Yatra.com if the flight existed. Yatra didn’t list the flight at all. I grew suspicious and then went and checked the airline website.

And if I am to believe it, there is no direct one stop Spicejet flight from BLR to IXB. (Snapshot below)

Imagine if my family was travelling for the first time with an infant and I put them in the flight because it was one stop same flight.

The story doesn’t end here”-

I receive a message that the refund will be done in a week’s time but the money that I “purchased” insurance with will not be refunded. I would have understood if I had cancelled the flight but how can the stupid company with a faulty payment gateway and its third party CANNOT have a SIMPLE mutual understanding? Common folks, a FAILED transaction is not the same as a CANCELLED transaction. Leave aside the TOC’s if the clause is specified there but for heaven’s sake, you cannot charge insurance money to a customer for a failed transaction.

I wrote to the customer support and through my interaction, I have come to realize that the insurance money will not be refunded.

Valuable lessons learnt:

a) Use services such as makemytrip.com ONLY to find out which is the cheapest airline and why not?

b) Never book tickets from online booking portal such as makemytrip for flights from A to B where C is the stop-over and journey from A to B involves changing the plane at C.

c) Booking directly through the airline website seems to be the wisest choice.