Ok ... I have a lot to say and I didn't have internet for some days. So now, I have to puke it out all at once.
Many things have happened since last few days, just after I reached Noida (for my stay here for two months) and none of it is a usual site in Mumbai. I have had similar experiences in Delhi, so I was expecting the same here too since both cities are neighbors. But my expectations were surpassed to a very great extent.
I wanted to write about each encounter in detail but unfortunately we have not yet found the best internet service provider. Anyways, here is a gist of all the memoirs.
The Rajdhani Express
People in India look at you with their eyes wide open when you tell them you travelled in the Rajdhani Express. The reasons being
1. It is the most sophisticated train
2. One of the first fully air-conditioned trains in India
3. Travels at very high speeds
4. The fastest way to reach Delhi by land transport
5. Food and drinks (non-alcoholic) included in the fare
However, it didn't amuse me that much. The reasons being I have travelled in Garib Rath, which is
1. One of the recently added fully-ac trains in India with more hi-tech services that let you know the next station, estimated time to reach there, the speed of train, etc. (God bless Lalu!)
2. Very clean (The only train in India where I managed to use the toilet)
3. Though the food is not included in the fare, the tickets are very cheap
4. It also travels at mind-boggling speeds
The best of all trains is the 'Palace on Wheels' which runs in Rajasthan. But the fares are sky high.
Auto-Rickshaws don't have Trip meters
Yes, they charge what they feel like charging at that specific moment. You can easily bring the figure down to 50% of what he asks for. Bus transport is even worse. I guess the TCs are paid for being rude. They will push you around after giving you the ticket saying 'Hutt Hutt'.
MRP = My Retail Price
You will hardly find anything sold at MRP (except at Super malls). One of the shopkeepers had his own Price tag printer that he used to tag every thing in his shop with prices increased by 100%. Wine shops also charge 10-15 rupees extra on any bottle. They will give you reasons like 'Ab price badh gaya hai' or 'Itne ka hi milta hai'. The prices might be increased for the new stock, but what about the old stock? He got that for the old price and should be sold at the old MRP, but no, they wont. This one guy even said 'Isme se 10 rupaye sidhe Mayavati ko jaate hai'.
Horn-y Drivers and Mid-road Parkers
We have a cab that drives us from the guest house to our office and back. The driver of this cab doesn't know that the sound of the horn is not soothing to ears, he thinks it is like Kenny G playing the saxophone. He keeps honking all the way till the office. And it's not just this driver. I noticed many other people (bus drivers, private car owners, etc.) follow the same trend. May be that's taught in the driving schools here.
Another thing that amazed me is the way people park their cars. It's freaking ten feet away from the footpath, right in the middle of the road. They just come driving on the road, push the brakes and walk out of the car. There was this one wise guy who was trying to park his car the right way, but he was completely unaware of where he should be looking when he parks the car. When he was driving ahead looking for a spot to park, he kept looking on the right without even giving a quick glance at the road ahead where he was driving. Then when he found the spot to park, he started taking reverse, without looking back. One guy was almost run over by the car.
Many things have happened since last few days, just after I reached Noida (for my stay here for two months) and none of it is a usual site in Mumbai. I have had similar experiences in Delhi, so I was expecting the same here too since both cities are neighbors. But my expectations were surpassed to a very great extent.
I wanted to write about each encounter in detail but unfortunately we have not yet found the best internet service provider. Anyways, here is a gist of all the memoirs.
The Rajdhani Express
People in India look at you with their eyes wide open when you tell them you travelled in the Rajdhani Express. The reasons being
1. It is the most sophisticated train
2. One of the first fully air-conditioned trains in India
3. Travels at very high speeds
4. The fastest way to reach Delhi by land transport
5. Food and drinks (non-alcoholic) included in the fare
However, it didn't amuse me that much. The reasons being I have travelled in Garib Rath, which is
1. One of the recently added fully-ac trains in India with more hi-tech services that let you know the next station, estimated time to reach there, the speed of train, etc. (God bless Lalu!)
2. Very clean (The only train in India where I managed to use the toilet)
3. Though the food is not included in the fare, the tickets are very cheap
4. It also travels at mind-boggling speeds
The best of all trains is the 'Palace on Wheels' which runs in Rajasthan. But the fares are sky high.
Auto-Rickshaws don't have Trip meters
Yes, they charge what they feel like charging at that specific moment. You can easily bring the figure down to 50% of what he asks for. Bus transport is even worse. I guess the TCs are paid for being rude. They will push you around after giving you the ticket saying 'Hutt Hutt'.
MRP = My Retail Price
You will hardly find anything sold at MRP (except at Super malls). One of the shopkeepers had his own Price tag printer that he used to tag every thing in his shop with prices increased by 100%. Wine shops also charge 10-15 rupees extra on any bottle. They will give you reasons like 'Ab price badh gaya hai' or 'Itne ka hi milta hai'. The prices might be increased for the new stock, but what about the old stock? He got that for the old price and should be sold at the old MRP, but no, they wont. This one guy even said 'Isme se 10 rupaye sidhe Mayavati ko jaate hai'.
Horn-y Drivers and Mid-road Parkers
We have a cab that drives us from the guest house to our office and back. The driver of this cab doesn't know that the sound of the horn is not soothing to ears, he thinks it is like Kenny G playing the saxophone. He keeps honking all the way till the office. And it's not just this driver. I noticed many other people (bus drivers, private car owners, etc.) follow the same trend. May be that's taught in the driving schools here.
Another thing that amazed me is the way people park their cars. It's freaking ten feet away from the footpath, right in the middle of the road. They just come driving on the road, push the brakes and walk out of the car. There was this one wise guy who was trying to park his car the right way, but he was completely unaware of where he should be looking when he parks the car. When he was driving ahead looking for a spot to park, he kept looking on the right without even giving a quick glance at the road ahead where he was driving. Then when he found the spot to park, he started taking reverse, without looking back. One guy was almost run over by the car.
Customer (Don't) Care Services
Firstly, you will not find skilled representatives in any customer service department of any god damn service. Be it BSNL, Vodafone, Airtel, Reliance or any other you can think of. Secondly the way people speak here will make you feel like either smashing their heads or yours.
BSNL:
India's home grown communication services. It has a plethora of services from landline to 3G. But despite of all the services, they were not struck by the obvious thought of having a common customer care number for all services. Every service has a different 10-digit customer care center number, which the customer has to remember (Think of a person who has bought five different BSNL services). More over the attitude of their represetatives seems like they are not there to sell their products, instead it's like 'Lena hai to lo' attitude. Here is one of the funniest conversations with a BSNL representative.
Me: Do you have GSM Mobile services?
Rep: No.
Me: But it says here on the hoarding that you have GSM mobile services.
Rep: Hai but chalta nahi hai. [We have it but the product is not working]
Me: Meaning?
Rep: We don't sell it anymore.
Me: You have 3G services also right?
Rep: Yes.
Me: Can I get the 3G services.
Rep: You need a BSNL GSM mobile for that.
Me: And how can I get one if you don't sell it?
Rep: Eh ... Eh ...
Me: Forget it. I am not buying it anyways.
Airtel:
These guys open customer care outlets without providing knowledge to their representatives about what exactly are the documents required for getting a new connection. My colleague wanted to get Airtel broadband connection for which he was asked to provide a proof of local address. We all are new to Noida and living in our company's guest house and hence we do not have a local address proof. So he got a company letter head saying that he is currently staying at this address. The Airtel guy said that this document would not work. He also confirmed with his senior and he too said it won't work. The next day my colleague gets a call from Airtel saying that the document will work as a proof of address. Happily we went to the shop after office and handed over the document. The guy now goes back to his earlier stance, 'This document will not work'. We could not understand what made him call us back to the shop then. We went back home really pissed.
Reliance:
Another colleague of mine wanted a postpaid mobile connection. Here too he was pushed back with the criteria for local address proof. Luckily they allowed the company letter as address proofs. But my colleague didn't want to wait that long. so he asked for alternatives. The representative said he can buy a prepaid connection first, and when he gets the address proof he can get it changed to a portpaid connection keeping the same number. Some days later, he went back with the address proof when the guy said to him, 'Sorry, but we don't have any option to change prepaid number to postpaid'. The obvious words in my colleague's mouth at that time were 'What the fuck!'
Note:
I am yet to find the best internet connection here, but as per the reviews Reliance is the best in wireless with national roaming almost all over india; however, it is very expensive and they don't have any unlimited plans (they have tweaked the plans under fair usage policy which defeats the meaning of 'fair usage'). Airtel is known for good services in broadband wired connection. We are yet to figure out BSNL's network coverage and services, but we are hoping that to be good inspite of all the hassles we had to go through at the customer care center and over the calls.
Food
If you are a foodie and if you prefer Indian cuisine over the others, then you have good options in Noida. You have chaat stalls at every corner. Moreover you will never die hungry here as you also find juice stalls, paratha stalls, papad stalls, and Maggi noodle stalls wherever you go. You will also find decent quality restaurants for Indian, Chinese and Italian food. You can also find stalls of shawarmas, momos, frankies, etc. at some selected places. Luckily for me, it's just around the corner. People here prefer eating in Dhabas and at stalls and hence you don't find rush in the restaurants.
I had a funny incident at a restaurant also. It was not about the food, but the thing that happened later after we were done eating. I asked for a finger bowl and the waiter said they don't provide finger bowls as they have a wash basin. Fair enough. Then show me the way to the wash basin. He guided me to the wash basin, what I found was a hell. Any person who has to wash his hands after the meal would have to enter a toilet and use the wash basin inside it. The toilet was stinking so badly that any person who had a big filling meal would definitely puke. It seemed the hotel management wanted the food, they just served us, back on to their plates to be served to the next customer. Yuks!
G'atta'r Market
Atta market is the most famous market in Noida. You can find anything and everything you wish in this market. The Market is divided into a good half and a bad half, both separated by a main road flying over which would be the new Metro train services to be inaugurated before the end of this year. The good half has shopping malls, multiplexes and broad roads. But the bad half has 50 shop banners for every 10 feet distance. You have to stop walking for a couple of minutes every now and then to read through the boards and look for your required shop. Apart from that, the streets between these shops are like a labyrinth and just wide enough for a single person to pass through. But still the local people manage to drive bikes through these narrow streets. On top of that, the streets are full of garbage, dust, shit, sewage water, flies and other insects that will give you the most disgusting feeling you have ever had.
11 O'Clock, Sectors Blocked
The markets in Noida start closing after 7.30PM. All the restaurants close down by 9.30PM and you will just find wine shops open till 11PM. No shop open after that. They even close the gates to every sector after 11PM. Why? Because Noida is known for high crime rate. It's not at all advisable for anyone to roam around the city after 11PM. It gets too dangerous if you are alone and could be brutal if you are with your girl. Sad for a well planned city that they couldn't take care of the security.
Within the last few days, I have got the whole variety of experiences, which I think would be consistent till the end of my stay here. I am not thinking that the situations and services are going to improve in the next two months, but Noida being named as one of the hi-tech and well planned cities of India, I hope things soon get better here.
6:19 PM |
Category:
Airtel,
Atta market,
attitude,
BSNL,
cheat,
crime,
customer service,
driver,
food,
fraud,
high price,
living in noida,
Noida,
park,
Rajdhani Express,
Reliance,
Rickshaw,
train,
unsafe
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