My Annual Gift- Bean bag from CGI

My Annual Gift- Bean bag from CGI

Be unsatisfied and get MORE !!

 When you have Nokia N900, with advantages, there are some disadvantages too :)

N900 has the fastest web-browser yet (I guess till this time, this information is true :P ).It has in built Adobe flash player support and the web browser renders pages so smoothly that you feel like browsing on your desktop. But this makes GPRS Counter run like anything.

I am using Vodafone post-paid connection since last 2 and half years. Earlier in my N81,the opera mini browser use take care of the GPRS meter. I never had crossed 5-10 MB in whole month (I use to check my emails and Orkut daily on it though).

But on 1st Jan, when I putted Vodafone card in my N900, and Clicked on http://www.gmail.com ,I was shocked with the speed. Then I checked 1 email and closed the browser and Internet connection. I was shocked once again to notice the GPRS counter. It showed 5.8 MB. (If you are Vodafone customer, you can make it ,to how much in INR it cost me .. Yes.. Whooping 58 RS/- )

Now, “What to do??” obvious was the question that popped up. As the primary intention to go with N900 was to keep in touch with all via internet! And if this will be the case, I surely will need to rethink on the reason I bought this monster phone.

I called Vodafone customer care the next minute to ask for any special or unlimited GPRS plan. They elaborated 2-3 plans with about 49,200 and 500 monthly rental. I choose 200/- rental plan that use to give me almost 100 MB of downloading free.

February 12^th .. Yes, my billing date is 12th of every month and on this day I saw my bill went to almost 1800/-.Frankly speaking I am not someone who wants to spend 1800/- on one postpaid connection when another prepaid connection of Reliance is taking 500/- every month. I gave a second thought and unsubscribed the GPRS plan in next month.

Now, I was very eager to get a better deal in GPRS ASAP. I called the customer care regularly after every 2 weeks to enquire about same. Even the 500/- monthly rental plan was having .5 GB download limit. :(

Till July, I satisfied my self by browsing and updating phone software’s from WAN connections. :P But, there are sometimes, when you want to check something and there is no WAN available. At those times I use to regret about the decision of going with N900.

But, in July, I have seen Tata Docomo GSM offer. It offered 6 GB data in 95/-. On that evening, I taken that card and waited very patiently till 3 days (They took 3 days to activate GPRS on the Card). And since that day, till 1st week of Sep , I was on the GO with DOCOMO.

Almost for 2-3 days, Tata Docomo GPRS was down and I was very annoyed! I, then again enquired about the current GPRS plans with Vodafone. I was not very much happy with the current plans too. I disconnected the call and just casually went through their website.

I was very surprised to found that, the prepaid connection had better plans than postpaid. In Prepaid ,they have offer of 60 MB per day with recharge of almost 99/-RS for 1 month.I made my mind to convert my postpaid connection to prepaid one.

I revised all the plans that were offered on that date from their website. They are as follow:

 Vodafone live!                    

 Option 1: Pay as you go: Usage charge: 10p / 10KB

 Option 2: Save on usage by choosing a data plan

Prepaid Plans

  VL17  Rs17, Validity 3 days, FREE Usage - 30MB/day

 VL27  Rs27, Validity 7 days, FREE Usage - 30MB/day

 VL58  Rs58, Validity 15 days, FREE Usage - 30MB/day 

 VL99  Rs99, Validity 30 days, FREE Usage - 60MB/day 

Postpaid  Plans

 VL49  Rs49 Monthly Rent, 5Mb usage Free and 30 MMS free. 

 VL100  Rs200 monthly rental, 100Mb Free 

 VL500  Rs500 monthly rental, 500Mb Free 

On that Saturday, I went to Vodafone store and asked the procedure to convert postpaid connection to prepaid one. They asked me the primary reason and I replied "I am not satisfied with current GPRS plans in postpaid". I told them that Vodafone has better plans for GPRS in prepaid than postpaid, so I would like to convert this card in pre paid.

The Customer care representative was clueless and he asked his senior to come 

down. The senior person (didn't looked like a senior though) came and explained the latest plans that they have. I replied, "I already know and that's why I have chosen the best suited plan to me." He then went to another counter and asked for another person in there. Then the other person also came and introduced himself as "GPRS Expert!". I was happy to know that.

He asked for my mobile and after looking for 5-10 minutes, he replied "As this phone is not yet launched in India,it doesn't support Vodafone live. "

Bravo!!... What an expert comment that was!!. WTF man ??..For what reason I came here and what you are telling me ??.. I have been used Vodafone live on the same handset on 1st Jan 2010 and on 18th Sep 2010, Vodafone live does not support this handset ??? .. I was not in mood to buy his comment. I took my mobile and tuned the settings and Vodafone live was accessible in few minutes.

The other guy then popped up with a more brilliant idea this time. He showed me (on a plain paper with pen) the LATEST plans that Vodafone has with postpaid connection.

250 /- rental for a month and 5 GB download limit.

I said "NO!!.. I will not go with this.. I card of other service provider who gives me 6 GB in 95/- month".

He modified the plan. Now the next plan that he offered was of 250 /- rental for a month and 8 GB download limit.

"No!!”.. I was firm on my decision.

Next plan came with "200 /- rental for a month with 8 GB download limit".

"Still .. No !" was me this time also.

Then the offer was "150 /- rental for a month with 8 GB download limit".

"I still will not go with this plan and want to convert it in pre paid only !!" I somehow managed to reply quickly as my right hemisphere of brain was "Almost IN" for that plan.

Then came the shocker.. "150 /- rental for a month with unlimited download limit !!".

Right hemisphere of brain came sharply this time and I asked "Is it for real ?" ..

"Yes.!! 100% .. As a special gesture to our postpaid connection I will take this request and will also request you to be a postpaid customer...But this plan will take 2-3 days to get activated."

I didn't had anything to say.. I agreed and returned to flat.

After 2 days , I got a SMS from Vodafone saying "Your request has been processed and Necessary service has been activated on your Vodafone mobile number ". I was very happy and I started to browse on Vodafone live .

Then was another SHOCKER !! .. Speed was "PATHETIC" !! I was not in my senses .. what should I do now ??.. Am I a fool ??.. The next moment I switched off the mobile and inserted Docomo card again. Speed was up to satisfaction level and I smiled back :)

So.. What to do with that Vodafone card ?? ... I called up Vodafone customer care and asked about my current plan details. They throw a "BOUNCER" on me ! According to them, my newly activated GPRS plan was of "250/- monthly rental and 1 GB download limit."

I was out of control this time ! I asked for Vodafone store number, but they said, "We can not provide you the numbers. You will need to visit there personally".

I visited the store on 25^th Sep and asked the representative about my exact plan details. He confirmed “149/- rental and unlimited download”. I have taken “5” minutes to think and asked “What should I do to discontinue this number?” He handed over an email id  and asked to mail this request on that mail id.

I came out of store the next minute and returned to flat!

This time, before composing a mail to Vodafone, I thought I should share this on my blog.

I think this may help few of you to know the truth about  the CURRENT and LATEST offers which these people bring on day to day !.

Let me know your views on this.

(And meanwhile .. I will be continuing my Reliance number and new Docomo number will be conveyed to you soon J )

Fedex+Rafa

When Fedex & Rafa are in your hands. .What more you can ask for ?? :P

Let there be light !!

It has been almost 3 months,Blogging was not on the list of my routine. I was not very busy, but still there were few things which were on priority and they needed to be taken care of !

In these days,I have thought again and again of writing because many were the things I wanted to share !.

The major among it ,I switched to a new company.. Departed from the loved ones ..( I mean from the old company ! :P )

Seen and faced many things, mixed feelings.. Enjoyed few ones and was hurt by few .. But that is what life is all about.

I,till now have followed the approach of a storyteller.

Usually love to narrate the things which happen nearby....Which involves me.

But from last few days, I have thought of changing the approach for a bit.

I do not want to share some things that involve me this time.

So let me get started on it.

When I have seen some things happening around me, I love to analyze them in my own way. I try to justify them to my heart and  extract some sense out of it.

Off late, I have taken a rather long holiday due to some health problem. In that free time, I have seen many things which I have seen earlier.

But at that time, those things have skipped and the details were unnoticed.

At this time, I had all the time in the world to think on these simple things and elaborate them to myself.

This is one of those things on which I have not thought hard in past.

Electricity... Yes .. I belong to a place where the M.S.E.B. has given us only 16 hours to charge our mobiles.

I am not complaining about missing 8 hours (my mobile gets charged up in 2 hours), but come on..this is something that has been happening from last 7-8 years and we have got used to it.

Irritation, Frustration and anger all has passed away now. We have started to accept the situation as it is. But when you are in Mumbai, you do not see a single minute of interruption in the supply.

(I know, Its much important to this city to have electricity than my town... anytime)

But why on the earth, we are taken for granted to get only 16 hours.

I am not complaining about my 8 hours. Actual situation is worse.

My town needs to manage for only 8 hours, but the villages nearby have almost 16 to 18 hours of cut off.

I am clueless how they still have managed to do in the farms? And make their living?.

Even nearly every farmer in there has Inverters, but unfortunately, they do not even get enough time to charge the batteries.

There certainly is need to do something on this issue.

Congress government is doing great at this moment by sidelining all the major issues happening around us.

Food .. Electricity and water are the areas on which at least I haven't noticed any significant development in last 4-5 years.

Still, Congress managed to get the majority!! .. Bravo !!

The point is .. What and why the delay ?

The dams have enough water to produce the electricity and the rain is also above expectation.

But when asked to a engineer in MSEB , the project is not able to produce enough output to satisfy the needs.

Come on man!!... About 7-8 years ago, government rejected and closed the "Enron" power plants, saying they are producing electricity at very high cost.

Now.. the other vendors are even charging more and still they are not able to satisfy the needs.

What to do now ?.. I am finding my answers on this.

If you have something to share, please feel free. I want some light on it !!

(I know this whole post may sound boring to you, but this is a point where someone needs to speak up.. Let's spread the word and ask the answers to the government.)

Nice quote

They say "सत्यमेव जयते" !... When ???

Today, 4th May 2010 may be the day remembered as the day which saw halted lifeline of Mumbai.

But, on the same day, another important decision is due.

Ajmal Kasb, the only caught terrorist of 26/11 Mumbai attack is yet to hear the Death sentence from the court.

Till this blog is finished, I do not think, we will hear the final judgment.

But, what made me to write this blog is article in Mumbai Mirror that I read today.

It was mentioned that,

During trial, one police officer told kasab "Tuze to main fansi ko latkake rahunga !"

Whereas, Kasab replied "Are sahab,pehle guru ko to phansi do !"

(Guru-Mohammad Afzal, who is due to hang for his part in the 2001 attack on India's parliament building).

In December 2001,when the parliament was attacked, there were very few people who knew the truth.

12 casualities,7 were the Indian citizens ,including 5 lady constables and 2 male while 5 were Terrorists who attacked.

Now, at that time, Mr.L.K.Advani,(Home Minister of India) told "Those 5 terrorists looked like Pakistani's."

This sentence was criticized a lot but then forgotten down the line.

The 5 people who attacked the parliament were dead. (Still not clearly identified,who were they ?)

So, who is this Afzal Guru? How he came into picture?

Afzal's cell phone number was found on each of the attackers, written on the backs of their unsealed paper IDs,Mobile call records. It showed that these 5 people who attacked were constantly in touch with Afzal Guru who was in Kashmir at that time.

Then, he was arrested and was sentenced to death in 2004. Yes .. 2004.. 6 years it has been till now.

And still we, the Indian Government is not able to take it's stand.Are we being fooled ??

Like many of the Indians, I feel this man should be hanged till death and message to those who are raising the war against Nation should be conveyed.
But, today, I took out some time to come to a conclusion.

Google helped me to find few links as

Afzal must not hang

http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2320/stories/20061020003511400.htm

The Guardian, Friday 15 December 2006

India's shame by Arundhati Roy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/dec/15/india.kashmir

Afzal Guru: Scapegoat or a terrorist?

http://www.merinews.com/article/afzal-guru-scapegoat-or-a-terrorist/123528.shtml

Petition against death penalty for Mohammad Afzal Guru

http://www.petitiononline.com/ekta1/petition.html

Afzal Guru Can Never Be Hanged

http://kashmir.wordpress.com/2006/10/06/afzal-guru-can-never-be-hanged/

And among many in favor of hanging him till death, was

Petition to Hang Afzal Guru

http://www.petitiononline.com/hmag1234/petition.html

And after spending about 3 hours reading all those things, I got a clear impression.

Yes.. Finally!!.. At least to me it was rather difficult to come on some conclusion.

NO.. I am not saying "Afzal Guru is innocent and should not be hanged."

My conclusion was, It is failure (A BIG TIME FAILURE !!)

Of both INDIAN Government and Media !!..

Why we should need 9 years to come to a conclusion?..Why he is not yet hanged even when in 2004 Supreme Court sentenced him death??.

 To be precise, the statement from the supreme court was like :

“The incident, which resulted in heavy casualties, had shaken the entire nation and the collective conscience of the society will only be satisfied if capital punishment is awarded to the offender.”

This suggest that in charge of rising war against nation, he can be sentenced to death !

 Now after the pleas from various people in India and Abroad, what were the steps taken by the Government?.

Does any one remember these things?

In professional world, we see the system works on "Follow ups".

Who in this case is responsible and what should be done?.

Do you think, even if Kasab is sentenced to death ,he will be hanged tomorrow ?.

9 years it has taken for Afzal Guru. How much it will be for Kasab??..and why ?? ...

Let's pray to God that "May our children watch him while he is being hanged" or

Let’s pray "Save our children from the Bombs which he might throw after completing his 10 year of imprisonment".

Choice is your's.You can choose the prayer which you want to .

For me, I have not chosen any of them. What a Crap?.. Change the government man ?.

Now, I recall the sentence which I have read somewhere.

"India can easily become a superpower.

All we need is, every Indian should do his OWN duty."

That is it !!.. It is for sure the path to success.

Now, Let’s see, how is happens in this case.

What is THE IPL ??.. To me :P

When you fail, you come to know the importance of the success and then you try harder to get it !!

This may be one of the reasons I still feel that MI (Mumbai Indians) will come strongly in IPL-4.

On the eve of 25th April, MI when were asked to Bowl, they were under pressure.

Even they bowled good till 13-14th Over, they paid for their fielding mistakes which has cost them high.

Then the very first maiden over from Ashwin, made a impact. Then few quick wickets and late arrival of Pollard on the pitch made it worse.

The only man, at whom the whole nation looks at was kind of nervous and that made me think over the importance of IPL.

Is this THE tournament for which the players are showing the extreme commitment and passion?.

I am not saying they should take this league lightly or casually, but how often you have seen the players putting their 120% on the field when they play from India ?.

YES.. You can take your time here... I also have taken mine before writing this.

The main problem is this IPL was formed in the Rivalry of ICL.

ICL also was a good tournament but BCCI was against them. I suspect the main reason was "Kapil Dev".

Yes.. To me it seemed like that only.

How many times you have seen this LEGEND present recently at BCCI functions?..

How many times you have even seen/heard him recently in any media?.

Why the GREAT player like him has been neglected?.. Ignored ?..

Just have a look at below Head lines which might reflect what made me think this ?

Aug 20, 2007: Kapil Dev addresses the media at the launch of the ICL in Mumbai.

Aug 21, 2007: The Indian board has sacked Kapil Dev as chairman of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) with immediate effect.

Sep 7, 2007: The battle of verbals between Kapil Dev and the Indian board officials has intensified further with Kapil hitting out against IS Bindra the president of the Punjab Cricket Association.

Sep 13, 2007: Kapil said the ICL was not trying to fight the BCCI and its aim was simply to improve the standard of cricket in the country

Nov 13, 2007: The ICL has been facing a slew of problems since its launch, from the active opposition of the Indian board to the massive wage bill incurred by promising dozens of players' hefty packages that start at Rs30 lakhs (US$ 80,000 approx)

Feb 13, 2008: Kapil Dev leveled the charge that the board had "deliberately amended the rules" following his move to the ICL by altering the word 'pension' with 'Benevolent Fund'.

May 20, 2008: The 25th anniversary celebrations of India's 1983 World Cup-winning campaign will not involve the Board of Control for Cricket in India in any capacity.

Jun 3, 2008: Kapil Dev and three other team members of the 1983 World Cup team were present at a function in Bangalore to kick start the silver jubilee celebrations of the triumph

Jun 18, 2008: Kapil Dev has written to the Punjab Cricket Association requesting them to return his 'gifts and memorabilia'

Jun 27, 2008: The controversy over the removal of Kapil Dev's poster from the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium (PCA) has ended with the PCA restoring the poster

Dec 13, 2008: Kapil Dev has appeared in the Delhi high court and urged that the BCCI be directed to release pensions to former Indian players now associated with the ICL

Feb 24, 2009: Former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie, who plays for the Ahmedadbad Rockets, felt it is only a "matter of time" before a resolution is reached between the ICL and the BCCI

Mar 9, 2010: The former India captain played 131 Tests and 225 ODIs across a 16-year career, and is best remembered for leading India to victory in the 1983 World Cup.

And What since March ?.. Where is he ?...

So to me, not Mr.Lalit Modi,but Kapil Dev has contributed more to the birth of IPL.

If anything is started on the bad note, it will have some BAD patches in it for sure.

I guess this has happened in recent days in IPL.

To us, it has portrayed as IPL is child of Mr.Lalit Modi,who has dreamed about this long time ago.

Truth is, BCCI needed plan B to overcome ICL, which might have got the popularity and fame, which some BCCI officials didn't wanted at that stage.

So, huge packages and huge publicity was made and this was potreyed as the DREAM that Indian Cricket always wanted.

I am not against 20-20,but I see the things differently for the things that IPL has given to Indian Cricket.

Like a disappointment to Yuvraj Singh this year, Injury to Sehwag and Sachin,Criticism to Saurav Ganguly even after exit from

Active cricket and many more.

But it also has produced some good stars over the years.

I am not against the IPL either, but I just wanted to watch fair cricket where a dedication and commitment to sports and country can be seen.

If Mumbai have won yesterday, I may have written the blog with praises for the little master and the unit.

But, still I would have this thing on mind... So thanks MI for loosing as this made this post possible.

I believe MI will come back strongly in next season.

And just in case if they didn't I might cheer for Pune Warriors too :) :P

See.. Everything do not happen as you wish, but you can certainly you can analyze the causes and you can always learn from it.

So .. Look forward to IPL-4 !!.. Till then, watch the World Cup 20-20 :P

No to NEWS !!

When the NEWS Channel/media was formed, their main motive was "To convey every useful information from NORTH-EAST-WEST-SOUTH" !.

And today..When you see the information which is being conveyed to you, you are nothing but forced to rethink over their motive.

I mean.. What the crap man?.. From last month or some and my room partners have no other choice to watch Sony Pix/HBO/Star Movies.

We usually pick the T.V.Remote @ 9.00 -9.30 with an intention to know what/how/why/when/which things are going around us.

But, vain.. no news channel is bothered about the sense-full and meaningful news.

Why should "Sania Mirza-Shoeb Malik" issue should get that much publicity ? ..Why on the earth we want to know "Who Sunanda Pushkar is ?".

Why the nationwide debates are going about "Will Sania be allowed to play in skirts ?".. Is everything that is happening around us going the right way ?

Who cares ?.. Even the recent IPL Controversy ..

Till Mr.Shashi Tharoor was not pricked by Mr.Lalit Modi, IPL was like a CLEAN game.

And now, every aspect of it is being investigated and many shocking things are revealed.

In this thing only one was benefited. .. Mr.Twitter :P

Jokes apart but, this is the irony of media, they now a days are concentrating on these issues and the real and important news are being missed.

What about the farmers in Vidarbha ?.. What are the bills which are passed /rejected in the session of assembly. ?.. Are we even being conveyed

what the Chief Minister of the state doing these days ?.On what issue he is concentrating and working ?.. how ?..

Only if Mayawatee wears a Garland of 1000/- Rupee note then she comes in limelight... what was she doing till then ??.. On which bills she has focused ?

What were the major decisions in the public welfare she has taken recently ?

Where our Prime-Minister went recently ?.. In China what he has done ?.. Which treaties he has signed ?.. Why ? ..What will be the effect of that

on our life ?.. Are they selling India ?? :P

Why ??.. Not even a single of these information is shown on any of the 20+ news channels ?

Why Rakhi Sawant is more discussed than the recent price hike in Bread ? :P

What is wrong ?.. Is this all going for TRP ? .. Then they should better change their NEWS channel thing to Entertainment one !

Either no one is bothered or there is no way out now ?.. What should we do to get rid of this ?

The NEWS channels even are showing some reckless stuff !.. Like "Bhagwan ka Mayajal", "Mahatma ki Shaktee" ,"Khunee Darinde " ?... Why man ?..

Are you insane ?..Why these things are going on when there are many children in India sleeping with empty stomach every night?

Why the media is not aware about that ?

What we can do to make this happen ?.. In /By which Media we should change this MEDIA ?.

I am thinking on it.. I want to watch a better NEWS channel..

Do you ??..

A.C. Ki Taisee :P

Bus started well from Dadar to Pune.

Don't really know when but slowly and strongly all started to feel the heat....Why??.... The BUS is A.C. ...Correct ?? ... A.C. ...Where on the earth it is?.. 
Like everyone else, I was puzzled too. 
Seat no.10 has 2 major advantages. 
1?.. Hmmm..It's "10"...God's number man.. :) :P
And the 2nd is ..The top sliding window when opened,nice breeze comes in.. Especially when the AC is OFF and there is this only window which can let the air In :) 
But that doesn't mean I didn’t wanted the artificial...But so called "COOL AIR" .. 
As expected. .Slowly... Everyone started to check their ac Inlet. 
1st one was a boy .."Boss... A.C. Chal nahI raha haI ???.." 
..........Long pause.......... 
"Shayad Dadar se dusra bus mangana padega.. A.C. Kharab ho gaya lagta hai.." 
.........Small pause. may be very small.......
Everyone started to chuckle. ..Whisper...and slowly started shouting :P .... 
"What's the point in waiting for other bus ??..it will take 1 hour ..may be more..to come.." ..A lady…Seemed older one… spoken in a fairer tone..the driver heard her and started bus... 
5-7 mins might have passed at most..now the situation was out of control and bus taken 2nd halt.. 
Now..what ???... ...1 min...2 mins. .3rd minute might have just started and we were out of our seats...following few other people who thought it's better to get some fresh air...gate was opened and heat was building up... 
We when got down...observed that driver has gone at backside of the bus.. 
What???...why he has gone back ?..a girl started in her gentle tone.. 
... 
....... 
............... 
”Lady...I can give you many reasons ..but..not really want to in front of all those people outside .. “ Boy standing in front of me whispered and GAGS were all around.. She was clueless though 

"He had belt in his hand when he was going back.." This was other girl..but was looking better than the earlier one…That’s why it had made the others think about it. 

So..why waiting here..???..let's go back.. 
When we went to backside of bus,the backside was opened. 
Driver was struggling to point out any obvious error if he founds any. 
We also let our vision fly around the opened bonnet..
....There it is..a belt is not in proper place..it seems,it has slipped off the pully.... 
You don't always need to be a mechanical engineer to get these things right..This time it was me :P ...Computer engineer !! 
All looked at it and to all of them..it seemed something wrong. 
So..we tried and putted that belt properly on the pully. 
Driver wasn't still sure if this will work..He went and started ignition...bus started and he turned the temperature button. 
1 minute it might have taken and….”Ohh…Finally..”.."A.C." .."Wow..great !" Were the sounds heard from bus. 
We didn't needed any confirmation call to get back into bus. 
We all almost ran to bus and driver started the bus. 
Within 5 minutes may be..the much needed "Artificial Air" started flowing. .And every soul was resting in peace .. :) :) .. 
No....this doesn't mean I can fix the A.C. or coolers... Don't approach me :) :P 

but the moral was .. 
"Use your common sense...It helps ..and all you need to do Is a try..ways are always there. ":) :P :)