Encroachments outside Kamaraj Terminal/Airport

Nowhere in the world can you see way side encroachments bang opposite the Airport which is supposed to be the welcome gate way for both Domestic and Foreign tourists!  Chennai boasts of modern terminal that is just going to be inaugurated and going to become operational bringing in several thousands of both Domestic and International passengers.  The first thing that is going to hit the eyes and  become a sore point  is the Tea Stall that serves to the passers by which is right in front of the new, modern terminal.

Unless the Corporation of Chennai moves in fast and removes these stalls that operate bang on the GST road, lots of people would be encouraged to put up their own stalls serving small eats and drinks which would attract many passersby and become a nuisance value causing traffic jams and much more?  As the way side stalls offers eatables at a much cheaper price, it is bound to attract even the staff working inside the airport terminal as the charges inside the airport premises is too high and sometimes unaffordable!    It will be difficult to remove them once they start operating as they have avenues for justice that will take years and years for judgement!  The local representative of the political party would also cause all possible hindrance for the Corporation in removing the unauthorised stalls.  This has happened on Marina Beach and also on Elliot's Beach where numerous stalls have sprung up doing business and making a mess out of the beautiful beaches that stands as an attraction to tourists visiting the city.

Hope the authorities wake up before it is too late?

Dream comes true

Years back, When I was in-charge of a nationalised bank at Chennai, We used to have a stream of officials and friends of officials trooping into Chennai for the sake of staying in a 5 Star hotel within their official  eligibility means!  Our Bank had financed a top rated 5 star hotel bang in the city and the unofficial condition reached with the promoters of the Hotel was that whenever the higher ups visited the city, they would be accommodated within their official eligibility means!

Every week, I would get some call from my Head office at Delhi informing about the proposed visit of some Bosses on one pretext or the other.  The usual ritual was that I had to go to the Airport at Meenambakkam and stand there with a bouquet of flowers to welcome the so called higher official whose mind set was much below the thinking of an average man!

One of our Directors from the Finance Ministry visited the city twice every month as he was also on Board of yet another Nationalised Bank that had Head quarters at Chennai.  The Chairman's secretariat used to ring me up and inform me to book the usual room at the 5 star hotel and also receive him at the airport with a car at his disposal, along with bouquets and other formalities!!

This man, coming to the city twice every month also had his room booked at the Staff Training college of the other Nationalised Bank but he preferred the 5 Star comfort offered by my Bank for which the entire logistics fell on my head every fortnight?  Although I or my bank  had no role to play in his coming to the city, I was prevailed upon by my head office to arrange support for the Director!

Now, the South Indian Director would walk down the steps where at least a dozen officials representing the 2 banks and also the Ministry of Finance would be standing to greet him(artificially) and put up a smiling face welcoming him.  He would look around to ask who has brought-which car?  Every one would specify the car that they have fetched to take him to the place of his choice.  Obviously, he would spell out his intent of going to the star hotel and ask all others to follow him!  Thus, a convoy of at least 5 cars would take this single official to his most preferred destination in the city where he would sign off all others except me as only I knew the Hotel management in my official capacity!  I would quietly follow him to his room where he would create a big tantrum if he found there were no cookies or bouquet of flowers with a note to welcome him!  Although I found it hard to digest, I had no choice except to keep quiet and undergo the torture?  I would be at my heels even during those wee hours trying to organise some cookies or goodies for this Director and telephone the guest relation manager and all others to inform that the Director of the Bank is in their Hotel and everyone should be on their toes!

During Winter times, this man used to bring at least 2 huge suit cases and empty them in front of me.  They were all used winter garments or clothes like silk Saree that required dry cleaning.  I would telephone the laundry and ask them to send a person to take all the clothes for laundry and deliver the same back within the next 24 hours and this formed a regular duty for me besides my official work!

He would stay for a couple of days and enjoy or extract everything possible from the Hotel leaving me to do all the dirty work of adjusting the bills to fall within his eligibility norms as fixed by the other Nationalised Bank!  I never felt good serving these kind of greedy and selfish people.  I used to wonder if I would ever get a chance to act like him and enjoy the 5 star comforts?

                                          (Sun Rise from Hotel Pullman, Gurgaon)
Every one gets his turn and time and its my turn now.  My son who travels widely invites me to stay with him whenever he is in town.  The 5 star comfort and the pampering reminds me of those days when I was forced to be in attendance for my Director in the Bank.  The only difference is that I never carry clothes for dry cleaning or dry wash or make tantrums about those missing cookies or flowers in the room!! I feel very happy and elated to see my son rising to this position and making a mark in his career and thank god for realising my dreams that I had decades back!  I keep talking about various incidents that happened during my career and advise him things that he must not do?  

Jagad Guru Sri Sringeri Acharya Swamiji

Jagadguru Shankaracharya Sri Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamiji, the presiding Pontiff and the 36^th in the line of Jagadgurus of the celebrated Sringeri Sri Sharada Peetham is a  saint par excellence and a sage beyond compare.


I was a class 6th school boy,playful and would not let go of an opportunity to tune in Vivid Bharti to listen to my favourite Hindi songs!  One fine morning, my father (Late) Sri Suryanarayanan Iyer  of Hindustan Times, New Delhi came up to me and said that I need not go to school that day as they were to welcome Jagadguru Sankaracharya of Sringeri peetam in our house and to perform Pada-Puja!  I was stunned to hear that and happy too not because of His Holiness coming to our house but for the fact that I could play the whole day and listen to music!!  I was also little taken aback at my father's decision to perform Pada-Puja as he was not a very religious man by nature and was more inclined towards Left Ideologies!

It was probably the month of March when winter was folding its wings and summer slowly inching into the atmosphere.  Delhi used to be such a beautiful place to live in those times.

My house was full of elderly persons partly relatives and partly friends of my parents who were busy arranging the house and setting it in order for His Holiness Jagadguru Sankaracharya of Sringagiri.  The street in which we lived has a cosmopolitan crowd and culture.  A few neighbours unable to digest the suspense, pulled me aside to ask what was happening in my house and why such a hustle-bustle with so many people trooping into our house that consisted of a ground floor, a first floor and a terrace or a Barsati as was known during those times!  I told them that His Holiness Sri Sankaracharya was visiting our house and nothing beyond as I also did not realise the importance of his visit or the rituals that were part and parcel of his entourage!


The present Acharya
Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswamiji, the 35th Jagadguru of the Dakshinamnaya Sringeri Sri Sarada Peetham, was a perfect embodiment of virtues: compassion, truthfulness, patience, fortitude and righteousness. He worked ceaselessly for years—with inspired vision and strength and an immense capacity to elevate people.

Exactly at 9 am in the morning, a huge luxurious car pulled up and volunteers from the pilot car and the cars that followed jumped out and formed a human chain of protection around His Holiness.  The mesmerising face of His Holiness, still fresh in my memories was calm, smiling and pleasant.  The persona of the swamji has some kind of electrifying effect and I could feel goose bums all over the body, a feeling of seeing the god in person??    My father had arranged Brahman Priests who recited Vedas and welcomed His Holiness with "Poorna Kumbham".  As the Vedic chants rent the air, loud chants of Jai Jai Sankara by the assembled volunteers mixed with the vedic chants glorified the sky as if to invite the gods and goddesses to witness this beautiful event!!  At  this juncture, I could notice at least 50-100 volunteers who were unknown to the area joined in welcoming the Acharya and  raised slogans such as "Sankaracharya ki jai ho", "Jai Jai Shankara", and many such praising the Holy Seer and the Mutt.  Seeing such as huge crowd in a small lane, even my parents were surprised and felt elated to have risen to the occasion to give a befitting welcome to His Holiness.  Later on, my father informed me that those volunteers were from Jana Sangh now known as "B J P" and they volunteered to be there as a mark of discipline and oath taken to protect Hinduism.  The news about the arrival of Jagadguru spread like wild fire in the area and by the time my parents finished "Paada Puja", there were hundreds of such  who raised slogans in praise of His Holiness Jagadguru Sankaracharya of Sringagiri and gave a befitting farewell sent off from our street.  I heard my father saying that the volunteers of Sringeri Peetam who accompanied His Holiness were pleasantly surprised to see such a warm reception accorded and were full of appreciation!


My parents were very happy to have performed Pada-Puja to Acharya of Sringagiri being followers of the Holy Mutt.  As I recall that day of my life, there is moist in my eyes and my head bows quietly to salute my father's thoughts and images which carried charisma!  In a few months, he passed away leaving only memories for the family to share.   The volunteers were none other than the Robust, Disciplined and sincere comrades of Rashtriya Swyam Sevak Sangh, the right arm of the BJP who are always there to protect the culture, heritege of Hindus and Hinduism.  Today, if Hindus and Hinduism exist, it is only because of the brave and hard working workers who come from the RSS.

Strange Registration number of vehicle in Chennai

I was returning to my home when I spotted this Scorpio vehicle with a strange registration number near Guindy!  I was wondering if the RTO has started issuing such novel name plates as in the U S A?  Can anyone throw some light on this subject?  

Fast Track Taxi or "back track" Taxi

                                        

People in Chennai have fewer options when it comes to hiring of Taxis @ Chennai Airport to get back to their respective homes.  There are only 2 operators viz Aviation Express and Fast Track having counters at the Airport.  The other public taxi painted in black and yellow, though cheaper has some vintage fleet of cars and not air conditioned and not a comfortable one to ride back specially after alighting from an air-conditioned environment both inside the aircraft and also at the airport premises. These 2 operators have a virtual monopoly and fleece the passengers like there is no tomorrow?  While Aviation Express charges a sum of RS 650/- for covering a distance of about 12 kms, Fast track charges a sum of Rs 550/- for the same distance but lends the luxury of Tata Indigo car that can either take 2 passengers and one suitcase or take 3 passengers as it is hard to pull the car with any load more than the above stated!

Fast track has this notorious track record of upsurping many small time operators and bringing them all under one single brand of Fast Track, probably with some political support?  The result is that there is no competition in the field and whatever fares fixed by them is the final verdict for the commuters.  The Airport has 2 operators as there is a requirement of atleast 2 operators lest the system comes for scrutiny under Monopoly act!  Both of them have agreed and colluded to fix their own fares and loot the innocent passengers who are helpless and at their mercy!

Fast Track, of late, has started employing drivers who are from deep backward areas of South India and who do not know the topography of the city.  Every time you book a call Taxi, the call center allots a Taxi.  The driver calls up your mobile from somewhere and asks the way to come to your house!  This is quite disgusting and harassing as you have to plan a route map for the driver to enable him to reach you.  Similarly, you have to navigate him fully right upto your destination!!  One gets tired of giving directions and tension builds as you are never allowed to relax during the time of your journey in the car!

This morning, I had booked a Taxi with Fast Track for dropping my daughter at the Chennai airport.  The booking was made and an SMS was promptly sent confirming the booking.  At 7.45 am when the Taxi did not arrive on the scene, I enquired with the Fast track booking center only to be told that a driver with his Taxi is on his way.  They gave the mobile number of the driver as well.  When I contacted the driver, he simply told that there are no instructions to him from Fast Track!  When I contacted them back, they gave yet another number and the same thing was repeated.  I cancelled the booking and decided to drive myself and  drop my daughter at the airport.  The entire definition of hiring a Call Taxi stood defeated and there was absolutely no sign of any remorse from Fast Track.

It is time that the State Government encourages competition in the field and allow as many operators in order to build a healthy competition and protect the good will of the people.  More operators means competitive spirits and better upkeep of the cars as in Bangalore or Hyderabad.  I am given to understand that these 2 operators have their affiliation to local political parties who are protecting them by not allowing any kind of competition to come in whereby public will benefit.  The idea is to fleece and why not from those who travel by air paying high ticket prices?  Its time that both the Airport authority of India and the State Government wake up to realities and take stern measures to put down such business which is monopolistic in nature and against public interests?

god sent Friend named Amit

Meet Amit from doha/dubai who jumped from inside the You tube to be with my family!  Amit is an ardent fan of Hindi songs and he hit my site during one of his browsing sessions.  He sent me a message saying if you are in Dubai, please count me in for hosting drinks and dinner!!

That was a god sent message and everything else fell on its place making way for our union that culminated into deep rooted bond of friendship and affection for each other!  The next message that I got was that he was travelling to Delhi to be with his mother during the second week of December 2012 and I had to go to Delhi during the same time to attend a wedding of my classmate's son!!  the rest is destiny and good times that we met in Gurgaon and spent almost a full day together exchanging various things of mutual interest.  Soon after, I was travelling to Dubai to celebrate the New Year with my son Pushkar and daughter-in-law Taruna.  Amit was there at Dubai on the 28th of December, 2012 and co-ordinated to take me all around Dubai to show me some of the most exotic locales in Dubai.  My family met Amit and found him to be a person that our family owned!

Amit had all those charms and abilities to be at ease with my family.  My family accepted Amit and welcomed him to our fold.  Amit is well read, hails from a respectable Punjabi family and has done well for himself all alone with his own calibre.  He is the country head of Al-futaim  Engineering group based in Doha.  He travels to Dubai almost every other week to be with his wife and son Sahil who is a vibrant youngster, handsome and well spoken and behaved.  He had the poise and the necessary skills that would take him high in his career.

The introduction of Amit seems like a message from the god who always wishes well for everyone!
I truely believe that Amit will be a great, true friend always and give me the opportunity to reciprocate the same to him and family!!

I am thankful to god for making this unique thing to happen in my life!!

Amit had to leave for Delhi to be with his mother and family for the New Year.

The charisma and the affection that Amit carried will always be remembered and cherished "Jab tak ahai Jaan"!!!!

I pray to god to give me enough to reciprocate the same feelings back to Amit, all times??

Birla Sun Life Insurance or Bogus Sun life Insurance

Birla Sun life Insurance which boasts as an arm of Aditya Birla group is an enterprise that gives false hopes and can not be believed at all.  I was convinced to take 2 Birla Sun Life Insurance policies by my bankers Citi Bank, Chennai.  The Tie clad officer even showed me charts that would entice anyone to get invested with BSLI.  I took one in my name and one in my wife's name for a sizable sum paying a hefty premium of nearly 1.50 lacs per year!  Each year, when I telephone to ask for the surrender value, it would be much below the paid up premium and I decided to stay on.  Even  after 7 years plus of servicing the policy with premiums that were paid on dot, the policy failed to assure any prospects of earnings and the surrender value remained much below the paid up premium value.  When I wrote a complaint to the company, they deputed a couple of officers and a branch Manager who expressed sorrow at my plight and suggested that I should withdraw from the existing plan as it would never give any positive returns even at the time of maturity!  They suggested yet another insurance policy stating that it was specifically introduced for people like me who were lured by the Tie clad officers of Citi  bank to  whom Birla Sun Life Insurance paid hefty commissions for bringing in customers!!

I decided to surrender the policies and submitted the requisite documents on 22nd November, 2012 before 2pm as suggested.  I was at aloss of nearly Rs50,000/- which got wiped off from the principal premium paid not to talk of any interest that I would have earned if I had chosen to keep them in Fixed Deposits with any Bank!  Although, BSLI claims and assures that it will settle the surrenders within 2-3 working days, it took nearly 3 weeks for them to send me the cheques.  When I wrote a mail stating that I would take up the matter with the Ombudsman, the company thought it wise to settle the amounts and instead of crediting the proceeds directly to the bank, they sent cheques by which they could gain yet another 5 days to part with the funds.  Effectively, Birla Sun Life took nearly a month to settle the policy surrenders which is much against the principles of Insurance and justice.

I would caution people to exercise utmost caution before venturing in investments with Birla Sun Life Insurance based upon my own experience.  One may stand to loose the principal itself, forget interest or returns!!  Bankers are meant for banking and not for selling commercial products bringing down the ethics of banking itself?  If any Banker is trying to sell any product other than your banking needs, be assured that you are being taken for a ride and the banker earns commission for making you the Guinea pig!!!

Be Cautious and careful before you buy any Birla Sun Life product