ExpertDabbler

NEW YEAR EVE:
Which is the occasion for bigger celebration in Chennai – New year or Diwali? If you thought Diwali, chances are you are an NRI who left India 6-7 years back

I’d say New Year by a good distance. The new year celebrations are getting wilder wth each passing year. I had an offer to go to GRT Temple Bay for 3500 bucks today. Not my kinda fun.

Instead I celebrated my New Year eve in Kasi Vinayagar Mess in Triplicane. Okay that’s not the sort of place you’d take your girlfriend for candle light dinner but that’s one decent place to have food when you are terribly hungry. No wonder triplicane is still a heaven for bachelors.

Later in the evening, I visited the BOSE outlet and almost bought their Multimedia speakers. Somehow thought what my mom would say, how come I am thinking of buying a multimedia speakers (okay, very good quality) for 17K when that would far exceed the monthly income of so many lakh chennaites. I guess there is a socialist inside every conservative South Indian who jumps from nowhere every now and then. I am not saying its good or bad, but it’s a fact nevertheless.

WISH YOU ALL A VERY VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR FOLKS.

Highlights of the year that was in reverse chronology :

Dec 2007:
My capable and friendly manager putting down his papers due to political turmoil. Too bad my organization is turning out to be one mini Pakistan nowadays. The coming days are going to be very interesting.

Getting Zune 80GB - one of the most strategic decisions I’ve ever taken in my life. The clincher was that Zune would enable me to synch all the latest, greatest music free of cost – thanks to to my buddy Madhu. I already have 6500 songs in no time.

Getting to meet Priyums in US. I know a lot of folks are waiting for years to get her majesty’s time.

My return to India. I did not see any banners welcoming me, but that’s okay, my followers know I am all for modesty

Nov 2007:
The 2000 odd miles during thanksgiving holidays.
Making dosais and chappathis for dinner with my close friend Mani - Never did I envisage a setting like that after all these years. The best part is, he eats more than as he always did when we were schooling together. So much for old times da!

Oct 2007:
Me being given a very interesting project at work.
LA trip and getting to know Gopi better. I’m glad for it.

Sep 2007:
Me eventually getting a US visa. I was one of those who always had a nightmare which goes on these lines.

Visa Officer: “Un peru enna?”

Me: “Prabu Karthik”

Visa Officer ( in true Goundamani style ): “Prabu Karthik nu peru vechavanukellam Visa tharadillai.. Odi poda naye”

I had been rejected earlier so my imagination was running wild. Eventually I did get a visa and reached San Francisco after a very eventful trip.

Aug, July, Jun, May, Apr and March 2007:
Life sucked pretty bad because of projects which had SCREWED written all over it.
One of those times of the year when you curse yourself for taking that home loan and putting up with all ensuing crap. Early mornings, late nights, cab home drops, ena odumai saravanan idhu!

Feb 2007:
Me joining this organization after almost deciding to go ahead for masters program.

Jan 2007:
Putting down my papers in my previous org. on the first week of Jan.

I’ve been thinking a lot on this issue. And honestly i don’t have a clear answer.
Time and again, i’ve been asked this question,”Eppo long term onsite porey?” by a lot of folks. The truth has always been that i am not too keen because i had absolutely no clear answer as where would my mother live if and when i travel abroad.

Here i am living in this Singara Chennai for the past 5+ years with my mother. She is about 54 and hardly what one would call educated. The chances of my mom managing all alone in this monstrous city is as high as an innings victory over Australia in Australia.

There is a school of thought which vehemently opposes old age homes. How dare a child banish his or her parents in old age homes? How selfish can somebody get? Is it not the responsibility of the child to take care of her parents at the time when they absolutely need him/her? All valid points without doubt.

On the other hand, there is a growing breed of nuclear families and single child families. And in cases like mine, with no father around, it gets all the more sensitive and challenging.

Does this mean i should say NO to all travel requirements just because i cannot leave my mother alone in this city? If NO, for how long can i stall travel? Travel is a necessary part of any IT professional. Having a B1 alone makes one more employable.

One can request relatives and thankfully my uncle has been of great help in this regard so far. But honestly, that is more like english medicine, it works only for a shorter time frame. In general, and there are always exceptions, the longer one stays in a relative’s house, the messier it gets.

Three years back, i would’ve blindly opposed the concept of old age homes. Nowadays i am much more circumspect. I guess this is were the communication between the children and parents becomes critical. I would tend to think just the very act of sending a parent to old age home per se is neither good nor bad, but the intentions might as well be the deciding factor.

I can as well make my mother stay in my own place. But how secure is our city for old people staying all alone?

Which is worse - leaving someone all alone or putting in an old age home where at least there are people around?

Or switch professions completely and start some business?

Again no clear answers but very important questions, atleast to me.

I reached Chennai 3 days back and ever snce i am calling Airtel Customercare for one reason or the other.

First lets see the Airtel Mobile Episode:

3 months back before leaving for the US, i decided to put my mobile in Safe Custody mode.
I would be charged a monthly rental of Rs. 100 (which i already paid in advance) and my number would be preserved and not available for others.

Yesterday morning, after an entire night for charging my instrument, i call Airtel Customer care to activate my mobile.

Response 1 at 10 in the morning:
Innum 1 hour la unga phone activate panniduvom sir.

I wait and wait till today morning and losing all hopes, call customer care again:

Response 2 at 10 today morning:
Sorry sir, neenga 121@airtelindia.com ku oru mail anupunga sir, 1 hour la kandippa activate panniduvom sir

I wait and wait till evening, sensing nothing is going to happen, i call the customer care for the third time and the response i get baffles me.
One chap by the name Chandrashekar answers the phone and his refrain goes like this:

Chandrashekar: ” Neenga mail anupchitingala sir?”

Me: “Morning a anupichachu nga”

Chandrashekar: “Endha mail ID ku anupineenga nu therinjukalaama sir?”

Me: 121@airtelindia.com..

Chandrashekar: Subject enna sir potteenga?

Me: “Please activiate my mobile nu pottu en mobile number potten, Why?”

Chandrashekar: Illa sir, neenga subject la verum mobile number mattum dhaan sir podanum. Apdi potirundheenganna 1 hour la activate panniduvom sir..

Me: What? Idhu enna rules?

Chandrashekar: Sorry sir, neenga marubadiyum oru mail podunga sir. Verum mobile number dhaan subject la irukanum! Neenga mail pannineenganna within 24 hours la unga mobile activiate agidum!

I think enough is enough. If they are prepared to lose a post paid customer of 3 years and rather stick to their “mobile number only in subject” policy, so be it. I literally felt like puking after putting up with this. Has anyone ever filed a case against Airtel in consumer court for deficiency of service?

I am back to Chennai after a fabulous 3 months in San Jose.

To me personally the most amazing thing about this trip was the set of people i met and interacted in these 3 months. I could never find answers to questions like “What have i done to them for being so incredibly nice and helpful? How will i ever repay them back?”

Special thanks to bloggers Sundar Narayanan, Adengappa, Dinesh, Subhashini, Kutti priya for tolerating me in person and over phone. Do call me whenever you come to chennai, i owe you guys a big treat!

Narayanan sir and his family were beyond words.

People who i have never met nor worked in my workplace were more than willing to accommodate and help me out on my shortcomings.

Will i ever invite a person who i have not known nor seen before, and is from a different culture to my place for an overnight stay along with his friend? My senior in workplace did precisely that during my yosemite trip!

I am leaving out my close buddies without whom this trip would not have been possible. I am sure they are reading this blog but hey they are my close friends and in some cases i know everyone in their family and i don’t need to say more.

If anything this trip was a lesson for me in trust, broadmindedness, friendliness, and willingness to help from some of the folks who are definitely a few notches above me in all aspects of life.

Try my good friend karthik kalaasufying kaviperarasu in his podcast
Loved it:))

pk-yosemite, originally uploaded by expertdabbler.

Superlative!

I wanted to thank the guy who was responsible for taking me there. But then, me and him - we are friends even before we learned to write THANK YOU without spelling mistake.

Such people do not get THANK YOUs.

I guess there are many who use credit cards in India but not many of them know about chargeback.
As online commerce takes off in India (it is getting indefinitely delayed like Air Deccan now), we are going to see a lot more media visibility into chargebacks.

From a buyer point of view chargeback works this way:

He1: Dei machi, Nikon d200 Amazon la body mattum 1420 dollar da.. aana indha site la paaren $800 dollars ku tharaaan.

He2: Nalla paaru da D200 ku badhila D420 a irukka povudhu…enaku ennamo dubakoor site madhiri theriyudhu.. onnu illa rendu illa 800USD da.. namba saving mothama avlo kedayadhu, mavane aprom body enna jatti kooda minjadhu..

After 10 days He1 receives a neatly packed brochure of D200 for 800USD without body of course!

The above is a classic chargeback material.
Believe me, similar things have happened before in real life.

From a seller point of view, i mean a genuine seller, a chargeback is a pain in the wrong place.

For eg:
Getting an order through your Indian website for 100 nos of an expensive item to be shipped to Uzbekistan while the billing address is kajaksthan is a sure chargeback material.

Bottom line:
Chargebacks are the tools a consumer has when purchasing through a credit card online. But as always use it with care and last but not least caveat emptor.

PS:
Going to ‘matter’ sites, making a subscription and then later claiming chargeback under ‘item significantly not as described‘ may not earn you chargebacks.

Readers of this blog would know that i’d enrolled for MBA in one of those dakkalti universities before christ was born and intend to continue till the next prophet comes along.

Kudukara kaasuku nalla padikanum la?? ;p

Myself and academics have been in a relationship that was doomed ever since it started.

But some recent incidents at work is prompting me to take a closer and more serious look at that degree. Maybe just maybe, i am much more talented in MBA jalli adichufying than doing proper design work. Mothathile orey confusion, i wish all universities conferred their degrees immediately on joining. Evlo problems solve aagum paarunga?? Time micham, selavu micham.
Students will be happy too.

I am thinking like Lalu Prasad nowadays, maybe i will become a minister like him.
If given a choice i’d select education portfolio. A cabinet rank would not hurt either. Let’s hope for the best

Some adhi medhavi at Sify has come up with an amazing idea(too bad i am talking about amazing ideas now) to promote Samachar.com.
I may or may not visit Samachar.com in future but if this annoying banners continue, i for sure will not visit Sify.com in the first place.

I am calling it quits. No, not the blog, yet. But the ideas thing.
Actually that was one desperate attempt to infuse life to this blog.
Obviously its not been working.