Of Blackberries, 4G, iPhones and drool

I am at home on a Sunday afternoon. The Delhi weather continues to be pleasant quite miraculously considering that the month of May (which is  peak summer time), is hardly a week away. I am penning down some random thoughts with malice towards none. 

This time it was a conscious decision to either get my blackberry repaired or do away with it. Before long, I started to enjoy the happenings at the self styled mobile service center cum accessory shop cum Mobile/Laptop Lamination Center which I had visited towards attaining this objective. I preferred this center to an authorized Blackberry service center for the quiet efficiency of the man running the show.

The service center occupies all of 30 Sq feet space in one of South Delhi's busy commercial hubs. At any given time there are at least 4 to 5 people in this space, besides the patrons and clients.

The 4 to 5 people are youngsters and boys who are at the beck and call of the buyers responding to their requests for fancy mobile covers, mobile guards, Key pad guards and so on.
They also take on the mantle of directing  the consumers who are interested in getting their mobile serviced, whatever be the model, to the one man service resource, Shanubhai, as he is respectfully called.

Shanubhai is the king of all he surveys. Get a problematic cell phone to him and within seconds he is ready with the extent of repair required,  an elaborate quote and the time it will take for getting the cell phone "back to life".

Then you have the rare patron who's unable to explain what problem he is having with his cell phone, partly since he is from one of the southern states of the country. A literal translation of what he wants to say doesn't help Shanubhai in understanding him.
"Doosre ko sunta hai, Hum ko sunta nahin hai ." Meaning that I am able to hear what the other person is saying but the other person is unable to hear what I am saying .
After Shanu bhai has lent his cell phone the magical touch, his worries are finally put to rest though he takes some time to actually get convinced on this, for more reasons than one.

To add to the direct clients he recieves, Shanubhai's services are also utilized by the Mobile shop next door. This is a one stop shop for cell phones, accessories and repair consultation.
The smart cookie that this guy is, he is able to charge a premium for the repairs through the use of technical jargon like charging jack, scroller assembly and the likes.

I begin to wonder how  the cell phone has become an integral a part of our lives and the amount we are ready to spend on it.

What a booming industry this has become in a matter of one decade and I cant think of a better example of blatant consumerism there can be in today's context without undermining the utility of the instrument as a communication device.

Coming back to my Blackberry, after a wait of almost 3 hours, I finally got it back in a working condition, So hopefully all's well that ends well.

Till next time then and keep smiling. :)

Just some unanswered questions...who's worrying? not me...

I once heard our VP say that if you do not drive the business will drive you. The business world is moving at a very fast pace and the only place where Dinosaurs are appreciated is in a block buster movie directed by  Steven Spielberg..

Delhi's been my Karmbhoomi for more than half a decade and has its own way of throwing challenges at me, so much so that I wonder if something's wrong if a day doesn't seem challenging enough. So having returned from a week long official trip to Dehradun, I am left as of now with some unanswered questions. Worried? Who? Me? Naah.! :)

Passport police verification does it require the individual's presence at his place of residence? The ill fated day when the Policeman arrived for the verification, I was on  tour. For two days consecutively the policeman has said that he will come home for the verification but hasn't bothered to do so. Today is the third day when he would be here supposedly. What will be his reaction when I tell him that I follow this Guru and we AOLites do not pay any bribe?

When will my blackberry be finally up and going. Got the charging jack replaced, replaced the charger as well but now the scroll ball mechanism has gone awry. This means another visit to the repair shop. And after all the iterations when will I finally be able to utilize the Blackberry for the actual purpose of sending and recieving mails?

How much time will it take for me to get set for the month of April and Q2. When will I be able to get a grip on and resolve pending problems to move ahead from them.

In the midst of all this will I be able to actually sneak away for a couple of days combining it with the Good Friday holiday to spend time with my family.

As I juggle with these thoughts it is time to start off with the tasks for the day. Thank God Its Ram Navami today and a Holiday in the Northern parts of India, another of the festivals celebrated only in certain parts of the country. Am I proud to experience the diversity of the country. The learning keeps happening all the time! 

Just like the olden days on Facebook...

Its strange how most of the people who like my status messages on Facebook happen to be school friends, people who were with me in the formative years of life, people whom I grew up with.

There are people with whom I interact with on a daily basis, people who have achieved a lot in their lives, just like my school friends, but the uncanny resemblance in the way we think happens only with this bunch of guys.

The latest example is "India against corruption."

Being an AOL ite, prompted by my Guru's (HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar) vision for India, I was following the activities of those who were leading this movement, but when this became a national issue, I could see many of my school chums voicing their opinions strongly in favor of Anna Hazare's fast and against corruption.on facebook.

Thank you facebook for bringing us back together. I hope the party never ends.Well each one of us is 40 plus but its like school kids laughing on each other's jokes, egging each other on, pulling a fast one or pulling each other's legs in general.

Virtual back slapping bonhomie and camaraderie, appreciating each other's achievements or even the children's', complimenting each other on the newly found hobbies and on attempts at keeping fit and healthy, none of us are getting any younger, remember!

The lucky ones do get to meet each other during the periodic Saturday Do's in suburban Mumbai and the rest savor the Snaps and the Stories. Yes some of us have started showing signs of wising up, a receding hair line , but the child within each one is still the same and will never change forever. I am sure of that.

We are blessed to have some of our teachers as well on Facebook and it is indeed a pleasure as it is because of them that we all have become what we have.

Viva "HFHS Classs Of 1984"

PERSEVERANCE - Rocky Balboa

PERSEVERANCE - Rocky Balboa