Save The Tiger

Whew.....entered this space after a really long hiatus. Watching an Ad yesterday on Save The Tiger and was wondering if we want to show our kids the real animals, the only place they will be is a Zoo: caged, subdued, fed by the same people who caused their disappearance from their homes. Only 1411 left? We killed thousands of them?

I can thank my fortune that I have watched them in their natural habitat, living on their own conditions, mesmerizing us with their wilderness and beauty.

My first sighting, or a heavenly sighting, was in 1994 in Ranthambore. We took a night train, reached there at wee hours of the morning, but were still so excited and fresh that we booked ourselves the morning safari in those treacherous canters. With wind chill factor pushing down the mercury and lack of sleep, all we could feel of our exposed ears and noses were just some numb something. But even that couldn't kill our enthusiasm to experience the jungle. We would stare into the thick bushes at every sound as if the king of the jungle was right there waiting for us. After hearing constant cribbing of fellow tourists about non-existence of these creatures and how they have been visiting Ranthambore for years without any luck, we were thrilled just to be in the jungle watching so many cheetals, stags, crocodiles, fox, monitor lizards, porcupine, etc. And finally we saw what the real king (or in this case a Queen) looks like: there she was, sitting on a plateau, her skin shining like a strands of Gold as if she had just shampooed her hair. She strolled around caring nothing of the selfish humans around her and then slowly vanished in the thick growth of grass which camouflaged here perfectly. I was so nervous that I almost started trembling at the sight of this magnificent carnivore.

All I could feel was few moments of euphoria; guess Nirvana would be an understatement. What an inexplicable sight: a proud and elegant animal!

Thereafter I have had many a sightings notably in Corbett National Park when I was part of a hotel chain marketing its resorts. The best one being on a elephant safari, with 3 elephants enveloped a tiger and he walked almost 200 meters parallel to us growling and roaring in between to show us his anger.

But since last 4 years, I have been to few national parks but could never catch a glimpse of a tiger, only few langur calls and pretentious guides. Have we lost most of them? Seeing this ad makes me sad and more for our kids that these wonderful animals will only be part of stories for them. Our human blunders are irreversible and all we are left with is: a scared, lost, lonely wild devoid of its living beings.

Lets try to do whatever we can, in any little way, pledge to save whatever is left of our history. And lets do it soon before our kids start accusing us of robbing them off the most valued possession provided by our nature and mother earth.

SAVE OUR TIGERS!
http://www.saveourtigers.com/

Express Yourself - Airtel

Most of the brands & products have a tag line just for the sake of having one - simply a tag line.

But Airtel actually believes in its tagline - Express Yourself! And believe you me - as an Airtel subscriber, as many others will vouch for it, one gets to express himself/herself quite often - to Airtel's Customer Service Executives.

Whether its landline/broadband or its mobile customers, Airtel gives them many a opportunities to express themselves. In fact the process of expression starts from the day one - when you apply for a new connection. Let me share my experiences with them.

Considering the need for working from home for both - me & my wife, I decided  to get a broadband connection and the only one available was, if you excuse our deal old MTNL, Airtel.

So there they were - at my place, selling me their services. I was asked to choose the phone instrument and was informed that the basic one would cost X amount, while the cordless ones were of the range Y to Z.

What does one perceive of it? Isn't it that the cost of the instrument will vary on the basis of the instrument one chooses? That's exactly was my perception too.

So here am I - choosing an high-end cordless instrument for an amount Z.

Within 2 months of the installation, and many a "Express Myself", this higher-end cordless phone was repaired thrice and in the end, I got so sick of it, that I asked them to change it to the basic instrument costing Rs.X.

And from this time, my "Express Yourself" stint picked up steam. The Airtel guys came, changed the instrument to the basic one, and tool back the high-end cordless. After Expressing Myself again for more than 5 times over the phone & never-ending e-mails, I was told that they wouldn't refund the difference of the cost between high-end cordless & the basic one, as the amount they had charged me in the beginning was not for the telephone instrument, but behold, it was for installation.

Now where in this world can I find a wise man who can make me believe that the cordless phone requires a complicated kind of installation, which demands a higher price! Though, whatever I have seen of installation, I have 3 Airtel connections with the basic instrument in my office, it's the same for each instrument. The length of the cable remains same, as well as the number of connectors.

Since then, I swore never to earn any opportunity to "Express Myself" and stay away from Airtel, though how much I wish, I cant give-up the Airtel connection at my place till I get other options, or BETTER, move to a new place.

So People, keep "Expressing Yourself"! I can happily recommend you to Airtel when their DSAs call me selling me other connections or asking for references.

Till then, Ciao Ciao

Fight for Rights

My family members crib that most of the time they find me arguing with the customer care executives of banks, credit card companies, ISP, telephone/mobile companies or airlines. But they do appreciate my efforts, the efforts which have caused removal of many a hideous charges from various bills which we consumers are deluded to accept if not noticed, or by not reading "fine print" and "conditions apply".

Most of us dont go into details of the bills usually, only looking at the overview, and trusting these companies to be fair & ethical. Unfortunately, these companies are anything but that.

And unless you bring these issues to their notice, they wouldn't even bother and put the onus on the consumers to find out any problem with their bills. However, these same companies would go to any extent if you don't make their payment on time, sometimes perhaps by no fault of yours. You might even receive a call from one of their goons using the choicest of abuses and threatenings if you have defaulted in a payment. You might want not to pay some bills due to any dispute, but the companies would force you to pay first and then discuss how the dispute occured.

I am taking this fight to the street now. I refuse to lie down and take bull-shits from these companies. If that means taking them to various court of laws, spending my time & resources, and seeking support from other affected consumers - so be it.

My 1st effort is to create this blog and through it create a fraternity for Participation, Collaboration, Exchange of News & Views so that it adds value to any of the consumer who is in need of a help against the might of these companies.

I invite suggestions, comments, examples, and just about anything which can help me in fighting for my rights as a consumer.