For traffic solution road widening’s are temporary though we may require in lot of area’s for widened-ed roads, create cycle lanes and Pedestrian Zones. When it comes to Vehicles on road, We are growing city and vehicular traffic will only double in next 5 years. In that scenario, no road widening will help. What we need is a comprehensive plan. My suggestion incorporates 2 major world cities which decreased car usage. In London city, the city implemented toll to enter major city areas (excepted for electric cars) that itself made a big difference. For a growing city such as Hyderabad this alone is not sufficient. In Singapore, city with same population density manages traffic very well. Thats because every year Singapore allows limited amount of cars on city roads for which they have buy 10year Licence board permits and price’s of open Auction and this is only valid for 10years. So every year, if one wants to buy a car they have to spend at-least 50,000$ on Licence boards for 10years. All this money goes to spend on Busses, trains, priority lanes for busses. This makes singapore roads very empty with regular bus services (including Air-conditioned). Still Taxis permits are cheap and readily available. This makes taxi rates lower and comparative to world cities. The argument here is people coming from offices don’t spend 30$ on taxi while the Air-conditioned bus cost 1$. Such a system eliminates large traffic conjession, pollution and sound. We are not a city state, so we should have Singapore model together with London model on vehicles coming to city. Some road widening’s may require but it is not a long term solution. Long term solution is to kill the demand. All real estate and businesses get advantage with this solution, because lower cars mean lower parking space. Parking space is an important expenditure for houses and offices. Together with this allowing electric cars without such a licence requirements (non polluting still are expensive, limited mileage) , pedestrian and cycle friendly. We need a transport system which works. That is immediately, our roads need to take more buses later on we have build in much wider scale a metro and sub-urban transit systems together Pedestrian zones and Cycle’s area’s. We have to decrease cars on road by at-least half. And replace existing Motor cycles with cycles or electric power cycles. Then our city can be made beautiful with walkways, clear roads, trees and greenery.

There is a difference between literacy and education.

There is a difference between driving and operating a motor vehicle.

There is a difference between a snapshot and a photograph.

There is a difference between communicating and talking.

There is a difference between living life and being alive.

There is a difference between communication and knowing how to use a mobile phone.

There is a difference between hearing and listening.

There is a difference between undergoing training and learning.

There is a difference between reminding and remembering.

There is a difference between enjoying and cherishing.

There is a difference between a smile and a laugh.

There is a difference between writing and expressing.

There is a difference between an award and a reward.

There is a difference between being responsible and being accountable.

There is a difference between having a drink and getting drunk.

There is a difference between being the head and having the authority.

There is a difference between using email and living in Inbox.

There is a difference between being powerful and having power.

There is a difference between working out and being fit.

There is a difference between practicing and being in touch.

There is a difference between being the best and being our best.

Some differences are huge, and some might be negligible; the dividing line could be thin, or they could be miles apart; neverthless, there are differences.

If you’re wondering, THIS, what am doing here now is called rambling.

And yes, there is a difference between rambling and composing a blog post.

Dear Pearl Yamaha,

Your request to send an SMS or an email with feedback gives me a hope that you would like to care for customers.

Well, here is my feedback:

I have a black YAMAHA SZ, and am very happy with the performance and the bike in general. However, I am very disappointed with your service. I sent you an SMS yesterday mentioning the same from your Service Station itself. I would like to elaborate and provide more details here.

My first visit was about 2 months ago, when it was time for the first service for my bike. I did not have any major complaints as it was just 30 days old. So, it was just a general service like the oil change and a casual check on the nuts and bolts. All went well until it was the time to pick up my bike in the evening. I don’t know the internal process you follow but I sensed that you lost my bike. Well, not completely but at least for a while. It took more than 30 mins to locate my bike. And you know the best part? Your staff were showing every bike in the building and asking me if it was mine! They were all FZs mostly and I don’t like it much, so I kept saying no until they found mine. If there was a R15, should I have said yes? Am sure they would give me key and thank me for getting off the their back!

Yesterday, 10-Feb-2011 was my second service encounter. I told them not to lose my bike this time; they were careful this time about the bike, but lost the job card (Job Card number: 5283). Well, another 30 mins of search everywhere to complete the formalities and pay the bill. But, more than that these are the points I am pissed off with:

• After repeated requests, finally yesterday was the day I could get the seat cover and the tank cover. Every time I visited, I was told the same thing “99% today evening sir”. Well, how long is your day? 01-Dec-2010 to 10-Feb-2011 is a single day for you?
• The guy manning the spares store wants me to use the covers for Gladiator. It took good patience to explain that I would prefer the ones made specifically for SZ. Why else would I chase you for the covers while I can custom-make them on the road side? I can even get pink and yellow stripes for the seat if I wanted on the roadside! But again, here is the highlight: He wants me to use Gladiator stuff EVEN while SZ stuff is in stock! What the hell? Why don’t you sell me even when the stock is finally there right in front of you?
• Sale done. But no one wants to fix them now. Reason: time out. I was there at 6:00 pm and I was told that working hours are till 7:00 pm.
• I still wanted to take the accessories home and fix them myself. The guy from the store takes these covers from a plastic bag, prepares the bill and hands me the covers and throws the bag away. I requested for some bag to carry it home and the answer is no. Boy, why does he hate me so much?
• Billing time: I am at the counter and I see my bike which is all ready for delivery is taken back to the service area. I had to follow him to understand the story and realized the big surprise in store for me! He started the servicing then! What the hell is the purpose of leaving my bike with you ALL DAY?
• I asked him for an explanation and he said it was all done, except the oil change. Into the conversation he admitted that all they did was check if breaks are okay. They were okay so they put the bike aside. That’s all you do? Of course, it was washed, which I now understand is the major part of your servicing routine. I don’t have to get it to you to change the oil and have it washed. I am sure I can handle those!

Anyways, you wanted the feedback and I am sending it to you as email as requested. Whether you want to read it and do something about it is your decision. Being a little selfish and not wanting my efforts to go in vain, this email is also posted on the Internet and here is the link:

http://viveeonline.com/blog/2011/02/11/pearl-yamaha-feedback-about-your-service

And one more thing: Why do you print your Service Station’s name and address on the accessories like seat and tank covers, as if you’re giving it for free or promotion? Am I not paying for those? YAMAHA is good, am proud to be associated with the brand. We don’t need YOUR station’s name and address, you’re no good!

Thanks and regards,
Vivekananda K.
YAMAHA black SZ.

Update: 24-Feb-2011:

I forwarded this link to the YAMAHA folks and received the following response. I filled up the details and sent it back to them.

From: Back Office <BackOffice@yamaha-motor-india.com>
To: Vivek
Date: Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 11:04 AM
Subject: Re: Your CustomerID is: IC004173
Complaint : Service

Dear Sir

We apologise for the inconvenience caused. We would request you to please provide some of your details in the below mentioned Format, so that we can proceed further with your concern

Note : All fields marked with * are compulsory.

* Name                                                                 :
* Date of Birth                                                          :
* Address, City                                                         :
* State                                                                        :
* Contact Number                                                :
E-mail Address ( if any )                                         :
Customer ID                                                        :
* Chassis Number                                                 :
* Purchase Date                                                :
* Concern Dealer Name                                         :

If you have any further queries, please feel free to contact us.

Thanks & Regards
Back Office Operations
Toll Free : 1800-420-1600

—–

Message-Id: <20110218062253.77DD2D00052@epoint.yamaha-motor-india.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2011 11:52:53 +0530 (IST)

Dear Sir/Mam,

Here is the feedback letter I wrote to the service station. Not even an acknowledgement so far!!

http://viveeonline.com/blog/2011/02/11/pearl-yamaha-feedback-about-your-service/

Kindly find the details of the customer :
Name:Vivekananda Kadukuntla
Contact Number: xxxxxxxxxx
MyAddress :Hyderabad
State :Andhra pradesh
City :Kurnool
Email: vivxxxxx@xxxxxx.com
Model : SZ

Update: 21-Apr-2011:

I received a call from Pearl Yamaha manager Mr. Anand a couple of days ago. He apologized for the inconvenience caused and requested to give it another try with the same service station. He also left his business mobile number to keep him posted if the service is not better the next time.

That is at least an acknowledgement from the authorities and I like it. So, let’s see next time!

That’s my new year resolution. I have a lot against airtel and little against Orkut, but I believe doing away with both is best for the mankind. Some valid and some stupid, but yes I have reasons!

airtel:

One reason I’ve been with airtel for so many years is- I did not want to change my number. And yet, while the number portability is almost here, I did it. Got a new DoCoMo number, updated all the contacts and airtel is no longer my primary number now. When the portability comes along, it will not longer be my secondary as well (airtel, not the number. I’m thinking BSNL for a change! Let me try!)

If someone related to airtel is reading this, here are the reasons:

• Email will be my primary mode of communication; especially with any Customer Care because no one loves to wait in queue and then talk to someone who, in most probable situation, will leave you with a case number. IF they can do it with email, kool! But, my email experiences with airtel have been bad. A sample is available here. [REF:141551117728]
• When I wanted to get a broadband connection, I thought it would be simple with airtel for two reasons: one- the building I reside in already has multiple DSL connections, so it will be provisioned faster, two- I’ve been using airtel mobile for years, so it would be easy with proofs and documentation. They proved it wrong!
• When I received a calendar from airtel a couple of years ago with my name on a private beach (wow!) on one side and what you see in the picture below on the other side, I felt happy. I even chose to ignore the spelling error about ‘adbuthamaina’ service. But again, it wasn’t so amazing after all! 45 days to change a bill plan?? That’s definitely not ‘adbutham’ for me. Anyway, I got it done in two weeks (which is still too much) after 14 emails (avg, 1 everyday) and one visit to the stupid ‘relationship center’. REF:2112201011501, 2112201013520, 2112201016521, 2112201018610 and 2812201022404. *Sigh!*
• When I complained about the poor signal reception at my place, they promised to do something about it in a couple of months. That was in July 2010. Well, we are done with 2010 altogether and not even an update so far. REF:107201018403 and 107201010103.
• A couple of ‘bill not received’ cases. Not major problems per say, as the bill was resent very shortly, but when am making a list, why not include the number? REF:32966284 and 107201010607.
• I pay bills online. And they can’t help me when my account is locked! REF:250520109303.
• Best of all – Calls to Customer Care 121 are no longer toll free!

So, dear airtel, with all due respect to your limitations and my expectations, I hear by decide to move on. For now, just mobiles (self, mom’s and dad’s). I will try my best to find an alternate ISP and landline telephone provider very soon. Promise!

Orkut:

Where do I begin? It’s been 120 secs of Orkut every 3-4 months for the last year or so. Given that gap between login sessions, something or the other changes every time I see my Orkut page. It’s 60 secs of figuring out where the hell that scrap is. Anyway, I login only to reply to once-in-a-blue-moon scrap and get the hell out of there (not liking the system is not an excuse to ignore ‘hi’ from contacts, is it?)

If I have to mention in bullets, I have only few:

• First and foremost is the login option. I cannot change it to another email address! So, since I changed my primary email address a long time ago, it’s been terrible effort to keep up with Orkut. Especially as it’s tied up with Google single sign on. While I am in my email and receive an invitation or scrap, clicking on that link will ask me to sign up with Orkut So, I logout this session, login to Orkut and then complete my transaction. Or, a different browser for email and Orkut. It’s a pain in the neck I say!
• I believe in the ‘Inbox Zero’ concept. I try to delete/ archive email in my Inbox once am done reading it, or acting upon it. Same with office Outlook setup, gmail, my personal email @viveeonline.com and SMS on my iPhone too. I’d like to do that with scraps on Orkut too! Reply and delete. But you know what? The option to delete scrap is now missing! It shows only ‘hide’. May be there is still a way to delete but who cares? I’m doing away with Orkut once for all very soon.
• Couple of other reasons that I don’t even remember now
• Facebook is here, it’s good and works great with SMS too along with the awesomely clean iPhone app. Why still Orkut?

So, that’s for the new year 2011 for me. Strange but valid resolution. How about yours? Any resolutions other than ‘no more resolutions’? Feel free to share in the comments!

Happy New Year!

How many of you enjoy receiving marketing calls on your phones and sales brochures in your email? We fight with a lot of parties for the privacy violations, right? You know who the culprit is? It’s Manisha!

I received this email and couldn’t wait to share it for everyone. I know I’m violating the ‘disclaimer’ included at the end of the email but look at this email! Awesome packages and offers too!

———- Email message ———-
From: Manisha <manisha.infosheritage@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 5:05 PM
Subject: E-mail Id Database @ Rs.999
To: Vivekananda Kadukuntla

*Email Id Database @ Rs. **999**/- Only for E-mail Marketing*

5 Lakhs IT People Email Id Database

(Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore)
(IT Employee Ids)

FREE 10 Lakhs Indian people Email id Database

(Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore,Noida, Pune,
 Kolkatta, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Jaipur and etc.,)

FREE 50 Lakhs worldwide Email id.

(Gmail, yahoo, hotmail, AOL and Etc.,)

FREE Bonus Email Ids 

NRI ids, Indian Hotel Ids, Doctors, Engineers, Corporate,
Young People, Blue Chip Companies, job seekers

Free Items

 We are offering 4 Free ITEMS along with our email database pack

 1. 10 Lakhs Indian people Email id Database

a. 8.5 Lakhs Email ids of Individuals – India.
b. 1.5 Lakhs Email ids of Corporate Companies – India.

2. 50 Lakhs worldwide Email id Includes

a.     Gmail IDs
b.    Yahoo IDs
c.      Hotmail IDs
 d.     AOL IDs & Etc.,

3. Bonus Email Ids includes

a. NRI ids
 b. Indian Hotel Ids
c. Doctors
d. Engineers
e. Corporate
f. Young People
g. Blue Chip Companies
h. Restaurants
i. Gulf

Warm Regards,

Manisha
Online Sales Head
INFOSHERITAGE –All IT Services Under One Roof.
Mobile: +91 9784924556, +919950593060

———————————————————————————————
Web Hosting, Application Hosting, Website Design & Development, Database Design & Implementation & Search Engine Optimization, Bulk SMS & SMS Gateway, Payment Gateway, Software Development
———————————————————————————————    

This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secured or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If verification is required please request a hard-copy version.
——————————————————————————————–

One thing is confirmed – nothing comes easy for me! When I take the actual recommended route to contact any service, they throw their SLA’s away, fail to keep the promises, take no ownership of the problem/request and of course, cause a lot of frustation and inconvenience. As it is said ‘In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice, there is.’ So, what is put on the website/ paper or promised by the representative and the actual deal always has a huge gap. When I pay to get a service, I don’t wish to compromise on anything promised to me.

But this post is about something different. Airtel, of course. You might have already read about the support experience with Airtel and the makes-no-sense address proof policy I penned down before. This one I observed right at the initial contact. I asked today (Dec 16, 2010) if they can change the bill plan for my Airtel mobile connection. Guess how many days they need to address it? Huh!

Expected Revert Time: 31/01/2011. Great!

Only few years may be, but I feel it’s been ages since I got a holiday for Dasara. That’s one of the problems I faced being in Support stream. End users we supported were either global or US/ EMEA based. And obviously as the holidays don’t match, I worked on our holidays and even theirs! I was there in office all night on Dasara & Diwali- to address issues for US customers. And I was there all night even on Halloween & Thanksgiving- to address issues for customers from India or countries that don’t celebrate the holiday.

Moving to full time Learning team has done a lot of good even in the shortest span of three months so far. Finally got back to what I love the most and to something I am good at. No night shifts, no phone support. While this is normal life for millions, it is a good sunrise for me after all the nights.

In addition to that, the holidays for Indian festivals – wow! We have a holiday on Friday even when the festival is on Sunday. Two days leave after weekend (surprise! -no fighting, just marking your absence) makes it a perfect 5 days OFF with family.

The same story repeats for Diwali as well. Friday is holiday, though festival falls on a weekend, two days leave and that makes another perfect 5 days OFF.

Am lovin’ it!

A lot has happened since I last published a post on my blog: I resigned to my position at CA, was on a short break (kind of long rocking weekend) and then joined Convergys. So fa, so good.

While I do have a lot going on in my mind to blog now, am still trying to get comfortable with the new company, policies, procedures, team, environment, culture, schedules, office, commute etc., just wanted to drop a note here to scream out loud, “AM STILL PRETTY MUCH ALIVE!!!”

By the way, here’s something to think about for the next couple of weeks. Now that I moved to complete day schedules, the photographer in me is just excited! I just hope I’ll be able to spend a few hours every week, even if I can’t make it happen by 19th Aug. Wish me luck!

Update – 26-Oct-2010:
If you have landed here to know about Airtel’s announcement to launch 3G services in India, click here.
As per the Government of India, Department of Telecommunications Notification No.1-34/2006-VI (Pt I) dated 30-09-2009, all mobile operators are required to re-verify their subscribers for correct and complete information by 31-10-2010. If you need the list of documents accepted by Airtel, this might help a little.

I recently noted on facebook regarding the new Airtel application for broadband. Based on the few responses, it appears that Airtel has some policies and standards that make no sense [to me]. I’ve blogged about Airtel before regarding a Customer Care incident. Read the article here. This is another experience. I wonder how companies with glitches like this (also ICICI) make it to the top Innovative companies list.

Read on for this story from Airtel – my recent experience when I applied for a broadband connection. It’s not that bad to complain much or whine about; but sure is worth a mention. I just hate it when someone tries to take me for a ride. Most of the times I don’t let them do it. And when they succeed, I blog. [:P]

1. Invalid address proof: I’ve been an Airtel mobile customer for years now. I change address every time I move without any problem. I never delayed a payment irrespective of the bill receipt. I pay online so I don’t need the bill for payment. One of the reasons I insist I receive the bill is to use it as a proof of address for any other applications/ requirements. Of course other reason being the verification of usage charges and monitor the call volume/ duration trend.When I applied for the broadband connection on Friday 7-May-2010, I offered a copy of the recent bill as a proof of address along with other documentation like PAN, Company ID etc. The executive rejected the document and opted for a rental agreement. He was very sure that Airtel doesn’t believe they keep correct addresses and therefore doesn’t accept the bill as proof. So, they are okay if my bill is not reaching me alright every month? I frankly didn’t know where to start to argue with the guy.
2. False promise: I came to know later that the normal time it takes to install a broadband connection after submitting the application is 4 days. I wish they could do it a little quicker but frankly doesn’t hurt much. If it takes that long to set up an account and do the physical setup and stuff, agreed; no arguments there.This representative promised he would “login” the application same evening and I can expect an engineer on Monday 10-May-2010 before 9am to install the CPE (Customer Premise Equipment – the phone, modem, cables etc.) I thought that’s probably the right time they need and agreed. I waited till 6pm and called the rep. Surprisingly he disconnected my calls! I would actually expect a call from Airtel as the appointment was not kept with an explanation and to reschedule the installation. Disconnecting my calls irked me a little and I had to raise a complaint with Customer Care about the whole commitment.
   
   Login is a term even the banks use with respect to applications. I guess it’s their entry into the system to start the workflow, but not sure.

3. Automation: I think the idea is great, but the implementation sucks. Airtel tried to keep me posted on the progress of the application and set expectations – just that they were not right.
   1. Airtel as a company did not know that the installation was scheduled on 10-May
   2. After few follow up calls and an escalation, it was installed on Tuesday around 5pm; about 32 hours delay
   3. The SMS around lunch time on 11-May (the next day after installation) says the set up will be done in 3 days from then! So they didn’t even know my connection has been active for almost a day? Or, was something incomplete? No info.
   4. There was automated email sent, a Welcome Letter with account number and an attachment with broadband plans. The “From” address/ name? – care.karnataka@airtel.in [:)]

Anyways, the connection is up and running for more than a week now and I guess I should be happy about it. Just hoping it will continue to work and not make me run around 121 calls.

P.S.: I drafted this post late last week and was waiting to click a picture of the SMS to post along with this text. Unfortunately my phone died over the weekend and therefore no pic. [:(]

from: Greenpeace India <susag.team.in@greenpeace.org>
reply-to: susag.team.in@greenpeace.org
to: vivekananda[dot] kadukuntla [at] gmail.com
date: Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 6:29 PM
subject: Thanks for signing the petition

Dear Vivekananda,

Thank you for signing this petition. Your signature will be delivered to the Prime Minister. More of us need to sign this petition to convince the PM. Can you ask your friends and family to sign?

www.greenpeace.org/india/stop-the-vote/thank-you/

Thanks a billion!

–The Greenpeace India team

The bill lets U.S. corporations off the hook for any nuclear accidents they cause on Indian soil. They’d only have to pay a meagre amount, and Indian taxpayers would be stuck paying crores for the nuclear clean up and to compensate the victims.

Without any public debate, the Prime Minister is appeasing American interests and ignoring our safety. Sign this petition to ask the PM to hold a public consultation before the vote on this bill.

The petition says: “India must hold a public consultation before changing the liability rules for any nuclear accidents caused by U.S. corporations.”