madhouse musings!

Just on my way to an interaction on Open Coffee Club. OCC bangalore is an open forum for Entrepreneurs, VC’s and budding Entrepreneurs to come together and connect with each other at the grass root level. The group holds its meetings every alternate Sunday.

More details at: Open Coffee Club

More dope once i am back from there..

Also, i watched Jodha Akbar last night…more on that also later!

Shoes they come in shapes, sizes, costs and by the feet that wear them… here are some i clicked during the Valentine’s day part at Seventymm (www.seventymm.com) where i work.

The Crocodile skinned, the regular hardworking ones, the semi-formals

The writer types (Left), kurtapyjama-sandals kind (Top)

Mixed bag…err, shoes…pointed, beads, embroidery, stringed…

A full foot circle…round and round, around the world!

What’s your foot story?

Today, on Valentine’s day, when tradition talks of spreading love and expressing your love… Cafe Coffee Day has managed to pull off a FRAUD!

My classmate from University came by visiting me, she lives in another country and is visiting India briefly. She dropped by at office and we decided to go to the nearby Cafe Coffee Day or CCD as its commonly known as!

The Valentine flavor was seen all around and at CCD, with red balloons and young couples mostly in Red and Black, the women holding presents or flowers…. the spirit was in the air!

When we sat to order, i was a little disappointed as they were NOT serving the regular menu, so there was no usual Masala Chai Black for me. A little unhappy, i continued to choose what my friend had ordered for – ‘Go Nut Cappuccino’. As the guy was walking away with the order, we noticed that there was “no price attached to the menu”, we joked about CCD’s strategy to make extra bucks on V-Day and asked the guy how much the cappuccino costs, he did a mental calculation and said Rs. 51/-. We were pleased, thats not a rip off after all!

The order came and our expectations got crushed further, the Go Nut was all about one simple cappuccino and CCD’s own Masala Peanut, which they call ‘ Go Nut’. Bummer! Yet we were going with the spirit… catching up on matters of a few years that had grayed on us. After a couple of hits by the floor supervisor at CCD we decided we’ll make way for the young love birds who had flocked around waiting for their chance to taste the sweetness of caffeine…

When it was Bill Time, i was given a bill of Rs. 75 first, which in between conversation i handed a Rs. 500 note… so when change came back, i was charged an amount of Rs. 190/-

It happens such that Go Not, has nuts that’s separate and charged Rs. 36 for 2 (all the time we thought it was complementary and it sucked!) Cappuccino was Rs. 75 for one. (Omygod!) When asked for a clarification, i was told that the person who took my order was not aware of the costs. Even after random excuses and million illogical statements, my question was not answered – “I want a compensation.” Finally, after a serious argument and pointing out that CCD was doing a fraud with its customers, i got charged Rs. 51/-per cup of coffee.

The point is not about money here, it is about setting consumer expectations. It is about ensuring product knowledge and awareness to the last line in your business.

It is also about acknowledging the fact that consumer’s are intelligent, running a business, but in a fair manner. I have no qualms about CCD making a quick buck on V-day, but my problem is in the fact that they opted not to inform the customers about the prices up front, still worse, gave wrong information.

What’s your fraud experience? Let know. Also, i will be interested in knowing, if you guys can come up with intelligent fraud ways of making a quick buck… let the ideas roll!

I have driven in various cities in the world. I love to drive. But, what I have not been able to figure out is the ‘typical’ Bangalore trait. That of people inching forward to ‘win some unheard of race’ on the road. That of bikers zipping in gaps between two cars, creating confusion, yet undeterred…zipping away.

I seek answers to some questions… answers anybody?

Do people who drive or ride on the streets of Bangalore really understand lanes?
Are people sensitive about that fact that there are hundred other bikes or cars along with them and they are not alone?
Is it their impatience? Is it insecurity? Is it a game?
When you are on the streets, driving or riding, do you apply you mind to think or do you just drive/ride?

I for one, think for the others on the road. Save several lives by avoiding accidents that they would have been responsible for. I tend to loose patience, but i have trained myself to smile at the senseless behavior of people on the streets, what with stopping the auto rickshaw in the middle of the road to have a conversation…or deciding to take a U turn on a crowded street, from extreme left onto the extreme left of the other lane! Sigh!

What’s on your mind when you drive?

Mumbai, the city that never sleeps; the financial capital of India; the one place that, I have heard from times immemorial, let’s people be and live life the way they want…the city of dreams – that do come true.

Alas! What Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Raj Thackeray and his men have done today in Mumbai is for me a shame. What with the MNS and its goonda’s getting on road and beating up people who were ‘outsiders’ (really wonder how many of these goonda’s were true breed Maharashtrians). Images where MNS were slapping people who were in transit, merchants who were apparently of Bihar and UP origin, taxis which were driven by non Maharashtrians – did anyone stop to notice that it has a MH registration? How could these loyalists beat up Maharashtra registration boards? Hey, Raj Thackeray – is that ok?

As I watched this piece of news, I was flooded with mixed emotions of grief and anger. Grief towards people who fall prey and indulge in activities such as these, grief towards ‘rape’ of democracy and the beauty of integrity in diversity which our nation stands for. Anger towards politicians who choose topics such as these, as their agenda to win elections. Anger towards people like me who elect politicians and give them authority to influence the governance.

Who gives one right to assault another? Who gives a politician and his party workers authority to vandalize and behave like criminals? Are we who have witnessed this crime, supporters of this crime against Human Rights? Is this the price a nation pays once in a while to maintain its integrity and diversity? Are these issues of caste, creed, origin and city really sensitive issues or are they ‘politically sensitive’ issues?

I am as much a part of the crime as Raj Thackeray, as you or that guy who belongs to MNS or that guy who got hit by the MNS. We fuel the terriorist/criminal instincts of people such as Raj Thackeray instead of helping them tune their energies and intelligence towards positive outcomes. I am ashamed of my electoral right, of my diversity which makes us forget our integrity for a while. Was it not the ‘outsiders’ who stood with the ‘insiders’ in the past, the past that was not so long ago, such as the blasts, the floods, the riots and many more such?

What do you have to say Raj?