Customer Service Woes

For the past 2 weeks, I've spent almost 30-40 minutes each day over phone, complaining to companies and trying to deal with multiple issues.
Issues: credit card problem, mutual fund redemption, extra billing on internet account, bank account problem etc.
Companies: Some of the leading names like Reliance, ICICI, Kotak Securities, Standard Chartered etc.

Till date, none of these issues has been resolved and I am still fighting. This has made me realize the pathetic state of customer care, careless attitude of companies and lack of regulatory/reporting mechanism to deal with customer complaints. My next few posts will be dedicated to the problems that I've faced

The Year Gone By

I had started blogging 3 yrs ago and I've not been as regular at blogging as I would have liked. However, one of my resolutions for 2010 is to be regular at blogging.. Let's see how it goes...

To start with, 2009 is over and I was thinking about my life over the year gone by; Here are the highlights for the last year:

1. Graduation: I had always wanted to do an MBA and after postponing my MBA plans for 4 yrs, I finally finished MBA in 2009. Even though this was probably the worst year to get out of a b-school, I still feel it was completely worth it.

2. Travels: I love travelling and 2009 (esp. the first half) was great in terms of travelling. Some of the places I travelled to are London, Loire Valley, Barcelona, Brussels, French Riviera (Nice, Cannes, Monte Carlo), Budapest, Bratislava and Vienna. Among these, trips to Barcelona and Budapest were really great.

3. Books: I got back to reading after a long time and read many books in 2009. Most of the books I read were about history and wars. All the books I read were great but these stood out:

The Haj and Exodus by Leon Uris, The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, Emperor Series by Conn Iggulden , The African Dream written using excerpts from the diaries of Che Guevera and AK-47 by Michael Hodges.

4. Getting back to work: Getting work after graduating with MBA in 2009 was not easy; It took me some time to get the kind of job I wanted and in the end the wait was worth it. I am currently working with a young technology company and am really enjoying the experience.

So this is it for 2009. I hope 2010 will be much better.

Swine flu scare in India

Yesterday I returned to Pune after 10 days and was shocked to see almost half the population wearing face-masks to protect against swine-flu (H1N1 virus in India). Considering that there have been 6 H1N1 related deaths in Pune in the last week, the fear among the people is understandable. But is the mass hysteria justifiable?

Y'day, I watched a TV interview by the Indian health minister talking about the preventive measures taken by his goverment. He proudly claimed that India has screened 4.7 million people which is the biggest exercise of its kind in the world. He also blamed travellers coming to India for bringing this virus into the country.

While I agree that this virus has come to India through passengers coming from overseas, I would say that the biggest blame lies with the Indian government for its negligent attitude which has led to this situation in India.

The first reports of Swine flu came from Mexico in April and in May, the WHO talked about Swine Flu being a potential pendemic. What was Indian government doing then to prevent the spread of this virus in India? I returned to India from Paris on 29th June. I took the flight from Paris to Abu Dhabi and then changed a flight from Abu Dhabhi for India. After the flight landed at Abu Dhabi, every passenger had to undergo a test where thermal scanners manned by doctors screened passengers for potnetial flu symptoms. The system was very simple to implement and very efficient as well. Compare this to how this threat was dealt in India.

Before landing in Mumbai, each passenger was given a declaration form in which the person had to fill in some basic information like whether they had been to a flu affected country or had been in contact with a flu infected person. I filled this form in the flight and then landed at the airport. There was utter chaos at the terminal. There were some officials who wore face masks and asked each passenger to go to a particular room to get the form attested. I duly went to that room and got the form attested. After that I cleared immigration and entered into Mumbai with that form still with me; no official had looked at that form after I got it attested. So here I was, back in India, with a useless form in which I had mentioned that I had been to a swine flu infected country. No one had bothered to read that form and test me for any possible symptoms. And now the government blames travellers!!!!!

My latest reads

In the last couple of months, I've read many books and thought it worthwhile to write brief reviews of some of the books I liked and would recommend reading:

Wolf Totem - A story, set in the late 1960s, about some Chinese students who spent some months in the Mongolian grasslands as part of their academic project. It is an interesting book that sheds light into the relationship between man and wolf, Chinese and Mongols, nature and civilisation, nomads and settled farmers...

AK47 - A very interesting book, which examines the genesis and impact of the most widespread assault rifle the world has seen. Of particular interest are the stories of how this weapon came to be used in all the major conflicts in last 60 yrs and how it has now become a cultural icon - both as a symbol of resistence and of terror.

The African Dream - This book has been written by using excerpts from the recovered diaries of Che Guevara. It describes the events surrounding his attempt to support the struggle in Africa (mainly Congo) against the "Imperialistic powers". It makes an interesting read if you want to understand the history and political aspects of the conflicts in the African continent.

Emperor: The Field of swords - A part of a series of books on Julius Caeser, this book details the period when Caeser returned from Spain to Rome, won the election as a Counsel and then left Rome to conquer the world; It vividly describes the battles he fought in conquering the Gaulish region. The book ends with Caeser's return to Rome setting into motion a bloody power struggle which eventually led to a civil war and downfall of Roman Republic.

The God Delusion - One of the most thought-provoking books I've read, it talks about the conflict between science and faith (or superstition). Dawkins raises questions about the existence of God and then uses scientific arguments to challenge the theories commonly used to support God's existence. He also raises important questions about religion and its impact on our lives.

A Year in the Merde - One of the most hilarious books I've read, it is about a Briton who moves to Paris to work and about the merde (shit) he finds himself in. Having lived in Paris for almost 2 yrs now, I could relate with most of the book :). A must read book for anyone who has spent some time in Paris.