Whats In a NAME?

Some professions have certain taboo attached to it and people(world over) look at people in those professions with skepticism. So when I wanted to rent out my flat, the obvious choice was this site named - 'Nobroker.com'. Remember, how you had always been warned about that local 'broker' who was out to get your money at all cost.

But then again, some names come with their baggage. So, here I was being promised the moon and charged about 1/3rd my monthly rent as the professional fees(Paid upfornt ofcourse). While I waited for some new age 'startup' kind a enthusiastic service, here is what I got -

1) The 'Ground Representative'-GR(yes, that is what they are called) goes into the property when the tenant was packing and clicks some dim lit photos of a shoddily kept property using a 2mp camera phone. The End result is a set of photos which would even deter me(the owner) from shortlisting this property.

2) The GR guy does not believe in the concept of offer-counter offer. He takes an unilateral decision to not shortlist a prospective client simply because they were offering a Rs500 less than what my asking price was. Whoever thought, this industry was all about negotiations.

After quite a few frustrating interactions, when I finally tried to letgo the contract - I get a call from another representative of theirs to say that I should not cancel the contract and that she would give it her all and get me a tenant 'soon'. I naively agreed to give them a second chance and what followed was no different.

a) This lady calls me after 4 days to say- there were 4 interests in total and of which one is 'not reachable', two of them had lesser budgets and there was one person who was interested to view it after 15 days :-).

After a paid charade of 'Professional Rental Service' that I went through for about 4 weeks, finally I got the ad-pulled down and dropped them a note to say why I was doing the same. They did not think it necessary to respond back(so much for customer service).
So the next stop was to reach out to them on Twitter, to which I got a response to say- Someone will look into your matter and get back to you. Its been 18 days of wait........I guess Broker or NoBroker..it is always a case of 'One can never be too cautious'.

So the next time you guys get excited about 'No' Broker....think again!!

Friends For Life?

Who was the first person that came to your mind when you read that subject line? I would be surprised if there were more than a few names that popped up. I am sure all of us have been told or have read or have heard the line - ' The Friends you make in school would be your best friends'. True? May be, May be not. Its possibly a majority view. I would like to believe that, the friends we make in school have the best chance of being our best friends.Here is why -
I am guessing that as a kid until you finished school( this if for my generation, these days kids grow faster :-)), you tend to not seek much but are happy to contribute and share in a relation called 'Friendship'. Beyond your schooling days, as the mind gets corrupted( some call it growing up) the whole thinking of Pro's and Con's of making friendship with a person comes about. And we all know, such relations last only until the Pro's outweigh the con's.
Now Coming back to the 'Childhood friends' - are they really 'For Life' ? I am sure, each one of us can think of a few names who were close pals in nursery, Primary schools but you don't know where they are right now. Then there are another set, whom you were in touch but not on a regular basis and when you met up with them after a long time, you didn't have much topics to converse on after you had exhausted the mandatory pleasantries. I believe, this happens when two people grow up to different beliefs , lifestyles . From my personal experience I can say that, I started to wonder - if this was the same guy I had been so closely bonded with in the past.

So, If you have a set of friends or just 'A' friend with whom you have a rocking bond - don't let them go and make an effort to keep in touch . Not everyone have many - 'Friends For Life' .

Travel Tales

I have come to terms that every time I travel by Air, there would be some sort of 'action' whether in airport or mid-air. I am sure many of you can relate to some of these or have your own experiences to share. At least some of these would serve as a do's and don'ts list.So buckle up and Enjoy the Ride -

Airtight Packing
The very first flight I ever took from Bangalore’s Old airport, my check-in baggage was stopped by the security guys @ the x-ray machine. As soon as I told him that the Duct tape wrapped package was nothing but rasam, sambar and other powders enthusiastically packed by my dad and that I was a IT guy going on a 6 month 'Onsite', he smiled at me and cleared the bag.

Pirates not allowed

In this day and age with heightened security, you cannot complain of take offence on what you are put through. My wife was made to 'Surrender' her 'Pirates of the Caribbean' key chain which she had fondly brought @ the Paris Disneyland, by the Security officer at the Charles de Gaulle airport. And the reason- the key chain resembled a miniature pirate gun :-).

Absent Minded Professor
On a visit from Bangalore to London via Mumbai, I had a 7 hour wait in Mumbai and I should have read each newspaper and magazine that was available in the vicinity. So I was the happiest when check-in opened, and probably was the first in line to board the aircraft. while everyone was settling down - there came a announcement for my name and I was asked to identify myself to the staff. Then I was made to walk half way across the airport to the security who had found some objectionable items in my bag. while I kept insisting that I knew no item which had wires coming out of it, his voice kept getting sterner with every question. finally when he opened the bag, i realized it was a hard disk of a computer which a friend had asked me to bring along from his home. Since it had completely missed my mind - I was not able to answer the security guy's probing questions.

Sweet Smell of RevengeIf you have to settle a score with the airport security guys, then here is a good approach. Wear something which will beep when you pass the gate, you are sure to be asked to take off your shoes(if they have not already done this). Make sure you have worn a really smelly socks for this right moment. I have seen this work wonders, when one of the guys took off his shoes and the security literally ran helter-skelter until one of them came back with air freshener.. for all the souls who have been harassed by them - it was a sweet(smelly) revenge...:-)

First Time/Nervous Travellers
One look around the airport and you can almost spot the first timers, most of them are fidgety/nervous or too eager to do things(Alas, some of them continue to be like that on all trips).  On My first trip, when asked for passport and tickets at the   counter - the guy in front of me opened up his cabin baggage, which was locked and then searched through the inner secret pocket and produced the same. The interesting part was - he did this routine at the immigration desk and the security gate. I could only imagine his parents had told him - 'Be careful with your valuables'!!

There are days and then there are Days
You have done you checking in and security checks and are waiting to board the flight, what’s the worst sight you could see? 'Delayed'/'Cancelled' written  against your flight. Once this happens, you are at the mercy of the cancelled flight's ticketing agents to book you on the next flight. While me and my wife were stuck in London Heathrow because of a similar situation, the ticketing guy with Lufthansa promptly booked us on 'Jet Airways' 12 hours later on the same day. And as I was thinking, the ordeal at the airport was nearing an end - there was more drama. When I presented the Jet- tickets at the check-in desk - the ground staff gave me a blank look and then told me that while Sumana's tickets were confirmed - mine were not and since the flight was full she would not give me a seat on that flight. And after running between the Ticketing desk and the Customer care for JET, the lesson I learnt was- all flights are always over booked by about 20%. So its our responsibility to make sure we have 'a confirmed ticket' and just not 'a ticket'. There was happy ending after all after the customer care manager helped us get that one ticket when some of the booked in passengers failed to turn up. But all in all 31st Jan 2008 was a pretty long day spent at London Heathrow.

Caveat Emptor
How many of us have the habit of checking all details on the ticket? I did not have it until the above happened. For starters- now i make sure the ticket is confirmed and then the dates are correct. In the above scenario when the Lufthansa guy booked us on a London-Mumbai...Mumbai-Bangalore ticket.  He had misrepresented the date on the ticket for Mumbai-Bangalore. This was caught by my ever vigilant wife, to which he tried to tell us it was OK. But Sumana would have none of it and got a new ticket issued with correct dates.

We Will Pay for you not to fly!!!!

Surprised? Well, I have been offered the full price of the ticket to forego travelling on a particular day . In other words, the Airline was ready to put me in a hotel and pay for my Board and londge until my next flight and then pay me back my ticket amount if I were to let go my ticket. If you dont have any pressing engagements(which unfortunately I had) then do take up the offer and enjoy the excess cash.

Up In the Air
I am sure frequent travelers are always faced with bad weather hindering their travel plans. And especially now if you travel to India in December-  January, be aware of the FOG situation. On one such trip to Bangalore(not known to be affected by fog until last year) the BA flight was promptly taken to Chennai since it was deemed unsafe to land. And since our port of landing was not Chennai, we were not allowed to disembark the flight. so effectively we are on the tarmac - not knowing what the next step would be. After being seated for 2 hours, the Pilot promptly says- 'We hear that the weather has improved in Bangalore but health and safety rules does not allow us to start our flight again since its already 13 hours from the time we took off from London' Now the crew and the pilot would have 12 hours of rest before they are deemed fit for flight again'. In short, what he was trying to say was- find your way back to Bangalore or wait for us to sleep, eat bathe and then we will decide when we will take u to Bangalore. I took the first option, i am sure many people did take the 5 star accommodation given by BA and enjoyed half a day of Chennai hospitality.

So In summary, there is never a dull moment. This coming from a guy who does not consider himself a 'Frequent' flier. I am sure many of you have many more tales to share.

Destiny ya Coincidence?

I am sure all of you might have had this question at some point of time in your life. And of course the spanish people will tell you that - Que Sera Sera.

This blog is not about my beliefs. I am just thinking aloud here. And this again popped up in my mind because of what happened today -
 It was a nice sunny Saturday afternoon and we decided that we will take our young one to a park for some outdoor fun for him. We land at the station and realize that the train which takes us to the park is not due for another 20 mins, then on the next platform a train which goes towards a beach turns up and me and Sumana decide to jump onto it. All is well until now, after having traveled 4 stops, the announcement on the train makes us realize that we would have to get down at this stop because our tickets are not valid beyond this point. So, we again change our plan and decide to travel back to another different station where there was a shopping mall and end up spending the day in the Mall.

Now, the reason for this blog is that - In the morning while I was out I had messaged Sumana if she would like to go to this Mall and she said she was undecided and the conversation had ended without any conclusion!!!! Well I guess the Spanish people are right after all.....

Choti Choti Khushiyan...

I know the title is a little cliched but it is as much true as it is cliched. With the opening of Economy in the early 90's to the IT Boom that happened to my generation lots of things changed for which each one of us are thankful. This actually made us all think big( of course the definition of 'BIG' is different for each).

But with this came the part where we stopped enjoying the small happiness in our lives.I remember that every time my dad got a hike in salary which would normally be not more than Rs.100/- per month we would go out and celebrate either at a hotel or a movie theater or if dad was in good mood -both. How many of us remember the Pens and Pencils we used in our school. I certainly remember the number of 'Hero' fountain pens I had and the care I used to take with each of them. Then the whole 'Reynolds' rage came in and all of us cherished that one pen we would have brought at some point.

 After finishing school, do you remember the sports shoes you owned? I am sure the numbers can be counted on the fingers of one of your hand. I certainly do remember the one I had - It was from a company called 'Tuffs'(If you dont remember this company then I will remind you - Remember  Madhu Sapre and Milind Soman in with a Python?) and I took care of it for many years .

The above are just examples, the list could include - Cadbury's Daiy Milk chocolate, Vidya Notebook and Laminated brown paper on it, Natraj V/s Camel Geometry Box, Hawai Chappal(White base with Blue band)  so on and so forth.

Now fast forward to the current scenario, the only salary I have celebrated receiving was my first after that I got into the 'Race' . The only rule in this 'Race' is to try and find another guy who does similar job but got a better hike  and then say 'Hell, my company is stingy'.
The Stationary that the office provides is literally used like tissue paper - 'If You lose one, go and grab another from the stationary cupboard'.
And yes, I own more than one 'Branded' sports shoes to add to the formals and casuals that sit on my shoe rack, but they are just an accessory for me now.

The point is, with the millions we made - we somewhere stopped enjoying smaller things in life. So the Nike/Adidas became a tool in reducing the stress/fat that we seem to ever take on ourselves in trying to be in a company which pays us the highest salary hike/bonus which is when we plan to  'Celebrate' .

Blame it on Genes...

My wife asked me recently about that one thing that I am looking forward to about our upcoming India Vacation. My reply was - I am so looking forward to being in Mysore - My 'Home Town'. I am sure every one has a place/town/city in this world where they feel at home, for me it is Mysore. This blog is not a 'Travelouge' about my city though.

My Dad cam to this city probably about 40 years or so ago and then he fell so much in love with it that after completing his studies and becoming a banker he decided to stay on in this city rather than take promotions at job which would make him move constantly. Now, as a teenager this did not make sense to me and I kept rebelling saying- I will move out on the first given chance. The chance did not come for a long time as I was one of those (un??)fortunate ones who got to do all his education in one city, you guessed it right - Mysore. So the first chance I got to move out was when I got my first Job and had to move to the Silicon Valley of India - Bengalooru or Bangalore as it was known then.

Being only 132 kms away from Mysore, it gave me a chance to come back home every weekend. And slowly but surely I realized that those train journeys over the weekends were eagerly awaited by me. And a Friday evening 6:15 train was like a weekly target which was not to be missed and I would end up meeting so many of my school/college mates and other friends on that train and every one shared the same sense of happiness about going back to 'Mysore'. I remember one of my friends telling me this line - ' I don’t know what it is but the moment you set foot in Mysore the sense of relaxation and happiness you feel is totally out of this world'.

As Fate would have it, I was posted to Mysore after my training. On hearing this one of my close friends had mentioned - 'Not many people get to be born, get
educated, work and live in the same city all their life'. At this point I was actually happy for the way things had turned out in my life. And the next 2.5 years I spent working in Mysore were the best ,and the credit also goes to the awsome people I worked with. But as they say - all good things have to come to an end and from the last 4 years I have been away from India not just my Home Town.

As I so desperately look forward to roaming around the roads of Mysore, I can only think that only a few cities in this world would have such a characteristic which would make people miss it so much. Along with the city, I will also blame the 'Y' chromosome in my body for this love for the city that I think I have picked up from my Dad, but I am not complaining .

All Izz Well!!

Back to blogging after a looong time. Thanks to Bala, this guy keeps reminding me that I need to blog. Not sure my blogs are worth the belief he has in me/them. Anyways, the Subject line might suggest that this is another Movie Reivew..errr Nope - it ain't.

First of all Salute to Raju Hirani. This guy for me is one of the gr8 motivational guru's if I can call him that. Think of it Guys - Jadoo ki jhappi in the first movie, Gandhigiri in the Second and now All iz Well. And to get across the message in mainstream cinema(consider the pressure of ROI and the star status of our stars). And every time he tried to say something, people have listened to him and that is the mark of a gr8 man.

If I may go into detail about the latest 'Funda' that Raju has given us , aamir says in the movie : How the whole village used to sleep peacefully when the 'Blind' watchmen used to shout - 'All is well'. This is nothing new, you can ask any motivational speaker or for that matter talk to some sport trainers/gym instrustors(the good ones are no less than gr8 motivators) - they would tell you that you need to make your mind belive that the problem is not herculian and its achievable and that is how you 'fool'(as told by rancho in 3I) the mind to look into the micro aspect of the issue. If you see the how a trainer counts the number of repetations when you work out, where he breaks a 20 rep into - 10/5/countdown of 5. All this is doing is making your mind forget about doing 20 reps but concentrate on the 10:5:5.

If only all of us would use this Funda in our daily life, life would always be Well....All I can say to the creator(s) of 3I is - Jahapana thussi Gr8 ho!!! -Thaufa Kubool karo!!!!