Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
The Indian Coffee House - A BBC news story
A related post on the Indian Cofee House.
http://mayanmuse.blogspot.com/2008/11/indian-coffee-houses.html
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Ganga finds new sanctuaries as it flows on.. Ganga's Travelogues- 4
Ganga...aka Gangadharan Menon finds three sanctuaries and writes back to tell us the tales of his travels.
A tale of three sanctuaries
Related Links: Ganga's Travelogues
A tale of three sanctuaries
Related Links: Ganga's Travelogues
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Vodafone Essar: Happy to cheat?
VODAFONE - HAPPY TO CHEAT, STEAL, COMMIT FRAUD ....?
Editors Note &Epilogue: Read this to the last. Vodafone took cognizance of my blog and took steps to address this complaint and set it right.. so I am now a happy consumer and happy to have been helped:) Do read this as an example of how social media works...
THE INCIDENT
You are travelling... say driving through Tirunalveli. It is the 13th of February and a pleasant Sunday evening. The time is 18.00 hrs and there are not too many people in the streets, though the weather is very inviting for travel.You stop at a roadside shop near the Palayamkottai Bus Stand off the Trivandrum Highway to recharge your Vodafone prepaid. You have a lifelong validity on your sim card. You need talk time and pay Rs 505. The shopkeeper assures you it is all talktime. Then suddenly you discover that your phone has been credited with only Rs 350 which is the next plan which you have not chosen. You ask the perplexed shopkeeper for the sms she has sent. It is for Rs 505, but then why has Vodafone selected the lower recharge plan for Rs 350? The shopkeeper complains to the local office in Tirunalveli and they refer you to the Kerala Office from where the sim card was issued. The call centre keeps playing recorded messages...as usual. You then hit the social media and complain of being cheated.
THE VOADFONE KERALA RESPONSE TO THE CONSUMER COMPLAINT.
The web site of the company where you log in a complaint refers you to Kerala Vodafone again. Here something bizzare happens. The person there by the name of Janzia Martin sends you a reply which states that Rs 150 was deducted to give you an added benefit of "safe customer offer--Number will retrained for 1 year". This is a little difficult to comprehend.
1) The vendor collects the money for full talk time of Rs 505 and is unaware of any "safety benefit". In fact Vodafone sents sms's to "roaming customers" advertising full talk time at these rates and slabs and there is no mention of any 'safety benefit for Rs 150/-
2) A card with lifetime validity is supposed to be retained for "life" and there is a talk time renewal every 6 months. This has been happening on my card. So what in God's name is a "safety benefit to retain the number for a year" is something only Janzia and her colleagues will know and will find it difficult to explain in consumer court or the TRAI.
3) Number portability has also been introduced and in this scenario this charge for retaining the number looks very fishy to me. I suspect this little invention is a means of fleecing innocent customers and since the amount is small, most people do not follow up and when they impose it on thousands the money is substantial for the wrong doers.
4) What makes this even more suspicious is that this "benefit" has not been advertised, nor do the dealers know of its existence. It looks as though it has been cooked up at short notice by the Vodafone Kerala people to cover their back sides.
UPDATE ON 25TH FEBRUARY 2011
There is a studied silence on the part of Vodafone. I have no idea if they will do the right thing.
My lawyer informs me that this is clearly a case of cheating, misrepresentation and fraud. The provider of service has taken money from a customer to provide a service of certain dimension and has pocketed the money and delivered only part of the service promised. It is therefore incumbent on the provider to return the balance, else it amounts to theft. By giving patently false reasons, the additional charge of cheating, fraud and misrepresentation is also evoked not to mention other provisions which pertain to provisions of the essential services act and those which specifically relate to the telecom services.
WHY IS THERE A CASE OF FRAUD AGAINST VODAFONE KERALA?
While on roaming mode from Mumbai on the 17th of February, Vodafone sent me an sms which I have saved. It clearly states" Hello, Recharge your vodafone prepaid with Rs 351, Rs501,or Rs 1001, roaming recharge voucher and get full talktime( less tax). while roaming."
This contradicts completely the claim from Vodafone Kerala's Janzia Martin that the Rs 150 was for "protecting the number" and furthermore now makes them liable to be charged for defrauding a customer and misrepresenting facts and unlawfully stealing Rs 150 from this customer.
IN PUBLIC INTEREST
While the amount is small, the fact that Janzia Martin and Vodafone Kerala have chosen not to do the right thing by correcting this anomaly seems to indicate this is probably being done on a routine basis with a multitude of customers. It is in public interest to investigate this and for law enforcement agencies to take suo motu cognizance of this before it becomes a widespread menace.
Secondly I did not create a ruckus when I discovered I was shortchanged. Some others may not be forgiving and the innocent vendor probably may get the "treatment'. This would mean law and order problems and would mean no vendor is willing to sell Vodafone Recharge Coupons. Vodafone Essar should be worried about this. They may not have a distribution chain in Kerala if this story goes around.
For the general public and law enforcement officials this is a warning signal. The telecom industry should also step in because if the "faith" in recharge is lost, prepaid connections will be hit and so will the profitability. Most people avoid post-paid due to arbitrary billing and accounting problems with connections being stopped due to no fault of the subscriber and paid bills being shown as unpaid. One bank official in Nagpur was threatened by a telecom company that they would send collection agents to his bank if he did not pay up, when the fact was that he was paying up every month for 5 years well before the due date!!
So from scams in obtaining bandwidth it is now looting the common man to offset the "start up costs" ?Probably some sharp investigative reporter may be able to get to the bottom of this story and check if this is a scam where a neat pile is being made.
UPDATE:
AS ON DATE THE 2ND OF MARCH 2011, VODAFONE HAS CREDITED THE RS 150 AND SEND ME A NOTE TO THIS EFFECT. THANK YOU VODAFONE AND WHOEVER ELSE TOOK THIS MATTER UP
Editors Note &Epilogue: Read this to the last. Vodafone took cognizance of my blog and took steps to address this complaint and set it right.. so I am now a happy consumer and happy to have been helped:) Do read this as an example of how social media works...
THE INCIDENT
You are travelling... say driving through Tirunalveli. It is the 13th of February and a pleasant Sunday evening. The time is 18.00 hrs and there are not too many people in the streets, though the weather is very inviting for travel.You stop at a roadside shop near the Palayamkottai Bus Stand off the Trivandrum Highway to recharge your Vodafone prepaid. You have a lifelong validity on your sim card. You need talk time and pay Rs 505. The shopkeeper assures you it is all talktime. Then suddenly you discover that your phone has been credited with only Rs 350 which is the next plan which you have not chosen. You ask the perplexed shopkeeper for the sms she has sent. It is for Rs 505, but then why has Vodafone selected the lower recharge plan for Rs 350? The shopkeeper complains to the local office in Tirunalveli and they refer you to the Kerala Office from where the sim card was issued. The call centre keeps playing recorded messages...as usual. You then hit the social media and complain of being cheated.
THE VOADFONE KERALA RESPONSE TO THE CONSUMER COMPLAINT.
The web site of the company where you log in a complaint refers you to Kerala Vodafone again. Here something bizzare happens. The person there by the name of Janzia Martin sends you a reply which states that Rs 150 was deducted to give you an added benefit of "safe customer offer--Number will retrained for 1 year". This is a little difficult to comprehend.
1) The vendor collects the money for full talk time of Rs 505 and is unaware of any "safety benefit". In fact Vodafone sents sms's to "roaming customers" advertising full talk time at these rates and slabs and there is no mention of any 'safety benefit for Rs 150/-
2) A card with lifetime validity is supposed to be retained for "life" and there is a talk time renewal every 6 months. This has been happening on my card. So what in God's name is a "safety benefit to retain the number for a year" is something only Janzia and her colleagues will know and will find it difficult to explain in consumer court or the TRAI.
3) Number portability has also been introduced and in this scenario this charge for retaining the number looks very fishy to me. I suspect this little invention is a means of fleecing innocent customers and since the amount is small, most people do not follow up and when they impose it on thousands the money is substantial for the wrong doers.
4) What makes this even more suspicious is that this "benefit" has not been advertised, nor do the dealers know of its existence. It looks as though it has been cooked up at short notice by the Vodafone Kerala people to cover their back sides.
UPDATE ON 25TH FEBRUARY 2011
There is a studied silence on the part of Vodafone. I have no idea if they will do the right thing.
My lawyer informs me that this is clearly a case of cheating, misrepresentation and fraud. The provider of service has taken money from a customer to provide a service of certain dimension and has pocketed the money and delivered only part of the service promised. It is therefore incumbent on the provider to return the balance, else it amounts to theft. By giving patently false reasons, the additional charge of cheating, fraud and misrepresentation is also evoked not to mention other provisions which pertain to provisions of the essential services act and those which specifically relate to the telecom services.
WHY IS THERE A CASE OF FRAUD AGAINST VODAFONE KERALA?
While on roaming mode from Mumbai on the 17th of February, Vodafone sent me an sms which I have saved. It clearly states" Hello, Recharge your vodafone prepaid with Rs 351, Rs501,or Rs 1001, roaming recharge voucher and get full talktime( less tax). while roaming."
This contradicts completely the claim from Vodafone Kerala's Janzia Martin that the Rs 150 was for "protecting the number" and furthermore now makes them liable to be charged for defrauding a customer and misrepresenting facts and unlawfully stealing Rs 150 from this customer.
IN PUBLIC INTEREST
While the amount is small, the fact that Janzia Martin and Vodafone Kerala have chosen not to do the right thing by correcting this anomaly seems to indicate this is probably being done on a routine basis with a multitude of customers. It is in public interest to investigate this and for law enforcement agencies to take suo motu cognizance of this before it becomes a widespread menace.
Secondly I did not create a ruckus when I discovered I was shortchanged. Some others may not be forgiving and the innocent vendor probably may get the "treatment'. This would mean law and order problems and would mean no vendor is willing to sell Vodafone Recharge Coupons. Vodafone Essar should be worried about this. They may not have a distribution chain in Kerala if this story goes around.
For the general public and law enforcement officials this is a warning signal. The telecom industry should also step in because if the "faith" in recharge is lost, prepaid connections will be hit and so will the profitability. Most people avoid post-paid due to arbitrary billing and accounting problems with connections being stopped due to no fault of the subscriber and paid bills being shown as unpaid. One bank official in Nagpur was threatened by a telecom company that they would send collection agents to his bank if he did not pay up, when the fact was that he was paying up every month for 5 years well before the due date!!
So from scams in obtaining bandwidth it is now looting the common man to offset the "start up costs" ?Probably some sharp investigative reporter may be able to get to the bottom of this story and check if this is a scam where a neat pile is being made.
UPDATE:
AS ON DATE THE 2ND OF MARCH 2011, VODAFONE HAS CREDITED THE RS 150 AND SEND ME A NOTE TO THIS EFFECT. THANK YOU VODAFONE AND WHOEVER ELSE TOOK THIS MATTER UP
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Eco Tourism & Preserving the ecological balance: Greenpeace for protecting Elephant Reserves
I am posting below a letter from Green Peace that was forwarded by a friend. The issue is protecting the environment. The focus is the elephant reserve in Chattisgarh.
Subject: Elephants
From: Wed, 02 Feb 2011 23:27:31
To: You and others
Hi natesan, vinod ,
I have just shown my support for India's forests. Please see the mail below and support our forests at Click Here
The dangerous forest versus coal tussle has claimed its first victim – the endangered Indian elephant. The Chhattisgarh government has scrapped plans for an elephant reserve in order to allow the same forests to be mined for coal. [1]
Last year the environment and forest ministry defined regions rich in forest cover and biodiversity as No-Go areas for mining. [2] The coal ministry wants the government to scrap this classification. [3] A Group of Ministers (GoM) constituted to resolve this will take a decision later in the year. [4]
These No-Go areas are among the last remaining forests in our country. They are home to wildlife such as tigers, leopards and elephants, and crucial to the livelihoods of millions. [5] If mining is allowed here, we can bid good bye to all of these. We need to pick our sides for this epic match. Big ministries backed by private lobbies are siding with coal – and against the forests.
Can you show your support for the elephants and our forests?
Click Here
This is the first preparatory step for our massive fight to save our forests and the communities who depend on them. The government needs to know that millions of Indians want their forests protected and declared No-Go for mining.
Instead of increasing its dependence on coal the government needs to invest in exploring renewable energy options. [6] Once destroyed, these forests will never get resurrected even with the best reforestation efforts.
Clearing forests will only hasten climate change. Coal mining not only destroys forests and displaces communities but also contaminates nearby rivers and water sources.[7] India's remaining forests and wildlife and communities must be protected from mining.
Show your support for the elephants and their forests now.
Click Here
Thanks a billion!
Preethi Herman
Climate Campaigner
Greenpeace India
Sources:
1. Chhattisgarh govt scraps elephant reserve plan for coal mining, The Times of India, January 16, 2011
Click Here
2. 35% of India's coal mining areas are in 'no go' zones, DNA, March 27, 2010
Click Here
3. Allow mining in 90% no-go zones, Hindusthan Times, October 29 2010
Click Here
4. GoM will look into sensitive 'no-go' mining areas, Deccan Herald, January 13, 2011
Click Here
5. Forests will rescue India, says Jairam Ramesh, new.rediff.com, August 11, 200
Click Here
6. Energy Revolution, Greenpeace, March 23, 2009
Click Here
Greenpeace provides an alternate energy vision for India, Greenpeace, March 24, 2009
Click Here
7. Case study of Damodar river, rainwaterharvesting.com
Click Here
P.S. Want to support our campaigns? We don't take money from any corporation, government or political party! We never have, and we never will. Do help Greenpeace remain fiercely and proudly independent. Click here to chip in. Greenpeace on the web
We're also on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube - join our friends list.
Why have I received this mail?
Either because you signed up as a Greenpeace India cyber-activist or a friend forwarded this mail to you.
How do I subscribe?
To receive regular updates from Greenpeace India, sign up here.
How do I unsubscribe?
To stop receiving messages on how you can help the planet click here.
How can I help more?
You can help by forwarding this message to everyone on your email list. You can also donate to keep us going strong!
Where do I send feedback?
Please send all feedback to ocampaig@greenpeace.org Greenpeace India, #60 Wellington Street, Richmond Town, Bangalore 560025meenakshi.madhvani@gmail.com
You are receiving this email because someone you know sent it to you from the Greenpeace site. Greenpeace retains no information about individuals contacted through its site, and will not send you further messages without your consent -- although your friends could, of course, send you another message.
Subject: Elephants
From:
To: You and others
Hi natesan, vinod ,
I have just shown my support for India's forests. Please see the mail below and support our forests at Click Here
The dangerous forest versus coal tussle has claimed its first victim – the endangered Indian elephant. The Chhattisgarh government has scrapped plans for an elephant reserve in order to allow the same forests to be mined for coal. [1]
Last year the environment and forest ministry defined regions rich in forest cover and biodiversity as No-Go areas for mining. [2] The coal ministry wants the government to scrap this classification. [3] A Group of Ministers (GoM) constituted to resolve this will take a decision later in the year. [4]
These No-Go areas are among the last remaining forests in our country. They are home to wildlife such as tigers, leopards and elephants, and crucial to the livelihoods of millions. [5] If mining is allowed here, we can bid good bye to all of these. We need to pick our sides for this epic match. Big ministries backed by private lobbies are siding with coal – and against the forests.
Can you show your support for the elephants and our forests?
Click Here
This is the first preparatory step for our massive fight to save our forests and the communities who depend on them. The government needs to know that millions of Indians want their forests protected and declared No-Go for mining.
Instead of increasing its dependence on coal the government needs to invest in exploring renewable energy options. [6] Once destroyed, these forests will never get resurrected even with the best reforestation efforts.
Clearing forests will only hasten climate change. Coal mining not only destroys forests and displaces communities but also contaminates nearby rivers and water sources.[7] India's remaining forests and wildlife and communities must be protected from mining.
Show your support for the elephants and their forests now.
Click Here
Thanks a billion!
Preethi Herman
Climate Campaigner
Greenpeace India
Sources:
1. Chhattisgarh govt scraps elephant reserve plan for coal mining, The Times of India, January 16, 2011
Click Here
2. 35% of India's coal mining areas are in 'no go' zones, DNA, March 27, 2010
Click Here
3. Allow mining in 90% no-go zones, Hindusthan Times, October 29 2010
Click Here
4. GoM will look into sensitive 'no-go' mining areas, Deccan Herald, January 13, 2011
Click Here
5. Forests will rescue India, says Jairam Ramesh, new.rediff.com, August 11, 200
Click Here
6. Energy Revolution, Greenpeace, March 23, 2009
Click Here
Greenpeace provides an alternate energy vision for India, Greenpeace, March 24, 2009
Click Here
7. Case study of Damodar river, rainwaterharvesting.com
Click Here
P.S. Want to support our campaigns? We don't take money from any corporation, government or political party! We never have, and we never will. Do help Greenpeace remain fiercely and proudly independent. Click here to chip in. Greenpeace on the web
We're also on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube - join our friends list.
Why have I received this mail?
Either because you signed up as a Greenpeace India cyber-activist or a friend forwarded this mail to you.
How do I subscribe?
To receive regular updates from Greenpeace India, sign up here.
How do I unsubscribe?
To stop receiving messages on how you can help the planet click here.
How can I help more?
You can help by forwarding this message to everyone on your email list. You can also donate to keep us going strong!
Where do I send feedback?
Please send all feedback to ocampaig@greenpeace.org Greenpeace India, #60 Wellington Street, Richmond Town, Bangalore 560025meenakshi.madhvani@gmail.com
You are receiving this email because someone you know sent it to you from the Greenpeace site. Greenpeace retains no information about individuals contacted through its site, and will not send you further messages without your consent -- although your friends could, of course, send you another message.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Raja Ravi Varma : The painter who was Royalty in Trivandrum
The Napier Museum has a collection of paintings by Raja Ravi Varma one of the most renowned artists from India. He was a member of the Royal family of Travancrore. Travancore or Thiruvathamcore the name by which Thiruvananthapuram was originally known.
Click Here
Click Here
Monday, January 10, 2011
Pageantry of Percussionists from Kerala in Mumbai
I remember going listening to the Panchavadhyam ( concert of five instruments) as a kid when my Father took me to the festival at the Ernakulathappan temple in Cochin. There were a score of drummers in dhotis had chenda's tied to their waists or hung from their shoulders and were slowly drumming up a rhythm with sticks and plastered fingers,behind them were men in similar costumes keeping time with cymbals and yet others waiting with semi-circular trumpets. As this orchestra worked up a tempo, there was growing number of devotees who stopped to listen and nearly all of them were keeping time by nodding their heads. Some were holding up their hands and marking time with their hands like self appointed conductors of this philarmonic! It seemed as if the music had hypnotized the whole crowd as eyes became glazed and more heads and hands were found to rock with the rhythm divine! It continued till the drums and the cymbals clashed in a climax and the end was marked in a gentle descent of notes. People then dispersed and there was a silence in the temple courtyard that was serene and spiritual. My father's tone as he asked me was also somehow calm and soft, even reflective as the effect of this musical ritual wore off.
I came across this ritual many years later at the Trichur Pooram and it resembled a rave party at mid noon.Yhe crowds were mammoth and the drummers seemed to be lost in a frenzy of their own.. but the sight of almost a hundred drums,cymbals and trumpets in metronome like precision was simply to use a cliche' "awesome" if not divine!! This time around however, I was a teenager and soon found myself rocking to the rhythm and waving my hands in time and feeling the thrill as the venjarams were swung up up in a flourish by the mahouts on the caparisoned pachyderms, while these gentle beasts incidentally seemed to be swaying their ears as if in appreciation to the music and festivities on display.
The Trichur Pooram Festival.. the music starts from the 50th second of this video :)
If you wish to experience this and you are in Mumbai.. well you are lucky! The details of a live performance being arranged by Keli an organisation that promotes folk arts from Kerala has a performance near Horniman Circle
Click Here for the TOI article
Click Here
Components and variations of these forms include the Shingerimelam, the Theyambakam,the Pandimelam, the Ilinjithara and I may upload this on a later date..:)
I came across this ritual many years later at the Trichur Pooram and it resembled a rave party at mid noon.Yhe crowds were mammoth and the drummers seemed to be lost in a frenzy of their own.. but the sight of almost a hundred drums,cymbals and trumpets in metronome like precision was simply to use a cliche' "awesome" if not divine!! This time around however, I was a teenager and soon found myself rocking to the rhythm and waving my hands in time and feeling the thrill as the venjarams were swung up up in a flourish by the mahouts on the caparisoned pachyderms, while these gentle beasts incidentally seemed to be swaying their ears as if in appreciation to the music and festivities on display.
The Trichur Pooram Festival.. the music starts from the 50th second of this video :)
If you wish to experience this and you are in Mumbai.. well you are lucky! The details of a live performance being arranged by Keli an organisation that promotes folk arts from Kerala has a performance near Horniman Circle
Click Here for the TOI article
Click Here
Components and variations of these forms include the Shingerimelam, the Theyambakam,the Pandimelam, the Ilinjithara and I may upload this on a later date..:)
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