Life as a Singleton

Life as a single person has both good and bad side to it. The good part is that you can live life on your own terms. The bad part about it is that people assume that when you lead a single life you cease to have any responsibility towards yourself. People assume that you have a carefree life where you don't have any other work besides coming to your workplace.

Moreover, people also believe that all the people who reside alone may not be preparing dinner/lunch for themselves. Reason, you are single. There are many instances where people irk you by asking questions for which you may have given answers numerous times. Often times people ask "what do you do on your weekends"? Well single people have many other things to do just as their married counter parts. They have a social life of their own. They need to do household chores like anybody else. So why do you ask such silly and irritating questions.

Other than this people have many other assumptions on the part of singletons. The list is endless and you can't ut down everything on a single :-) write-up.

Work Life v/s Student Life

I always used to wonder that people who work can enjoy the life to the fullest. They are no longer dependent on anybody financially, so they need not wait for other people to fulfil any of their wants. They do not have to persuade anybody to transform their desires into reality. But this write-up is not about the advantages of being a professional. This article gives a comparision between the life as student and life as a professional.

Well when you are a student, you have to study and pay to the institution. But when you work, you get paid. Similarly as a student we have to write exams now and then, but as professionals evevry day turns out to be an examination day. It can be said that the day when you take an interview is one of the preliminary exams. Post that you have to take numerous exams.

As a student you can switch to academic bulimia(study on the last day of exam and then forgetevevrything post the exam) but if you do the same as a working person, you are sure to head no where in your career.

As a student you can go for a movie or party, or have night outs, without having to worry that you havev to wake up early in the next day for your office. But as a working person, you can do this only during weekends.

But at one point of time I feel you get a lot more confidence and freedom as aworking person that you can never get when a student.

More to come in the next blog...

Public Phones Missing in the MMTS Station

Well, I guess I realized that most no all most all the MMTS stations do not have public phones. I realized that what if I need to make an urgent call and I find zero balance in my cell. What then? So what I feel that even if the number of cell phone users have increased over the years, the public telephones should not be removed from the scene all together. It is quite necessary incase of any casualty or any other form of emergency.

Also care should be taken to have tea stall in all the stations. Apart from main MMTS stations like Lingampalli, Begumpet, Nampally, and the Secunderabad stations you would hardly find any such shops. Also there are no wash rooms in any of the stations other than the Sec'bad stations.

I really don't know whom to escalate this problem but wish that the concerned authorities (SCR) should try to resolve this problem.

MMTS Trains and Women Power

This article is devoted to those who travel by MMTS (Multi Modal Transport System) train. Well I have been travelling by MMTS train for the past 1.6 years. In the beginning I found it very comfortable, convienient, cheap. But as time passed by, I could see the downside of it.

One of the shortcomings of travelling by a local train is that the ladies compartment are frequented by the male members of the society. I guess I've written about this in one of my articles already. But what's new about it. Well, from quite sometime I saw that some fellow commuters (ladies) have started taking up the resposibility for their security. Isn't that great!

What these ladies are up to is that they drive the men out of the PHC section of the ladies compartment. Apparently the educated, non-educated, rural, and the urban men believe that the PHC section of the ladies compartment is meant for men. But this is not true. So these ladies fight and shout and use all possible means to drive them away. I felt it's awesome. Atleast ladies have tried to help themselves. Even I feel all of us should join them in their fight to teach these people (men) a lesson. So gone are the days when ladies would silently suffer the atrocities of men who think that they can do anything possible.

Bravo ladies!

Language a Means of Communication or Discrimination?

Well language is considered as a means of communication. But of late I've come to believe that it's actually used as a way of discriminating people. For instance I considered people over in Hyderabad quite friendly and warm. But few incidents made me change my opinion.

Like for instance, I travel by this MMTS train. And people here invariably start the conversation in their regional language. Ok it's not an issue if the people who hail from villages do that. But if people living in cities assume that evrybody around is an Andharite, it sounds a little strange, and a fact hard to digest. Also when you declare that "Telegu Radu", their attitude towards you changes. Their friendly and smiling faces become not so friendly. They no longer wish to engage in any kind of conversation. They don't offer you a seat even if three people can accomodate.
But I believe that not all people are like that. Some people are friendly no matter what language you speak.

I strongly believe that learning a new language is a good practice. And believe me am trying to pick up this classical langauge as well. But it will take time. I believe in the fact that learning is an active process and if one keeps learning new language, learns about new culture it only adds to his/her experiences. But at the same time people should have respect for other langauges too.

Commuting via Railways

I've been traveling via MMTS (Multi Modal Transport System) for over a year now. The reason being it's cheap, it's comfortable, and takes less time as compared to the other public transportation like bus. MMTS was a new means of communication for me, because all this while I was traveling in a bus. What made my affinity grow towards MMTS was that it has around two compartments especially for ladies.

As time passed by I saw that men started getting into the ladies coupe'. What the hell? Yeah and they have this PHC section at one end of the ladies compartment. Men of all ages come and comfortably occupy these seats. If you try to explain that this compartment is meant for ladies, they argue that the PHC section is for gents.

Even the posters and notices that say "Men traveling in ladies compartment can be fined up to Rs 500" fail to stop men traveling in the ladies compartment. The TTE play it safe. They come and drive these men out once in a blue moon. After a period of time everything comes back to same point. If you happen to travel late at night say post 8 pm, you might have to sit and pray that you reach home safely. The recent news http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id-NEWEN20080073935 about a lady who lost her arm to escape a drunken men gives you all the more reasons to avoid traveling late at night.

Though as a law abiding citizen I get a train pass or buy tickets, but guess what, the TTE never bothers to check the tickets. They check it when the train is almost empty. If they checked the tickets on a regular basis the number of people traveling without tickets would be driven away. That would make more room for people who buy tickets.

But there's no point in cribbing about MMTS because people who stay far off from the city have no other means but to switch to MMTS as it is the best public transportation system. But SCR can take certain measures to stop men traveling in ladies compartment. They can run MMTSs specifically for working ladies. Better still they can add more ladies coaches to existing trains.

But let's just wait and watch what measure the SCR takes to make traveling via trains a better experience.

Passport-Ek Aur Kahani

If you wish to apply for a passport apart from your original place of residence, then gear up to struggle for months together. Getting a passport in an alien city is not that easy.

Initially I had no intention of applying it from Hyderabad. Thanks to those articles that I read every other day in the newspaper. A long list of people complaining out there that they did not receive the passport on time. I had already read so much about it that I thought it's better to apply it from my home town. But then I got to know that one of my friends had applied it from here and got it withing 2-3 months. I got inspired from her and made up my mind to give it a try. So here begins the story.

First thing's first. I need to get the form. So one fine saturday I went to the passport office. However, if you go to the passport office, the guards sitting there will suggest that "you can apply it online ma'am". But the site never opens properly. Later in the month of May or June I read in the Hindu that now we can apply for a passport from eSeva centres. And this process was enforced in the month of September. Though in newspapers the passport officials keep telling that you can apply for a passport online, trust me it's all fake. First of all the site does not open. So if you want to apply for a fresh/new passport, get a form (booklet) from an eSeva centre or the passport office.

Next thing on the list is to get the relevant papers in place. Namely your proof of DOB, your proof of residence and the demand draft. Guess what the news is, that the demand draft should not be more than three months old. C'mon it's written on a demand draft that it is valid for a period of six months. I went to the eSeva centre, with all the relevant documents attached and the form duly filled. The person sitting at the desk scanned through my form and other documents. But not even once did he say that your demand draft is more than three months old. I was almost on the verge of crying when after waiting for almost three and a half hours or so the other passport officer said, " your DD is not valid, we can not accept it". I tried to justify that a DD is valid for a period of six months. Moreover, it it not mentioned in the booklet attached to the passport form that your DD should not be older than three months. As a result I had to run back to the bank to renew the DD. The story does not end here.

Finally I submitted the passport form in the month of October. And those passport people said, "you will get your passport with 45 business days." Oh that's pretty cool. But again these were fake promises. After all we are not living in a utopian world.

Next thing on the list was the police verification process. Though it was due for some 31st of October, he finally turned up a few days back. The problem was that he did not understand Hindi, and was not comfortable with English as well. And I do not know Telegu. But any how he managed to get a copy of the required documents and signatures. But I didn't know that I had to offer him some Vitamin-M. So he asked for my proof of residence. Well, my kind house owner came to my rescue and said, "is it not enough that we are here to certify that she has been staying her for more than a year now". "Mousumi C'mon show him the electricity bills." And I showed all the bills and everything. But he said "get a stamp paper as your residence proof." Oh God, how many things do you need to show to prove that you are a citizen of a certain country!! Well left with no other choice I managed to ask people where can I get a stamp paper. And guess what an auto wala (auto rickshaw driver) informs me where I can get it from. So kind of him. Well I got the stamp paper and finally submitted it to the verification officer.

Now I have to patiently wait for my passport to come.

Here are few tips that might help all the people who are planning to get a new passport from Hyderabad are as follows:

Get the passport form from eSeva centre.

Get all the papers in place. Note the DD should not be more than three months old.

If you are staying as a tenant, get a stamp paper ready as a proof of residence.

This was a learning experience for me. I learnt how to get things done on my own. Also one thing is evident that patience and perseverance is a great virtue. And in any place you need to inculcate these virtues to get things done.

Internet Woes

Internet Woes


Of late I’ve been planning to get an internet connection. But lo! I had no idea which ISP to opt for? So, the sojourn begins…..

This is towards the beginning of August this year. I went to the nearest BSNL office to inquire about the internet services they offer. And like a law abiding citizen I filled in the necessary forms and submitted the relevant documents. Here goes the dialogue between me and the lady in-charge.

Lady in-charge (asked): Do you have a BSNL landline connection?
Me: uh.. am afraid No.
Lady in-charge: Do you know of any nearby BSNL landline number?
Me: Nope
Lady in-charge: Okay, where do you stay?
Me: Somewhere near the station. Adarsh Nagar Colony.
Lady in-charge: Which floor do you stay?
Me: Ground floor.
Lady in-charge: Lemme inquire, tring tring tring “cable lines unda?”(Do you have cable line over there, No? ok) Leda? Ok
Me: What is it?
Lady in-charge: Sorry, there are no cable connections out there, so we can’t help you.
Me: Tired and frustrated standing in the queue for almost two hours, went back empty handed.


Wait the story doesn’t end over here. There’s more to come. At this point of time I had decided to take internet connection any how. So the second innings began.

I happen to read this leaflet, some “Star Communications” saying something like this:
“First time in kukatpally, RELIANCE internet connection!!! Hurry.” I thought oh wow, so finally I can get the connection. I dialled in the given number and found that the person on the other side could not understand Hindi or English, so he handed over the phone to another sales person. He agreed and said “Madam paanch din mei connection ho jayega” Paanch din wow that sounds brilliant. (Madam we promise to provide you the connection within five business days).

The guy said that he would come and take the cheque and the other required documents. After calling him like twenty tines, finally one fine evening he came to collect it. But after that he never turned up. In the mean time I went to my home. But kept calling these people; so that they don’t forget that they had the cheque, which was already encashed.

Finally the installation people came, installed the modem. I was elated that after such a long time I was finally going to surf the net at the comfort of my home. But then I get to see the message “Page cannot be opened”, please try again. This is what followed.
Me: What’s this?
Net Guy: Madam, what operating system do you have in you system?
Me: Windows Vista.
Net Guy: Madam you better format your system and change the O/S to XP.
Me: No I'll lose all the data that is stored in my system. There must be a way to get internet connection with Vista O/S.
Net Guy: No idea ma’am. I can’t help you. You get your system formatted.
Me: Then I made a series of calls to friends, near and dear ones. Hey can you tell me why am unable to get the connection after installation is done?

All my friends came up with different solutions. But neither helped me resolve this problem. The guy who installed never turned up till date to fix the problem. The customer care people just have few things to say. This is how it goes….

Customer care: Good evening, this is x, how I may assist you?
Me: I got internet connection on so and so date, but it’s showing limited or no connectivity.
Customer care: Can I have your user ID madam.
Me: Yeah, it’s 331526888556611
Customer care: okay ma’am please be on the line, I’ll forward this call to our technical department and they will definitely resolve your problem ma’am.
Me: Okay.
Customer care: Ma’am this is so and so, can you please tell me what kind of problem you are facing.
Me: Yeah, sure. Though installation has been done, it’s showing no connectivity.
Customer care: Okay ma’am I will give you a complaint reference number. Please note it down. We will send somebody to fix the problem.
Me: Okay fine.

Day 2: No response, nobody turned up
Day3: Again called up reliance customer care. This is how it goes.


Customer care: Good evening, this is Y, how I may assist you?
Me: Repeated the same problem again.
Customer care: Sorry for the inconvenience ma’am, but I’ll definitely escalate this problem to the technical team. And will DEFINITELY resolve your problem.

Day4: Nothing happened. Nobody from the technical team came to resolve the issue.

Day4: Evening. I called up the customer care people again to repeat the same problem. But to no avail.


Customer care: Good evening, this is Z, how I may assist you?
Me: Well I think you better refund the money because I am no longer interested to take the internet connection.
Customer care: Sorry ma’am the installation charge is non-refundable. You have to talk to the manger.
Me: What!! But those people who came for installation said it will be refunded if the connection doesn’t work.
Customer care: No ma’am. You can wait for some more time, and I assure you that your problem will be resolved.
Me: OKAY.

Now I’ve no other choice other than waiting. Poor me :-(