Solutions just a mail away

Yesterday, I mailed to the head of a bank, Karnataka-loan recovery division with copies to the south zone and country heads. The content of the mail below:

Hi,
This mail is to bring to your notice regarding the issues I have been facing with your recovery team.

I had a two-wheeler loan from your bank in 2006 (loan a/c no LTBNG0000XXXXXXX) which I cleared it in 11 months EMI. Few months back, I was stopped by the recovery team of your bank claiming that I have bike loan due. After producing my loan a/c no to the bank, I came to know that there is another loan account created for the same bike registration number and also with my name for which the EMIs are in due. I made it clear to the bank then, that I have no dues( I remember it was someone named Harish from Bangalore office who talked to me, ofcourse in a harsh way thinking that I have absconded for this loan). After few days, I was stopped again by the recovery team, claiming that I have not paid the loan. After proving themn again with the correct loan no, I was told that there are chances of ceasing the bike without my knowledge if they see it in public and they demanded for money (for reasons I dont know) and I paid them an amount considering the situations where I would have to park my bike somewhere in any public place.

Yesterday, I was again stopped by a group of people asking for the loan due. I would call it as an harrasment, the way they approached me on the road. It needed again another 30 mins for me to prove them that its not my fault and I dont have any dues. This has become so annoying that everytime they stop me when I am in a hurry to go to work. Again, they were asking for some money (read as bribe) saying that if I pay the money, the issue will be solved immediately. This time I didnt pay any money and am sure that they are not happy with this. Also, I am really scared now to park my vehicle in public places as am aware of recovery people taking the bike. I may not be there always with my bike to prove them that my loan has been cleared already.

Immediately, I made a call (Call no ref: XXXXXX) to customer care with hopes that they would be in a position to take action or atleast lodge a complaint or service request. But they denied to take it as a complaint and asked me to approach the bank for the same. I have mentioned the details below.


Details:
Loan no: LTBNG0000XXXXXXX
Bike No: KA 04 XX XXXX (you may search with this bike no and you will be surprised to see two loan accounts created for this bike no)
Bike model: Unicorn
Bank Ac No (ECS payment) : XXXXXXXXXXXX

Please do the needful and remove my bike no from the list.


Thanks,
--
Abubaker Siddiq. A

I got a call from the local head within hours asking for apologies and assuring me that my number has been removed from the records immediately. He was going on with the usual stuff that 'we value our customer..blah blah blah". He said nobody would touch my bike and I am free to park it in public places. Also he assured me that I will get my NOC delivered to my address within 2 days for which I appplied long time back. After that call, I wrote a mail saying:

Hi X,

Thanks for your efforts on solving this issue. I dont know how fast this would be materialized but I am glad that at least someone was there to hear my concerns.

You were asking me on the names of the people and I could remember one name -XYZ (Mob no: 9731XXXXXX). I think he is a Police official who came along with that recovery team. Please make a note of it. Well, I hope that giving this number doesnt get me into any other unnecessary problems.

Again, thanks for your efforts. I really appreciate that.

Thanks,

He called me back again to assure that everything is clear now and asked me to keep a copy of the NOC always when I travel to be on safer side.

Now I am just sitting relaxed and waiting for the NOC. Well, this is just one instance where you get into problems for someone's mistakes. But atleast now things have changed to an extent to solve your problems in couple of mails. They say its as simple as that.

Chim Chim Cher-ee

Mary Poppins hangover here. Yes, I watched my first musical play yesterday night. We managed to get a ticket 3 days earlier to the show and as expected the theatre was packed. It was really surprising to see people coming in coaches to watch a play.



Grand stage, beautiful sets, amazing choreography, incredible perfomances and a jaw dropping scene of Mary Poppins flying over the crowd. Altogether, an helluva experience it was. At the end, it had its deserving standing ovation.



Now, I want to see the Beauty and the beast as well and I am missing it by a week's time. I hope that it comes on a tour to India. Yeah, I know that is too much to ask for but you never know. So till then I sing,

Chim chiminey
Chim chiminey
Chim chim cher-ee!
A sweep is as lucky
As lucky can be...

Onsite and all that…

In a country where eligible bachelor status is directly proportional to the duration you spend in a foreign land, it’s always considered blasphemous when you don’t have an ambition of settling in a foreign country. Its not that I don’t like traveling (for that matter I really love traveling and visiting new places) or I have any personal grudge against a country, but just that India is so beautiful that you would realize it only when you are visiting another country. Yeah, some would argue that it’s all about people and not place. In a way it is true, but India works better for me even as a place. After visiting places like Statue of Liberty, Tower Bridge (London Bridge), Big Ben and the most-hyped skyline views, Taj Mahal still stands out at the top as my first choice for the second visit. The skyline view of a city would be the most boring thing to do as sightseeing and you get to do this more often in the “developed” countries. Given an option of free stay in NY’s most luxurious hotel for a week or a stay in a farm house of a village in Kerala, it would be Kerala hands down for the very obvious reasons. This reminds me of a conversation I had with an American-born-Chinese girl in a flight from Chicago to Atlanta and here is the conversation excerpt.

She: so, when are you going back to India?

Me: Next month.

She: Oh, so you have already planned for the vacation?

Me: No. Actually I am here only on a short business trip for two months.

She: Wow. That’s great. I have been to India for few weeks on a scholarship program. It was this city called Cochin in South India. I just loved that place; it’s so beautiful with the rivers. I loved the samosas over there. I was so happy that I would get 10 samosas for 1 dollar.

(Me trying to say something about samosas but she never stopped)

She (continues): I went to Mother Teresa’s home in Kolkata and I cried there. I didn’t manage to learn wearing a saree. It was so great in India.

Me: Wow. That’s so nice.

She: So how did you like US?

Me: Hmmm. US is Ok.

She (with a wide-opened-mouth in surprise): Jus’ ok?

She was really surprised that I wasn't excited about visiting US. Like that, it wasn’t that fascinating to be there except for taking some new pictures.

Onsite trips are not always fairy tales, at least for me. You will be bored to death in a new place that you start eating lunch in your cubicle; your only entertainment would be internet in home as well as office. Even worse if you are on a completely different time zone, you will not have any of your friends in your messenger in your time. All you get to do is work non-stop which would ultimately increase the productivity. You get to eat everything which has a tag ‘ready-to-eat’, ‘frozen’ and ‘instant’. Above all this, there is a soft part to these onsite trips, where you get to meet your old friends in that land. But mind you, if you don’t have any friends in the place you are doomed. Well, it is a different case if you are settling with your family.

That said, onsite trips are always good where you get to see new places, earn lots of money, meet new people and learn new things in work, but the place you want to get back soon is always, you know, home.