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 :-(