Candidate No. 1
charukesi April 27th, 2004
Made my day
Govinda, Congress candidate on the BJP’s agenda
They have only two issues : Ram Janmabhoomi and Sonia Janmabhoomi
(Janmabhoomi = birthplace)
Is it any wonder I love Govinda ?!
Archive for April, 2004
Mobile dissatisfaction
charukesi April 16th, 2004
Some things remain the same….. A recent article in McKinsey Quarterly talks about complaints in the US against mobile phone companies.
A gist of the article (emphasis mine):
The US wireless-telecom industry is number one—in complaints. In 2002, more dissatisfied customers complained to the Better Business Bureau about their mobile operators than about any other type of company. Interestingly, customers complained not about the service itself or areas of weak coverage but rather about their carriers’ business practices. Billing problems were the most common kind, followed by the carriers’ responses to customer complaints and concerns that carriers had acted deceptively.
My sentiments exactly. As a highly dissatisfied customer of Reliance Telecom and as party to a long-standing fight with the company. I have no grievance about the ‘product’ as such; there is no doubt that Reliance never hesitates to bend the rules here and there to provide the best…..
But ’service’?? I have never got a bill (and I mean never) from Reliance so far in these six months…. I only get SMS asking for ‘interim payment’ of what I suspect is an arbitrary figure amounting to four digits (a random combination of numbers generated by the computer?)….. Where did this figure come from please? And non-payment of this only leads to disconnection (if only temporary) of service….. I am quite sick of this cat and mouse game….
And calling up Reliace service centres for information is tantamount to the proverbial bashing your head against the wall…..
McKinsey also gives this dire warning….. Given the importance of hanging on to customers, carriers should heed the warning in these complaints. They must improve the accuracy of their billing systems as well as the efficiency and courtesy of their customer service staffs.
Is anyone at Reliance listening ?
Blogging break
charukesi April 15th, 2004
Been not blogging for a while now…. Lot of reasons. In Madras now and trying to cope with the heat….. And a slow dial up connection where I am staying….. And a recurrent back problem that has resurfaced…. And general inertia….
Been a longish break now…. Will be back very soon…..
In the meanwhile, am sitting back and enjoying the run-up to the elections…. now that TV advertisements are on, been watching the present Government in Tamilnadu bash up the opposition in various creative ad spots….. A new ad everyday….. This is only the beginning !
The Old and the Beautiful
charukesi April 5th, 2004
Make way Magic Johnson, David Beckham…. Meet Fauja Singh, the latest brand ambassador for Adidas UK…. This 92 year old runner from Illford UK started running at the age of 81 and has set records in the London Marathon.
True, for many, life indeed begins in autumn-winter…. In the West, it is considered quite natural for elderly people to take active interest in the world and their lives and surroundings. It is common for people in their fifties and sixties to take up new interests, travel extensively and marry for the sake of companionship…
But think about India… for a country which lays claim to respect for elders as an essential part of its culture, we surely don’t take our elders seriously…. Again to think about it from a cultural perspective, the life of man has been defined in four stages… starting with boyhood and learning and ending with meditation (preferably in the forest, vanaprastha…. Or in modern times, introspection in quiet surroundings)…. But is old age just about that?
Surely enough, Fauja Singh started running at the age of 81 only when he moved to London. I cannot imagine this happening in India… We do not think about our elders as people with wants and desires and ambitions like anyone else…. Whereas in reality, old age is the time when people, having completed all their ‘duties’ step back and look forward to some peace and entertainment…
Rather, we treat them as people who have ‘been there done that, so enough now’…. As if they have nothing else to do but look back on their lives and progeny with contentment and look forward to the end..… Will a Fauja Singh ever be possible in India?