Business is War! from Riyaz Usman on Vimeo.

So started this interesting journey – A passenger train to Salem, an Air Bus to Coimbatore, and another to Home. The 5 hour from Bangalore to Salem was most interesting, with a jam packed compartment, with people almost everywhere possible – Seats, floor, luggage rack, toilets… On top of that the vendors of various products – Buttermilk, Samosa, Vada, Peanut, Tapioca, Gauava, Jack fruit etc.,

Most interesting was obviously the people. People of all ages.

After the initial hello-hi’s; The conversation is not verbatim.

Me: So, I changed my rate plan on 20th of this month, and had activated this particular GPRS plan. As per the plan I’m supposed to have lower ISD rates to US, and as per the GPRS plan I’ll get the first 2 GB data transfer free. Can you confirm this?

CC: Yes, sir. As per your current plan you have a lower ISD rate to US, and as per your current GPRS plan, you have 2 GB of data transfer free.

Me: I’ve a mail from you confirming that the rate plan change and GPRS activation has been done effective 20th of this month. Can you confirm?

CC: Yes sir. The change in plan and GPRS activation is effective 20th Nov 2010.

Me: Okay. Today I’ve received my monthly bill. As per the bill I’ve been charged premium for an ISD call to US, and GPRS usage, both on 20th around 9 PM.

CC: Yes, sir. That’s correct.

Me: Well, since my plan change is effective 20th, why am I not charged accordingly on 20th?

CC: The change of plan is effective 20th means, that it will be effective 00 hours of 20th.

Me: Yes, that’s what I’m saying too.

CC: But you made the call around 9 PM.

Me: Yes, that’s correct.

CC: So it has been charged based on your old plan.

Me: Wait, did you just say the plan is effective 00 hours of 20th?

CC: Yes.

Me: And I’ve made the call on 9 PM of 20th.

CC: Yes.

Me: So?

CC: You’ll be charged as per old plan.

Me: What? Why?

CC: Because you made the call on 9 PM. You are still on old plan then.

Me: But you just said I’m on new plan on 00 hours of 20th.

CC: Yes.

Me: Well, 9 PM, which is 21 hours comes after 00 hours.

CC: No sir. I meant the 00 hours which comes after 9 PM.

Me: Errr… oo hours of a day cannot come after 21 hours of a day. Did you mean 00 hours of 21st?

CC: No sir, I meant 00 hours of 20th.

Me: That should come before 21 hours of 20th for sure.

CC: No sir.

Me: It’s basic math. 21 should come after 00. See if you count 00, 01, 02…

CC: I know counting!

Me: Then please count till 21 and tell me what comes first.

CC: We meant your plan is activated on 00 hours of 20th which comes after 9 PM.

Me: Then you should’ve told me effective 21st.

CC: No, effective 20th.

Me: So, you mean to say, my plan is effective 00 hours 20th, but I’ll be charged as per old plan any time during 20th?

CC: Well..

You got the point. The whole iteration continues for next 5 minutes. End result: I gave up. One, it’s an insignificant amount to fight for; Two, my time is much precious than this; and Three, they charge the customer for CC dumbness now.

If you want to hear a role reversal, head to Not Always Right. Awesome user dumbness there. And yeah, Randal Patrick Munroe’s awesome response to the Verizon’s Math.

I was using a Titan wrist watch since my college, once the Casio days were over. I thought, I’ll not buy one after this. I keep loosing a lot of stuffs (mostly my spectacles and wallets, the other two indispensable things), but never the wrist watch. Couple of times I forgot them, it came back to me promptly.

Then I got married. Oh, before that – around a month before the wedding, I got a watch as a gift from my organization. Not a bad one. I gave it to my Dad and asked him to give it away to someone he wants to.

Then I got married. I had a kind of wish list for the gifts, but ended up getting 4 wrist watches as gifts, all pretty good ones. A customary one I got from my wife’s cousins (I never gave one to my Bro-in-law, just in case. I offered my sister to take one from my stockpile for him, but she just gave me the looks, you know.), One my friends at work gifted, Two my cousins gifted. Since all of them were gifts, I couldn’t gave it away immediately to anyone in family. Total watch count – 5.

A few months later I won a contest at my grocery home, and the gift was… as you would’ve guessed it by now, a Wrist watch! I checked my B’Day calendar and used it on the immediate next B’Day on the list.

Today, I bought a new phone for my wife from Univercell, and Bingo! They gave me a Reebok watch free with that. Yeah! Bring it on!

The story begins with the following lines.

The mother writes to the son struggling out his living amid the miseries of a distant city. She writes with pain in her heart.

“Son, I just want to see you.”

Basheer had left his home in his teens to join the freedom movement in Kerala. The story in a whole deals with his journey from Vaikom to Kozhikode to participate in Salt Satyagraha. This almost records his history as a freedom fighter.

But what I wanted to talk here about is ‘Mother’. Even though the story starts with a generalized statement about mother, he tells in his story that he is talking about his mother. Despite this one can clearly make out the ‘Mother’ references in the story is about ‘Mother’, not only his Mother. This ‘Mother’ could be the motherland too. It should be noted here that he uses the more generic ‘Amma’ than the more Muslim specific ‘Umma’ (ഉമ്മ).

After talking about his many experiences with freedom movement, police and a stint of stay in Jail, the story concludes when he returns to his home after many years.

When I entered the home my Mother asked. “Who is it?” I stepped onto the verandah. Mother lit a lamp, and asked as if nothing had happened, “Son, have you eaten anything?”

I said nothing. I was shaken and couldn’t breath, cried. The whole world is  asleep! But my Mother alone was awake! Mother brought a vessel of water and asked me to wash my hands and feet. Then she placed a plate of rice before me.

She asked me nothing.

I was surprised. “How did you know, Umma, that I was coming today?”

Mother replied, “Oh… Nothing. I would make food and wait every night.”

It was a simple statement. Every night I did not turn up, but mother had kept awake waiting for me.

The years have passed. Many things have happened.

But mothers still wait for their sons.

“Son, I just want to see you…”

Note: My Mother is unlikely to read this. But I would like to say to her – “Thanks… for being the Mother”.

God went on Vacation. Population Outburst!

The nick, DesertWind was originally suggested to me by my friend Samir Bin Khalid (aka SBK), an ardent fan of this song.

While surfing over Internet, I found an interesting wiki on Desertwind on Wookieepedia, the Star Wars Wiki.

As this Wookieepedia page says,

“Desertwind was the name given to the Jedi who accompanied Nejaa Halcyon and Ylenic It’kla on a mission to uncover the Sith in the final weeks of the Clone Wars. His true identity is still unknown, but suggested individuals include Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and A’Sharad Hett.”

Seems interesting.

PS: My girlfriend, Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 4S, is named Desert Rose.

• Official travel to Mangalore, Chennai, Pune and Bangalore. Hectic!
• Started a ride to Rajahmundry & Badhrachalam. Has to come back after 100 Kms, due to engine failure.
• Couple other rides planned, didn’t work out.
• A week vacation at home.
• Lots, lots and lot of movies.
• The Hindu Metro Theatre Fest.
• Couple of awards, promotion at office.
• Experimenting with an microwave oven.

And here’s a bulleted list of what I’m planning for next few months

• Trying to set up a theater group and organize an amateur theater fest at office.
• Setting up an internet radio channel at office.
• Qadir Ali Baig Theater Fest.
• Ride plan to Kathmandu, Nepal.
• Travel plan to Andaman Islands. (I might save this for future!)

Hmmm… Let’s see…