Cor's first post

India-ahh......

“Ahh” like in Agony, or “Ahh” like in Ecstasy?

Well, this is my first post, after two months here. Been busy, getting the house set up, doing some work and ... breaking my bones ... Those of you who have read this blog before know already, I broke my wrist, yes, just walking down the street. I guess there is something to the old saying "he can't walk and chew gum at the same time". Of course I was not even chewing gum. Anyway, all I have left of this injury now is an ugly scar, some sore muscles and a steel plate (which has to be taken out in 6-12 months, I wonder if I will have the courage).

Yes, this is a place of extremes. You can feel really good here, or extremely frustrated. You can see very poor people, next to nicely middle class people (which means pretty well off compared to the other 70%). In the lay-out (read "walled off neighborhood") that we live in, you can even see that. All the home owners are well off or very well off, but the laborers written about earlier, live in a concrete block, one room place built right next to the construction site, and the whole family lives there. The empty lot next to it serves as the bathroom and the hose is the toilet paper, shower and drinking water. And they may be the lucky ones.

I'm sure we'l write more about this as time goes by.

The Indians I come in contact with are all very nice, helpful, friendly, warm, etc. All of what I had remembered and hoped to find. The kids are the biggest beneficiaries from this. Especially young boys and men all have a smile for the children and a pinch on their cheeks. But even for me, at work, everyone's is always ready to be of help, give advise, etc. It may be because I am a foreigner, but that is not the only reason. People are just very gentle here.

Ok, I had made some notes earlier about some of the experiences we had getting stuff set up in the house. This is not meant to complain, but I thought it may be an interesting illustration of what life here is like at times.

First our quest to get a gas connection, for cooking. This means a gas cylinder is delivered to your house. Seems easy enough ....

* Go to the Gas Company equivalent and they say: Need ration card before we can give it to you
* Go find out where to get that and learn that: Govt does not issue them any more
* Can get it from a commercial supplier , someone says
* Go to this place: However, does not fit under the sink, too tall.
* Can get a private connection, someone says
* Find this place and: Costs extra (almost 2x), but have 2 cylinders next day
* Ahhhh - like a good ahhh (even though it took about 2 weeks and 3,4,5 trips)
Note that most of these things cannot be done by phone, the phone is not picked up or is turned off most of the time, you gotta go there in person.

Now my loooong story about my mobile phone. As of now, I think I'm ok (i.e. it wont be turned off any more), but it was a long and arduous trip.

If you think this is a long story, just remember, I had to live through this:
1. Buy phone from some place.
2. Get driven (on the back of a scooter while the driver is talking on his mobile) to the Airtel office, the service provider, for sim card (i.e. the connection)
3. Need proof of residency, pics, copy of passport, lease, PIO card
4. I come back next day to the Airtel office with the stuff, plus Rs4,000 ($100) deposit.
5. They don’t understand PIO card (Person of Indian Origin, like a green card), but after many calls to a supervisor, it’s ok. I ask about international access on my mobile, but they say it requires a Rs20,000 ($500) deposit. I decide against it.
6. Phone gets turned on same night
7. Now I need a data card (i.e a cellular modem)
8. At the Airtel office they say a man will come tomorrow
9. Man does not show
10. Call the Airtel office but no one answers
11. Call 121 – no answer
12. Call 450 12345 – get good info, but have to go back to Airtel office
13. At the office they say “man will come today itself”
14. Go home and wait
15. Yes! Man comes, however he does not say at first, but he is here to verify our place of residency – not for the data card. After a long confusion, he says why he is here. He says, I don’t want to see your service turned off, so I came to check.
16. I go to the Airtel office and ask what happened to the man who was going to come with the data card – don’t worry, he’ll come tonight only.
17. And yes, he comes. But connection is as slow as dialup modem – it it’s of no use.
18. Next day, mobile service is turned off again – why?
19. I called 121, they say don’t worry, it was a mistake, they’ll turn it back on.
20. A couple of days later the service is turned off again.
21. I called 121, they say the man must have not filed his residency report, you need to go back to the Airtel office.
22. Back to the Airtel office (btw, it is about 3kms from here, but we don’t have a car so we have to get a taxi, and due to the road conditions, it takes 30 minutes to get there).
23. They talk and look at the paper and talk, we give them a copy of our gas connection, etc. Ok, finally they say it’s ok, service will be turned back on tonight. Don’t worry. I ask about international access, they say it is Rs6,000 ($150) – remember last time I asked it was $500. I decide to go ahead and get international calling.
24. Ok, that night I have both local and international service. Wow!
25. All the while I have been trying to get email working. I call 121, but now instead of English the message is in the local language. So I go to the Airtel office and ask. Ohh, you need to activate it. Send an SMS and it will be turned on in 24 hours.
26. I send SMS and sure enough I get no less than 6 confirmation SMS’s that the service has been turned on. But email/web access still does not work.
27. But I am happily calling the US and Holland and letting people know we’re still alive, until ….
28. A week later my service is turned off again. I call 121, but it is in the local language (remember, this used to be English).
29. So I go to the Airtel office to see what’s the reason. Well sir, you only have a Rs500 credit limit, and you have exceeded that (all those US and NL calls). But wait, I have deposited Rs10,000 already!!! Ok sir, we’ll fix it in 30 minutes. Don’t worry. Ok, and what about the language issue on 121. Ok sir, we’ll fix it in 30 minutes. Don’t worry. Ok, and what about my email access. Sir, we have no record of this, you need to send the SMS again. But I have 6 confirmation messages! Yes sir, but it does not show here, please send it again. Don’t worry.
30. 3 hours later, still no service. I call 121 from a land line, and yes! I get through to a live person. He says the service was turned off because of failure to verify residency – see above. Whaaaat, that was supposed to have been cleared up TWICE already. Anyway, he promises to turn my phone back on in 4 hours, get 121 to answer in English for me and once all items are cleared my credit limit will increase to Rs10,000.
31. Residency is not verified in the next few days, I get nervous that they may turn off the phone again, so I call 121 and they promise (100%!) to come on Tuesday before 10:30 am.
32. On Tuesday at 4PM I call and start yelling, finally they explain that the 10:30am promise was to, by that time, set a date of when the person will come to verify residency. Well i got a lot of screaming off my chest, but in the end accepted it. They promise to settle this by next week.
33. I get an SMS that my credit line is now Rs10K - whoopie, one problem solved. And, my email starts working as well, things are good!
34. Couple of weeks go by. Nothing happens.
35. I get an email that my credit line if Rs15K. Why? Dont care!
36. After some more time I decide to check on this residency situation. I call 121 and they say it has been cleared. I dont bother asking how/why. All seems well, why push it.

And, in the mean time I got a data card from another carrier, Tata Indicom (another long story, but not so long as above, so that's good), which is our internet life line. The little PC app says the throughput the 230K, but their markething brochure says it will only do 113K and it feels like 75K. But I'm NOT complaining, at least i can check email, do all our on-line paperwork and do emails, without having to walk down to by brother-in-law. ... It would be nice to get DSL and higher speeds though, but Swagata is calling that guy about every other day, so we'll get it soon.

Heh, it's just the way it is. Wisdom is recognizing the things you cannot change and I am trying to be wise.

See you later.