Unplanned dinner with Jugal

Myself and Jugal have been trying to catch up with each other for quite some time now but we weren’t able to find time. Thanks to our busy schedule and my frequent travels. Weekends are hectic for us to spare time for anything else. Weekdays we can plan, provided we decide to take off from work. After pondering our thoughts on it a lot, we decided to catch up on a weekday. We will take off for that day.

All planned and set but just the day before we were supposed to meet, he called me late in the evening to inform that we have to cancel the plan. Jugal had an important client visit at work and his presence was mandatory. More than me Jugal was feeling bad but I said it happens. Things don’t go as planned usually. I told him, we will meet one day when both of us were expecting it the least. I didn’t know it will happen that way.

It was Friday afternoon when Jugal called me out of blue moon and inquired about my dinner plans. I said didn’t plan anything yet but its too early to commit. His immediate response was don’t plan anything, we are catching up for dinner today, I was like, WHAT? He told there’s a restaurant named “Hyderbadi Spice” close to his office, we can catch up there for dinner. He WhatsApped me the location, but there’s a twist here. Jugal is pure veg and I am non veg. How can I have veg food at an authentic non veg place was my dilemma? Jugal told if I want, I can have non veg, he has no issues. I said no, I will try veg food at non veg place for the first time.

We planned to catch up by 8.30 at the restaurant. When I was about to step out, it started raining heavily, I thought, today’s plan also went for a toss. I tried booking a cab but due to peak hour, cabs were not available and I have left my car at my friends place. Going to my friends place and getting the car was next to impossible, though its close by but I will get drenched in rain.  I have 2 options either to wait till the rain stops or cancel the plan. I chose the first option and decided to wait but informed Jugal about it. He was also bit upset but agreed to wait for some time. Luckily rain stopped in 15 mins and I heaved a sigh of relief.

Immediately took my bike and set off before it starts raining again. Google map was my charioteer in the journey but today even it got confused a bit. Reason there were 2 places with the same name and I landed at the wrong one. I called Jugal to inform that I reached and he said, am not where to be seen. Then when he inquired about the landmark, it was then I realized I am at the wrong place. I have no words to express my aggression at that moment of time.

Jugal told he shared the location with me, them how did this happen? It was my fault I searched the place in google map and followed it instead of his shared location. Sometimes smartness can land you in mess, today I was feeling it. But now I was determined, come whatever I will meet him for sure. Then I started following the location shared by Jugal, my destination was 3 km away.

After lot of twist and turn I reached my destination, I parked my bike. Called Jugal to tell I reached. He came out of the restaurant, his happiness was clearly evident on his face. First thing he said when we met was “Finally”. True, after whole lot of struggles we were catch up today, finally. We hugged each other as long lost buddies and went inside the restaurant. The aroma of chicken and mutton biriyani was so strong that I had to change my mind. I told Jugal l dude, sorry but I want chicken biriyani no veg for me. Jugal smiled and ordered accordingly. He knew I will change my mind after coming to the place, so he was not amused a bit, rather he wanted me to try biriyani but didn’t tell.

Biriyani was yummy, if I had ordered veg, would have regretted for it. Jugal asked me how’s the food? I said awesome, saw a sense of pride in his eyes then. He was happy to find a decent place where one could get yummy food. His choice of the place was not wrong. From the moment food was ordered till it was finished, we were engrossed in talking. Both of us had lot of things to be discussed in person. We used it to the fullest.

By the time we were done with our dinner it was almost an hour, Jugal had taken only an hours permission from his work for dinner. Bill was cleared and we left the place. Before leaving home I asked Jugal one question, how was the experience of unplanned meeting? Jugal instant response was awesome. Really it will be a memorable dinner for both if us, as we wouldn’t have struggled so much to catch up with our friends before. That day it was hectic but today when I think about it can’t stop laughing about the entire experience, it was crazy.  

Unforgettable shopping at DMart

I am an avid shopper, shopping gives me relaxation. You leave me in a shopping mall in morning, till evening I can be there without any issues. I need food, water and washroom to survive there for that long. Best part about shopping malls or big retail stores it that, you get everything at one place and you get to learn a lot. Shopping and learning doesn’t rhyme well? Yes, shopping can be a learning experience, because shopping malls and big retail stores are the only places, where one can see all the latest launches in reality. All products advertised in TV, can be seen first in malls, then in a shop near you. Shopping malls gives us the liberty to double check the products we intent to buy, reason we are selecting the products ourselves. I have the habit of checking the expiry date, ingredients of the product I buy. Even check competitors’ products of the same range, which takes my time.

Now a days my shopping partner is Harish, we go together for shopping as it is convenient for both of us and we have each other’s company too. But what happened today at DMart, we will never forget, and it was a learning experience for both of us, day full of adventures with twist and turn. We left home by 11.am and 5 minutes before DMart Harish tells me, he forgot to carry his wallet. I told no worries “ you can use my card” What are friends for, to help your friend in need. Before going for shopping I check  cards twice.

We reached DMart by 11.30am, there was huge rush, firstly because of weekend, then due to Onam festival. Car parking was full, then we saw a car moving out, Harish got out of the car and helped me park the car there, before anyone occupies that slot. Harish told he will get 2 trolleys for us, as inside DMart it was not available due to heavy rush. While Harish was busy arranging the trolleys, I got all our shopping bags sealed at the security counter. In total 4 bags, so I kept all 3 bags in one and got it locked. In the mean while Harish arranged for the trolleys. We got inside and got busy with our purchases. DMart is divided into 3 floors, after doing purchases from the ground floor, we left for 2^nd and 3^rd floors.

We left our trolleys on ground floor like others did, Harish had done massive purchases and mine was less comparatively. We spend around an hour in 2^nd and 3^rd floor as it had clothes section, where we spend maximum time, checking out clothes. After an hour when we came to ground floor, we had a shock waiting for us. My trolley was missing, we searched everywhere but couldn’t find it. Then Harish saw few of my purchases spread on top of ice cream freezer, we were thunderstruck. Only thought which came to our mind was, how can people be so uncultured here? Usually we have decent crowd here. Seems like decency was only in their attire and not in their behavior, this act was the perfect example of it. More than my purchases, we were worried about the shopping bags. How will we carry the purchases home? It’s not that we can’t buy shopping bags at DMart but we wanted our bags as they were bigger bags than the one store was offering us.

Harish asked me check all the trolleys to locate our shopping bags, I was sure we will not find it but Harish was confident about finding it. Harish started looking for our lost shopping bags, in the mean while I took one basket to transfer my purchases from the ice cream freezer to it and bought the remaining things.

Then it striked me about the CCTV cameras in the store, I went to the support desk and asked if they can show me the CCTV clippings of the area where my trolley was kept. Help desk guy told me that they don’t have a camera installed at that particular angle first thing and second thing, they have a put a notice on the wall, not to leave trolleys there. This was not the first time I was leaving the trolley there, I keep it there every time I visit the store, but today the store guy showed me the notice, which I ignored or was not noticed by me before. Whatever, help-desk was of no use to me.

I finished my billing and was waiting for Harish to come, even then I was looking at people’s trolley making an exit from the billing counter. Since it was raining heavily, people are standing in the mall itself after being billed. I just turned around and saw a lady holding some shopping bags in her hand, it seemed similar to me. A closer look, god its mine, I told her you are having my shopping bag, where did you find it? Did you take my trolley? Firstly she apologized for keeping the bag with her and then she told me that, this bag there in an empty trolley which she took. And accidentally she took that bag because her bag and my bag were similar in looks. It’s difficult to believe her story though but I was happy to get my bags. Informed Harish also, who was nearing the billing counter. People are right when they say, “people make mistakes while committing crime”. This lady’s husband emptied the trolley to accommodate his things but didn’t recognize the shopping bag, which eventually was picked by his wife and helped me in getting my bags back.

After billing when we came out by 3pm another surprise was waiting for us. Harish took the car keys and went ahead I followed him back. I told him to meet me at one point but when he didn’t turn up. I went looking for him, our car was missing. Harish asked me where I parked the car. I showed him the place. It was then I noticed that the place, where car was parked was actually a no parking zone. Initially I was scared that the car was stolen but when I saw that board, it didn’t take us long to know where our car would be. We booked a cab but due to heavily rain or traffic it was getting delayed, in the mean while Harish was able to arrange an auto and we went to police station with all those shopping bags.

When I didn’t see the car there, I panicked a bit. Then decided to go inside the police station and check, one constable came out and told me that traffic police station is slightly ahead. We went there, still we were not able to see the car and then Harish noticed few people standing at a place. He told me let’s go there and check, he was right, car was there. I can’t tell you, how happy I was, when I saw the car. It was clamped, we asked one person who was standing there from the traffic department to allow us to keep our shopping bags in the car. He allowed us to keep our bags in the car. That guy told us, that we need to pay fine for parking the car in NO Parking ZONE. We inquired about the fine amount. I googled it to cross check, he was right. We asked him where to make the payment, he told us to wait for some time. Harish gets a call from the cab driver, inquiringly where you are sir. In the eagerness to reach police station he didn’t cancel the cab booking, when we got inside the auto.

After 15 mins, an officer came, he collected the fine amount and issued us the receipt. Clamp was removed, we got inside the car and left for home. When we reached home, time was 5 pm. We were very tired after all these unexpected adventures, we experienced today during our weekly grocery shopping.

I think myself and Harish will always remember this shopping experience. Once at room I was thinking, if Harish was not accompanying me today, then it would have been tough day for me to handle everything all alone. It’s better to have a shopping partner, you never know when things go upside down.

Friendship bands a treasure

I read it somewhere that “Friendship is the only ship that doesn’t sink even in the worst storms” and that’s true. It’s the only relation, which we choose for ourselves, unlike our family which we get automatically upon our birth. If we have the support of our friends then we can overcome any hardships in life like a cakewalk. Friends stand by us even when the whole world is against us. That’s the bonding of friendship.

We have a special day to celebrate this beautiful relationship with our friends on friendship day.  But with the extreme use of online media now, friendship day is confined to sending messages to our friends through Whatsapp or posting a quote on our facebook page. Despite the availability of friendship bands at stores, people prefer to stay away from it, seems like its craze is now diminishing now (my personal view). Another reason could be, our busy schedule where we hardly have time for ourselves then how can we reach out to our friends with a friendship band to celebrate the occasion? Friendship doesn’t need a band to prove you are friends with someone but it feels good when a friend put a band in your hand on this day.

This friendship day was very unique for me, after many years Harish, my friend put a friendship band in my hand. Last I had worn friendship band, was during my college days, when Ashutosh gave me one on friendship day. I had seen that band at a shop and wished someone could gift it to me. So when Ashutosh gifted me that band, I was quite surprised. My first question was, which shop did you buy it? His answer stunned me, he bought it from the same shop, where I had seen it. When I told him about this band and how I wished to have it, he was quite amused and proud of his selection. Today we stay in different cities, have not met for quite some years now, even phone calls are at very long intervals but that hasn’t affected our bonding a bit, proud to have him as my friend J.

I don’t know how Harish became my friend. The first time we met I didn’t feel, am meeting him for the first time. We were like house on fire as we had lot of things in common. Most amazing part is we stay close to each other, that gives us an opportunity to catch up whenever we are free.

This friendship day, using technology at its best, I sent Whatsapp message to all my friends, that was the beginning of the day for me. After that I went to meet Harish, as it was his son’s birthday. Once at his place, when we were looking after the arrangements, felt the need to buy few things. We went to a nearby shop and were busy buying stuffs for birthday celebration. When out of a blue moon Harish took a friendship band and put it in my hand wishing Happy Friendship Day. I was thunder stuck for some time because after very long time something like this was happening to me.

Harish’s gesture touched me within and was guilty too, why this thought didn’t come to me? It’s never too late to celebrate an occasion, I too took a band, ditto same to same put it in his hand and wished him, one more time but with a band now, unlike the morning message. This wish was the best one.

At night while going to bed, I realized that band was neon, we can see it at night, once lights are turned off. Took my phone and Whatsapped him , immediately got the reply from him in the form of a smiley J. Next day I removed the band, to keep it as a treasure with Ashutosh’s band.  

Change that JIO brought to the life of its competitor's subscribers

Reliance JIO has been in the midst of controversy ever since its launch in India, last year. Reason it brought a revolution in telecom industry which no one could have thought of. Plans offered by JIO were customer centric instead of firm centric as is the case most of the time. One India, one number with unlimited local and STD calls, followed by unlimited 4G data with good network connectivity.  All these services were free of cost, people just needed a 4G enabled handset. Rest was up to JIO to pamper the people like never before.

 People thronged the stores for buying sim cards and within no time subscribers of JIO started to become a threat to other leading telecom players in India. The dominance of Vodofone, Airtel, Idea, BSNL took a back seat and they started to come out with strategies to retain their existing customer base which has started taking a dip due to the tempting offers of JIO. As a result of which call rate were reduced and data pack was increased by the competitors of JIO.

JIO delivered what it promised to the masses, only difficultly people faced was getting their JIO sim card activated initially. But once the sim card got activated then services were as promised. Even in the remotest of area ,JIO was able to provide network support to its subscribers, where its competitors failed miserably. That was another reason WHY JIO became so popular.

When JIO’s competitors were busy approaching TRAI for putting a nail to JIO’s exponential growth. JIO was working towards making itself more and more efficient in terms of its service and network coverage. Even today JIO’s competitors are behind JIO rather than coming out with ways that can be beneficial to them and their subscribers. JIO has given one of the best experiences to its subscriber so until and unless, something more soothing is presented to the masses they will not step back. This is what all competitors of JIO should do now rather than going behind things which doesn’t take them anywhere.

Now Vodafone, Airtel, Idea and BSNL have come up with unlimited call and enhanced internet plans at prices slightly higher than that of JIO but at least a beginning has been done. It forces me to think, if this was possible before, then what were they waiting for till now? If reduced call rate and higher internet usage scheme was within their purview, then what caused the delay in it reaching the masses? Had they done it before, JIO wouldn’t have been able to make its mark in market and pose a big threat to them. But now the damage has been done. From next time onwards strategies should be focused on customer’s need basis.

I am not a subscriber of JIO but need to thank JIO for the change it has brought to the life of Vodafone, Airtel, Idea and BSNL subscribers. Now my mobile and internet bill has drastically come down and am getting better service. There are times when my telecom provider is unable to provide me network coverage during roaming but JIO doesn’t fails, I have seen it with my friends who are patrons of JIO. Another reason could be Vodafone, Airtel, Idea and BSNL are yet to come to term with One India, one number full connectivity whether its within circle or outside circle.

Travelling with rodent in Train

Travelling between Kerala and Bangalore has become a routine for me now. But this time the journey was with an unwanted guest in our coach. As per my analysis guest didn’t create any trouble for passengers of the coach. Lucky passengers

I reached station 45 mins before the prior departure of the train, hate running behind the train with luggage. From college days I have heavy luggage issues, no idea how I pile up so many things? Only time I travelled with a backpack was when I had to travel back home within a week after reaching Bangalore. I felt good about it. That’s my strategy for all my travel but rarely succeed in it.

Since Bangalore was the starting destination, train was placed in platform 20 mins before the scheduled departure, waited till most of the passengers to my coach had boarded in. Despite good 20 mins time in hand I could see, people rushing towards the door of the train, the moment it is placed on platform and trying to open the door. It’s the case with general, sleeper and AC coaches, while the latter have confirmed tickets still.

I got into my AC 3tier coach and got seated onto my seat. Placed my luggage bag beneath the seat and laptop bag next to me, I was allocated site lower birth. I hate it so requested my co passenger to exchange out seats while retiring to bed. He agreed happily to it.

It was dinner time when I noticed something, a small object crawling beneath my birth, oh god it was a rat. It passed twice my seat, I was worried for my luggage bag. I informed the coach attender about the rat and they said it will be taken care of. I knew they will do their job hence I went to bed after dinner. Still this rat thing was in the back of my mind.

I got up in morning and first thing I did was to take out my luggage bag and check it. Was delighted to see no harm to my bag, because I was unaware the damaged caused then. After freshening up it was breakfast time, I feel more hungry in train than at home. Usually I buy breakfast but for this journey I had packed it from home. Parantha and scrambled egg, I had kept a small paper bag next to my luggage bag beneath the seat, had kept my breakfast in the bag.

Parantha was wrapped in aluminum foil whereas egg was in a container. When I took the paranta out of the bag, saw it was not the way how I packed it a day before. Reason parantha was out of the foil and seemed like someone had chewed it or was cut with some sharp object. I was wondering how can this happen in AC coach? Then it striked me, of our unwanted guest in train, the rat, I saw previous night beneath my seat, was the culprit. That bag had other stuff also and I was scared that damage will be more. Hence I checked the bag immediately but rat didn’t touch anything else except the parantha packed in the foil. It had eaten good amount of it.

Seems likes I was not destined for homemade breakfast hence I bought breakfast as per the custom carried so far, wondering, why did the rat eat only parantha and left other things untouched? Should be thankful to rat that it didn’t damage any other thing because breakfast could be bought but few other things can’t be replaced easily so soon.

That was my journey with a rat the first and last time I hope……