Missing the musty smell of misty rain…feeling of nocturnal languid;
Drunken rhythm of falling drops, heady and drowsy conscious hallucinations.
April 25, 2008
March 17, 2008
One hell of a day
I am smiling from ear to ear :)
Not too well so not bloggish either but am H A P P Y!
Not too well so not bloggish either but am H A P P Y!
March 11, 2008
Just Sales or satisfactory Sales
It was on one of recent trips to Kolkata during end February 2008 that I went to visit my grandmother. She is an old and a very self-contained lady who seldom wants anything from others but this time around she expressed her desire to eat home-made dahi vadas as eating anything from outside gave her acute acidity. The next day morning I sent my driver to buy a packet of GITS dahi vada mix which is easily available in my home city, Mumbai. To my surprise this was not available in the odd 10 shops he visited and came back empty handed. I further went out and faced similar consequences and came back very agitated.
My next logical action was sit on my laptop, find out the GITS contact details and call them. It was past 5 pm in the evening and I called up the GITS head office in Pune. I did not bother enquiring who picked up the phone but straightaway asked for the Marketing Head or the Marketing Manager whoever was available. From my voice this person could certainly tell the hostility and wasted no time in putting me on to the right person. Here was this very well spoken gentleman on the other end now asking me what I wanted, and here I was speaking breathlessly about what a bad distributing system they had, that a popular product like Dahi Vada mix was unavailable at 10-15 local stores in various parts of Kolkata. He heard me out very patiently and took my cell phone number and said he would call me back soon.
I knew the call was never coming back. To my utter shock or amusement the committed call came within a flat 15 minutes. It was the same person apologizing profusely as well as thanking me for my immediate reaction of not finding a certain product saying that he would take my call as a serious complaint and ensure this kind of lapse does not occur in the future, he also said that his colleague would soon be in touch with me so that I could get my Dahi vada mix at the earliest. By now I had cooled down a bit and thanked him for his promptness. The next call came in 10 minutes from Mumbai asking me to wait till the next morning. The apologies and courtesy almost reminded me of the comparisons I often made with the western world on how Indian companies have meager after sales assistance and I will give you a unique example of this later.
This person told me that I would have my packet of Dahi vada mix within noon the next day. Around 11 am the next day a person called from Howrah and took my address and was at my residence. His travel from Howrah must have cost him more than this one packet of mix which is priced at approx Rs 50. Now to my utter disbelief and shame he got gajar ka halwa and a packet of newly launched paneer as an apology bequest. I initially declined politely but he was adamant that this was the only way they could illustrate regret of non-availability of their product. I accepted the gift reluctantly and conveyed a very profound gratitude for not just the gifts but on changing my opinion of the new emerging approach to business and sales in India .
Now, comparing the size of GITS to a large multinational conglomerate like LG electronics with huge advertisement budget for brand-building from whom I purchased a high-end, double door refrigerator with a mini bar and water dispenser for Rs 1 lac plus for home in Mumbai was not a very satisfactory experience. Since the day it was delivered the mini-bar door was stiff, it took some effort to open and close it. From August 2007 to March 2008 I must have called and made repeated complaints and got false commitments that they would come and repair it. Finally a week ago my husband called and literally threatened to personally talk to the MD – India operations if the job wasn’t done within the next 2 days. Guess what? A technician was at our door-step within the next 2 hours and repaired, it was a very simple problem.
The lesson I want to learn from both my experiences are that all processes don’t mean anything till the final outcome is derived just like LG sweet talks, gives you complaint numbers, verifies your address and contact numbers repeatedly and does not show up. On the contrary a company like GITS needs only one phone call and they flood you with calls till you decide that if its Dahi vada it’s ONLY GITS!!
10th March, 2008
My next logical action was sit on my laptop, find out the GITS contact details and call them. It was past 5 pm in the evening and I called up the GITS head office in Pune. I did not bother enquiring who picked up the phone but straightaway asked for the Marketing Head or the Marketing Manager whoever was available. From my voice this person could certainly tell the hostility and wasted no time in putting me on to the right person. Here was this very well spoken gentleman on the other end now asking me what I wanted, and here I was speaking breathlessly about what a bad distributing system they had, that a popular product like Dahi Vada mix was unavailable at 10-15 local stores in various parts of Kolkata. He heard me out very patiently and took my cell phone number and said he would call me back soon.
I knew the call was never coming back. To my utter shock or amusement the committed call came within a flat 15 minutes. It was the same person apologizing profusely as well as thanking me for my immediate reaction of not finding a certain product saying that he would take my call as a serious complaint and ensure this kind of lapse does not occur in the future, he also said that his colleague would soon be in touch with me so that I could get my Dahi vada mix at the earliest. By now I had cooled down a bit and thanked him for his promptness. The next call came in 10 minutes from Mumbai asking me to wait till the next morning. The apologies and courtesy almost reminded me of the comparisons I often made with the western world on how Indian companies have meager after sales assistance and I will give you a unique example of this later.
This person told me that I would have my packet of Dahi vada mix within noon the next day. Around 11 am the next day a person called from Howrah and took my address and was at my residence. His travel from Howrah must have cost him more than this one packet of mix which is priced at approx Rs 50. Now to my utter disbelief and shame he got gajar ka halwa and a packet of newly launched paneer as an apology bequest. I initially declined politely but he was adamant that this was the only way they could illustrate regret of non-availability of their product. I accepted the gift reluctantly and conveyed a very profound gratitude for not just the gifts but on changing my opinion of the new emerging approach to business and sales in India .
Now, comparing the size of GITS to a large multinational conglomerate like LG electronics with huge advertisement budget for brand-building from whom I purchased a high-end, double door refrigerator with a mini bar and water dispenser for Rs 1 lac plus for home in Mumbai was not a very satisfactory experience. Since the day it was delivered the mini-bar door was stiff, it took some effort to open and close it. From August 2007 to March 2008 I must have called and made repeated complaints and got false commitments that they would come and repair it. Finally a week ago my husband called and literally threatened to personally talk to the MD – India operations if the job wasn’t done within the next 2 days. Guess what? A technician was at our door-step within the next 2 hours and repaired, it was a very simple problem.
The lesson I want to learn from both my experiences are that all processes don’t mean anything till the final outcome is derived just like LG sweet talks, gives you complaint numbers, verifies your address and contact numbers repeatedly and does not show up. On the contrary a company like GITS needs only one phone call and they flood you with calls till you decide that if its Dahi vada it’s ONLY GITS!!
10th March, 2008
February 20, 2008
Change is the only constant thing
The frothy waves in the seas' keep coming and going telling us nothing in life is constant. The seas of Puri, Goa and Puerto Rico tell the same story!
The half baked cake
Is this often in life that one falls in love with a half baked cake?
It was my farewell dinner on one of my visits to my brother in Nashua, recently in February 2008 in New Hampshire and we had gone to dine at this place called 'Michael Timothy's' - very unlike Nashua, this place was very lively, the roads were more crowded and friendly and of course we could see people even if it had snowed in the afternoon. There was an element of life and sound in this place and I started liking it even before I got off the car.
Finally we disembarked and walked towards MT's and inside, hanging our coats and overcoats in the cloak room upon entering and waiting to be seated. We sat at one cosy corner with just another couple behind where we were sitting, very lost in talking and busy with each other. We soon got lost deciding on the appetizer and what to drink. It was Mom, my brother Shiv and I.
We zeroed on shrimp and escargot in melted butter and garlic and a bottle of Pinot Grigio, white wine. All the while that I enjoyed the escargot I thought it was a special kind of mushroom till Shiv told me that it was a kind of a small animal. Upon research in google, this is what the confirmed report is "Escargots, in French cuisine, is a dish of cooked land snails, usually served as an appetizer. In France, escargots are typically only eaten on festive occasions". So here I was, the most orthodox food taster ever eating snails and enjoying it! Thank god, it tasted like mushroom :)
Mom and I opted for a shared entree since we were almost done so enjoyed a plate of swordfish in lobster sauce on a bed of risotto. It was mind-blowing while Shiv ordered for a beef something which was equally good or better. I was waiting to finish as I had caught a glimpse of the elaborate desert menu during my ordeal deciding on the appetizer right at the beginning and now the time had almost come. Soon the smiling waitress came and asked us if we wanted desert, I was trying to look like we were done but was dying to taste one of their mind blowing sweet something.
There were around 10-12 choices, pretty elaborate I would say, they were a mix of ice creams, cakes and cooked desert. One that caught my eye was the 'HALF BAKED CAKE'. Sounded very incomplete but very interesting. It said that the cake was half baked or half cooked and bought to the table piping hot.. Once at the table our hostess would give it her special touch....this apparently was the only half baked cake which would leave a lasting impression with people who savored it. I wanted to give it a shot though I had my apprehensions but what the heck, we ordered for it and asked her to bring 3 spoons since we were too full for one each.
In a few minutes the smiling hostess was back at our table with the half baked cake. On the large tray she had a plate with the cake, in a scooped kind a bowl were sliced strawberries and in a small jug was fresh creme and there was a sprinkler like a salt dispenser that had a dark powder. She came and said that this was her favorite desert from the entire selection of the deserts there were. She put the cake in the middle of the table still balancing the rest on the tray in her hand and with a sharp poke punctured the middle of the cake and out oozed the hot chocolate syrup flooding the slightly deep plate and filling up the roundness with a force and the smell emerging was of tranquil. I just kept looking.
Finally the thick chocolate syrup had filled up the depth and circle of the plate and settled down. Then it was time for the hostess to 'dress it up' so she first garnished it with all the strawberries she had in the bowl and added the fresh creme flavored with cinnamon onto it...then she took her powder dispenser and sprinkled till the color of the entire desert was chocolate, red, white and now little dark brown dots all over. A happy 'enjoy your desert' and I was all set to start! Now what followed was a feeling of satisfaction, and all feelings associated with satisfaction. I did not know that a half baked cake could do wonders like this.
I did maximum justice to the desert and not only were my sweet senses aroused but it was a feeling of 'deja vu' - one of complete satiation and till you taste the Half baked cake you will never know what I mean. The half baked cake will stay in my mind till I go back to MT's again. So not all things coming a full circle in life is the best, there are half baked things in life that can give you equal amount of satisfaction if not more!
20th February, 2008
11.09 am
It was my farewell dinner on one of my visits to my brother in Nashua, recently in February 2008 in New Hampshire and we had gone to dine at this place called 'Michael Timothy's' - very unlike Nashua, this place was very lively, the roads were more crowded and friendly and of course we could see people even if it had snowed in the afternoon. There was an element of life and sound in this place and I started liking it even before I got off the car.
Finally we disembarked and walked towards MT's and inside, hanging our coats and overcoats in the cloak room upon entering and waiting to be seated. We sat at one cosy corner with just another couple behind where we were sitting, very lost in talking and busy with each other. We soon got lost deciding on the appetizer and what to drink. It was Mom, my brother Shiv and I.
We zeroed on shrimp and escargot in melted butter and garlic and a bottle of Pinot Grigio, white wine. All the while that I enjoyed the escargot I thought it was a special kind of mushroom till Shiv told me that it was a kind of a small animal. Upon research in google, this is what the confirmed report is "Escargots, in French cuisine, is a dish of cooked land snails, usually served as an appetizer. In France, escargots are typically only eaten on festive occasions". So here I was, the most orthodox food taster ever eating snails and enjoying it! Thank god, it tasted like mushroom :)
Mom and I opted for a shared entree since we were almost done so enjoyed a plate of swordfish in lobster sauce on a bed of risotto. It was mind-blowing while Shiv ordered for a beef something which was equally good or better. I was waiting to finish as I had caught a glimpse of the elaborate desert menu during my ordeal deciding on the appetizer right at the beginning and now the time had almost come. Soon the smiling waitress came and asked us if we wanted desert, I was trying to look like we were done but was dying to taste one of their mind blowing sweet something.
There were around 10-12 choices, pretty elaborate I would say, they were a mix of ice creams, cakes and cooked desert. One that caught my eye was the 'HALF BAKED CAKE'. Sounded very incomplete but very interesting. It said that the cake was half baked or half cooked and bought to the table piping hot.. Once at the table our hostess would give it her special touch....this apparently was the only half baked cake which would leave a lasting impression with people who savored it. I wanted to give it a shot though I had my apprehensions but what the heck, we ordered for it and asked her to bring 3 spoons since we were too full for one each.
In a few minutes the smiling hostess was back at our table with the half baked cake. On the large tray she had a plate with the cake, in a scooped kind a bowl were sliced strawberries and in a small jug was fresh creme and there was a sprinkler like a salt dispenser that had a dark powder. She came and said that this was her favorite desert from the entire selection of the deserts there were. She put the cake in the middle of the table still balancing the rest on the tray in her hand and with a sharp poke punctured the middle of the cake and out oozed the hot chocolate syrup flooding the slightly deep plate and filling up the roundness with a force and the smell emerging was of tranquil. I just kept looking.
Finally the thick chocolate syrup had filled up the depth and circle of the plate and settled down. Then it was time for the hostess to 'dress it up' so she first garnished it with all the strawberries she had in the bowl and added the fresh creme flavored with cinnamon onto it...then she took her powder dispenser and sprinkled till the color of the entire desert was chocolate, red, white and now little dark brown dots all over. A happy 'enjoy your desert' and I was all set to start! Now what followed was a feeling of satisfaction, and all feelings associated with satisfaction. I did not know that a half baked cake could do wonders like this.
I did maximum justice to the desert and not only were my sweet senses aroused but it was a feeling of 'deja vu' - one of complete satiation and till you taste the Half baked cake you will never know what I mean. The half baked cake will stay in my mind till I go back to MT's again. So not all things coming a full circle in life is the best, there are half baked things in life that can give you equal amount of satisfaction if not more!
20th February, 2008
11.09 am
February 19, 2008
Hear before you speak
Kuch to na sunaa, kab ka tha gila,
Kaise kahe diya alvidaa,
Alvida, alvida, aab kehena aur kya
jab tu ne kahe diyaa alvida.............
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNdpoWhLDFE
Kaise kahe diya alvidaa,
Alvida, alvida, aab kehena aur kya
jab tu ne kahe diyaa alvida.............
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNdpoWhLDFE
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