Emotions...

What do you do when you are over-ridden with emotions ?

Bangalore Bomb Blasts

It was a heavy buffet lunch at South Indies on Friday noon. Having done with the lunch by 2PM, we started back in our car to our office in Koramangala. We reached Indira Nagar, when we got a call from Bij. "Get back soon. There has been some unforeseen incidents here. 3 blasts have been reported. One each in Madiwala, Adugodi and in Mysore Road" These were early signs of things to come. We hurried back to office. The news dint seem to have spread to all parts of the city. It was hardly 30 mins from the blast time. The traffic on the roads was normal. And we couldnt see any cordoning or traffic restrictions during our return trip. I alerted all the friends thru sms to be safe.

We reached office by 2.30PM, and greeted by a group of anxious co-workers. Some smiles, some with eyes wide open. We exchanged the news bits. When we got back to our desks, news started pouring in. With every 5 mins, somebody standing up and announcing "one more blast", "one killed", "traffic diverted in silk board area" and the likes. Soon, an organizational announcement came through the PA system informing us about the happenings, and requesting us not to panic. By 4PM an email announcement came from the security desk. Ppl started moving out to their homes. But the security did not allow anyone out, in an act of caution. But very soon, they got green signal, and the willing people were allowed to leave. The security gave traffic updates to all.

We too left the office by 5.15PM. It was a good excuse to leave early on a Friday evening. But a bigger reason was to reach home safely. Reached home by 5.30PM. Ensured that ppl who left along with me reached home safe too...

As we all saw and heard in TV, all the blasts were low intensity and not really intended to take any lives. The blasts dint have any effect on anything at all. Situation was soon back to normal, after the initial set of rumours settled down. Traffic on Hosur Road proceeded as normal. All the interstate travel buses operated as normal.

No conclusion yet, on who did this, or what the motive was. But a few rumours still floating around:
1. Terrorist groups trying to destabilize Bangalore with their main target, the IT.
But this sounds nonsens. No terrorist group would want to play games with bombs, the kinds we get during Diwali.
2. Miscreants trying to defame the BJP government.
This is the claim by the government itself. No better ways to defame ?! How will a mini-blast defame the government ?
3. An ill-effort of local Kannadigas to kick out non-Kannadigas
The root reason for this argument is that the blasts seem to have happened in comparitively densely populated non-kannadiga areas. Madiwala is one for sure.
4. A warning of things to come...
Why would somebody want to warn if their intention is not clean ?!

One thing is for sure. There has been a fair amount of planning behind the serial blasts. 7 blasts in 15 mins proves this. And it surely would be a fairly big team behind this. The blast sites are not very near to each other...

Got calls from home, from unc, from cousins.. The network was congested for a while. But sms was going thru. And calls were going thru too, on a 3rd or 4th try. (With vodafone, this is like any other day). There were questions on whether the network was jammed on purpose. But this shouldnt be true. I had coverage throughout, and I was getting calls/sms very often. And I could make calls with not much of diffuculty.

On the 2nd day, I had to go to Malleshwaram to get my camera back from service centre. Gasper and I started by around 12.15PM from home. Stopped at a tea stall, where we were told that a high intensity bomb was defused at Forum Mall in Koramangala. That comes in our route to Malleshwaram! We opted to take the same route, unless interrupted by the police. We shot this video of the Madiwala Blast Site:


There were outdoor unit vans of all major news channels - Times Now had their unit van parked virtually inside the madiwala bus stop. NDTV van was on the right hand side of the road. Not very far, we could find the unit vans of UTV and Zee. A good harvest day for the news guyz!

And this is the Forum Mall video, minutes after the reports of bomb defusal came in:



The city, which was once considered a safe city is now shaken a bit. But not to the extent to create panic among the citizens. The news channels tried their bit to create panic, by repeatedly telecasting the same old 2 min clip they had, and every now and then saying "Do not panic" blah blah. The expression on the news reporter would have scared you slightly to a greater extent than seeing the blast site in person!

Today is a normal day here. With schools open. Shops open. Malls open. Everything normal.

For the record, on the way, we covered 3 hot spots - Madiwala, Forum and Adugodi. Hmm.. Quite an impressive record!

Vodafone Black-Out in Bangalore

Vodafone Network Goes Down For One Full Day. Thats right. No Coverage for whole day!

A letter from one of the loyal customers, to the customer care:
I'm Ratheesh P K
Mobile number **********
I had been a hutch/vodafone customer for almost 5 years.

There has been umpteen number of talks about the coverage, peak-time access problem and the likes. But I chose to stay on.

But today, in office, I could not see a single bar, against the antenna on my mobile.
I did not get a single incoming call and could not make a single outgoing call, from the time I reached here.

Its not a one-off case. I confirmed this with many others here.

I made 3 back-to-back calls to customer care (98860 98860) .
The first one was picked by a lady. After a round of qn-answer, she said Pls be online. And the call got dropped. (or did she disconnect?)
The 2nd call was exactly similar.

3rd call - Ajay. He confirmed that there is a "severe" network problem all over Bangalore City including Koramangala (which is where I'm located). I wanted to register this as a complaint and after quite a lot of discussion, he agreed to register the complaint. And then again declined.

I need a reply for two questions:
1. How are you going to compensate for my lost air-time ?
2. Is there any kind of training that you give to your call centre executives ?


A snippet of my conversation with Ajay. (I was in a mood to fight. But felt sorry for this helpless chap)
Me: Hello, what is your name? I need this coz my earlier calls were disconnected in the middle of conversation. I dont want that to happen again
He: Hi Sir, Its okay. My name is Ajay
(followed by what is your name, mobile number blah blah)
Me: I am facing a n/w problem here in Koramangala from today morning. i want to register it as a complaint.
He: We apologize for that sir. But we had been facing this problem in many places in Bangalore. Your place is also one of the affected areas.
Me: What is the problem?
He: We are working to rectify it sir.
Me: I want to register this as a complaint. Please note down...
He: Pls be patient for an hour more sir. The network is expected to be back online.
Me: i cant wait any more. I had been waiting since today morning. I want it to be registered as a complaint.
He: Sir, we cannot register this as a complaint, coz we accept that there is a problem.
Me: Good, then write it down as a complaint.
He: No sir, since we have already accepted it to be a problem at our end, we cant register a complaint.
Me: Alright, I know there is a problem. You know there is a problem. But tomorrow, if I want to take it up with a 3rd party, I need a proof.
(after a lot of talks, and he talking to his 'seniors' and putting me 'on hold' he gets back)
He: Sir, I talked to seniors, we cant register it as a complaint. Could you please be patient till tomorrow morning?
(I knew this is going nowhere. So I tried gathering info for my purpose)
Me: Okay. Since when is the n/w down ?
He: About 8 o'clock or 9 o'clock today morning, sir.
Me: Shall i note it down as 8 o'clock in the morning ?
He: Yes sir.
Me: When will it be back ?
He: Max by tomorrow morning 8 o'clock sir.
Me: Okay. If it doesnt come back online?
He: Pls call up the customer care again sir.
Me: Alright, and then what will you ppl do ?
He: We will look into it sir.
Me: Okay. And what are you going to do with my lost air-time of 24 hours ?
He: We cant do anything about it sir ( Now, isnt that rude? )
Me: What do you mean you cant do anything ?
He: Sir you will have to go to the vodafone store , or write to the customer care.
Me: What is the customer care id ?
He: corprelations.kar@vodafone.com
Me: Okay. What really is the problem ? Is it a hardware problem or something else ? Are other providers facing a problem too?
He: Sir, its confidential. We have only been told that there is a problem.
Me: Okay, thanks Ajay.
He: Is there anything else that I can assist you with ?
Me: No.
He: Good evening sir, have a nice day.
Me: Bye.


The n/w went down on Monday July21 at 8 o'clock. As per the customer care conversation, it should be back by Tuesday July22, 8 o'clock. Lets see !

And they say they are "Happy to Help". Who are they helping ? Themselves ?
Jai bolo vodafone dog kii !!

Update (July22, 08.30AM) - N/w seems to be up. But this email reply is interesting.

"

We would be glad if you could provide us with the following details so that=
we can look into the matter on priority:

?=09Your vodafone mobile number(s)
?=09Handset Model
?=09Alternate Contact number
?=09Exact location/address
?=09Indoor/outdoor problem
?=09Cell info display of the location where problem is being faced
?=09Number of signal bars in the handset
?=09Quality of voice/calls
?=09Error message if any
?=09Are you facing the problem continuously or at any particular time of th=
e day

"

You need to be Masters in Cryptography to find out what '?=09' means.
And for a problem, which the on-call customer care executive said "We accept this as a known problem in many parts of Bangalore", why would this email-fella want my mobile number, my handset model, the firmware revision and the name of my neighbor's dog ?!! If I give these details, 'he would be glad' ! Aargh.. And I guess, he cannot read letters in bold. Coz theer is no mention whatsoever to my "Two Questions". Absolute rubbish.

Update (July22, 09.45AM) - N/w is NOT up. I repeat.. n/w is NOT up. Over Over
(At home it is back to normal. But not here in office. Yummy.. calls for another high-adrenaline conversation with customer-dont-care [phrase courtesy Soo] )
Update (July22, 05.25PM) - N/w is NOT up. Not over.. Called up the customer-dont-care again. As per him, there was a n/w "congestion" in Koramangala area. This was rectified at 12PM on July 21. And he was "really sorry" that I have a n/w problem. Lodged a complaint with the customer-dont-care. Phew.. How happy I am now! &()$&*) $()*()$
Update (July23, 11.00AM) - Breaking News! Vodafone network is up!!

Coming Soon...

OPT: Hancock: Movie Review

If you are a David Dhawan fan, then this movie is for you.
Keep your brain (if u hav one) at home, go to theatre and then enjoy the film.

The movie is about a super-powerful hero, who is named Hancock. (Well, how he got that name is interesting.. He was found injured in a hospital room, and he heard the nurse saying 'Hancock', which, was the name of the building. He thought that was his name! He had lost all his memory, you see, thanks to that accident)

Now, this fella can do virtually anything. His goggles and accessories may not be bullet proof, but his body is! He can fly from anywhere to anywhere (remember Matrix?) He is unstoppable - but a hi-speed train is stoppable, given this fella is standing on the track.

All said and done, if you thought, he is the perfect super hero you would want to be around when the "World needs him" , then, hold on, you are WRONG! This superhero is one spoilt chap, who does nothing but boozing around and misusing his power to scare off lil one off the street, and to steel food when he feels so.

But then one fine day, he is a transformed man, and he comes in his 'custom-stitched-outfit' and uses his power to rescue hostages. If this much of the story happens with barely half an hour to spare, then whats left ?

Whats left is the story behind his origin. And a few till-then-unanswered questions of Hancock "Who am I?" "Am I alone?" "Where are they?"

Dont waste your money on this one.
Already we are hit terribly by inflation.
Save your 150 bucks for buying cereals :-))

Rating: Dont Go
(Must Watch/Average/Dont Go)

Tail:
1. At 9.33PM, while we are still near our house taking dinner, this friend comes out of nowhere and shoots this qn "9.45 movie? Boyz, u r gonna be late". The riders and the pillions gave him a grin, before starting at 9.35PM. And v dint miss a scene of the movie :)
2. We did our part to control inflation. Car-pooled to the theatre!
3. The dialogue of the year (thanks to the movie) is "Good Job" :-))

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na: Round 2

:-)
When you have 2 mutually exclusive friends group, then this is what happens. But since it is for a good cause (?!) - control inflation (????) - it is justified to the maximum.

There were a few points that I missed to notice/jot-down in the original review.
So here we go! (Its all bulleted. I luv bullets :D )
1. This tyrewala looks to be a genius. He has written the lyrics, the story, and has done the direction too.
2. In the friends gang, there is one fella with a strange accent - Jiggy. And then there is 'Bumps'. Or is it Bombs? Whatever.. Gasper felt so sad coz Bumps wasnt paired up to anyone :P Understandable :D
3. Well, the hero has an arresting charm and a dashing cute smile. His gait is a lil odd, but again, is cute!
4. Did I forget to mention the cameo by Paresh Rawal ? He scores in his lil share of screen-presence. Remember his "Champaaa.. Chameliiiiiiii.. Charulataaa" :-))
5. Amit tells "Toofii betaa.... Come to mummy.." Jai tells "Toofii betaa.. Come to daddy.." ROFL!
6. AR Rahman's new find - Rashid Ali. He is the sound of "Kabhi Kabhi Aditi". Rahman has used him in the songs of "Adaa" too.
7. I've got a question.. If its declared red alert, and if there is a terrorist running in front of you at a 3m distance, and if he is fully in point of sight, and if you have a gun in hand, AND if you are a police officer, then Why On Earth dont you shoot ?
8. The theater was about half full, but ppl had nice fun watching the movie..
9. Last but not the least, "Thanks Sand" :-)))


Tail:
1. That inflation line may look a lil cryptic if you havent read the 20-odd page inflation control mechanism thesis (aka email exchange) of the grouop
2. We again proved them wrong, when they said "Koramangala to Marthahalli in 10mins? Impossible" :-)))

Gmail: Track Your Account Activity

For quite some time, google had been rolling out all not-so-fancy stuff thru google/gmail labs. (These can be found in 'settings' of your gmail account)

Now, here is something interesting !
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/remote-sign-out-and-info-to-help-you.html

You might have already noticed this 'Details' link at the bottom of gmail page.
A nice n fancy thing, that will also help you track password leaks !

ITR: Registering into the Income Tax Website

I
Continued from here

Not able to register into the Income Tax (IT) website ?

In the original post, a passing reference was given to indicate, why it is important to first register yourself into the Income Tax Website (https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/register.do?screen=registerPage1) before starting with any of the e-filing process (Yes, that means, even before you proceed to fill up your ITR excel utility). The reason is simple. In a few rare cases you will end up pulling hair out of your head at this very first step.

This is where you will be taken to, when you go to the 'Register' page:


As you can see, you need to enter your PAN number, First Name, Middle Name, Surname and your DOB for the registration process - they say PAN number, Surname and DOB are the mandatory fields. Now here is the trick - If you had gone through agents to get your PAN card, by all chances, they would have messed up your first name, middle name and surname while submitting the PAN application form. (If you have only ONE part in your name, like say, Arunkumar, then you are saved to some extent :D ) If your name is something like Arun Kumar Gopalakrishnan, then more often than not, you are in trouble. If you put the names as First Name, Second Name, Surname in that order, it might really no help you. Coz they would have submitted your PAN form as FirstName-Arun Kumar Surname-Gopalakrishnan.

The best thing would be to go to the Find Your PAN/ Know Your PAN page (https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/knowpan/knowpan.do) and spend a few minutes breaking the Da Vinci Code :-) Once you have solved the puzzle, get back to the registration page.

All the Best !

Tail:
1. They have put a * in red against some fields indicating these are mandatory. And seemingly indicating the other fields are optional. I'm not quite sure, if this is how it works. For me it works, because of the beauty of my surname. But in a country where the population number exceeds the number of fresh water taps, I'm skeptical :)

ITR Time : How To File IT Returns

Its tax time! Well, no really 'tax' time, but the time to 'prove' that you have paid tax. And the fancy name for this is "filing Income Tax Returns". For most of us, its a dreaded process. A pain-in-the-neck phenomenon.

It was a nightmare for me too... until I filed my returns this year. All by Myself!
Voila. I consider that an achievement. And the main lakshya of this post is to boast of it.
And a side-lakshya to inspire a few of you to do it on your own.

At the place where you work, you may find those tax consultants, sitting in a stall with the ever-so-boring looking on face, but eager to help - solely coz of the fact that a 10-min job is gonna earn them bucks in the range 120 to 300. (Here, they charge 199)

Lemme tell ya, its one simple thing to do. For those who havent yet delved into the stock market, and the sole source of income is what the company gives you, its just a matter of half an hour!
You fall into the ITR1 category.
Here is the categorization: https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/selectforms.do

All you need to do is, download an excel utility from the income tax website:
https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/downloads.do

(Note that this is assessment year 2008-2009. I initially goofed this up and wasted quite some time to kick out the wrong form and re-fill the right one)

Your Form16 is the only thing that you need to fill up this excel utility.
You can find 3 work-sheets in the excel sheet. You need to ensure that the 'macro's are enabled in excel. The govt is smart. They have given a detailed pdf documentation which will help you in filling up the excel utility. But a lil smartness from our end is required to figure out, where this help-pdf is :-P
It is here: https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/downloads07-08/itr/user_guide/itr1_excel_guide.pdf
(they have put it in the 2007-2008 assessment year webpage, and not given it for 2008-2009!)

One place where you may get stuck is the "Designation of the Assessing Officer".
For Bangalore, find the info here:
http://www.incometaxbangalore.org/jurisdiction/juri_indiv_sal_blr.htm

Each work-sheet in the excel has a 'validate' button. Use this button to check if you have not filled up any column. Validation is required for all the 3 sheets. Once you are done with it, click on 'Generate xml'. And you get an xml file in your working directory.

Now create a login ID for yourself at the IT website:
https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/register.do?screen=registerPage1

In some rare cases, you may NOT be able to register here :-) But its RARE!
(For this reason, better do this step first, before doing any filling ups)

After you have logged in, click on 'Submit return' in the left panel.
You will be prompted to upload the xml file.
Upload it.
You dont have a digital signature yet (by all chances). So dont select that radio button.
(If you had your digital signature, then E-filing is done, at this step!)

When the uploading is completed, you will get instructions on where to find your ITR-V.
Download it, print 2 copies, sign on 'em.
Take these 2 copies to your nearest IT office and get it stamped.
Ho gaya !!!

Steps in Summary:
1. Go to IT site and register yourself using your PAN number
2. Fill up the excel utility (use form16 for reference) and generate the xml file
3. Upload the xml file to the IT site, in your login.
4. Get the ITR-V, download it, print it, sign on it.
5. Go with it to the IT office and get it stamped.
(The printed ITR-V should be stamped at the IT office within 15 days)


For ITR2, the process is going to be the same, except that you may have to fill up a few extra sections in the excel utility!

Dont wait!
Finish it off by yourself!
And save some hard-earned money.
(Inflation Demon is already eating it up big-time!)

Update (July22, 2008): More on "Registering into IT Website" here
Update (July29, 2008): You can now submit your ITRV for stamping at Queens Road office too ! The info I got is that from July25 to July31, all IT offices will do ITR-V stamping. One of my colleagues who went to Queens Road on Monday (yday) said that its 5min job. No queue, no waiting, no delay !
Update (July30, 2008): You can do e-filing till July 31, 2008. And you have 15 days to submit your ITR-V to the IT office. That means, even if you complete your Excel-xml formality and get your ITR-V printed out from the IT website, you have 15 more days to get it stamped at the IT office.

Tail:
There are a few other advantages of filing your returns all by yourself.
1. You understand to a small extent, bits n pieces of the tax machinery functioning.
2. You feel a lil bit of pride (oh yes! u can boast of it :D )
3. And most importantly, You would see that BIG number and say "Holy **** !!! I paid so much of tax this year?!!"
4. The last date for filing the returns is July31, 2008.
5. Where to submit the filled up ITR-V ? Generally all the IT offices would accept the ITR-V. But as of now when I'm writing this post, in Bangalore, they accept only at the GangaNagar, Bellary Road Office. The other offices (Queens Road etc..) will start accepting towards the last days of submission. For acomplete list of IT offices in Bangalore, with contact numbers, check here:
http://incometaxbangalore.org/jurisdiction/add_blr.htm
6. Keep in mind. When you go to the IT Office to get the ITRV stamped, you should go with TWO signed ITRV forms. One is for them. One is for you to take back, after stamping.
7. In case you have a refund, you need to fill up the relevant sections in the excel utility. If you are wondering where to get the MICR number from, check your cheque leaf. Its that number at the bottom, which remains constant in all the cheque leaves!
8. Do you need to go in person with your ITRV form to IT Office ? NO! You can simply hand it over to a friend who is going. No authorization of any sort is needed.
9. Do you need to carry your Form16 along with you to IT Office while going for ITRV stamping ? NO! All you need to carry is 2 copies of signed ITRV forms. Carry your PAN card and a copy of it too, just in case they ask for it. But take my word, they WONT ask for it :)

Vacation Time !

After a few hectic (?) days, its time to go home and chill out. Off to native on Saturday eve. Back on Wednesday morning. Happy Days :-)

Review: Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

Disclaimer: I have tried my best not to disclose the climax or suspenses in the movie. The theme is revealed, but not the full story.. If you wanna go for the movie with ZERO expectations, STOP RIGHT HERE!



A tried and tested theme. But one that has worked too.. Havent you seen this plot in umpteen number of hit movies? Count DDLJ, KKHH and other such 4-5 letter acronym movies.. There is this movie 'niram' in Malayalam.. The theme is same - boy girl friendship. Can a boy and girl remain friends throughout their life? Will this lead to love? Is marriage the final destiny of such boy-girl friendships?

Jaisingh Rathore (Friends call him Jai. But Aditi calls him Ratz) and Aditi (Friends call her Aditi. But Jai calls her Meow Meow) are the boy-girl characters in the movie. Aditi is one blasting character. She never bothers to keep track of the number of fights and gaalis she manages to deliver in a day. Jai is one soft chocolaty guy. He cant see Aditi sad. Thats how the movie opens up. The gang of friends meet up at a funeral program. Someone very near to Aditi expired. (I'm not gonna tell who! I promised, I dont wanna reveal any suspense). Come song "Kabhi Kabhi Aditi". Nice song. A R Rahman, it is!

All fun, naach-gaana, hungama needs to come to an end. (Well, no.. no tragedies.. dont worry!)
The 5 year college life comes to an end (What course is it where you be in college for 5 long years?) Jai is summoned to Aditi's house. A sequence of events there, and the duo is, for the first time, given the seed of thought - Are they in love ? A blatant denial on the face is the first reaction. The dream boy for Aditi, in her own words, is a mascular macho guy, who would save her from any difficulties. And Jai has a dream concept of his own. But then, will they be able to live separate? Lead 2 different lives ?

The movie has so many interesting scenes and characters. Aditi's bro is one typical character. Reserved painting artist, who locks himself into his room most of the day, but never lets go of an opportunity to pick a fight with his sis. After all, both belong to the same clan :) The most common topic for fight is Jai. Amit sees him as his number one enemy - for obvious reasons - that he reveals at some point of the movie :)

There is a slight inspiration from Tom & Jerry show in the movie, when Jai lends a helping hand to Amit, to find his pet - a Rat ! :-)

The friends gang is one fun group. They are found together almost always. The film, in fact starts off when the friends gang meet at the airport, to receive Jai and Aditi. The whole movie is a rewind of happenings...

The star-cast is too good. The acting is very natural. There is a cameo appearance by Naseeruddin Shah. Also giving special appearance are Sohail Khan & Arbaaz Khan.

The songs are nice. The locations are good too. Nice lighting and camera work. Comedies are stitched in, at appropriate places. Not many of 'em, but all are situational and apt.

Overall, a good entertainer !
Pls hit the theatre with bare minimal expectations - like how I went :-)

Rating: Average
(Must Watch/Average/Dont Go)

Tail:
1. Pls note that Pappu Cant Dance :-)))
2. Need tickets for the movie? Forget PVR, hit Vision Cinema on KH Road/Double Road, near new BMTC bus stand.
3. BTW, for the first time in my life, I had a FDFS !!
4. Bottom line - If you love somebody, speak out (not to the mirror, but to the person) :-D