I finally decided to upgrade my credit card today and so dialled my bank this morning. I completely dislike these banking menus which expects you to enter a whole lot of numerics before letting you talk to a customer care officer who again puts you on hold for minutes together. Likewise, when I called Citi bank after several stages of verification, I got to talk to the Citi phone officer who on hearing my request put me on hold. I was transfer to another senior person to whom I had to narrate the entire story. She once again put me on hold and then beep beep beep…. it goes.
Well, the phone got disconnected. I was soooo irritated. If I call back, I would have to go through the entire verification process and then speak to the first citi phone officer and then another senior officer to find a solution. O God, I cant to this again … but it’s important to have my card upgraded.
Beep…1 message received. The SMS in my phone said ‘Your call got disconnected while speaking to the CitiPhone officer'. We will call you in 1 working day. For early resolution pls call CitiPhone’. I was delighted to see this message. Finally there is one bank in India that values and respects its customers. I hold two other accounts which are much more active than that of Citi bank, but the quality of their service is extremely poor. All my previous experiences with banks, credit cards & loans have been horrible. But this time I was amazed to see the response from Citi bank.
Very soon I also received an email stating the below.
Dear Citibank Customer,
Thank you for banking with Citibank. We are pleased to provideyou details pertaining to your Citibank Account.
Your call got disconnected while speaking to the CitiPhone officer. We will call you in 1 working day. For early resolution pls call CitiPhone
You can visit our website www.citibank.com/india and login toCitibank Online using your Internet Password (IPIN). Alternatively you can also E-Mail us at indiaservice@citi.com.
Assuring you of our best service at all times.
Warm Regards,
Manager - Customer Service
Well-done Citi bank, I am very pleased with your services.
Citi never sleeps…others do!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
ECR, Pondy and beyond!
On the event of my first wedding anniversary, Kumz & I drove down to Pondicherry. We’ve driven to down ECR several times in the past to dine at various placed near Mahabalipuram, but I haven’t enjoyed this road as much as I did this time.
The real experience started after crossing Mahabs and that’s when I actually realised that I was on a holiday travelling out of Chennai. We crossed Kalpakkam at around 11.00am when we stopped to have tender coconut at a village adjoining Kalpakkam. Rs.10 was the cost of this drink, which was out of this world. Trust me, I’ve never had such tasty and fresh coconut water all my life (a regular drinker though). So I went further and had a second one… I immediately spotted the Nungu (palm fruit), freshly cut from the tree. The fruit was removed from its shell and given to us fresh, we had about half a dozen of them. Yummmm…..it was chill, sweet, tender and so so watery. It went down my thought like butter.
In about 40 mins from there we reached Pondicherry or Puducherry, a well laid, very well maintained, sophisticated French colony. We went around the lanes near the sea to spot ‘French Villa’, the place we had booked for an over night stay. The houses and multi-storeyed buildings look awesome still reflecting the urban French style. The colour of the paint for the buildings, the doors & windows and the complete wooden finishing exactly represent classic French architecture. I relished every bit of this place.
The Puducherry beach was a welcome variation from Chennai’s polluted beaches, which are now loosing their identity in the name of modernization and face-lift with tile flooring and iron railings or dividers. There is face-lift given to Pondy beach as well, but the approach is different. Small bamboo huts are erected at every one-kilometre distance, neatly laid platforms, organised parking areas; sea-facing traditional French restaurants etc all depict the heritage of Pondicherry. Sitting on the bamboo hut, we enjoyed the waves hit and splash against the rocks along the shore for several hours without the hindrance of beggars or stray dogs (a common event in Chennai).
Casablanca, a Hi-Design shopping store was a classy place, expensive though where we found some interesting leather goods and accessories. ‘Top Knotch’ was another interesting shop for those who try to experiment with some new drinks. We did our bit of shopping there as well. How we wish they opened a branch in Chennai? We dined at Promenade, a Hi-Design hotel situated at the sea face. The roof top restaurant at Promenade name ‘Light house’ would have been a great experience if not for the head-ache that troubled me all through my evening dinner. I tried very hard to over come the migraine, but in vain. I managed to get over it only the next morning.
23rd November, my very first wedding anniversary …we went to the famous Ganpathy temple in Pondy- ‘Manakula Vinayakar Temple’ for the traditional and routine archana for the God. As it is know, I love following my roots (whenever it’s convenient to me) and with Ganesha being my most favourite God, I would love to visit him at all times.
Fab India, my brand loyalty towards this store is enormous. Its not just because they sell clothes for my size under the tag ‘M’ which actually delights me each time, but also because they have some really classy stuff like those linen tunics, beautiful stoles which I do not find else where. I managed to step into Fab India, which was just next to ‘French Villa’, a place where I stayed and finished a quick shopping.
We left Pondy after noon and managed to reach GRT Temple Bay for lunch. Warf, the best and one of my most favourite place to dine, severed lunch exactly the way I wanted. Mathew, the chef came over to understand my choice of food and made it just the way it ought to be. Temple Bay’s Warf rated 10 on 10 on food and 20 on 10 for ambience. After a wholesome meal, while driving back home we just though of trying our luck at Mayajaal for the latest movie at the box office, Kurbaan. Wow… we hit the place at the right time to walk into Screen 7. Well, the film was just ok. New York was far better but not a bad one though. Just that Saif looks too old and Karina all made up…lol.
This is a perfect trip, a perfect way to spend the anniversary! Love you Kumz, I can’t really ask for more in life.
The real experience started after crossing Mahabs and that’s when I actually realised that I was on a holiday travelling out of Chennai. We crossed Kalpakkam at around 11.00am when we stopped to have tender coconut at a village adjoining Kalpakkam. Rs.10 was the cost of this drink, which was out of this world. Trust me, I’ve never had such tasty and fresh coconut water all my life (a regular drinker though). So I went further and had a second one… I immediately spotted the Nungu (palm fruit), freshly cut from the tree. The fruit was removed from its shell and given to us fresh, we had about half a dozen of them. Yummmm…..it was chill, sweet, tender and so so watery. It went down my thought like butter.
In about 40 mins from there we reached Pondicherry or Puducherry, a well laid, very well maintained, sophisticated French colony. We went around the lanes near the sea to spot ‘French Villa’, the place we had booked for an over night stay. The houses and multi-storeyed buildings look awesome still reflecting the urban French style. The colour of the paint for the buildings, the doors & windows and the complete wooden finishing exactly represent classic French architecture. I relished every bit of this place.
The Puducherry beach was a welcome variation from Chennai’s polluted beaches, which are now loosing their identity in the name of modernization and face-lift with tile flooring and iron railings or dividers. There is face-lift given to Pondy beach as well, but the approach is different. Small bamboo huts are erected at every one-kilometre distance, neatly laid platforms, organised parking areas; sea-facing traditional French restaurants etc all depict the heritage of Pondicherry. Sitting on the bamboo hut, we enjoyed the waves hit and splash against the rocks along the shore for several hours without the hindrance of beggars or stray dogs (a common event in Chennai).Casablanca, a Hi-Design shopping store was a classy place, expensive though where we found some interesting leather goods and accessories. ‘Top Knotch’ was another interesting shop for those who try to experiment with some new drinks. We did our bit of shopping there as well. How we wish they opened a branch in Chennai? We dined at Promenade, a Hi-Design hotel situated at the sea face. The roof top restaurant at Promenade name ‘Light house’ would have been a great experience if not for the head-ache that troubled me all through my evening dinner. I tried very hard to over come the migraine, but in vain. I managed to get over it only the next morning.
23rd November, my very first wedding anniversary …we went to the famous Ganpathy temple in Pondy- ‘Manakula Vinayakar Temple’ for the traditional and routine archana for the God. As it is know, I love following my roots (whenever it’s convenient to me) and with Ganesha being my most favourite God, I would love to visit him at all times.
Fab India, my brand loyalty towards this store is enormous. Its not just because they sell clothes for my size under the tag ‘M’ which actually delights me each time, but also because they have some really classy stuff like those linen tunics, beautiful stoles which I do not find else where. I managed to step into Fab India, which was just next to ‘French Villa’, a place where I stayed and finished a quick shopping.
We left Pondy after noon and managed to reach GRT Temple Bay for lunch. Warf, the best and one of my most favourite place to dine, severed lunch exactly the way I wanted. Mathew, the chef came over to understand my choice of food and made it just the way it ought to be. Temple Bay’s Warf rated 10 on 10 on food and 20 on 10 for ambience. After a wholesome meal, while driving back home we just though of trying our luck at Mayajaal for the latest movie at the box office, Kurbaan. Wow… we hit the place at the right time to walk into Screen 7. Well, the film was just ok. New York was far better but not a bad one though. Just that Saif looks too old and Karina all made up…lol.
This is a perfect trip, a perfect way to spend the anniversary! Love you Kumz, I can’t really ask for more in life.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Zara hatke, zara bachke...
The headline ‘FAST AND FURIOUS -The Maximum City, But Minimum Life’ hooked me into further reading TOI's page 10. Well… I guessed it right from the headline…its about Mumbai, a city which holds all my emotions. The place that moulded the mettle in me!
Living life on the edge, scrambling for a toehold on trains, snaking one’s way through traffic snarls, fighting to find a roof over one’s head all combine to make Mumbai the city that never sleeps, and Mumbaikars the people who die younger than others in the rest of the country reads the article in TOI.
A study has found that the average Mumbaikar is likely to die at least seven years before other Indians and about 12 years before people living in the rest of Maharashtra. Shocking isn’t it? When I visited Mumbai few days back, I saw how the place keeps evolving and taking a better shape day by day. Today, the Mumbai airport looks really outstanding; travel through the sea link at dusk is stunning experience. During my stay in
Bombay in early 2005 & 06, I really enjoyed the local train travel from Borivalli to Santacruz for work in the morning hours…one can image the crowd. The kala katta & vada pav at the Juhu beach, shopping at Inorbit, Raghuleela, Borivali market, Bandra link road, the plush roads of south Mumbai, Worli sea-face, marine lines, Gandhi Market at Matunga, the long journey from Belapur to Sion, Asha, my super maid, the tailor in Kandivali, walnut truffle at Monginis and so on… really unforgettable. Mumbai certainly creates that feel good factor despite the hush & push and more lately the threat & fear for safety.
Those two years of my life remain unforgettable in very many ways. I love Mumbai and its lifestyle, but once again setting up a home in Mumbai will be a big No from me. Why? The tension that one needs to take seems too high. I can lead a similar or even a far better life style here in Chennai with comparatively lesser anxiety. After all its important to maintain that 120/80!
Now the charms of Mumbai look great to me as long as I am a seldom traveller. The fact remains that that the crude death rate (CDR) in Mumbai is 7.3 per 1,000 people, higher than the overall death rate of 5.6 for urban areas in Maharashtra.
Living life on the edge, scrambling for a toehold on trains, snaking one’s way through traffic snarls, fighting to find a roof over one’s head all combine to make Mumbai the city that never sleeps, and Mumbaikars the people who die younger than others in the rest of the country reads the article in TOI.
A study has found that the average Mumbaikar is likely to die at least seven years before other Indians and about 12 years before people living in the rest of Maharashtra. Shocking isn’t it? When I visited Mumbai few days back, I saw how the place keeps evolving and taking a better shape day by day. Today, the Mumbai airport looks really outstanding; travel through the sea link at dusk is stunning experience. During my stay in
Bombay in early 2005 & 06, I really enjoyed the local train travel from Borivalli to Santacruz for work in the morning hours…one can image the crowd. The kala katta & vada pav at the Juhu beach, shopping at Inorbit, Raghuleela, Borivali market, Bandra link road, the plush roads of south Mumbai, Worli sea-face, marine lines, Gandhi Market at Matunga, the long journey from Belapur to Sion, Asha, my super maid, the tailor in Kandivali, walnut truffle at Monginis and so on… really unforgettable. Mumbai certainly creates that feel good factor despite the hush & push and more lately the threat & fear for safety.Those two years of my life remain unforgettable in very many ways. I love Mumbai and its lifestyle, but once again setting up a home in Mumbai will be a big No from me. Why? The tension that one needs to take seems too high. I can lead a similar or even a far better life style here in Chennai with comparatively lesser anxiety. After all its important to maintain that 120/80!
Now the charms of Mumbai look great to me as long as I am a seldom traveller. The fact remains that that the crude death rate (CDR) in Mumbai is 7.3 per 1,000 people, higher than the overall death rate of 5.6 for urban areas in Maharashtra.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Its King Khan's Birthday today!
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