The current tour of South Africa by the Indian Cricket Team has brought to fore the abilities (some people would like to say disabilities) of our team. But whats new ? It has always been the case. We have never been able to boast of doing good on tours. (As always there are a few exceptions to every rule.) Its a well known fact that all Indian cricket teams irrespective of whether its the current one led by Dravid or the ones before, are all poor travelers. It does not matter whether its Greg Chappell or John Wright or Kapil Dev or Angshuman Gaekwad, we have never done well abroad. So, why the furore ?
The Indian media which is always short of good news and delves more on sensationalism makes mountains of our mole-hills (read as cricketers). And our fickle public which remembers just these sensations begin to expect more than we can deliver (even at home). Thanks to this approach "one match wonders" are enough to carry our cricketers for long distances in the Indian cricket team.
Lets accept the truth, thats the case in everything that we do. We are never the best. Whether its cricket or any other field. We are far from the best. A small rise in the sensex and there are thousands of people drooling in Dalal Street. We make them much more real than they are. Yes, we may have the ability or the potential to be the best. But we have not been. And I am not talking about potential here, so lets leave that aside. I am talking about what we have achieved. We climb small mountains and rest hoping that the tide of sensationalism will carry us across.
We ourselves live modest lives. Many of us content with small things. But then when it comes to cricket, we definitely expect our cricket team to play better than mediocre. And why ??? Because we pay them so much. And also we see them on so many advertisements. (which our ex-cricketers from the licence raj regime constantly remind us of). Hence we expect them to play and be much more consistent. We want them to be accountable. We demand that their pays should be based on their performance.
Well, there is a particular lot in our country, whose salary has been revised more 30 times in the last 50 years. (Well, thats at least thrice more than any other lot have got.) They are provided the best facilities that our poor country can afford - cars, bungalows in the cities, phone bills that nobody questions, free air and rail travel, a barrage of educated officers (IAS officers) for their beck and call. Yes, no prizes for guessing... its our politicians. They rule our country. How well have they performed ? But who is asking ? We really don't care ... now do we ? Its after all just a small country of billions that they are dealing with. But then we of course should demand that Greg Chapell and Dravid and his men should be accountable. After all they are the only ones who have to take our country forward. We really don't care about where we stand on the International corruption index but we must care about where we stand in the ICC cricket ratings. Or is it that we decided that to make a start we'll start from the ICC cricket ratings.
Here we are after 50 years of independence, paying Rupees Seven Lakh each for almost 5000 victims of a communal riot as compensation, a communal riot that could very well have saved thousands of lives and property worth crores of rupees. But then who cares ? Do we really need to know all this ? All we really need to ask our politicians is what they make of the Indian team's performance in South Africa.
Cricket is a game. Its a game to entertain people. Our poor countrymen have a dearth of good entertainment. Lets just allow cricket to be a game meant for entertainment rather than making it our national anthem.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Friday, November 24, 2006
Sleepless in Flight.
No. No.. this has nothing to do with the Meg Ryan - Tom Hanks starrer "Sleepless in Seattle". Nor is this an advt for some stupid mattress that you keep hearing on the radio. This is just an interesting tip for sleepless travelers on those wretched flying machines. No promises that you will be able to sleep. But at least you have one more chore to do, in your attempt to fall asleep.
http://cyberkraze.blogspot.com/2006/11/travel-tip_20.html
http://cyberkraze.blogspot.com/2006/11/travel-tip_20.html
Friday, November 17, 2006
Off on a trek.....
After long, me and a group of friends have decided to go on a trek. We decided to trek the Kumaraparvatha. It is supposed to be the second highest peak in Karnataka. And it being winter its going to be real cold. And we did not realise that the date we chose was a "No moon" day. Great !!! Trekking in the forest in winter in pitch darkness.... thats going to be fun. :)
After a lot of planning we are finally set to leave for trek in a few hours. Well... actually we should have left a few hours ago. But unfortunately the vehicle that we were supposed to catch has not yet arrived and so we are stuck waiting for the bus to arrive. Not a good start to the trip. But well.... these guys are all "like that only".... never on time. Hopefully we should be leaving in at least an hour.
We are scheduled to start the trek tommorrow around 7am. Trek to the top of the hill, pitch our tents there and stay there overnight. And trek back downhill on Sunday. So should be back in Bangalore, Monday morning. This is going to be one helluva trek for me. I am all excited.
Next posting after I get back from my mini vacation. :)
After a lot of planning we are finally set to leave for trek in a few hours. Well... actually we should have left a few hours ago. But unfortunately the vehicle that we were supposed to catch has not yet arrived and so we are stuck waiting for the bus to arrive. Not a good start to the trip. But well.... these guys are all "like that only".... never on time. Hopefully we should be leaving in at least an hour.
We are scheduled to start the trek tommorrow around 7am. Trek to the top of the hill, pitch our tents there and stay there overnight. And trek back downhill on Sunday. So should be back in Bangalore, Monday morning. This is going to be one helluva trek for me. I am all excited.
Next posting after I get back from my mini vacation. :)
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Crazy Law
While having our regular cup of afternoon chai today, my colleague the Bombay Bombshell (when this mumbai-ite gets angry she could be worse than the most powerful bomb) showed me a
news reportfrom the TOI. Amidst sipping my tea, I read the report and was aghast by the contents of the report. I felt that this was definitely one occasion of using the choicest of expletives against the justice system that prevails in India.
Here was a case where a crime is done against a harmless helpless 8 year old girl and the court was considering that this was not a crime which deserved the punishment reserved for the rarest occasions. How pathetic !!! The worst part was the following statement of one of the bench "The death occurred, therefore, as a consequence of, and not because of, any specific act on the part of the accused," So, does that mean that one can later argue, "Oh!! I just pulled the trigger. How can you blame me if the victim died ?". What crap ???
As we drank tea all of us debated about how the courts seem to work only for the rich and powerful. Every politician or celebrity who is booked in a case, goes public and says that the whole case is fabricated and he has faith in the courts. And yes, magically the court always favors the rich and powerful, take this for instance. A colleague reminded me, that sometime ago I had argued that "people must never take the law into their own hands.". But frankly, after reading the newsreport my blood was boiling. How will the people trust the courts to provide them justice, if the court goes around making such callous statements.
Reminds me of what Robert Kiyosaki had said in his book "Rich Dad Poor Dad". The law is made by "The Rich and Powerful" for the "Rich and Powerful. Why would they make the law pro-poor. Are they crazy ? If the justice system continues as irresponsbile as this and the poor continue to be deprived of their chance to justice, the day is not far when I see the public rising in revolt.
news reportfrom the TOI. Amidst sipping my tea, I read the report and was aghast by the contents of the report. I felt that this was definitely one occasion of using the choicest of expletives against the justice system that prevails in India.
Here was a case where a crime is done against a harmless helpless 8 year old girl and the court was considering that this was not a crime which deserved the punishment reserved for the rarest occasions. How pathetic !!! The worst part was the following statement of one of the bench "The death occurred, therefore, as a consequence of, and not because of, any specific act on the part of the accused," So, does that mean that one can later argue, "Oh!! I just pulled the trigger. How can you blame me if the victim died ?". What crap ???
As we drank tea all of us debated about how the courts seem to work only for the rich and powerful. Every politician or celebrity who is booked in a case, goes public and says that the whole case is fabricated and he has faith in the courts. And yes, magically the court always favors the rich and powerful, take this for instance. A colleague reminded me, that sometime ago I had argued that "people must never take the law into their own hands.". But frankly, after reading the newsreport my blood was boiling. How will the people trust the courts to provide them justice, if the court goes around making such callous statements.
Reminds me of what Robert Kiyosaki had said in his book "Rich Dad Poor Dad". The law is made by "The Rich and Powerful" for the "Rich and Powerful. Why would they make the law pro-poor. Are they crazy ? If the justice system continues as irresponsbile as this and the poor continue to be deprived of their chance to justice, the day is not far when I see the public rising in revolt.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Goof Master
It was another uninteresting day in office. I was busy at work, when my phone rang.It was my friend Ms Pooja. I had hardly known her for a few months now. But what a girl, an excellent conversationalist with a great sense of humor. It was always fun talking to her. We were doing the general chit chat, when she suddenly said, "Hey, I need to catch the 5:15 bus. Let me hurry up. Talk to you later." Before I could even react, she had said "bye!!" and hung up.
A little while later, I noticed that Ms Pooja was online on Google Talk. "Hmmm.. that's surprising. Whats she doing online ? I thought she was heading home...". The curious cat in me said "Meow !!" I decided to ping her. If she did plan to catch the 5:15pm bus what was she doing in office at 5:45pm. May be she forgot to log off. I sent a message "Hi !!!". Not expecting a response, I closed the window and continued with my work. When after some time I got back a one word response "Hello.", I was surprised. The lady of so many words, must be really busy or something, how come she had replied with a monosyllable and that too had taken such a long time. Meow Meow !!! the cat said. I sent another message "How come you are online ? I thought you were supposed to catch the 5:15 bus". I waited for quite sometime. No response. I was getting impatient. I pinged her again, "Helloooooooo". Getting no response, once again I put the cat to sleep and continued with my work, when suddenly I got a response.
"Hello Puchu. This is Pooja's father. Pooja has not yet reached home from office".
What ??? Pooja's father ?? What was he doing, logged in with her id ?? I had not bargained for this. I had bitten on something that I could not chew. I needed to bolt. I needed to bolt like one of those street dogs at whom you have just thrown a stone. I respond... "Oops !!! Sorry !!! Bye !!!" and disappeared into the oblivion.
I panicked. I knew that Ms Pooja was from as conservative a family as mine. If this was my Dad he would have one hazaar questions for me and some severe reprimands. "Guys having girls as friends. No way." Not an accepted thing in my family. I had to inform Pooja. She better be prepared to answer tough questions when she gets to her home. I rang her up and blurted out. "Hey, listen... I am SORRY. I goofed up big time." I told her the whole incident. She laughed like there was no tomorrow. She kept pulling my leg saying, "I cant believe you are trying to hurt me like this." I was thankful she could not see me. I was feeling really sheepish. Finally, taking pity on me, she magnanimously said, "Don't worry, I'll handle it. I must have forgotten to log off Google Talk last night and it must have logged me on when Dad powered-on the comp. Chill. Dont worry too much. I'll handle it".
The next day Pooja told me, how her Mom took the first opportunity that she was alone and asked her about the incident. Pooja told her the truth. Thankfully her mom accepted her explanation and did not grill her any further. I was glad that the incident had not spiraled into a big storm. I made a mental note to remember not to ping her on Google Talk again.
For the next couple of days, I saw her online a couple of times. And every time, just when I was about to click on the "Start Conversation" I recollected how I had goofed up recently. And stopped myself
Pooja has the habit of sending a "Good Morning !!!" mails with an inspirational quote attached, first thing in the morning every day. She usually has a long list of friends to whom she sends these messages religiously. When I saw her mail today, I said, "Let me not goof up once again". So, I wrote a reply to her.
Hello Pooja,
How are you doing ? Have a wonderful day !!
you know what...I think I shall remove your gmail id from my address book. I dont want to accidentally cause any more problems to you
Regards,
Puchu
I sent her the mail and got busy with my work. Sometime later Pooja calls up and is laughing her head off. She is laughing so much that I cant make a thing of what she says. After a while she finally composes herself and says, "What the hell did you do ?". "Now what did I do ??" "You did a reply-all instead of a reply. And now all my friends want to know who Puchu is."
I was mortified. I couldn't believe I had done this. I felt like digging a hole and creeping in to it. There was no way I could have done this. But then, I had. I really did not know what to do. All I could do was apologize. I said "I am SORRY. I owe you a big one this time.". She laughed and said, "This is not the first time." I knew it was true, "Just add it to my list."
A little while later, I noticed that Ms Pooja was online on Google Talk. "Hmmm.. that's surprising. Whats she doing online ? I thought she was heading home...". The curious cat in me said "Meow !!" I decided to ping her. If she did plan to catch the 5:15pm bus what was she doing in office at 5:45pm. May be she forgot to log off. I sent a message "Hi !!!". Not expecting a response, I closed the window and continued with my work. When after some time I got back a one word response "Hello.", I was surprised. The lady of so many words, must be really busy or something, how come she had replied with a monosyllable and that too had taken such a long time. Meow Meow !!! the cat said. I sent another message "How come you are online ? I thought you were supposed to catch the 5:15 bus". I waited for quite sometime. No response. I was getting impatient. I pinged her again, "Helloooooooo". Getting no response, once again I put the cat to sleep and continued with my work, when suddenly I got a response.
"Hello Puchu. This is Pooja's father. Pooja has not yet reached home from office".
What ??? Pooja's father ?? What was he doing, logged in with her id ?? I had not bargained for this. I had bitten on something that I could not chew. I needed to bolt. I needed to bolt like one of those street dogs at whom you have just thrown a stone. I respond... "Oops !!! Sorry !!! Bye !!!" and disappeared into the oblivion.
I panicked. I knew that Ms Pooja was from as conservative a family as mine. If this was my Dad he would have one hazaar questions for me and some severe reprimands. "Guys having girls as friends. No way." Not an accepted thing in my family. I had to inform Pooja. She better be prepared to answer tough questions when she gets to her home. I rang her up and blurted out. "Hey, listen... I am SORRY. I goofed up big time." I told her the whole incident. She laughed like there was no tomorrow. She kept pulling my leg saying, "I cant believe you are trying to hurt me like this." I was thankful she could not see me. I was feeling really sheepish. Finally, taking pity on me, she magnanimously said, "Don't worry, I'll handle it. I must have forgotten to log off Google Talk last night and it must have logged me on when Dad powered-on the comp. Chill. Dont worry too much. I'll handle it".
The next day Pooja told me, how her Mom took the first opportunity that she was alone and asked her about the incident. Pooja told her the truth. Thankfully her mom accepted her explanation and did not grill her any further. I was glad that the incident had not spiraled into a big storm. I made a mental note to remember not to ping her on Google Talk again.
For the next couple of days, I saw her online a couple of times. And every time, just when I was about to click on the "Start Conversation" I recollected how I had goofed up recently. And stopped myself
Pooja has the habit of sending a "Good Morning !!!" mails with an inspirational quote attached, first thing in the morning every day. She usually has a long list of friends to whom she sends these messages religiously. When I saw her mail today, I said, "Let me not goof up once again". So, I wrote a reply to her.
Hello Pooja,
How are you doing ? Have a wonderful day !!
you know what...I think I shall remove your gmail id from my address book. I dont want to accidentally cause any more problems to you
Regards,
Puchu
I sent her the mail and got busy with my work. Sometime later Pooja calls up and is laughing her head off. She is laughing so much that I cant make a thing of what she says. After a while she finally composes herself and says, "What the hell did you do ?". "Now what did I do ??" "You did a reply-all instead of a reply. And now all my friends want to know who Puchu is."
I was mortified. I couldn't believe I had done this. I felt like digging a hole and creeping in to it. There was no way I could have done this. But then, I had. I really did not know what to do. All I could do was apologize. I said "I am SORRY. I owe you a big one this time.". She laughed and said, "This is not the first time." I knew it was true, "Just add it to my list."
Monday, November 06, 2006
Scary Connections
(This is a true incident that happened to me a few weeks ago. Shook me up big time. )
This happened a couple of Thursdays ago. I left office early since I had to drop my parents to the railway station. My bro too decided to come early. We dropped off our parents to the railway station and went home to watch the India - West Indies match of the Champions Trophy. Both of us, were not keeping well due to the bad weather prevailing in Bangalore that week. Both of us were dozing off in front off the television watching yet another off-color performance by the Indians.
Around 8:30 pm a couple of friends dropped in to discuss some issues about a house construction with my brother. About ten minutes later, I heard yet another knock at the gate. We stay on the first floor of our two floor house. There is an external staircase which leads to the main entrance gate. Our gate makes this odd sound when you try to open it that we can hear its distinct sound on the first floor. I came out and saw two people trying to open the gate to enter the compound. We usually do not allow strangers to enter the compound. I asked them who they were and got no response. I was getting irritated. They looked up at me and continued to enter the gate. Both men, were around 35 or 40 years old, average build and sport a short military cut hairstyle. The man in front was in a light red shirt, while the other slightly taller man was in a cream colored shirt. I assumed this is one more real estate agent asking if the ground floor house was vacant.
I was getting irritated. I once again asked them, this time a bit roughly.... "yaaru ???". By now they were half way up the staircase. The man in the light red striped shirt, asked "Sudeep iddaara ???" (Is Sudeep there?). I tried to remember if I had given my name to any of those pesky real estate agents. Could not remember any. I said "howdu, naane. Neev yaaru ?" (Yes, I am sudeep. Who are you?). One of the men answered "naavu policeavru. Naav maalur inda barthaidivi". (We are policemen, we are coming from Malur.) I was like... "oh gawd!!... Cops!! What did I do ? Had I spoken to some girl recently ? Did I trouble any girl recently ? Maalur ??? Whom do I know from Malur? I knew this girl some time ago. But I have not troubled her. Unlikely that she would have set the cops on me. Or would she have... I hope its not ??"
As such thoughts kept rushing into my head, the two men were now standing right below my nose and were standing such that they had cornered me. They had positioned themselves standing acting like they were ready to pounce on me if I moved. The one in the red shirt asked "yen maadthira?" (What do you do?). I said "Software Engineer". "Yelli ?" (where?) I said "XYZ". And then the taller man speaking for the first time said, "Electronics City na ?". "Illa, M G Road hathra". (No, near M G Road). Finally realising that I needed to ask them my own questions I asked, "Vishya yenu ?" (Why do you ask ?). "Banni helthini" he said, trying to point towards the door indicating that he would like to sit down and then talk. I knew I had to ask them their ID card, but that only happens in the English movies. You never know how are Indian cops would behave if we asked them for their IDs. So I decided to go back into the house.
Me being from a very decent family, I am not used to having the cops coming knocking at my door looking for me. To the say the least, I was shitting in my pants. I guess it must have shown on my face. On seeing me and having realised that some people were coming inside the house, my bro asked "Who are these people?". I said, "I beleive they are cops and they are looking for me. They are not saying what the issue is." The cop in the red shirt having heard the conversation says "hedirkolleke yenu illa biddi" (nothing to be scared off). The cops went ahead and seated themselves and made themselves comfortable. Thankfully for me, my brother and our two friends were in the house. Its reassuring to know you have people who know you, sitting along with you in the room, when you are sitting down with cops, who want to "ask you a few questions". I dont know about others, to me the whole scene was an intimidating one.
The cop in the red shirt, the one doing all the talking, fishes out a paper from his pocket. On it, I see scribbled my name and address. He verifies once again with us if the name and address are correct. Also, on the paper is a cell phone number. The cop asks me if that was my cell phone number. I looked carefully at the number. This definitely was not my number. I felt releived. Finally something that does not match up to me. I tried to remember if I could recollect if this number belonged to any of my friends. Could not recollect any number. I could bearly recollect my own number with all the thoughts rushing into my head. The cop asked me if this number ever belonged to me or if I had ever lost any cell phone or any sim card. I said "No". Thankfully I have never lost a cell phone. Touch wood.
The cop in the red shirt then asked for my cell phone number. I gave him my number. He said "Nimm phone inda namma Circle jothe maathadi." (Call up and speak to the Circle Inspector from your phone). I went to retreive my cell phone from my room. In the meanwhile my brother checked the ID of the policemen. He mentioned to the policemen, that he used to work with the Lok Ayukta before and dished out names of a few Inspectors. And once again quizzed the policemen as to what the issue was. Why were they here ? They refused to divulge any details. They said its a sensitive issue and could not discuss it with us. I
After my brother had reeled out names of a few senior police officers, the policemen were sure that I was not the person they were looking for. They too relaxed a bit and finally after a lot of coaxing, the cop in the red shirt said, "See sir, we were investigating a case. During investigation we got this cell phone number. As you can see this is an Airtel Connection. When we furnished this number with Airtel, they gave us your name and address. That is why we have been sent to check out this address. But when we came here and saw your house and the locality you live in, we realised that this is not the person we want. But we came in just to check and make sure. We were pretty sure you were not the guys. If you really were the guys, we would not have talked this way. We would have rounded you up and taken you to the Police Station.". My brother then spoke to the Circle Inspector. He too dished out the same story. He asked us to verify with Airtel about the confusion.
As a parting shot the other cop who had been relatively silent the whole time finally spoke. He said, "Nammige gothitu sir neevalla antha. Nammig gothu nimm thai teacheru. Nimm thande HAL alli kelsa maadthidru" (We know sir you were not the person. We know your mom is a retired teacher. Your dad was working in HAL).. Whoa !!!! I was shell shocked. They had done a lot of homework. "Nimmig heg gothu idella ??" (How did he know all these details) "Naav police saar. namig gothirathe idella...". Great !! Does that mean I am in your record books now ?? Saying this, the cops left leaving me half dazed at the turn of events.
Apparently, before turning up at my gate, these cops had enquired with my neighbours about me. And finally my "good boy" image in my neighbourhood came to good use. But I am not sure what image I now have. The police dont come asking questions about "good boys".
After the cops left, I immediately called up the Airtel customer support. I learnt from customer support, that the number was a pre-paid connection. Also, they confirmed that indeed the number was registered in my name and address. I thought long and hard, tried to recollect if I had ever applied for another Airtel connection. I hadn't. I realised that it had to be a case of identity theft. Someone had used my credentials to obtain a pre-paid Airtel connection. Gosh !!! God alone knows what crime these guys were upto. I was very worried. I tried to find out what ID proof they had provided to get the connection. But Airtel was not forthcoming with information. They asked me to go personally to the Airtel office.
The next morning I went to Airtel's office on Nandidurga Road. Let me tell you that going to their offices is not a pleasant experience. Their offices open only at 10 o'clock. And if you assumed that all private offices unlike Government offices opened at 9 o'clock, be ready to entertain yourself outside their office. They would not even bother to give you a seat if you reach their office before 10. Anyway, finally when the office opened at 10 AM I went in, got myself a token and waited for my turn. When it was my turn, I went over to the representative sitting across the counter. He was beaming at me as if to say, "Ah !! Dont worry at all. I will solve your problem." So I told him my problem. He expressed his "deep regret" since he would not be able to help me. Great! Why pretend to be helpful when you dont have any intention of helping me in the first place. He asked me to go their head office on Bannerghatta Road, which is a good 10 kms from my office. Splendid. Here I was, in the midst of a busy week in office and also battling a bad bout of throat infection. And these guys showed no indication of helping me. I felt so helpless. I tried to recollect... "What had I done ??". I had done absolutely nothing. And people wanted me to run from pillar to post. Thats wonderful. I took the Bannerghatta office number from the "so helpful" representative and headed off to office. I was late to office by 2 and 1/2 hours and had not acheived a thing.
Endless attempts to contact Airtel's Bannerghatta office by phone went in vain. Apparently, Airtel's own head office could not transfer my call from their board to any department that could help me. They told me "Please wait while I transfer your call" and then "bing bing bing", my call was disconnected. I realised what my friends meant when they said "Airtel's customer service sucks !!!". I wished I had not argued on Airtel's behalf then.
I spoke to some of my friends. One of them knew someone who worked in Airtel. After a few hours my friend informed me that the only way something could be done was that I go lodge a police complaint. Only then Airtel would be able to take any action. "What the heck ?? I need to lodge a police complaint ?? Gosh !!! Here's another opportunity for some corrupt policeman to try to fleece money out of me." But then, I realised I had no other go, I better go and make the complaint. What if those cheats (the ones who had got the cell phone connection in my name) were upto no good ??? Poor me would unneccessarily get into unwanted trouble. But then, am I over reacting ? Do you need to really worry ??? May be its just a couple of idiots upto some stupid adolscent tricks. So, I decide to take it easy. Let me not get too worried. But then...... what if ????? I kept debating this for quite a while. I finally decided the right person to fill me in on the story would be the Circle Inspector of Malur, the cop that my bro had spoken to, last night over the phone.
I was a bit upset about the whole issue. But was not too worried. After all I had not done anything. Why the hell should I be worried ? I called up the Circle Inspector, Mr S. After I had introduced myself to him he says, "Let me tell you something very frankly. The case that we are currently investigating is a kidnap case". WHAT ?? Holy shit. I was in deep trouble. He goes on, "We are investigating this kidnap case where the kidnappers have already collected a Rs 30 lakh ransom". Shocked, I repeated "Thirty Lakhs ???". "Yes, thats right, they have already collected Rupees Thirty lakh and are demanding for Ten Lakhs more". Holy crap !! That means the victim has not yet been released. So, its likely this number is still active. Anything could happen. Knowing how our Indian cops work, my head started filling with countless stories of how the police could twist and turn anything to their benefit. If they dont find the actual thief, then they were very much capable of branding the next person they find as the thief. I was lucky, I was sitting on the chair, otherwise my legs would have buckled under the news that I heard. Garnering some courage, I managed to ask, "Sir, what should I do now sir ?". "Banni Maalurigge. maathadanna." (Come over to maalur. We can talk there.) I was not sure why he was calling me over to Malur. Did he want too want to fleece money out of me ? There was no way, I was going over to Maalur. "Banni.. bejaan busugal idde." (Come on over to Maalur. There are plenty of buses to this place)
I was pretty sure, that there was no way I was going to go to Maalur. I told the inspector that I would discuss the issue with my brother and get back to him later and hung up the call. I was shaken by the sudden turn of events, news of the kidnapping, the ransom and the Inspector's attempt to scare me saying "If we go by the proof, you are also one of the accused". Hello ??? (not the right word to say, under the circumstances. )What did I do ??? I stayed at home and did nothing. And here I was being accused of something which I could not even dream of ever being able to do.
May be I should go and register a police complaint. But what do I complain ? Against whom should I complain ? Which police station should I go to ? Isn't this a cyber crime ? Should I be going to the Cyber Crime Police Station ? I was totally confused. So many questions kept popping into my head. I was feeling really worried. The blood had all drained out of my face and I looked pale. My colleagues and friends all suggested I speak to a lawyer and take his advice. All of them told me strictly, "Dont even venture in the direction of Maalur. And if you have to go to the police station, take an advocate along. DONT GO ALONE."
By evening, my throat infection had gone from bad to worse. I hung around for a while, totally confused as to what I should be doing. By the time I reached home, I had high fever. I did not like the idea of going to the police station and registering a complaint. After consulting a lot of people, I finally decided to let it be as it is. I was not going to do anything. After all I had done nothing. So, why should I be the one going to the police station. Why should I go and consult a lawyer? Who was going to bear my legal fees ? After all, I had nothing to do with the case.
I decided that the only thing that I would do was send Airtel a complaint over email. The next day I drafted a letter and sent it to Airtel's customer care. I decided to wait and see how the story would now unfold. Nothing happened for a few days. Though I wanted to know what happened about the case, I knew it would be foolish to call up the Circle Inspector. A few more days passed by with absolutely no news. I spent most of the time on the phone calling up various departments of Airtel trying to see if they could be forced to help me. But nothing happened. They were at their irresponsible callous best. They kept passing the buck, but did nothing.
Finally on Thursday, morning, exactly a week since the whole episode had begun, the newspaper carried a front page news that grabbed my attention. " Kidnap drama ends in shootout." The gist of the story was "The police were investigating a case involving the kidnap of the son-in-law of a stationary wholesale dealer from Bangalore. The victim was released after the payment of a ransom of Rupees Thirty Five Lakh. However the police had managed to arrest one person, by name Tippu. During his interrogation he revealed the name of another accomplice, Ghafoor who was the kingpin in anothe kidnap for ransom case. The police were able to rescue the kidnapped man. They layed a trap to catch the kingpin. But on seeing the police, they opened fire. In the exchange of fire, the police were able to kill the two main accused." The article also mentioned another intresting information. The main accused, Ghafoor had given Tippu a SIM which was registerd in the name of one Ms Nagrathnamma.
Whoa !!! I think I had a close shave. Till date, I am not aware of how my name got linked in this whole case. But the most appalling thing during the whole incident is the callous attitude of the Airtel personnel. They were the ones who issued a SIM card in my name. But they did not bother to help anyway. Airtel sucks big time !!!!
This happened a couple of Thursdays ago. I left office early since I had to drop my parents to the railway station. My bro too decided to come early. We dropped off our parents to the railway station and went home to watch the India - West Indies match of the Champions Trophy. Both of us, were not keeping well due to the bad weather prevailing in Bangalore that week. Both of us were dozing off in front off the television watching yet another off-color performance by the Indians.
Around 8:30 pm a couple of friends dropped in to discuss some issues about a house construction with my brother. About ten minutes later, I heard yet another knock at the gate. We stay on the first floor of our two floor house. There is an external staircase which leads to the main entrance gate. Our gate makes this odd sound when you try to open it that we can hear its distinct sound on the first floor. I came out and saw two people trying to open the gate to enter the compound. We usually do not allow strangers to enter the compound. I asked them who they were and got no response. I was getting irritated. They looked up at me and continued to enter the gate. Both men, were around 35 or 40 years old, average build and sport a short military cut hairstyle. The man in front was in a light red shirt, while the other slightly taller man was in a cream colored shirt. I assumed this is one more real estate agent asking if the ground floor house was vacant.
I was getting irritated. I once again asked them, this time a bit roughly.... "yaaru ???". By now they were half way up the staircase. The man in the light red striped shirt, asked "Sudeep iddaara ???" (Is Sudeep there?). I tried to remember if I had given my name to any of those pesky real estate agents. Could not remember any. I said "howdu, naane. Neev yaaru ?" (Yes, I am sudeep. Who are you?). One of the men answered "naavu policeavru. Naav maalur inda barthaidivi". (We are policemen, we are coming from Malur.) I was like... "oh gawd!!... Cops!! What did I do ? Had I spoken to some girl recently ? Did I trouble any girl recently ? Maalur ??? Whom do I know from Malur? I knew this girl some time ago. But I have not troubled her. Unlikely that she would have set the cops on me. Or would she have... I hope its not ??"
As such thoughts kept rushing into my head, the two men were now standing right below my nose and were standing such that they had cornered me. They had positioned themselves standing acting like they were ready to pounce on me if I moved. The one in the red shirt asked "yen maadthira?" (What do you do?). I said "Software Engineer". "Yelli ?" (where?) I said "XYZ". And then the taller man speaking for the first time said, "Electronics City na ?". "Illa, M G Road hathra". (No, near M G Road). Finally realising that I needed to ask them my own questions I asked, "Vishya yenu ?" (Why do you ask ?). "Banni helthini" he said, trying to point towards the door indicating that he would like to sit down and then talk. I knew I had to ask them their ID card, but that only happens in the English movies. You never know how are Indian cops would behave if we asked them for their IDs. So I decided to go back into the house.
Me being from a very decent family, I am not used to having the cops coming knocking at my door looking for me. To the say the least, I was shitting in my pants. I guess it must have shown on my face. On seeing me and having realised that some people were coming inside the house, my bro asked "Who are these people?". I said, "I beleive they are cops and they are looking for me. They are not saying what the issue is." The cop in the red shirt having heard the conversation says "hedirkolleke yenu illa biddi" (nothing to be scared off). The cops went ahead and seated themselves and made themselves comfortable. Thankfully for me, my brother and our two friends were in the house. Its reassuring to know you have people who know you, sitting along with you in the room, when you are sitting down with cops, who want to "ask you a few questions". I dont know about others, to me the whole scene was an intimidating one.
The cop in the red shirt, the one doing all the talking, fishes out a paper from his pocket. On it, I see scribbled my name and address. He verifies once again with us if the name and address are correct. Also, on the paper is a cell phone number. The cop asks me if that was my cell phone number. I looked carefully at the number. This definitely was not my number. I felt releived. Finally something that does not match up to me. I tried to remember if I could recollect if this number belonged to any of my friends. Could not recollect any number. I could bearly recollect my own number with all the thoughts rushing into my head. The cop asked me if this number ever belonged to me or if I had ever lost any cell phone or any sim card. I said "No". Thankfully I have never lost a cell phone. Touch wood.
The cop in the red shirt then asked for my cell phone number. I gave him my number. He said "Nimm phone inda namma Circle jothe maathadi." (Call up and speak to the Circle Inspector from your phone). I went to retreive my cell phone from my room. In the meanwhile my brother checked the ID of the policemen. He mentioned to the policemen, that he used to work with the Lok Ayukta before and dished out names of a few Inspectors. And once again quizzed the policemen as to what the issue was. Why were they here ? They refused to divulge any details. They said its a sensitive issue and could not discuss it with us. I
After my brother had reeled out names of a few senior police officers, the policemen were sure that I was not the person they were looking for. They too relaxed a bit and finally after a lot of coaxing, the cop in the red shirt said, "See sir, we were investigating a case. During investigation we got this cell phone number. As you can see this is an Airtel Connection. When we furnished this number with Airtel, they gave us your name and address. That is why we have been sent to check out this address. But when we came here and saw your house and the locality you live in, we realised that this is not the person we want. But we came in just to check and make sure. We were pretty sure you were not the guys. If you really were the guys, we would not have talked this way. We would have rounded you up and taken you to the Police Station.". My brother then spoke to the Circle Inspector. He too dished out the same story. He asked us to verify with Airtel about the confusion.
As a parting shot the other cop who had been relatively silent the whole time finally spoke. He said, "Nammige gothitu sir neevalla antha. Nammig gothu nimm thai teacheru. Nimm thande HAL alli kelsa maadthidru" (We know sir you were not the person. We know your mom is a retired teacher. Your dad was working in HAL).. Whoa !!!! I was shell shocked. They had done a lot of homework. "Nimmig heg gothu idella ??" (How did he know all these details) "Naav police saar. namig gothirathe idella...". Great !! Does that mean I am in your record books now ?? Saying this, the cops left leaving me half dazed at the turn of events.
Apparently, before turning up at my gate, these cops had enquired with my neighbours about me. And finally my "good boy" image in my neighbourhood came to good use. But I am not sure what image I now have. The police dont come asking questions about "good boys".
After the cops left, I immediately called up the Airtel customer support. I learnt from customer support, that the number was a pre-paid connection. Also, they confirmed that indeed the number was registered in my name and address. I thought long and hard, tried to recollect if I had ever applied for another Airtel connection. I hadn't. I realised that it had to be a case of identity theft. Someone had used my credentials to obtain a pre-paid Airtel connection. Gosh !!! God alone knows what crime these guys were upto. I was very worried. I tried to find out what ID proof they had provided to get the connection. But Airtel was not forthcoming with information. They asked me to go personally to the Airtel office.
The next morning I went to Airtel's office on Nandidurga Road. Let me tell you that going to their offices is not a pleasant experience. Their offices open only at 10 o'clock. And if you assumed that all private offices unlike Government offices opened at 9 o'clock, be ready to entertain yourself outside their office. They would not even bother to give you a seat if you reach their office before 10. Anyway, finally when the office opened at 10 AM I went in, got myself a token and waited for my turn. When it was my turn, I went over to the representative sitting across the counter. He was beaming at me as if to say, "Ah !! Dont worry at all. I will solve your problem." So I told him my problem. He expressed his "deep regret" since he would not be able to help me. Great! Why pretend to be helpful when you dont have any intention of helping me in the first place. He asked me to go their head office on Bannerghatta Road, which is a good 10 kms from my office. Splendid. Here I was, in the midst of a busy week in office and also battling a bad bout of throat infection. And these guys showed no indication of helping me. I felt so helpless. I tried to recollect... "What had I done ??". I had done absolutely nothing. And people wanted me to run from pillar to post. Thats wonderful. I took the Bannerghatta office number from the "so helpful" representative and headed off to office. I was late to office by 2 and 1/2 hours and had not acheived a thing.
Endless attempts to contact Airtel's Bannerghatta office by phone went in vain. Apparently, Airtel's own head office could not transfer my call from their board to any department that could help me. They told me "Please wait while I transfer your call" and then "bing bing bing", my call was disconnected. I realised what my friends meant when they said "Airtel's customer service sucks !!!". I wished I had not argued on Airtel's behalf then.
I spoke to some of my friends. One of them knew someone who worked in Airtel. After a few hours my friend informed me that the only way something could be done was that I go lodge a police complaint. Only then Airtel would be able to take any action. "What the heck ?? I need to lodge a police complaint ?? Gosh !!! Here's another opportunity for some corrupt policeman to try to fleece money out of me." But then, I realised I had no other go, I better go and make the complaint. What if those cheats (the ones who had got the cell phone connection in my name) were upto no good ??? Poor me would unneccessarily get into unwanted trouble. But then, am I over reacting ? Do you need to really worry ??? May be its just a couple of idiots upto some stupid adolscent tricks. So, I decide to take it easy. Let me not get too worried. But then...... what if ????? I kept debating this for quite a while. I finally decided the right person to fill me in on the story would be the Circle Inspector of Malur, the cop that my bro had spoken to, last night over the phone.
I was a bit upset about the whole issue. But was not too worried. After all I had not done anything. Why the hell should I be worried ? I called up the Circle Inspector, Mr S. After I had introduced myself to him he says, "Let me tell you something very frankly. The case that we are currently investigating is a kidnap case". WHAT ?? Holy shit. I was in deep trouble. He goes on, "We are investigating this kidnap case where the kidnappers have already collected a Rs 30 lakh ransom". Shocked, I repeated "Thirty Lakhs ???". "Yes, thats right, they have already collected Rupees Thirty lakh and are demanding for Ten Lakhs more". Holy crap !! That means the victim has not yet been released. So, its likely this number is still active. Anything could happen. Knowing how our Indian cops work, my head started filling with countless stories of how the police could twist and turn anything to their benefit. If they dont find the actual thief, then they were very much capable of branding the next person they find as the thief. I was lucky, I was sitting on the chair, otherwise my legs would have buckled under the news that I heard. Garnering some courage, I managed to ask, "Sir, what should I do now sir ?". "Banni Maalurigge. maathadanna." (Come over to maalur. We can talk there.) I was not sure why he was calling me over to Malur. Did he want too want to fleece money out of me ? There was no way, I was going over to Maalur. "Banni.. bejaan busugal idde." (Come on over to Maalur. There are plenty of buses to this place)
I was pretty sure, that there was no way I was going to go to Maalur. I told the inspector that I would discuss the issue with my brother and get back to him later and hung up the call. I was shaken by the sudden turn of events, news of the kidnapping, the ransom and the Inspector's attempt to scare me saying "If we go by the proof, you are also one of the accused". Hello ??? (not the right word to say, under the circumstances. )What did I do ??? I stayed at home and did nothing. And here I was being accused of something which I could not even dream of ever being able to do.
May be I should go and register a police complaint. But what do I complain ? Against whom should I complain ? Which police station should I go to ? Isn't this a cyber crime ? Should I be going to the Cyber Crime Police Station ? I was totally confused. So many questions kept popping into my head. I was feeling really worried. The blood had all drained out of my face and I looked pale. My colleagues and friends all suggested I speak to a lawyer and take his advice. All of them told me strictly, "Dont even venture in the direction of Maalur. And if you have to go to the police station, take an advocate along. DONT GO ALONE."
By evening, my throat infection had gone from bad to worse. I hung around for a while, totally confused as to what I should be doing. By the time I reached home, I had high fever. I did not like the idea of going to the police station and registering a complaint. After consulting a lot of people, I finally decided to let it be as it is. I was not going to do anything. After all I had done nothing. So, why should I be the one going to the police station. Why should I go and consult a lawyer? Who was going to bear my legal fees ? After all, I had nothing to do with the case.
I decided that the only thing that I would do was send Airtel a complaint over email. The next day I drafted a letter and sent it to Airtel's customer care. I decided to wait and see how the story would now unfold. Nothing happened for a few days. Though I wanted to know what happened about the case, I knew it would be foolish to call up the Circle Inspector. A few more days passed by with absolutely no news. I spent most of the time on the phone calling up various departments of Airtel trying to see if they could be forced to help me. But nothing happened. They were at their irresponsible callous best. They kept passing the buck, but did nothing.
Finally on Thursday, morning, exactly a week since the whole episode had begun, the newspaper carried a front page news that grabbed my attention. " Kidnap drama ends in shootout." The gist of the story was "The police were investigating a case involving the kidnap of the son-in-law of a stationary wholesale dealer from Bangalore. The victim was released after the payment of a ransom of Rupees Thirty Five Lakh. However the police had managed to arrest one person, by name Tippu. During his interrogation he revealed the name of another accomplice, Ghafoor who was the kingpin in anothe kidnap for ransom case. The police were able to rescue the kidnapped man. They layed a trap to catch the kingpin. But on seeing the police, they opened fire. In the exchange of fire, the police were able to kill the two main accused." The article also mentioned another intresting information. The main accused, Ghafoor had given Tippu a SIM which was registerd in the name of one Ms Nagrathnamma.
Whoa !!! I think I had a close shave. Till date, I am not aware of how my name got linked in this whole case. But the most appalling thing during the whole incident is the callous attitude of the Airtel personnel. They were the ones who issued a SIM card in my name. But they did not bother to help anyway. Airtel sucks big time !!!!
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