Archive for July, 2010

Meru Cabs: “If it ain’t broke, go break it!!”

Posted: July 7, 2010 in Uncategorized
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They say that ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. But Meru obviously thnks differently on this. Read on..

At the outset, many of my friends would know that I have been a huge fan of Meru in the past. I have talked about them in person, on Facebook, on Twitter.. In fact, those days when I was doing the weekly Mumbai-Delhi trips (for almost a year!), Meru was a regular service I’d use. And talk about. In fact, I might have qualified for some serious loyalty points of cab-miles if you please, if they had schemes of that kind, during those days.

Even recently, when they finally started the special Mumbai airport service, with a direct IVR option for the same, I thought it was damn neat.

And then, disaster struck them. Perhaps they got a new Operations in charge, or some other smart aleck, who must have figured that stability may not be enough. And things need to get stirred up.

And so got introduced changes into the system. At the cost of messing things up.

Now for the last 7-8 times that I have dialled for a cab from home, I have never got one.

For the last 2 times that I have landed into Mumbai airport, I have not got a cab.

Okay, so far, nothing wrong in the system. Just that they got busier perhaps?

But let me point out to the system itself.

You call. You wait (yes, they tell you how much you need to wait approximately). Then an operator comes on. He recognizes you, thanks to your phone number (caller id) and previous interactions.

You ask for a cab and give details of when you need it. Chances are that he may convey a regret (“cab not available”) right there and then. Which is okay. You get out and go elsewhere.

But there are times, when he does not know. So why does he answer the call?

Ok, if he does not know, he puts you to an “automated system” which is going to let you know if there is a cab available or not. The operator has just punched in your data, and will now let the automated system do its thing. But as soon as you get to the automated system, it warns you of another longish wait.

And so you wait.

Only to get the automated response that cab is not available. Not a human across the line. So if you want to discuss some alternate time or adjustments, that is not possible. Will require another call, and more waiting.

Now the more interesting part.

Here is when the original human operator KNOWS of a cab availability. And more or less confirms it with you. Except that it STILL has to get validated with the Big Boss – yes, the “automated system”.

So now, the operator has confirmed that the cab is available, and you are listening to Meru music, while the automated system is ‘doing its thing’. You would expect it to return after the 2 minute wait, to give you maybe a confirmation number or something like that, right?

Surprise! The automated system comes back and lets you know, that the human operator did not know a thing. There are no cabs available.

*Here is when you move close to the wall, and then taking proper aim, you start a slow movement of banging your head to the wall*

So that is the smart, new automated system, that is expected to take Meru to new heights. Except that it is now starting from a new depth, and will have to scale all the way back to the surface first, and then consider going to new heights!

Ahh.. Easy Cabs.. are you any better than this? I am a customer waiting to shift loyalties..

Shukno Lanka: my experience of a Bengali film with no sub-titles

Posted: July 5, 2010 in Uncategorized
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When I read the review of this Mithun starrer, I decided that the Bengali film, Shukno Lanka was worth seeing. In recent times, I have seen a Marathi film and another Bengali film, and have enjoyed them both. So I was quite looking forward to seeing Shukno Lanka. And assuming subtitles to be present in this day and age, I did not even ask when I booked the tickets for Monday night show.

Still in the evening of Monday, I got jittery. What is there are no subtitles? I enquired over Twitter, and while no one could say for sure, at least a couple of them conveyed to me, with reasonable confidence that subtitles will be there.

With that comfort, we walked in to the theatre. Imagine my shock then, when the film started and I realized that there were no subtitles in English. I tweeted out my frustration from the theatre, and wondered how long I will be able to last inside, with a language that I did not understand.

But I gave it a shot. Unlike Marathi, which is kind of close to Gujarati and Hindi, and which hence, I have no problem in understanding, Bengali is not in that league. Most of the spoken language I did not understand. I understood some of it though. But as it turned out, the review that I had read (and hence known the broad concept of the story) and the little Bengali that I could follow, was enough for me to get a good idea of the film.

And I quite enjoyed it.

Though I am sure that most of my friends will not like it. It is a different kind of film.

Shows the modern day Kolkata. Well, as modern as Kolkata can get. The rickety trams are still there, and so are the Ambassador cars. But there are other better cars too. It is not exactly 2010, but perhaps early 2000 or so.

The tongas of Kolkata, Howrah, the people, the trams, all of these are depicted well.

Shown equally well, is the satisfied Bengali middle class couple. Enjoying their 1BHK home, decent meals, the TV soap operas, and the rides in the tonga, to keep the romance alive. The emotions that they display on getting a warm cup of tea in the middle of the night, or when the husband gets to sit in a car, or when he finally makes it to the posters of the new film as a hero, are so real. Here is when you know how a middle class person will get overwhelmed on receiving pleasures beyond his expectations.

The junior artiste who gets a break as a hero, is the character of Mithun, and is sketched out really well. His typical clothes, the demand by neighbourhood kids to have him mouth an Uttam Kumar dialog whenever he passes, his haggling with the tram conductor when he does not have money, and his very servile attitude to the stars and the director, make him a very believable character. Of course, Mithun does an absolutely brilliant job, in the role.

The parallel stories and snippets about the famous director and his strained relationship with his wife, the foreigner lady who comes to rescue the filmmaker and becomes his producer, the current idol of Bengali cinema and his insecurities and greed, are all shown and developed well, as the sub-plots.

The music is also interesting, even though I did not understand the words at all. There was, in most songs, a feeling that will make you dance.

All in all, for anyone interested in a decent story, this simple film will be well worth going for.

And you can especially go to see the middle class life, but where the couple are satisfied and happy.

And you can see it for Mithun. This is a stellar performance for sure. The time that he spent in his early days, with his disco dancing and gunmaster g-9 and all that, seem like such a waste now.

– Sanjay