140 KM cycle track

HT reports that MMRDA plans to build a 140 KM corridor with a cycle track on the side.This corridor is to be built between Alibaug and Virar. Knowing the geography, I wonder how they plan to build this. Will it be an elevated track or only on paper or is the plan prepared by the same folks who planned bicycle tracks in Pune which are npon existent One should ask the MMRDA chief whether they are also planning a "tour da mumbai" knowing our politicians penchant for French stuff

Lyrics which touch you

There are a large number of songs which we have hear many times in our life but never paused to think of the meaning being conveyed through them. Came across one such song while watching one of the chatshows on television. The song in case on "Itni shakti hume dena data" from Ankush (1986). According to the director of the movie this song is sung in number of schools in the morning and is no longer in his domain. The sheer brilliance of the words are inspiring when one is feel is feeling despondent or lost while trying to pursue one's goal

Car or Human Body

Car of one my acquaintances has a coolant leakage from the engine. He has shown it to number of garages including the dealer, but no one yet has been able to find where the leakage is from.
One can just draw parallels to human body which is suffering from an ailment and no doctor is able to diagnose :-)

I had created this blog on 02/23/2003 . Over a period of time the enthusiam to post died down , however an urge to write has developed again to plan to post

testing

Getting Apologies from ICICI Bank

All of us have heard of stories of ICICI Bank goofing up and making a mess of things either in loans, account statements etc. etc.

Last month it was my turn. One of my relatives wanted some money urgently and they sought my help. I decided to use the web request at ICICI Bank website for creation of draft. I was duly informed through a mail that it will be delivered at my home in 5 working days. The system showed the AWB number and the courier agency through which it was sent. First goof up was by the courier guys who did not deliver in one week. We followed up with them and they informed that address mentioned by ICICI is not clear hence it was not delivered and they promised to deliver the same day. The address mentioned was correct.

First shock came when on checking the draft we noticed that instead of being payable in City A it was for City B. As the concerned folks were in urgent need, decided to send across the draft to them hoping that ICICI being well networked should be able to honor it.

Second was, when the draft on being presented in city A, the bank informed that it needs to be sent to city B and it may take around 15 -20 days for it to get cleared.Meanwhile,as I was out of the country, I decided to raise a complaint on the ICICI website, threatening them with closure of account and raising the issue with bank's ombudsman.As usual, they sent an automated mailer saying they would get back in 48 hrs. After a day, I received another mail stating they did try to reach my cell at a particular time , but it was unreachable and they requested to send the draft back to them for correction. On informing that I was out of India, they rang up my residence and asked for the draft and my contact number abroad.

Couple of days passed by , I again got a mail from one of their folks stating that they are sorry and they are following up with concerned department. Meanwhile, my folks informed me that they have received the money in their account.

However today morning, I received a call from Hyderabad .One of the ICICI managers was on the other end apologising profusely for the mistake and explaining how it could have been resolved earlier and promised that such mistake would not happen in future. He also informed, that he had tried to reach me earlier on my cell phone but could not. In the end, he again was sorry and wished in the new year they will continue to give better service.

In future if anyone faces similar problem, my advice is to use the complaint link on ICICI website and use some strong words in the complaint.

More on Paris Syndrome

I had blogged about this earlier. Here is another article. Looking into all these customs, our concept of "Athiti devo bhava" appears to be in a different world

Ideas for our politicians


Polish politicians can surely give some ideas to our politicians.If they can think of annointing Jesus as king , we have a long list and surely this can be used by our folks for fighting elections

Paris Syndrome


Came across this intersting word , in this article

Will this word in future be in vogue to represent something , when something doesnt live upto one's expectations.

Christmas Bonuses


A lot is being written in the British press about the Chirstmas bonuses being paid to High Street bankers, prominent amomg them being Goldman Sachs , where on an average employees will be getting a bonus of 320000 GBP. Googling came across some links on the life and kind of money being paid.

Lehman Brothers in $8.7 billion bonus payout

A big,big bonus at Goldman Sachs

The Firm: Inside Goldman Sachs

What To Do With Your Goldman Sachs Bonus

Reading these one can just feel envious, because most of the people in software industry in India also are putting in 60-70 hrs, but its just the case of being at the tight place at the right time