Surprising Service

It is very rare that one gets surprised by a government-owned company in India by its high quality or promptness of service delivery. It is becoming more and more difficult to get good quality of service even from private companies. We all have many instances to report, I am sure.

So, I was rather surprised to see a government-owned telecom company provide service at a very fast clip. I could only get a land line from this phone company at my new place of residence, which took some time as it involved transfer of telephone exchanges. I thought it should not take time at all as all exchanges are now run by computers. However, it took a few weeks to get my land line at my new place, but I timed it in such a way that when I occupied the new place the phone line was connected within a couple of days. So it was OK.

But what was interesting happened after that connection. We had examined all possible options for high-speed internet, and finally determined that the best way is to go back to the land line. This decision was prompted by the inconsistent performance of the 3G mobile internet using data cards. The speed was rated to be 21 MBPS on 3G, but typically you get around 3 to 4 MBPS which in itself is not bad. But the connection kept dropping, even though it was used at a single non-mobile place – that is, at my home. Further, the cost of the internet grows significantly at higher monthly downloads. Given that several folks at home do different bandwidth-consuming tasks, it was clear we need not less than 20 GB of download in a month at the minimum. So, all these considerations moved me towards the land line.

I called up the government-owned company’s contact numbers in the quest to get a broadband connection on my existing land line. It was difficult to get through, with call centre people not really wanting to do business, pushing me from one number to the other. But I did not lose patience, I cannot right ? It is me who wants the internet.

Finally, I found the right number and used the word “order” when I spoke to the call centre person. Government companies do not understand that the consumer can place an “order” for a product or service, they think it is the privilege of the consumer to be served by them. They cannot be “ordered” around ! In any case, I finally placed the order for a “combo” plan which can deliver up to 4 MBPS on my land line.

I place the order late one evening, say at 9 PM or so.

Voila ! The internet was connected the very next day before 5 PM. I could not believe it. No one in my family could believe that the government company can act so fast and deliver the service promptly, exceeding our expectations.

Of course, there were hiccups. The company connected the internet on another telephone socket via the ADSL modem that I gave to them, and then walked away. Later, we found that the telephone which was connected on another socket was not working – it was creating a hissing sound whenever we tried to use it, and we could not hear when someone tried to reach us.

The problem was that the company did not provide a telephone cable splitter at the telephone socket and then connect both the phone instrument and the modem to the splitter. And, now we are waiting for the company to revert and fix this problem. If we want to speak on the phone, we are now switching off the modem – ha ha ha !

Well, all in all, the government company delivered a consumer service faster than any private telecom company, and as a consumer, I do appreciate that. It is another point that I am pursuing them for the splitter, which they say that they do not provide !

We will see !!

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
26th February 2012
Mumbai

Rash Celebrities

Celebrities, of the political and movie varieties, always have security protection due to their popularity (or the lack of it), and this is common across various countries. One reason is that a celebrity does not wish to be harassed by fans, stalked by aggressive admirers, or kidnapped for a ransom.

The protection by special security guards who throw their weight around the celebrity and are often seen to be unnecessarily aggressive in their fan-control efforts, is an inevitable necessity in today’s world. And, it is easy to accept the same, given that it is the fans who want to shake the hands of the celebrities in the first place, and so they should be prepared for some hardship.

While all this is fine, what is not fine is the apparent lack of sensitivity of the celebrities when they invade what is essentially a private space shared jointly by many private citizens. Or, when the celebrity rides roughshod over hapless citizens who are sleeping on city pavements because the government had not found it fit to provide them a shelter. Or, when the celebrity goes and shoots an endangered animal in a protected reserve forest.

The first instance is what happened in a five-star hotel in Mumbai couple of days ago when a famous movie star apparently hit another diner at a restaurant. It may or may not be true, and the matter will soon be heard in a court of law. But the point is that when a celebrity is entering what is a rather private space (actually a public restaurant accessible to any public member of the society willing to pay), he or she should exercise extreme caution to avoid unwanted attraction. Avoid making unnecessary noise which disturbs the other diners, who are also paying to eat by choice at the restaurant. It is very important not to be seen as a rash actor, throwing his or her weight as a celebrity, and challenging everyone around.

The hotel staff or the restaurant staff would usually be mute spectators of any conflict or even violence, as they are always worried about future business and the reputation of the place. That should bot be the case, but it is what it is…..everyone is commercially minded at the end of the day.

So, celebrities should exercise caution and avoid public brawls at the minimum. They should just have a quiet dinner just like everyone else at the restaurant. Have you ever seen a jumpy character who is shouting at the peak of his voice at a five star restaurant, and trying to stand up on his chair ? Never. Culture comes from the manner in which we conduct ourselves in public, and being a celebrity is no excuse for bad behaviour.

Well, that is how it is here in India, and I would not be surprised if the concerned actor goes scot-free at the end of this reported conflict. But hopefully, the truth will come out, and that is critical for everyone else. It is very important to be impartial and ensure the proper application of law and order in all such instances. There should be no favouritism at all.

Well, time will tell. In the meantime, let us watch more of the celebrity actions in the coming days,

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
25th February 2012
Mumbai

Right to Sleep

Right to Sleep was every person’s fundamental right, that is what I thought.

So, I was surprised to see the Supreme Court of India’s judgement that right to sleep is a fundamental right, see The Times of India coverage at “Right to sleep a fundamental right, says Supreme Court” .

What was the issue here ? Obviously, nothing is as simple as what it appears to be, especially in India. It is a complex nation emerging from hundreds of years of stupor, into a modern nation capable of holding its own in the comity of the top countries of the world. Hence, it is sometimes not really surprising to see that notions that we take for granted are getting endorsed either by the government or by a court of law.

That said, the specific issue here is the liberty of a set of protesters sleeping in the open space where a protest was being organized against the government in Delhi last year. Should they be allowed to make use of that open space to sleep ?

Delhi Police violated this fundamental right of citizens to sleep peacefully by attacking the peaceful protesters. Right to sleep is of a fundamental nature, and is categorized in the same plane as right to privacy, right to food, right to education, et al. This ruling of the Supreme Court of India is very significant and clearly delineates the rights of citizens vis-a-vis the enforcement powers of the police force. It is now clearly ruled by the Supreme Court of India that what the Delhi Police did was violative of the fundamental rights of citizens.

But the interesting part of the ruling was whether the citizens can exercise this fundamental right to sleep anywhere and at anytime they like. In that respect, it is to be interpreted in the same manner as when one’s right ends, the other’s right begins. So, the Supreme Court rightly ruled that citizens cannot, for example, sleep at the Court premises !

As the civilized society slowly tames the arrogance of power, and disciplines itself in the process, we can surely hope to arrive in the league of the developed nations of the world (forget we were one of the most developed nations some thousands of years ago). Police brutality is not a good sign of a developed nation. Forget brutality and insensitivity – even acts showing lack of respect will not be acceptable. No one should be presumed guilty by the police unless proven guilty by a court of law. Law enforcement cannot disturb and cannot afford to disturb the fundamental rights of the people.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
25th February 2012
Mumbai

Moral Police

Mumbai is the entertainment capital of India (apart from being the financial and commercial capital of India). Bollywood is synonymous with the Indian form of entertainment around the world.

Most of the movie stars live in Bandra, a Western suburb of the city.

In this context, it was funny to see the news item today in The Times of India “Cops slammed over ‘kiss-and-hug’ fine” .

Where are we headed in India ?

If this can happen in Mumbai to a young man who just hugged his friend before seeing her off in an auto-rickshaw, one can imagine what could happen to even holding of hands, or looking at each other, in other parts of the country.

There are many instances of the moral police acting in a high-handed manner around the country, especially in the State of Karnataka. But, in Mumbai ? I could not believe this is happening here of all places.

It is better to avoid looking at even one’s own wife or girlfriend and be very stern-looking when one ventures out. For heaven’s sake, don’t even touch anyone. Who knows, the moral police may just be around the corner of the road, and you do not wish to take any risks. They can easily charge you under some vague Indian law or section of some old British Act and cite you for “indecent behaviour in a public place”. Not everyone is a lawyer to contest the actions of the police.

The young man in the news story was fined INR 1,200 (some USD 25) for this offence of “hug-and-kiss”, and he was required to appear in the Court soon. That is the plight for causing a moral hazard in this morally uptight nation.

Visitors also beware of the moral police !

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
25th February 2012
Mumbai

End of the World

Courtesy: Shyam, my IIM-B Classmate

God summons President Barrack Obama, Chinese Leader Hu Jintao and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to a meeting………………And tells them that he has decided to end the world in 3 days & orders them to tell their people.

President Obama has a television speech to America and says, “I have good news and bad news. The good news is that there is a God. The bad news is that he will destroy the world in 3 days.”

Leader Hu has a television speech to the Chinese people. He tells them,
“I have bad news and worse news. The bad news is that there is a God. The worse news is that the world is going to end in 3 days and you’re all going to hell.”

President Sarkozy goes on television and tells the French people, “I have good news and better news. The good news is that there is a God and he spoke to me! The better news is that the European economic crisis will be over in 3 days.”

Courtesy: Shyam, my IIM-B Classmate

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
19th February 2012
Mumbai

Push the Envelope

Getting things done in India, especially in the personal space, requires a lot of push and chase, even to ensure that the concerned people respond.

While I have been experiencing this phenomena for many years, I still feel new pain every time I try to get something done. A simple example this past week was to get the telephone line reconnected at my new place from the government telecom service provider.

Nothing has changed – I mean in the government sector, when it comes to delivering a simple, specific service to the average consumer. Even if one follows all the processes as per the rule book of the service provider, the expected level of service is not delivered.

Funny that I experienced the same poor level of service from both the government service provider as well as the private telecom service provider – I had both connections at my old place. In the case of the private provider, their helpline could not achieve what I wanted – which was essentially the termination of their telephone and broadband connection, since they could not provide the same service at my new place. I had no choice but to email the termination request to them, and when there was a poor response, had no choice but to escalate the matter to a known contact in their organization.

In the case of the government service provider, the situation was comic in several ways. First, they said that since I was changing from one telephone exchange area to another (though adjacent to the current area), the jurisdiction will change, and I have to approach the new exchange. Secondly, they asked me to be ready with the explanation of why I am changing my residence ! They wanted an explanation and further, proof of the new residential address. Thirdly, they said that I better be at the new place when their officer visits the place to check if I am there.

But, the most outlandish thing that they told me is to go and find out if they had indeed provided their own service connection to anyone else in my apartment building. Why would I do that ? But, I had no choice – do we have any choice in dealing with any governmental organization in India, I seriously doubt it.

So, here I was with this funny situation that I have to go around in my apartment complex and find out if anyone has this fabulous service provider’s telephone connection – amazing, isn’t it ? I thought in this era of total computerization, in which one can with a flick of a switch find out if a particular location is connected on one’ network, I am being asked to do something as stupid as this one.

I called the facility office of my complex, and asked them if they can furnish anyone’s details corresponding to the above requirement. Pat came the reply – their office itself uses that service provider ! I was relieved, and went ahead and submitted that number to the service provider.

They came couple of days later and wanted to activate the connection at my place. I said, yes fine go ahead. They asked for……for a ladder ! To climb up and open their own switch board and activate my connection. I did not have a ladder on hand and asked them to use a stepper stool, which they rejected. I thought, this is really amazing – how can a consumer tolerate such a telecom service provider, and why should he tolerate such nonsense at all ?

In any case, they said they would come back after a day and told me to keep the ladder ready. There goes another day of productive use of the telephone.

All the above taught me that India is indeed faraway from a consumer orientation when it comes to delivering a service satisfactorily. And, it again proved that government should not be running a telecom (or for that matter, an airline) service company. No wonder this company has been making huge losses.

Now, I am afraid that this humongous company may go down on one fine day and I will be again left out without a telephone !

Cheers, come to the 21st Century India Folks,

Vijay Srinivasan
19th February 2012
Mumbai

Finicky about Everything

The Indian Government and Indians in general seem to take offence to the slightest slight anywhere in the world. Especially where there is a large community of Indians.

I am not going to give the instances here – browse for yourself.

But, I think it is immature to react to everything that possibly could be happening around the world, which might have some impact on our beliefs. It is not important and not necessary for everyone of importance to align their beliefs with ours. And what they do or do not do, is not to be considered as an insult to our beliefs.

We all have convictions, and faith on our respective beliefs. But that is our belief. It is not necessary for everyone to respect us or our beliefs. Why should that affect us anyway ? In what way our strength is going to go down ?

Assuming that others in important influencing positions around the world are throwing darts specifically at Indians and Indian beliefs is not a credible proposition, and shouldn’t be. It is important not to hit back or to take offence. Not important to complain to the U.S. or the Russian governments about the offences.

Well, we should all not be so thin skinned anyway. Let us believe what we believe in, and let us not worry about others who are impudent enough to talk ill of our beliefs.

Let us be thick skinned and carry on our good lives. Let us respect everyone else, but let us not take offence at any small thing or even big thing which stings us from afar.

We stand on our own feet and our own strengths all the time.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
18th February 2012
Mumbai

The Moving Troubles

I moved my residence just about a distance of ten kilometres from where I was living for three years in Mumbai.

It turned out to be as much effort as moving to a different city.

My estimate was that it would be a quick and fast move, given the efficiency that one generally experiences in the island city.

But it did not turn out to be such a move.

I realized one thing – that if you give more information to the packers and movers, that actually backfires on the actual move !

Yes, it was amazing. I was very specific to the point of what item to be moved when, how it needs to be packed, how it needs to be verified while actually moving, how it should be unpacked, etc., – my wife actually did most of the planning though. But, I discovered that the packer did not actually understand what we were trying to do.

The mover did the move in exactly the same manner he would do for anyone, without actual detailed instructions written down and handed out before the move. No change whatsoever.

It affected the delivery of the service badly. Expectations were not met. Couple of things were broken. Key things were not handled appropriately. And, no excuse was given (or sought, for that matter).

At the end of the move, my wife and myself were exhausted – we had to continuously monitor the work and insist on quality delivery (which did not come forth).

I realized that we made a mistake – too much of briefing and too much of explanation beforehand are actually not a good thing – hardly anything was being taken seriously in any case. That demonstrated that I selected the wrong mover. I also knew the best mover, the only reason why I did not go for that mover was the issue of pricing which was three times costlier.

Now, I decided it may not be a great idea to go with the cheapest or the untested packer and mover. One thing is certain – the party needs to have delivered a very good service to someone you know. The word of mouth and the referral that comes out it is very important. Further, a word back from the referee to the party (packer and mover that they had used) is very important to ensure that the good service continues to be delivered in your case.

Price is not the right determinant of service quality or deliverability of a service.

This is a critical lesson I learnt today.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
18th February 2012
Mumbai

Knowing, the Movie

This is not really a full-scale movie review of “Knowing”.

I got interested in the movie when I was channel surfing on Saturday evening. The movie’s main actor is Nicolas Cage, one of my favourite actors. Cage is what I think is an intellectually driven character in most of his movies, albeit mysterious. He is masculine, does not have much charm though, and looks like an investigative scientist. I liked him in almost all of his previous movies.

“Knowing” is a rather mysterious and intriguing movie, and the early part of the movie is rather fascinating. The story line is very absorbing, and drives one to continue watching the movie. I was trying to make all sorts of guesses as to the ending of the movie (one of my guesses happens in the movie). The role of a professor at MIT suits Cage eminently. I liked the way he introduces the concept of determinism versus randomness in his class, and the way he appears to be lost when some student asks him “what theory you subscribe to ?”. For him, life appears to be a sequence of random events, rather than prescribed to happen in a particular manner.

I really got interested and saw the full movie.

The deterministic way in which someone has described big disasters in a piece of paper unearthed after 50 years spooks Cage to such an extent that he starts believing that the sequence of disasters will continue into the future. The manner in which his life changes after the discovery of this paper from his son’s school has been described very well by the director. The pity is that no one seems to take Cage seriously, and his attempt to convince even his professor friend does not succeed.

The characters which appear from nowhere trying to take their “chosen” kids away from this earth when the solar flare was going to hit the earth is kind of eerie, and of course cannot be true. But the placement of these characters in the movie by the director deserves special mention – these guys pop up at the right times when they know that something is going to happen, they are seen by Cage and his son, and the amusing part is that they were not going to harm anyone though they appear fierce.

I liked this movie, though it is just a science fiction. If it created an interest in Astrophysics, yes it did. I wonder why Cage could not get the scientific community around the concept of the strange number sequence that he deciphered, which could have forewarned the disaster that was going to befall this earth. Well, “Knowing” is a movie after all, and got to make some quick money with attention-grabbing sequences, and that is what it does well.

I would recommend the movie to viewers, except that my son felt it was a type of horror movie to be avoided. He told me that he made the mistake of switching on the TV and letting me choose the movie to see. Well, I did see a pretty decent movie !

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
12th February 2012
Mumbai

Entertainment Progeny

Sometimes it is amusing to note that none of the entertainment progeny (descendants of entertainers) have made it big in a non-entertainment field. Not anyone that I have come across so far. I am referring here to actors and actresses in the film world.

Why is that the second generation of Bollywood actors mostly hail from filmy families ? There are others who have sprouted from nowhere, and are trying to establish themselves with no roots and no background, but they are a minority.

It appears that the Bollywood regalia is just like the major political party of India – it believes in sustenance of its future by virtue of the children coming up from the previous generation of actors. It is no wonder that acting quality has declined due to the heavy dependence on past glory of a “daddy” actor. There are many examples one can cite, but for want of decency I am not going to name anyone.

I see very few Bollywood movies, but save one or two exceptions, I find that brand new actors without any pedigree tend to do well. May be there is the heavy pressure on them to prove their acting capability and establish themselves as actors, bereft of any support that could come from established actors and channels. There are some very fresh faces on their own, which is a pleasant sight ! I like to see independent actors make it to the limelight and not be stymied in their attempts to make it big in Bollywood.

The curious thing is that there seems to be no gene in the actors’ progeny that makes them an engineer, or a doctor, or a chartered accountant. I cannot understand why, except to surmise that the parental and environmental pressures are too high to deviate from the “chosen” field of acting. There is always the “beauty” factor, the progeny always look good, or better than their daddy or mommy. Many such factors could be at play, the most inevitable being that which forces the kid to conform to a pattern that is already well set.

So, there has to be a clash between the progeny and the independent fresh faces, right ?

Surprisingly, there is none whatsoever. There is competition and insidious forces could be at work. However, it is the public who make the right choices. If they like an actor, they are going to vote with their feet at the theatres. The selection is made in the minds of the teeming youngsters who make up the bulk of the mall/cineplex/movie population these days.

There have been many a flop at the box office last year where the action was from the progeny, and similarly there have been several box office successes coming from the independent actors.

It is puzzling to think about why the top actors did not produce an outstanding surgeon, or an IAS (Indian Administrative Service bureaucrat) Officer, or an entrepreneur ?

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
12th February 2012
Mumbai