Friday, September 08, 2017
Dissertation on consumers attitudes towards Uber in Mumbai
Hello friends,
I recently did a study on consumers attitudes towards Uber in Mumbai.
The PDF is attached on Google drive for your kind perusal.
Friday, May 12, 2017
Penalized for being honest : FlipKart.com : Mobile Exchange Program
1) Order IDOD109117953684087000(1 item)
2) Order Date Tue, May 9th '17 3:33 PM
3) Amount Paid ₹8,949through Cash on delivery
4) New Phone : Smartron srt.phone (Titanium Gray, 32 GB)
5) Old Phone to be exchanged : Leeco Le1s (for which I was offered INR 4150 - 100 (Pick up charges) ) Which too was purchased online on Feb2016 (So just 1yr, 3months old, and barely 3months out of warranty)
6) The Terms and Conditions mention
The exchanged phone must have
A) IMEI which is specified during the purchase
B) No Phy Damage
C) The Phone must turn on on its own without a charger for 30sec
All the above criteria were met and The delivery phone was satisfied with his checks
Then I honestly told him that phone reboots sometimes. It happens randomly
To which he politely declined to accept the exchange
I spoke to contact center too, and they too told me, that the delivery boy followed the protocol
But my question is, Why not update your terms and conditions to reflect what he did as an additional step in the checks and balances
I honestly told the delivery boy as well as the contact center that I am paying the price for being honest.
In the end, I still stay by my words, Disappointed with Flipkart's Term & Conditions. No guise against the delivery boy or the Contact Center.
FlipKart pls introspect. I had to pay the price for being honest.
Tuesday, September 06, 2016
Apple Graphics Card Recall for Early 2011 MacBookPro Laptops & my fear of failure
Hi All,
Today , 06Sep2016, I submitted my MacBookPro Early 2011 into AASP here in Borivali, Mumbai, India.
They connected an ethernet cable to MBP and ran VST (Video System Test) which failed in less than 5min for my MBP.
Immediately the AASP representative raised a formal request for repairs and proceeded with the formalities.
I am told they will contact me in 4-5 working days when the laptop will be ready.
Overall, my laptop was indeed one of the affected. It exhibited extreme heating, unexpected hanging, Split Screens, and over the last 2 weeks, it would not even boot. It would be stuck at Apple Logo with progress indicator stuck at mid-way.
IMG_20160906_141516.jpg
Pls note, When my laptop was booting, I would boot into Option + D (AHT = Apple Hardware Test) and both the basic and elaborate (which run over 1hr) tests would return "No trouble found".
So if your laptop has Graphics Issue, please visit AASP or Apple Stores and get this ethernet cable based VST run.
I did breathe a sigh or relief when VST failed. Else I was prepare to show the images and video on my phone camera incase VST would have failed. So I showed the Apple Rep a few pictures whilst VST was running and he straight away said these are Graphics Card Issues.
To me, there were two reasons for delaying the trip to AASP
1) Lack of Knowledge : I kept thinking that the OPTION + D (AHT) was the be-it-all and that AHT had to fail. I was not updated enough on the AST that AASP "only" has access to via Ethernet Cable.
2) Fear : Of Failure : What if Apple's AASP ran the AHT and it reported "No Trouble Found"
I carried so much anxiety for at least 4months, Lived through a severly crippled laptop. Wasted countless hours on mulling will Apple replace/repair my Laptop under Recall extension ?
As they say, I was too scared to take the 1st step. I now believe, I should have visited AASP lot earlier.
With that, all the best guys.
I'll keep you posted.
Today , 06Sep2016, I submitted my MacBookPro Early 2011 into AASP here in Borivali, Mumbai, India.
They connected an ethernet cable to MBP and ran VST (Video System Test) which failed in less than 5min for my MBP.
Immediately the AASP representative raised a formal request for repairs and proceeded with the formalities.
I am told they will contact me in 4-5 working days when the laptop will be ready.
Overall, my laptop was indeed one of the affected. It exhibited extreme heating, unexpected hanging, Split Screens, and over the last 2 weeks, it would not even boot. It would be stuck at Apple Logo with progress indicator stuck at mid-way.
IMG_20160906_141516.jpg
Pls note, When my laptop was booting, I would boot into Option + D (AHT = Apple Hardware Test) and both the basic and elaborate (which run over 1hr) tests would return "No trouble found".
So if your laptop has Graphics Issue, please visit AASP or Apple Stores and get this ethernet cable based VST run.
I did breathe a sigh or relief when VST failed. Else I was prepare to show the images and video on my phone camera incase VST would have failed. So I showed the Apple Rep a few pictures whilst VST was running and he straight away said these are Graphics Card Issues.
To me, there were two reasons for delaying the trip to AASP
1) Lack of Knowledge : I kept thinking that the OPTION + D (AHT) was the be-it-all and that AHT had to fail. I was not updated enough on the AST that AASP "only" has access to via Ethernet Cable.
2) Fear : Of Failure : What if Apple's AASP ran the AHT and it reported "No Trouble Found"
I carried so much anxiety for at least 4months, Lived through a severly crippled laptop. Wasted countless hours on mulling will Apple replace/repair my Laptop under Recall extension ?
As they say, I was too scared to take the 1st step. I now believe, I should have visited AASP lot earlier.
With that, all the best guys.
I'll keep you posted.
Saturday, March 07, 2015
Half Ticket : 65 years later still entertains the audience
Today I had an opportunity to watch for 1hr the movie Half Ticket
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056052/
with kids and wife.
Surprisingly it still entertains the audience. We were all in laughs at Kishore Kumar's antics.
The yongest kid was laughing her heart away. Coming at such a small age, she hardly understood the plot, which made Kishore Kumars antics even more laughable for her. Whilst the elder child didnt relish the movie as much his parents did (when they were kids and even today)
He seemed to lose interest the moment dinner was over and switched channels.
In today's day and age of High Tech Cartoons in full HD, where was he going to relate to Black n White comedy.
Nonetheless, Wife and I had a grand laugh. Laughter remidned me of my childhood. Infact just with this movie alone I have wonderful memories. And if you grant me the lee-way, I'll bore you here a bit more.
Flash back 25 years or so, I was visiting my Masi (Mother's sister) during summer vacations. Visiting her was a treat for me, specially due
1) They being far better off financially than my parents -> So literally, we (My sister not so much) and myself would line up to visit Masi.
Masi had all that a kid would vye for. Expensive chocolates, Lots of Imported toys, a Hughe campus with lots of kids my age and my lovely cousin sisters.
2) They had a Colour TV and VCR
3) And they usually would rent out newest movies. I was lireally spoilt for choice when I would visit her. It was paradise. Pure Bliss. It was Movie Bonanza clubbed with all sorts of eats that I would never have access to at home.
So one day, I demanded, I wanted to watch Half Ticket. Having heard rave reviews from my friends but havent watched the movie, had me craving for it. So Masi set out to call about 3 Video Parlours where they would typicially rent out VHS cassettes from. But to our dismay, none of them at the time had Half Ticket on shelf. So I was left dejected.
Months passed by and I was visiting her again, this time over an extended weekend. Usually extended weekends were less fun than Summer vacations, but fun nonetheless. So Masi had to visit a grocery store with my mum to buy our annual pulses (Wheat, Rice and Dal pulses for stocking up for the year). My mom seemed to ravel in these things and masi would never miss out an opportunity to leverage her expertise. And whilst they were shopping, we stumbled into a unique grocey store, who was Grocer cum Video Parlour guy.
And guess what, right on his display was Half Ticket. My joy knew no bounds. I requested Masi if she could rent it for us. She asked the grocer who happily let her rent it for 100/- INR deposit as it was our 1st transaction.
So I couldnt wait to come home to watch it. When all my cousins were home, we loaded the cassette into VCR and what unfolded infront of the house was totally anarchy. I laughed my heart out, so loud at time, that others in the home thought I had gone crazy. Tears kept streaming from sheer laughing. But I couldnt stop laughing n crying. It was an experience, I so vividly remember.
And then mid way through the movie, for the 1st time in long long time as my memory could serve us, Power failed in Masi's house. The entire neighbourhood had a power outage. Thus our cassette was stuck into the VCR. Unfortunately, the agreement with the grocer was to return the cassette to him in the evening same day, as supposedly he had lot of demand for it. So the grocer sent for a pick up guy to collect it in the evening. But due to power outage we hadnt seen it completely. Masi called the grocer and reasoned for extra day for us. We had a re-run of the entire movie again that night. And again, I laughed like crazy. Like I never ever have or perhaps will. And yes, it was a happy ending. I still cherish that movie.
Flash forward today, again after having seen the movie after 25yrs or so, the laughs indeed were toned down. But what was refreshing is even after 3 generations, the movie still makes it audience laugh. That is an attribute to sheer brilliance of Kishore Kumar and simplicity of the plot. No fancy script, no high profile sets, no animation and no special effect. Yet, Yet, Kishore kumar still rocks us all.
Nonetheless, Wife and I had a grand laugh. Laughter remidned me of my childhood. Infact just with this movie alone I have wonderful memories. And if you grant me the lee-way, I'll bore you here a bit more.
Flash back 25 years or so, I was visiting my Masi (Mother's sister) during summer vacations. Visiting her was a treat for me, specially due
1) They being far better off financially than my parents -> So literally, we (My sister not so much) and myself would line up to visit Masi.
Masi had all that a kid would vye for. Expensive chocolates, Lots of Imported toys, a Hughe campus with lots of kids my age and my lovely cousin sisters.
2) They had a Colour TV and VCR
3) And they usually would rent out newest movies. I was lireally spoilt for choice when I would visit her. It was paradise. Pure Bliss. It was Movie Bonanza clubbed with all sorts of eats that I would never have access to at home.
So one day, I demanded, I wanted to watch Half Ticket. Having heard rave reviews from my friends but havent watched the movie, had me craving for it. So Masi set out to call about 3 Video Parlours where they would typicially rent out VHS cassettes from. But to our dismay, none of them at the time had Half Ticket on shelf. So I was left dejected.
Months passed by and I was visiting her again, this time over an extended weekend. Usually extended weekends were less fun than Summer vacations, but fun nonetheless. So Masi had to visit a grocery store with my mum to buy our annual pulses (Wheat, Rice and Dal pulses for stocking up for the year). My mom seemed to ravel in these things and masi would never miss out an opportunity to leverage her expertise. And whilst they were shopping, we stumbled into a unique grocey store, who was Grocer cum Video Parlour guy.
And guess what, right on his display was Half Ticket. My joy knew no bounds. I requested Masi if she could rent it for us. She asked the grocer who happily let her rent it for 100/- INR deposit as it was our 1st transaction.
So I couldnt wait to come home to watch it. When all my cousins were home, we loaded the cassette into VCR and what unfolded infront of the house was totally anarchy. I laughed my heart out, so loud at time, that others in the home thought I had gone crazy. Tears kept streaming from sheer laughing. But I couldnt stop laughing n crying. It was an experience, I so vividly remember.
And then mid way through the movie, for the 1st time in long long time as my memory could serve us, Power failed in Masi's house. The entire neighbourhood had a power outage. Thus our cassette was stuck into the VCR. Unfortunately, the agreement with the grocer was to return the cassette to him in the evening same day, as supposedly he had lot of demand for it. So the grocer sent for a pick up guy to collect it in the evening. But due to power outage we hadnt seen it completely. Masi called the grocer and reasoned for extra day for us. We had a re-run of the entire movie again that night. And again, I laughed like crazy. Like I never ever have or perhaps will. And yes, it was a happy ending. I still cherish that movie.
Flash forward today, again after having seen the movie after 25yrs or so, the laughs indeed were toned down. But what was refreshing is even after 3 generations, the movie still makes it audience laugh. That is an attribute to sheer brilliance of Kishore Kumar and simplicity of the plot. No fancy script, no high profile sets, no animation and no special effect. Yet, Yet, Kishore kumar still rocks us all.
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Crawford Market, Mumbai, MH, IN.. Must do it again. This time right.
Well recently my wife and I went to Crawford Market for purchasing a Steel Cupboard in Kalbadevi.
Whilst, there are lots of avenues to shop around for variety of goods, the plan of action should be simple
1) Visit very early. Try to get there before sun is overhead. Say at 0900 AM IST
2) Have a list of to buy products. There is incredibly large variety of goods on offer. Kids Toys, Women's & Kids clothing, Imitation Watches, Foot Wear, Ladies Handbags and beauty care. I am not going to articulate all the vares. There are many reviews on TripAdvisor.com just for that
3)Bargain Hard... But wait, before you bargain, dont ask the final price. Visit all the street hawkers and check their offered price. Dont show intent for a sale as yet.
Once you have visited all hawkers and identified a product, home into these vendors for their final price. And bargain hard. If you are buying in bulk the discount is significantly higher.
It was shopping paradise for my wife. We spent just 2hrs as it was quite late (2105 IST)
But certainly, its an entertaining affair at the Crawford Market.
I certainly need to visit it again and this time on weekday and early morning.
1) Visit very early. Try to get there before sun is overhead. Say at 0900 AM IST
2) Have a list of to buy products. There is incredibly large variety of goods on offer. Kids Toys, Women's & Kids clothing, Imitation Watches, Foot Wear, Ladies Handbags and beauty care. I am not going to articulate all the vares. There are many reviews on TripAdvisor.com just for that
3)Bargain Hard... But wait, before you bargain, dont ask the final price. Visit all the street hawkers and check their offered price. Dont show intent for a sale as yet.
Once you have visited all hawkers and identified a product, home into these vendors for their final price. And bargain hard. If you are buying in bulk the discount is significantly higher.
It was shopping paradise for my wife. We spent just 2hrs as it was quite late (2105 IST)
But certainly, its an entertaining affair at the Crawford Market.
I certainly need to visit it again and this time on weekday and early morning.
Humility.. Paramount.
I recently blogged about my adventure in procurring cupboard for my house.
We stumbled into lot of stores in Kalbadevi, Mumbai, MH, India and surveyed the offerring and their price.
All stores close at about 0715 PM IST. So get there by noon for having sufficient time as there are about 12+ stores in 3min walking distance.
We visited just a few. My father had done something simular for their needs 6month ago. So he already knew which were the best among these.
We went to Venus Stores 301, Kalbadevi Road, Kalbadevi, Mumbai - 400002
The owner himself greeted us and showed all the offerings on display (about 6 variants) He went over the minor intricacies about each offering and more importantly why his price was higher. IMHO, far higher than the rest on the market.
But what was starking and a very notable attribute was his Humility. The owner listened to each and every query of ours. Even if it meant we repeated the same question 10th time. He responded to us each time with a smile and enthusiasm. At no point did he get fed-up with us. He was extremely courteous and very down to earth. Despite the fact that that guy owns a huge factory on Goregoan W , right on the prime area That he can very well over see the display and demonstration of cupboards from his staff (equally qualified) and relax on his svivel chair.
It was very refreshing to see, such people still exist in this day and age where people treat each purchase as a commodity. The Sales rep at the other end is least interested in the sale. And knows as much as you do, that customer has done all the investigation on the features and price upfront.
There is a very strong message in the entire transaction for me. Humility. Treat every probably customer right and no matter if he does the sale or not, you would have left a lasting impression. I highly recommend Venus stores a visit , even if you dont buy from them. At least please hear their sales pitch before you make your buy.
I definitely need to embibe this in my work.
Note to Self: Delivery was 10 years ago.
All stores close at about 0715 PM IST. So get there by noon for having sufficient time as there are about 12+ stores in 3min walking distance.
We visited just a few. My father had done something simular for their needs 6month ago. So he already knew which were the best among these.
We went to Venus Stores 301, Kalbadevi Road, Kalbadevi, Mumbai - 400002
The owner himself greeted us and showed all the offerings on display (about 6 variants) He went over the minor intricacies about each offering and more importantly why his price was higher. IMHO, far higher than the rest on the market.
But what was starking and a very notable attribute was his Humility. The owner listened to each and every query of ours. Even if it meant we repeated the same question 10th time. He responded to us each time with a smile and enthusiasm. At no point did he get fed-up with us. He was extremely courteous and very down to earth. Despite the fact that that guy owns a huge factory on Goregoan W , right on the prime area That he can very well over see the display and demonstration of cupboards from his staff (equally qualified) and relax on his svivel chair.
It was very refreshing to see, such people still exist in this day and age where people treat each purchase as a commodity. The Sales rep at the other end is least interested in the sale. And knows as much as you do, that customer has done all the investigation on the features and price upfront.
There is a very strong message in the entire transaction for me. Humility. Treat every probably customer right and no matter if he does the sale or not, you would have left a lasting impression. I highly recommend Venus stores a visit , even if you dont buy from them. At least please hear their sales pitch before you make your buy.
I definitely need to embibe this in my work.
Note to Self: Delivery was 10 years ago.
Iron Cupboards... HowTo Buy guide.
We recently visited Kalbadevi Cupboard stores to procure iron cupboards. Use wood was not my type. Considering we have termite infestation in the building.
The strategy was supposedly simple.
1) Identify the guage (16/18, 18/20, 20/22) Pls note, the 1st set of digits before / are for outer door (which is lower number signifying heavier sheet in use. The second set of digits after the / signiy the sheet (which is higher number indicating thinner sheet in use) for interiors of the cupboard (i.e shelves, drawers, the lock-n-key vault)
Traditionally, people have tended to secure the heaviest cupboard that they can buy. We too were of the same old tradition, we wanted to buy 16/18 guage. But then the owner at the "Venus" store suggested, people now dont buy cupboards for storing valuables, its just a cupboard for clothes. Gone are the days when cupboard was valued as a safe. Also, 16/18 being heavier will also be more expensive. Such an expenditure is not warranted. There was clearly a 30% mark up on the price over the 2nd heavier option 18/20.
The owner, also strongly (and surprisingly) recommended opting 18/20. He said, anything below that is way too light and wont last long. We were surprised to hear such an advice. After all for him there was money to be made in the sale. Yet he suggested what was right.
So the 1st parameter was secured: 18/20 it was
2) Width of the cupboard The standard out of the box as it might dimension for width is 36" (3feet). There were on display 40" cupboards and they felt significantly more spacious. We worked out our wall dimensions and said 40" will fit fine. So 40" it was. So yes, our cupboard will be custom made :-)
3) Layout of the cupbaord. Specifically (the number of drawers) It seems, the number of drawers (one v/s two) alter the price. All cupboard have a lock-n-key vault and 3 shelves.
4) The Handle on the main door. Two varitions : Traditional swing to open v/s Click locks The price for Click lock is significantly higher. We felt Click lock to feel more stylish, kind of making a fashion statement. So opted for it
5) Additional Shelves Ofcours the half shelves cost extra , just as the full shelves do. We wanted half and full shelves. So those were added in.
6) Round off the costs, negotiate a discount and the deal is sealed.
Delivery to door step till ground floor is free, If elevators cannot be used, Every level on the building that the Porters will have to lift the cupboard costs extra.
Overall, despite my initial thoughts, that the visit would be relatively simple turned out to be quite an exercise. I hope this helps someone in their pursuit. Happy cupboard hunting.
The strategy was supposedly simple.
1) Identify the guage (16/18, 18/20, 20/22) Pls note, the 1st set of digits before / are for outer door (which is lower number signifying heavier sheet in use. The second set of digits after the / signiy the sheet (which is higher number indicating thinner sheet in use) for interiors of the cupboard (i.e shelves, drawers, the lock-n-key vault)
Traditionally, people have tended to secure the heaviest cupboard that they can buy. We too were of the same old tradition, we wanted to buy 16/18 guage. But then the owner at the "Venus" store suggested, people now dont buy cupboards for storing valuables, its just a cupboard for clothes. Gone are the days when cupboard was valued as a safe. Also, 16/18 being heavier will also be more expensive. Such an expenditure is not warranted. There was clearly a 30% mark up on the price over the 2nd heavier option 18/20.
The owner, also strongly (and surprisingly) recommended opting 18/20. He said, anything below that is way too light and wont last long. We were surprised to hear such an advice. After all for him there was money to be made in the sale. Yet he suggested what was right.
So the 1st parameter was secured: 18/20 it was
2) Width of the cupboard The standard out of the box as it might dimension for width is 36" (3feet). There were on display 40" cupboards and they felt significantly more spacious. We worked out our wall dimensions and said 40" will fit fine. So 40" it was. So yes, our cupboard will be custom made :-)
3) Layout of the cupbaord. Specifically (the number of drawers) It seems, the number of drawers (one v/s two) alter the price. All cupboard have a lock-n-key vault and 3 shelves.
4) The Handle on the main door. Two varitions : Traditional swing to open v/s Click locks The price for Click lock is significantly higher. We felt Click lock to feel more stylish, kind of making a fashion statement. So opted for it
5) Additional Shelves Ofcours the half shelves cost extra , just as the full shelves do. We wanted half and full shelves. So those were added in.
6) Round off the costs, negotiate a discount and the deal is sealed.
Delivery to door step till ground floor is free, If elevators cannot be used, Every level on the building that the Porters will have to lift the cupboard costs extra.
Overall, despite my initial thoughts, that the visit would be relatively simple turned out to be quite an exercise. I hope this helps someone in their pursuit. Happy cupboard hunting.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Solo Microwave
Well our faithful microwave of 7+ yrs died after great service.
The Model was: LG MS-1927C (700W, Mechanical Rotary Dial, Solo)
All it could do was heat food and all we wanted from it was just that.
It was a perfect harmony, until recently when its Magnatron (suspected) failed.
The Turn Table would turn, the Bulb would light up and timer would tick fine too, but food wasnt getting warmed
A few calls to LG Authorized center revealed, Cost for the Magantron would be approx 1205/- + Installation Charges (350/-) There would be 3 months parts warranty.
But was the repair justified ? When a newever microwave is available strating from 3500/- I had made up my mind, repair aint gonna be.
Also I had 1500/- Reliance Digital vouchers languishing with me which had to be disposed off promptly. These vouchers added 90% more impetus towards getting a newver microwave v/s repair
All the while we were clear, we didnt want a newver microwave with Convection or with Grill or for that matter all those fancy features We just wanted plain microwave (Solo as its called in Marketting terms)
The next decision was to be made was do we want a Rotary mechanical dial v/s Digital touch button display for controls ? Our old microwave was Rotary Mechanical dial which served us great to be honest. But folks at home wanted to try something new, something different. So digital touch button display it was
Then a courtesy call to our trusted Reliance Digitial store revealed they had only 2 Solo models, one from LG and other from Samsung LG was expensive by 1500/- over Samsung, yet LG had slightly smaller cavity area compared to Samsung. Both had digitial displays with Touch controls
Thus the decision was made in matter of 20mins and deal was sealed The Model : Samsung MW73AD (Black Colour, 20lts, 700W, Digital Display with Touch buttons, Clock and 5 quick preset modes)
Once the microwave was home: Review:
1) The Bulb doesnt illuminate the cavity well enough. The Dark Black screen on the front cover doesnt help the cause either. WE have to lean close to the microwave to see if the food hasnt overheated
2) The touch buttons are stiff. Again the case of having bought an entry level microwave , you get what you pay for. There were high end microwaves for 13000/-
3) The 30+ button doesnt work in combination with other incremental buttons (10min, 1min can be mixed and matched)
4) There is a built in clock which you can setup and leave the Mains power on and it will happily display the time for eternity, until you switch off the microwave when it resets to 12:00. It has a power save mode, but we prefer switching off the mains. So the clock functionality will never be used.
5) The microwave takes a moment or two to initialise when powered on from the Mains. Perhaps all the digital circuitry within takes that time. Who knows. The impatient me was so used to the instant turn on that this moment or two wait is annoying.
Apart from the above, no complaints. It does the job well.
As a personal recommendation:
I strongly urge folks looking for a Solo Microwave cheaply is to
1) Consider a Non Branded Microwave (All these stores Chroma, Reliance, etc have their own brands which are OEMs from Korea)
2) Consider a Mechanical Rotary Dial for controls. Trust me, after having used the Digital touch dial, we seemed to have got over its beauty and qucikly realised Rotary dial is the best. It will perhaps last longer too over Digital touch
3) Shop around on Internet, but at the same time, visit the Brick-Mortar stores, they usually match the Online Prices.
A few calls to LG Authorized center revealed, Cost for the Magantron would be approx 1205/- + Installation Charges (350/-) There would be 3 months parts warranty.
But was the repair justified ? When a newever microwave is available strating from 3500/- I had made up my mind, repair aint gonna be.
Also I had 1500/- Reliance Digital vouchers languishing with me which had to be disposed off promptly. These vouchers added 90% more impetus towards getting a newver microwave v/s repair
All the while we were clear, we didnt want a newver microwave with Convection or with Grill or for that matter all those fancy features We just wanted plain microwave (Solo as its called in Marketting terms)
The next decision was to be made was do we want a Rotary mechanical dial v/s Digital touch button display for controls ? Our old microwave was Rotary Mechanical dial which served us great to be honest. But folks at home wanted to try something new, something different. So digital touch button display it was
Then a courtesy call to our trusted Reliance Digitial store revealed they had only 2 Solo models, one from LG and other from Samsung LG was expensive by 1500/- over Samsung, yet LG had slightly smaller cavity area compared to Samsung. Both had digitial displays with Touch controls
Thus the decision was made in matter of 20mins and deal was sealed The Model : Samsung MW73AD (Black Colour, 20lts, 700W, Digital Display with Touch buttons, Clock and 5 quick preset modes)
Once the microwave was home: Review:
1) The Bulb doesnt illuminate the cavity well enough. The Dark Black screen on the front cover doesnt help the cause either. WE have to lean close to the microwave to see if the food hasnt overheated
2) The touch buttons are stiff. Again the case of having bought an entry level microwave , you get what you pay for. There were high end microwaves for 13000/-
3) The 30+ button doesnt work in combination with other incremental buttons (10min, 1min can be mixed and matched)
4) There is a built in clock which you can setup and leave the Mains power on and it will happily display the time for eternity, until you switch off the microwave when it resets to 12:00. It has a power save mode, but we prefer switching off the mains. So the clock functionality will never be used.
5) The microwave takes a moment or two to initialise when powered on from the Mains. Perhaps all the digital circuitry within takes that time. Who knows. The impatient me was so used to the instant turn on that this moment or two wait is annoying.
Apart from the above, no complaints. It does the job well.
As a personal recommendation:
I strongly urge folks looking for a Solo Microwave cheaply is to
1) Consider a Non Branded Microwave (All these stores Chroma, Reliance, etc have their own brands which are OEMs from Korea)
2) Consider a Mechanical Rotary Dial for controls. Trust me, after having used the Digital touch dial, we seemed to have got over its beauty and qucikly realised Rotary dial is the best. It will perhaps last longer too over Digital touch
3) Shop around on Internet, but at the same time, visit the Brick-Mortar stores, they usually match the Online Prices.
Monday, February 09, 2015
To be a Flautist or not to be
I have a childhood dream of being a flautist, but never went ahead in putting efforts into it.
The reason for choosing flute as an organ v/s other popular ones (Guitar/etc) are
1) It helps regulate breathing
2) Its extremely small instrument (Subject to debate) compared to Guitar so easy to travel with it
3) Its very cheap to procure (Subject to debate)compared to Guitar
4) Its easy to procure (In India one can get flutes abundantly)
So I went about googling for Institutes that offer tutions around it in my vicinity.
I figured out a Tutor who would visit my home and offere 1hr sessions each week for a fee.
It would take me 1.5yrs at least to get proficient in flute playing to be of any notice. As such any organ to learn/master is a life time process.
Thus I figured out, at the moment, I dont want to invest in it.
Thus the dream still stays.. a dream.
I hope some day I can realise it.
Sunday, February 08, 2015
ToDo list
Here is my ToDo list that I conjured up in 10mins. I'll gradually keep adding to this list and see how much I can fulfill at the end of the year.
2015: The year of no regrets.
1) Visit Aksha Beach Completed.
2) Visit Elephanta Caves
3) Visit Kaneri Caves
4) Visit National Park
5) Visit Mumbai Zoo (Rani Baug in Byculla)
6) Visit Hanging Garden
7) ... Still .. To Add
Aksha Beach Calling
Finally after almost a year and a half , I will be visiting Aksha Beach
The reasons are, Well inhibitors best not made public ;-) unless I want to get slaughtered ;-)
So lets see what evening lies ahead for us. This time around I have excited adequate people from my daughter's school to participate.
So we are over 10 adults and 15+ kids meeting up. Everyone is getting something or the other, so its a small snack treat too.
I always found beach to bring in the calm and serenity that we all miss when away sucked up in hectic work
No matter of how much you unwind over the weekends, a trip to the beach is a stress buster
Building Sand Castles, Getting feet wet, counting waves, watching the sun go behind the horizon...
Well some things are free, yet so good.
A visit to the beach has to top my list.
Updates: 08/02/2015
We were 8 couples and their kids. We all had a great time there.
We built sand castles, lots of them, Got our feet wet in the waves, had tons to snack.
All around it was great fun.
Now looking forward to organising another trip to the beach, either in group or solo.
Tuesday, February 03, 2015
Be Nice, its just a job !!
iTunes Internet Radio : My Saviour
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Passport Tatkal: Annexure F woes galore
Friends,
I have had an excruciating past 1week at the Regional Passport Office in Mumbai.
My existing passport is valid till 2017, however I ran out of all the pages for any new visa to be affixed.
So what was supposed to be a straight forward visit to passport office turned into a nightmare.
I visited (don't remember the date, but was 1.5w before the appointment) passport.gov.in and registered for an appointment on 09-Aug-2011 11:30 IST at the New passport Office - Bengal Chemicals, Worli, Mumbai.
on 09-Aug-2011,
I reached the gate at 0830 IST. I inquired if it was necessary to come early or arriving 15min before the appointment time is still valid ?
The guard at the gate, said, Yes
So I stood in queue along with 150 people ahead of me. By 0945 IST the queue had swelled to 300 people.
At 0945IST, they inspected everyone's application to check if they had a valid appointment for that day. Upon inspection, they assembled us in three queues
A) for People with Appointment for that day
B) for people who have been summoned for 2nd or more time, due to lack of documents/etc
C) For people who have not registered online.
So obviously, I was placed in A) queue along with other 260 people.
At 1000 IST, they started doing inspection rounds again only from A) queue. This time people called for 1000 IST were asked to enter the Hall A while others waited. So no matter what time you showed up at the gate, if your (As mine) appointment is at 1130, you will need to wait.
At 1015 IST, ditto, people called for 1030 IST appointment were picked and asked to proceed to Hall A. Again for me, had to wait.
This continued till 1115 IST when my turn to enter Hall A arrived.
At 1115 IST, two guards at two separate points leading to Hall A inspected my papers again and accordingly I was dispatched to Counters 17 or 18 as they were meant for Tatkal.
At 1145 IST, A cop, announced to all Tatkal registrants to affix two extra photographs near the police verification page (pg6). This sent panic among lot of folks including me, who didn't carry extra photos of the same size. I had smaller size photos. So I affixed those.
At 1215 IST, My turn at the counter arrived. The officer was rather terse in his communication.
He looked at my application, sorted the two additional sets of copies, and then queried his online database for my existing passport number.
There he found out that my current passport (issued 5 yrs ago) (valid till 2017) was issued under Tatkal and Police Verification (PV) wasn't done then.
So ?????????????
He said, I wont be eligible to apply under Tatkal this time around so the passport will have to be processed in normal priority (35 working days for delivery after Police Verification)
OR
I will have to withdraw my application and go home.
He gave me exactly 2mins to decide and panic set in. After having waited for nearly 4hrs and enduring high stress, it was an automatic "YES" to normal processing.
The moment I said YES, he applied a huge stamp "Passport Cancelled and Returned" on my current passport and asked me to proceed to counter 18 to pay the Normal Passport processing fees.
WOW... What happened just now ?
once the panic settled down, it was too late to realize, that I wont be able to travel on current passport and wont get a new one till another 45days.
Man, New sets of FUDs swept me... I was all at sea...
I asked him, and several others, what next ?
He said, I can convert this application to Tatkal in next 8 days, If I get Annexure - F and Annexure - I.
Now I knew what big mistake I had committed.
Annexure- I is a pretty straight forward application which anybody can make for 200 INR to 400 INR, depending on priority. I paid INR 300 for next day delivery.
Annexure - F: The most important piece of paper since I did my engineering...has to be got from a well know dignitary working in Govt/ Public Sector.
More info here : http://passport.gov.in/cpv/ANNEXUREF_vc_tatkaal.htm
This Annexure F is also called VC (Verification Certificate).
Now how on earth am I going to get a VC ? I know NO big shot to vouch for me.
Eventually, I realized this was the only way to sort me out.
At 1400 IST, I left for Byculla to meet my in-law at the Sales Tax Office.
At 1600 IST, I met up with my in-law and together we went to 6th floor to meet Dy. with whom my in-law deal regularly.
He heard our story and said, someone in the past had got a V.C letter from the Dy. Commissioner and Passport office had rejected the application.
So we need to seek the VC from Joint Commissioner, where my in-law had no influence.
Thus dejectedly, we left for home. I arrived home at 1905.
Before going to bed, I thought of reaching out to a colleague at office who is an Ex IAF Wing Commander.
She (yes that ex IAF is a lady !!!, A pretty one at that too :-) ) heard me for like 2mins and immediately said She can definitely help me get a VC. And she will update me first thing in morning next day.
on 10Aug2011 at 0754 IST,
I got a missed call on my cell.
At 0830 IST,
I called back that number and she told me would it be OK if she got me the VC from Bangalore the next day when she has to visit Mumbai for work anyways.
I said yes.
At 0845 IST,
I sent her scanned copy of my photograph that I had affixed on the application. As Annexure F (VC) needs my photo cross signed and cross stamped
At 1400 IST,
She went out to a local photography store and got my passport photos printed (cost INR 70 for 8 photos)
At 1430 IST,
She confirmed, my VC will be ready for pickup tomorrow at Mumbai Domestic Airport from her at 0900 IST
At 1700 IST,
I confirmed a local chauffeur (paid INR 500 + meals) to take me around next day in my car.
on 11Aug2011 at 0500 IST
Woke up, showered and got ready to leave at 0815 IST.
At 0830 IST
Tanked up fuel
At 0845 IST,
Realized I was going to be very very late meeting her as I was stuck in peak traffic on Western Express Highway. So called her to meet me mid-way on WE Highway under Andheri Flyover.
At 0915 IST,
After making roughly 15 calls back and forth giving directions to her cab driver and instructing mine, we met at the designated point.
At 0917 IST,
I got the envelope, with 2 sets of Original Annexure F and I handed over a small pack of snickers chocolates that I had got for her as a gesture in thanks for all her efforts.
At 1015 IST,
Reached the barber shop opp the New Passport Office, to pick up my Annexure I
At 1030 IST
Reached the new Passport Office, counter 12 to submit my application
1) A Letter requesting for expediting the application in Tatkal
2) Appendix I in original and 1 copy
3) Appendix F in 2 sets of Original + 2 copies of Driving License of Wing Commander who signed my VC.
At 1050 IST,
I was told, I need to get copies of my existing passport and any valid visa i might have (No mention of this on their website by the way)
At 1055 IST,
After a quick dask to the Xerox wala outside the RPO, I returned to the Counter 12 queue
At 1059 IST,
I realized, after casually chatting with a lady ahead of me, that I need a Reference Number on the VC. (No explicit mention of this on their website by the way)
At 1115 IST,
A frantic call to Wing Commander and I got the File Ref Number.
At 1118 IST,
I am back in queue at counter 12.
When the Officer inspected my papers he said, I had to submit the Liquor Card/Canteen Card of the Wing Commander instead of his driving license as the proof of Identity !!!!!!!!!!!!
(No mention of this on their website by the way)
At 11 20 IST,
I ask Wing Cmdr to FAX me the Liquor Card/Canteen Card to a street Xerox wala.
At 11 45 IST
After exasperating wait, the FAX transmission comes in, I see its a PAN CARD copy instead of Liquor Card !!!! Damn !!!!
At 11 47 IST,
I run up to the counter 12 again, just to try my luck, to see what officer says... Though I expected the inevitable.
he refused, He said, I had to get the Canteen Card/Liquor Card or no go.
At 1125 IST,
Panic galore, What did I do wrong to be punished like this ?
I called the wing cmdr again and he said he kept the card at home and can give it to me at 1500 latest.
Damn !!!!
At 1455 IST,
I check the scan copy of the Liquor Card come in to my email
At 1500 IST,
I save it to USB and give it to local Xerox wala who prints it for me.
At 1505 IST,
I visit the counter 12 again. The officer this time around actually inspects the VC and says the VC is from an officer in Bangalore and that wont be accepted (No mention of this on their website by the way) he told me I can request the Secretary to the Commissioner of Passport at Cabin II as he is the one who authorizes processing of all VCs.
At 1530 IST,
I meet the Secretary in his cabin. He blatantly refused the BLR VC and said its too difficult for them to verify the same via Snail Post and by then the Tatkal window expires. So I had to get a VC with a liquor card form an officer in Mumbai.
At 1600 IST,
I called the (wing cmdr) colleague up and asked her if I can get VC from someone in Mumbai.
She obliged. She had a return flight to take at 2035 back to BLR. So on route to airport she called people who could oblige.
At 2000 IST,
before she could enter the aircraft, she gave me 2 contacts
1) Wing Cmdr in IAF - Santacruz.
That gentleman was being posted out of Mumbai and would be of no use when VC verification would come in.. DAMN !!!! Need to find someone else.
2) Retd Capt Indian Navy
At 2010 IST,
I called the Ret. Cpt. and he was very polite. he listened me out and we spoke on several calls for almost 10mins.
Since then, Ret. Cpt made calls to 10 different people at this late in the evening.
But since we were approaching a long weekend, Sat/Sun/Mon Holidays, lot of his Tier1 mates were on leave.
Damn...
At 2045 IST,
I get a dejected call from Ret. Cpt that he had exhausted all his options. I was already ashamed of myself of having sought so much of personal obligation. I requested him to try few more times.
At 2100 IST,
Ret Cpt called me back and said I needed to visit Navy Nagar, Colaba, to meet Surg Cpt.
He gave me exact coordinates knowing I was a civilian and never been to that place ever.
It was so so nice of him to help me out and go this far really.
Thank you sir....
on 12Aug2011 at 0500 IST
Woke up, showered and got ready to leave at 0735 IST.
At 0735 IST
Took a fast train to Churchgate
At 0845 IST
Arrived Churchgate
At 0855 IST
Took the Cab to Colaba, R C Church
At 0915 IST
Arrived at the Gate of the INHS Ashwani
At 0920 IST
Met Cmdr's office with whom Ret. Cpt had spoken to earlier evening.
Was made to wait in a very nicely lit and air conditioned cabin of his Clerk who (unfortunately) was running late that day.
More stress/anxiety/high tension.
At 1030 IST.
She arrives, update the doc file (she already had the format), and prints it.
Damn... We spent next precious 30mins fixing paper jams on her 2 printers.
At 1100 IST
I meet Surg. Cpt to get his signature/seal on VC
He obliges
At 1115 IST
I run to take a cab from RC Church to Old Passport Office, Worli.
I tell cab wala, will tip 20 INR more if he got me there before 1200 IST as the RPO closes at 1200 IST
He drives like a man possessed, with of course, I constantly reminding him of the urgency.
At 1145 IST
In 30mins, I am outside the RPO, WOW, the cabbie was a genius. I tip him more than agreed and dash of to sprint to Counter 12.
At 1147 IST
I arrive at the counter, no queue surprisingly at this time, WOW,
Tell him, I had come yesterday with BLR VC and it was not allowed. Today I have got a Mumbai VC with Liquour Card and all !!!!!!
At 1150,
he says, "Tumhi Ata Khub Hushaar Jhalaat " I will process your application quickly.
I get an appointment date with a senior RPO for 16Aug2011. He scribbles with green pen (official colour for them)
I walk out of RPO with a sense of accomplishment. Like mission accomplished. War won !!!!
I go home happy and sleep well that night.
on 16Aug2011 at 0500 IST
Woke up, snoozed the alarm and went to sleep for 1hr. Damnn !!!
at 0600 IST
Got up, showered and left for RPO at 0735 IST
0735 IST
Took the train to reach Dadar.
0815 IST
Visted Siddhivinayak Temple (my weekly ritual)
0825 IST
Took Cab from Siddhivinayak to Old Passport Office
0915 IST
Stood in queue with other outside the Old RPO.
1000 IST
Entered the Building with the rest of people to go to my designated counter (Counter 6) for a face to face interview.
1005 IST
The peon outside the Cabin VI, collects everyone's receipts to retrieve the Original Applications filed by me on 9Aug2011.
he brings files in batches... Mine doesn't arrive... In the mean time, other people whom I got acquainted with at Counter 12 on Friday arrive...and submit their receipts for their files to be retrieved.
1030 IST
Others keep coming in and get their files retrieved. Mine still not found
1130 IST
Others keep coming in and get their files retrieved. Mine still not found
1230 IST
Others keep coming in and get their files retrieved. Mine still not found
I was the LAST person left whose file was not found. Can you believe it.
Finally the peon found my file and submitted to the Secretary of Commissioner of Passports in Cabin II
he rejects the application on grounds that VC is not on "PRINTED STATIONARY" and that it was on a computer generated letter head. !!!! ( No mention of this on their website by the way)
What the FUCK !!!!
Why me ?>
Why Me ?
WHY ME ?????
I meet him in his cabin and he blatantly refuses to even hear me.
Says, pls close t
he door when you leave...Nothing to say... Get the VC on printed stationary else I cant proceed as per my orders.
1245 IST,
I call the Surg. Cpt to check if he has the printed stationary. He said, it had the Official Emblem on the left, but no address. Now that wont suffice I thought...... Thanked him and continued on my way home.
1300 IST
I leave for Dadar Station. Take a cab outside RPO
It was a sad day indeed, after having come this far, I get denied AGAIN..That too for a petty reason!!!
I was totally shattered and decided to abandon the entire tatkal saga for good and give up
1700 IST
I wrote to my manager and others that I give up and will let the passport arrive in its own due course of time.
At 1900 IST
I get call from Ret Cpt again and he says I should talk to Surg Cpt to see if he has printed stationary. Which we both doubted he would have.
on 17Aug2011 at 0800 IST
Woke up, saw missed call from Ret Cpt. WOW. New ray of home I guess.
0810 IST
I called Ret. Cpt and he patiently hears me out on what transpired the earlier day.
He said I should call once again to Sug Cpt to see if he has any printed stationary with Emblem and Address.
0835 IST
I call Surg Cpt and he says, I told you yesterday I don't have the printed stationary. I request him to double check again. All we need is the official Emblem and Address. He said I should call him in 5mins
0840 IST
i call Surg Cprt again and he surprisingly said, he managed to scour 2 printed stationary which had the emblem and address. I asked him if I can get them today itself and that I would meet him at 1100 IST at his office.
Now I had precisely 2 hrs and 20min to reach his office. And for those who know where I live, it was quite a dash. I hadn't showered up.
0900 IST
I shower Up
0945 IST
Have a quick bite and rush to take auto to reach local train station
0950 IST
Take the train (fast, jam packed) for Churchgate
1040 IST
Train arrives at Churchgate. I have 20mins to meet Surg. Cpt.
1045 IST
I take the cab to reach RC Church. The cabbie's name is Ram.... I ask him to wait for me outside the gate and that if he was willing to drive me to Dadar, Worli.
He obliges.
1115 IST
I am actually at Surg Capt's office. 15 whopping min late !!!
Cpt smiles at me and gives me 2 original printed stationary for me to hand them over to Clerk for printing it out.
1120 IST
I run around the campus to meet the clerk. She modifies the doc (header/footer/etc) to align with the stationary.
1130 IST.
I run back to Cpt's desk and he signs and seals the document for me. I thank him profusely.
And I run back to main gate to the cabbie (Ram) waiting by for me.
1145 IST
we start the quick dash to passport office. I tell him I will tip well,but he has to reach me the office by 1200 IST. An impossible feat which both of us knew.
I kept pestering him and he tried his best to cut through peak traffic.
1215 IST
we arrive outside Old Passport Office.
I pay him well, and I make a quick run to RPO.
1220 IST
I am outside Cabin VI (6) and meet a huge queue of people still waiting to be interviewed.
I eagerly scan for the peon who retrieved my file yesterday. As I knew without that file, I wont stand a chance at the RPO Officer's desk.
1230 IST
I locate the peon. He tells me the file is still in Cabin II at the Secretary's desk.
1231 IST
I wait outside cabin II, for my turn to arrive.
1245 IST
I get a chance to speak to Secretary of Commissioner.
I explain him I have this time around brought the VC on printed stationary as you had asked.
He looks at my face and checks the same online database and then verifies the VC against the passport application. Finally approves it and says I should stand in queue VI and he will send the file across.
1250 IST
I eagerly wait outside cabin VI for my turn to arrive. And even more eagerly for meeting that peon who is to fetch the file from Cabin II and keep it in Cabin VI.
1300 IST
I meet that peon, walk with him and request him to get the file from Cabin II
He obliges.
I walk back with him to Cabin VI
1305 IST
I meet the RPO in cabin VI.
he checks the same online database, checks the VC, Checks my current passport and signs off the application. I am asked to pay the additional fees under tatkal at counter 25.
INR 1000
1306 IST
I pay INR 1000 fee for Tatkal and get a receipt.
The lady tells me, the passport will be dispatched by speed post on 23Aug2011.
I am a relieved man. Thank God
Start heading towards Dadar Station
1315 IST.
I SMS all the parties who helped me of the status.
2007 IST
THis post to update you all of my saga.
Moral of the Story
IF you need to apply for a passport in Tatkal and if your PV (Police Verification) was NOT (repeat NOT) done last time around, Then
1) You need Appendix I (10min job, costs INR 200-400)
2) Annexure F (huge task, quite impossible for a common man)
Annexure F needs to meet following criteria (none of which are on their website)
A) Need to get 2 sets of Originals
B) Has to be on Printed Stationary and not computer generated letterhead
C) Have to provide ID proof (in 2 copies) as Liquor Card/Canteen Card of the Serving Officer...
(For Public Sector Officials) Need to provide office ID card showing that person's designation as well. Else, get another letter from the same official stating that he indeed is who he claims to be, i.e He is the GM of Bank of XYZ. etc.
D) The photograph on Appendix I and Appendix F needs to be the SAME one as in the application
3) Self Application on Ordinary paper requesting RPO to expedite the processing under Tatkal citing the old passport number, Your application File Ref #, and reason for expediting the process.
######Update as on 24Aug2011########
I did get my passport on 24Aug2011 at 1645 IST via Speed Post.
So all's well that ends well.
######Update as on 05Sept2011 ########
At 15:45 IST I had a regular hawaldar visit my house for Police Verification.
I gave/showed him all the originals there and there and avoided the visit to the police station.
Now this PV will be submitted to CID for their onward perusal before a clearance is sent to Passport Office.
So I this should take its own sweet time of about 3-4 working days.
After which the passport office will take another 5-6 working days to issue the passport.
So had I not done the VC process and gone via Tatkal route, my passport would have arrived by end of Sept2011.
This would have meant it would have taken me about 55days (approx) (from 9Aug2011 to 30Sept2011) to get my passport in normal delivery mechanism.
I have had an excruciating past 1week at the Regional Passport Office in Mumbai.
My existing passport is valid till 2017, however I ran out of all the pages for any new visa to be affixed.
So what was supposed to be a straight forward visit to passport office turned into a nightmare.
I visited (don't remember the date, but was 1.5w before the appointment) passport.gov.in and registered for an appointment on 09-Aug-2011 11:30 IST at the New passport Office - Bengal Chemicals, Worli, Mumbai.
on 09-Aug-2011,
I reached the gate at 0830 IST. I inquired if it was necessary to come early or arriving 15min before the appointment time is still valid ?
The guard at the gate, said, Yes
So I stood in queue along with 150 people ahead of me. By 0945 IST the queue had swelled to 300 people.
At 0945IST, they inspected everyone's application to check if they had a valid appointment for that day. Upon inspection, they assembled us in three queues
A) for People with Appointment for that day
B) for people who have been summoned for 2nd or more time, due to lack of documents/etc
C) For people who have not registered online.
So obviously, I was placed in A) queue along with other 260 people.
At 1000 IST, they started doing inspection rounds again only from A) queue. This time people called for 1000 IST were asked to enter the Hall A while others waited. So no matter what time you showed up at the gate, if your (As mine) appointment is at 1130, you will need to wait.
At 1015 IST, ditto, people called for 1030 IST appointment were picked and asked to proceed to Hall A. Again for me, had to wait.
This continued till 1115 IST when my turn to enter Hall A arrived.
At 1115 IST, two guards at two separate points leading to Hall A inspected my papers again and accordingly I was dispatched to Counters 17 or 18 as they were meant for Tatkal.
At 1145 IST, A cop, announced to all Tatkal registrants to affix two extra photographs near the police verification page (pg6). This sent panic among lot of folks including me, who didn't carry extra photos of the same size. I had smaller size photos. So I affixed those.
At 1215 IST, My turn at the counter arrived. The officer was rather terse in his communication.
He looked at my application, sorted the two additional sets of copies, and then queried his online database for my existing passport number.
There he found out that my current passport (issued 5 yrs ago) (valid till 2017) was issued under Tatkal and Police Verification (PV) wasn't done then.
So ?????????????
He said, I wont be eligible to apply under Tatkal this time around so the passport will have to be processed in normal priority (35 working days for delivery after Police Verification)
OR
I will have to withdraw my application and go home.
He gave me exactly 2mins to decide and panic set in. After having waited for nearly 4hrs and enduring high stress, it was an automatic "YES" to normal processing.
The moment I said YES, he applied a huge stamp "Passport Cancelled and Returned" on my current passport and asked me to proceed to counter 18 to pay the Normal Passport processing fees.
WOW... What happened just now ?
once the panic settled down, it was too late to realize, that I wont be able to travel on current passport and wont get a new one till another 45days.
Man, New sets of FUDs swept me... I was all at sea...
I asked him, and several others, what next ?
He said, I can convert this application to Tatkal in next 8 days, If I get Annexure - F and Annexure - I.
Now I knew what big mistake I had committed.
Annexure- I is a pretty straight forward application which anybody can make for 200 INR to 400 INR, depending on priority. I paid INR 300 for next day delivery.
Annexure - F: The most important piece of paper since I did my engineering...has to be got from a well know dignitary working in Govt/ Public Sector.
More info here : http://passport.gov.in/cpv/ANNEXUREF_vc_tatkaal.htm
This Annexure F is also called VC (Verification Certificate).
Now how on earth am I going to get a VC ? I know NO big shot to vouch for me.
Eventually, I realized this was the only way to sort me out.
At 1400 IST, I left for Byculla to meet my in-law at the Sales Tax Office.
At 1600 IST, I met up with my in-law and together we went to 6th floor to meet Dy.
He heard our story and said, someone in the past had got a V.C letter from the Dy. Commissioner and Passport office had rejected the application.
So we need to seek the VC from Joint Commissioner, where my in-law had no influence.
Thus dejectedly, we left for home. I arrived home at 1905.
Before going to bed, I thought of reaching out to a colleague at office who is an Ex IAF Wing Commander.
She (yes that ex IAF is a lady !!!, A pretty one at that too :-) ) heard me for like 2mins and immediately said She can definitely help me get a VC. And she will update me first thing in morning next day.
on 10Aug2011 at 0754 IST,
I got a missed call on my cell.
At 0830 IST,
I called back that number and she told me would it be OK if she got me the VC from Bangalore the next day when she has to visit Mumbai for work anyways.
I said yes.
At 0845 IST,
I sent her scanned copy of my photograph that I had affixed on the application. As Annexure F (VC) needs my photo cross signed and cross stamped
At 1400 IST,
She went out to a local photography store and got my passport photos printed (cost INR 70 for 8 photos)
At 1430 IST,
She confirmed, my VC will be ready for pickup tomorrow at Mumbai Domestic Airport from her at 0900 IST
At 1700 IST,
I confirmed a local chauffeur (paid INR 500 + meals) to take me around next day in my car.
on 11Aug2011 at 0500 IST
Woke up, showered and got ready to leave at 0815 IST.
At 0830 IST
Tanked up fuel
At 0845 IST,
Realized I was going to be very very late meeting her as I was stuck in peak traffic on Western Express Highway. So called her to meet me mid-way on WE Highway under Andheri Flyover.
At 0915 IST,
After making roughly 15 calls back and forth giving directions to her cab driver and instructing mine, we met at the designated point.
At 0917 IST,
I got the envelope, with 2 sets of Original Annexure F and I handed over a small pack of snickers chocolates that I had got for her as a gesture in thanks for all her efforts.
At 1015 IST,
Reached the barber shop opp the New Passport Office, to pick up my Annexure I
At 1030 IST
Reached the new Passport Office, counter 12 to submit my application
1) A Letter requesting for expediting the application in Tatkal
2) Appendix I in original and 1 copy
3) Appendix F in 2 sets of Original + 2 copies of Driving License of Wing Commander who signed my VC.
At 1050 IST,
I was told, I need to get copies of my existing passport and any valid visa i might have (No mention of this on their website by the way)
At 1055 IST,
After a quick dask to the Xerox wala outside the RPO, I returned to the Counter 12 queue
At 1059 IST,
I realized, after casually chatting with a lady ahead of me, that I need a Reference Number on the VC. (No explicit mention of this on their website by the way)
At 1115 IST,
A frantic call to Wing Commander and I got the File Ref Number.
At 1118 IST,
I am back in queue at counter 12.
When the Officer inspected my papers he said, I had to submit the Liquor Card/Canteen Card of the Wing Commander instead of his driving license as the proof of Identity !!!!!!!!!!!!
(No mention of this on their website by the way)
At 11 20 IST,
I ask Wing Cmdr to FAX me the Liquor Card/Canteen Card to a street Xerox wala.
At 11 45 IST
After exasperating wait, the FAX transmission comes in, I see its a PAN CARD copy instead of Liquor Card !!!! Damn !!!!
At 11 47 IST,
I run up to the counter 12 again, just to try my luck, to see what officer says... Though I expected the inevitable.
he refused, He said, I had to get the Canteen Card/Liquor Card or no go.
At 1125 IST,
Panic galore, What did I do wrong to be punished like this ?
I called the wing cmdr again and he said he kept the card at home and can give it to me at 1500 latest.
Damn !!!!
At 1455 IST,
I check the scan copy of the Liquor Card come in to my email
At 1500 IST,
I save it to USB and give it to local Xerox wala who prints it for me.
At 1505 IST,
I visit the counter 12 again. The officer this time around actually inspects the VC and says the VC is from an officer in Bangalore and that wont be accepted (No mention of this on their website by the way) he told me I can request the Secretary to the Commissioner of Passport at Cabin II as he is the one who authorizes processing of all VCs.
At 1530 IST,
I meet the Secretary in his cabin. He blatantly refused the BLR VC and said its too difficult for them to verify the same via Snail Post and by then the Tatkal window expires. So I had to get a VC with a liquor card form an officer in Mumbai.
At 1600 IST,
I called the (wing cmdr) colleague up and asked her if I can get VC from someone in Mumbai.
She obliged. She had a return flight to take at 2035 back to BLR. So on route to airport she called people who could oblige.
At 2000 IST,
before she could enter the aircraft, she gave me 2 contacts
1) Wing Cmdr in IAF - Santacruz.
That gentleman was being posted out of Mumbai and would be of no use when VC verification would come in.. DAMN !!!! Need to find someone else.
2) Retd Capt Indian Navy
At 2010 IST,
I called the Ret. Cpt. and he was very polite. he listened me out and we spoke on several calls for almost 10mins.
Since then, Ret. Cpt made calls to 10 different people at this late in the evening.
But since we were approaching a long weekend, Sat/Sun/Mon Holidays, lot of his Tier1 mates were on leave.
Damn...
At 2045 IST,
I get a dejected call from Ret. Cpt that he had exhausted all his options. I was already ashamed of myself of having sought so much of personal obligation. I requested him to try few more times.
At 2100 IST,
Ret Cpt called me back and said I needed to visit Navy Nagar, Colaba, to meet Surg Cpt.
He gave me exact coordinates knowing I was a civilian and never been to that place ever.
It was so so nice of him to help me out and go this far really.
Thank you sir....
on 12Aug2011 at 0500 IST
Woke up, showered and got ready to leave at 0735 IST.
At 0735 IST
Took a fast train to Churchgate
At 0845 IST
Arrived Churchgate
At 0855 IST
Took the Cab to Colaba, R C Church
At 0915 IST
Arrived at the Gate of the INHS Ashwani
At 0920 IST
Met Cmdr's office with whom Ret. Cpt had spoken to earlier evening.
Was made to wait in a very nicely lit and air conditioned cabin of his Clerk who (unfortunately) was running late that day.
More stress/anxiety/high tension.
At 1030 IST.
She arrives, update the doc file (she already had the format), and prints it.
Damn... We spent next precious 30mins fixing paper jams on her 2 printers.
At 1100 IST
I meet Surg. Cpt to get his signature/seal on VC
He obliges
At 1115 IST
I run to take a cab from RC Church to Old Passport Office, Worli.
I tell cab wala, will tip 20 INR more if he got me there before 1200 IST as the RPO closes at 1200 IST
He drives like a man possessed, with of course, I constantly reminding him of the urgency.
At 1145 IST
In 30mins, I am outside the RPO, WOW, the cabbie was a genius. I tip him more than agreed and dash of to sprint to Counter 12.
At 1147 IST
I arrive at the counter, no queue surprisingly at this time, WOW,
Tell him, I had come yesterday with BLR VC and it was not allowed. Today I have got a Mumbai VC with Liquour Card and all !!!!!!
At 1150,
he says, "Tumhi Ata Khub Hushaar Jhalaat " I will process your application quickly.
I get an appointment date with a senior RPO for 16Aug2011. He scribbles with green pen (official colour for them)
I walk out of RPO with a sense of accomplishment. Like mission accomplished. War won !!!!
I go home happy and sleep well that night.
on 16Aug2011 at 0500 IST
Woke up, snoozed the alarm and went to sleep for 1hr. Damnn !!!
at 0600 IST
Got up, showered and left for RPO at 0735 IST
0735 IST
Took the train to reach Dadar.
0815 IST
Visted Siddhivinayak Temple (my weekly ritual)
0825 IST
Took Cab from Siddhivinayak to Old Passport Office
0915 IST
Stood in queue with other outside the Old RPO.
1000 IST
Entered the Building with the rest of people to go to my designated counter (Counter 6) for a face to face interview.
1005 IST
The peon outside the Cabin VI, collects everyone's receipts to retrieve the Original Applications filed by me on 9Aug2011.
he brings files in batches... Mine doesn't arrive... In the mean time, other people whom I got acquainted with at Counter 12 on Friday arrive...and submit their receipts for their files to be retrieved.
1030 IST
Others keep coming in and get their files retrieved. Mine still not found
1130 IST
Others keep coming in and get their files retrieved. Mine still not found
1230 IST
Others keep coming in and get their files retrieved. Mine still not found
I was the LAST person left whose file was not found. Can you believe it.
Finally the peon found my file and submitted to the Secretary of Commissioner of Passports in Cabin II
he rejects the application on grounds that VC is not on "PRINTED STATIONARY" and that it was on a computer generated letter head. !!!! ( No mention of this on their website by the way)
What the FUCK !!!!
Why me ?>
Why Me ?
WHY ME ?????
I meet him in his cabin and he blatantly refuses to even hear me.
Says, pls close t
he door when you leave...Nothing to say... Get the VC on printed stationary else I cant proceed as per my orders.
1245 IST,
I call the Surg. Cpt to check if he has the printed stationary. He said, it had the Official Emblem on the left, but no address. Now that wont suffice I thought...... Thanked him and continued on my way home.
1300 IST
I leave for Dadar Station. Take a cab outside RPO
It was a sad day indeed, after having come this far, I get denied AGAIN..That too for a petty reason!!!
I was totally shattered and decided to abandon the entire tatkal saga for good and give up
1700 IST
I wrote to my manager and others that I give up and will let the passport arrive in its own due course of time.
At 1900 IST
I get call from Ret Cpt again and he says I should talk to Surg Cpt to see if he has printed stationary. Which we both doubted he would have.
on 17Aug2011 at 0800 IST
Woke up, saw missed call from Ret Cpt. WOW. New ray of home I guess.
0810 IST
I called Ret. Cpt and he patiently hears me out on what transpired the earlier day.
He said I should call once again to Sug Cpt to see if he has any printed stationary with Emblem and Address.
0835 IST
I call Surg Cpt and he says, I told you yesterday I don't have the printed stationary. I request him to double check again. All we need is the official Emblem and Address. He said I should call him in 5mins
0840 IST
i call Surg Cprt again and he surprisingly said, he managed to scour 2 printed stationary which had the emblem and address. I asked him if I can get them today itself and that I would meet him at 1100 IST at his office.
Now I had precisely 2 hrs and 20min to reach his office. And for those who know where I live, it was quite a dash. I hadn't showered up.
0900 IST
I shower Up
0945 IST
Have a quick bite and rush to take auto to reach local train station
0950 IST
Take the train (fast, jam packed) for Churchgate
1040 IST
Train arrives at Churchgate. I have 20mins to meet Surg. Cpt.
1045 IST
I take the cab to reach RC Church. The cabbie's name is Ram.... I ask him to wait for me outside the gate and that if he was willing to drive me to Dadar, Worli.
He obliges.
1115 IST
I am actually at Surg Capt's office. 15 whopping min late !!!
Cpt smiles at me and gives me 2 original printed stationary for me to hand them over to Clerk for printing it out.
1120 IST
I run around the campus to meet the clerk. She modifies the doc (header/footer/etc) to align with the stationary.
1130 IST.
I run back to Cpt's desk and he signs and seals the document for me. I thank him profusely.
And I run back to main gate to the cabbie (Ram) waiting by for me.
1145 IST
we start the quick dash to passport office. I tell him I will tip well,but he has to reach me the office by 1200 IST. An impossible feat which both of us knew.
I kept pestering him and he tried his best to cut through peak traffic.
1215 IST
we arrive outside Old Passport Office.
I pay him well, and I make a quick run to RPO.
1220 IST
I am outside Cabin VI (6) and meet a huge queue of people still waiting to be interviewed.
I eagerly scan for the peon who retrieved my file yesterday. As I knew without that file, I wont stand a chance at the RPO Officer's desk.
1230 IST
I locate the peon. He tells me the file is still in Cabin II at the Secretary's desk.
1231 IST
I wait outside cabin II, for my turn to arrive.
1245 IST
I get a chance to speak to Secretary of Commissioner.
I explain him I have this time around brought the VC on printed stationary as you had asked.
He looks at my face and checks the same online database and then verifies the VC against the passport application. Finally approves it and says I should stand in queue VI and he will send the file across.
1250 IST
I eagerly wait outside cabin VI for my turn to arrive. And even more eagerly for meeting that peon who is to fetch the file from Cabin II and keep it in Cabin VI.
1300 IST
I meet that peon, walk with him and request him to get the file from Cabin II
He obliges.
I walk back with him to Cabin VI
1305 IST
I meet the RPO in cabin VI.
he checks the same online database, checks the VC, Checks my current passport and signs off the application. I am asked to pay the additional fees under tatkal at counter 25.
INR 1000
1306 IST
I pay INR 1000 fee for Tatkal and get a receipt.
The lady tells me, the passport will be dispatched by speed post on 23Aug2011.
I am a relieved man. Thank God
Start heading towards Dadar Station
1315 IST.
I SMS all the parties who helped me of the status.
2007 IST
THis post to update you all of my saga.
Moral of the Story
IF you need to apply for a passport in Tatkal and if your PV (Police Verification) was NOT (repeat NOT) done last time around, Then
1) You need Appendix I (10min job, costs INR 200-400)
2) Annexure F (huge task, quite impossible for a common man)
Annexure F needs to meet following criteria (none of which are on their website)
A) Need to get 2 sets of Originals
B) Has to be on Printed Stationary and not computer generated letterhead
C) Have to provide ID proof (in 2 copies) as Liquor Card/Canteen Card of the Serving Officer...
(For Public Sector Officials) Need to provide office ID card showing that person's designation as well. Else, get another letter from the same official stating that he indeed is who he claims to be, i.e He is the GM of Bank of XYZ. etc.
D) The photograph on Appendix I and Appendix F needs to be the SAME one as in the application
3) Self Application on Ordinary paper requesting RPO to expedite the processing under Tatkal citing the old passport number, Your application File Ref #, and reason for expediting the process.
######Update as on 24Aug2011########
I did get my passport on 24Aug2011 at 1645 IST via Speed Post.
So all's well that ends well.
######Update as on 05Sept2011 ########
At 15:45 IST I had a regular hawaldar visit my house for Police Verification.
I gave/showed him all the originals there and there and avoided the visit to the police station.
Now this PV will be submitted to CID for their onward perusal before a clearance is sent to Passport Office.
So I
After which the passport office will take another 5-6 working days to issue the passport.
So had I not done the VC process and gone via Tatkal route, my passport would have arrived by end of Sept2011.
This would have meant it would have taken me about 55days (approx) (from 9Aug2011 to 30Sept2011) to get my passport in normal delivery mechanism.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
God Bless your soul : Tribute to Mangala
Well,
its been a year and 1month since I wrote.
So once again apologies.
I am sure, you guys dont even care of these apologies any more.
But this post is a tribute to our house maid Mangala who died today. She was servicing other homes in our Society and nearby buildings.
She must be in her early 40's
Is survived by 2 children (daughter ~ 18yrs, Son ~ 15yrs) and an Alcoholic husband.
She actually came to our house yesterday noon for routine dish washing.
She was complaining for past few days of feeling cold shivers, but no one knew Malaria could be so lethal.
Yesterday night she was rushed to hospital where they immediately had to keep her on ventilator.
She lost a lot of blood, Malaria (cold) had got to her brain.
She kept ignoring her body and so did we.
Infact when she didn't come for regular service yesterday night, we thought , she must have taken absence to visit her brother's in VIRAR.
And whilst my mom and wife bitterly washes the dishes, they kept blabbering about how irregular and irresponsible she was.
Only to realize today morning, she will never come back.
This post is to her.
Pls forgive us, we never treated you well when you were alive, but we now are sorry.
Such is life.
You never value what you have in hand and always chase the next, only to realize that when what you have is gone, it would be too late
Sorry once again Mangala.
I pray that god gives strength to your family to survive without you
Some food for thought
'Tis better to buy a small bouquet
And give to your friend this very day,
Than a bushel of roses white and red
To lay on his coffin after he's dead.
~Author Unknown
Present your family and friends with their eulogies now - they won't be able to hear how much you love them and appreciate them from inside the coffin. ~Anonymous
its been a year and 1month since I wrote.
So once again apologies.
I am sure, you guys dont even care of these apologies any more.
But this post is a tribute to our house maid Mangala who died today. She was servicing other homes in our Society and nearby buildings.
She must be in her early 40's
Is survived by 2 children (daughter ~ 18yrs, Son ~ 15yrs) and an Alcoholic husband.
She actually came to our house yesterday noon for routine dish washing.
She was complaining for past few days of feeling cold shivers, but no one knew Malaria could be so lethal.
Yesterday night she was rushed to hospital where they immediately had to keep her on ventilator.
She lost a lot of blood, Malaria (cold) had got to her brain.
She kept ignoring her body and so did we.
Infact when she didn't come for regular service yesterday night, we thought , she must have taken absence to visit her brother's in VIRAR.
And whilst my mom and wife bitterly washes the dishes, they kept blabbering about how irregular and irresponsible she was.
Only to realize today morning, she will never come back.
This post is to her.
Pls forgive us, we never treated you well when you were alive, but we now are sorry.
Such is life.
You never value what you have in hand and always chase the next, only to realize that when what you have is gone, it would be too late
Sorry once again Mangala.
I pray that god gives strength to your family to survive without you
Some food for thought
'Tis better to buy a small bouquet
And give to your friend this very day,
Than a bushel of roses white and red
To lay on his coffin after he's dead.
~Author Unknown
Present your family and friends with their eulogies now - they won't be able to hear how much you love them and appreciate them from inside the coffin. ~Anonymous
Monday, May 31, 2010
To Lab or Not To ?
Friends,
Its been a long time since i blogged. Blame it entirely on me. I apologise (once again).
I am now at a cross roads in life where its time for me to decide whether I really want to pursue CCIE !
I have tired three times with full steam ahead and have fallen short of labbing even once. Forget passing or failing.
Blame it on lot of circumstances, all of them which I could control but didn't..
Work has never been a problem with me, my manager and everyone else at work & home supports me for the lab. I have world's best of facilities including a free air ticket, visa, hotel accommodation and 3 free LAB attempts....
Personal life has had its UPs not many downs....I am now a father of 2 children and am required to pay more attention to them....
I have had no issues finding time to study....Its the perennial disease which has stalled my career for last 5 years......PROCRASTINATION....I for some screwed up reason love to procrastinate....a lot of it.
I also realise I have slipped into comfort zone at work and at home.. Nothing anymore excites me to run at it and grab it....I don't know how to shrug off this comfort.
Its been a long cherished dream to have a CCIE, a dream now for over 10years. I still dream about CCIE, but fall miserably short of putting it into action for sustaining it till end of the preparation and into the lab.
I need your earnest advice,
DO I lab or let it go... ?
Its been a long time since i blogged. Blame it entirely on me. I apologise (once again).
I am now at a cross roads in life where its time for me to decide whether I really want to pursue CCIE !
I have tired three times with full steam ahead and have fallen short of labbing even once. Forget passing or failing.
Blame it on lot of circumstances, all of them which I could control but didn't..
Work has never been a problem with me, my manager and everyone else at work & home supports me for the lab. I have world's best of facilities including a free air ticket, visa, hotel accommodation and 3 free LAB attempts....
Personal life has had its UPs not many downs....I am now a father of 2 children and am required to pay more attention to them....
I have had no issues finding time to study....Its the perennial disease which has stalled my career for last 5 years......PROCRASTINATION....I for some screwed up reason love to procrastinate....a lot of it.
I also realise I have slipped into comfort zone at work and at home.. Nothing anymore excites me to run at it and grab it....I don't know how to shrug off this comfort.
Its been a long cherished dream to have a CCIE, a dream now for over 10years. I still dream about CCIE, but fall miserably short of putting it into action for sustaining it till end of the preparation and into the lab.
I need your earnest advice,
DO I lab or let it go... ?
Friday, February 19, 2010
HSBC India: Power Vantage Account and still pay for Debit Card usage !
Well I was charged INR 160 (INR 150 for annual Debit Card usage) + Taxes by HSBC India.
This is despite I holding a Power Vantage Account with HSBC India for last 5 Years.
PowerVantage account means i need to maintain avg quarterly balance of minimum INR 1Lakh and yet they charge me for basic service like debit card usage !
How pathetic can HSBC get.
I hope you all realize that all the gloss and glamor that HSBC is useless and at the end they are after your money.
I bet if I ever went to HDFC or ICICI or any other Indian Bank they would never charge me for Debit Card Usage.
Honestly I will reassess my relationship with fucked up HSBC and soon plan to move my funds over to HDFC or other Indian Bank.
So much for the loyalty of 5 years of banking with HSBC.
This is despite I holding a Power Vantage Account with HSBC India for last 5 Years.
PowerVantage account means i need to maintain avg quarterly balance of minimum INR 1Lakh and yet they charge me for basic service like debit card usage !
How pathetic can HSBC get.
I hope you all realize that all the gloss and glamor that HSBC is useless and at the end they are after your money.
I bet if I ever went to HDFC or ICICI or any other Indian Bank they would never charge me for Debit Card Usage.
Honestly I will reassess my relationship with fucked up HSBC and soon plan to move my funds over to HDFC or other Indian Bank.
So much for the loyalty of 5 years of banking with HSBC.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
BGP:Fast Peering Session Deactivation
Trackback
The BGP Support for Fast Peering Session Deactivation feature introduces an event driven notification system that allows a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) process to monitor BGP peering sessions on a per-neighbor basis. This feature improves the response time of BGP to adjacency changes by allowing BGP to detect an adjacency change and deactivate the terminated session in between standard BGP scanning intervals. Enabling this feature improves overall BGP convergence.
The BGP Support for Fast Peering Session Deactivation feature introduces an event driven notification system that allows a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) process to monitor BGP peering sessions on a per-neighbor basis. This feature improves the response time of BGP to adjacency changes by allowing BGP to detect an adjacency change and deactivate the terminated session in between standard BGP scanning intervals. Enabling this feature improves overall BGP convergence.
Restrictions for BGP Support for Fast Peering Session Deactivation
•
•
neighbor 10.0.0.1 fall-over
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
MPLS: Change MTU - - The MPLS MTU to support Jumbo frames
PE1#sh mpls forwarding-table de
Local Outgoing Prefix Bytes Label Outgoing Next Hop
Label Label or VC or Tunnel Id Switched interface
16 Pop Label 10.1.1.2/32 0 Fa0/0.21 172.16.12.2
MAC/Encaps=18/18, MRU=1504, Label Stack{} --> Default
CA040FE80008CA030FE80008810000158847
No output feature configured
PE1(config-if)#mtu 9216
% Interface FastEthernet0/0 does not support user settable mtu.
PE1(config-if)#mpls mtu ?
<1501-1524> MTU (baby giants bytes)
<64-1500> MTU (bytes)
PE1(config-if)#mpls mtu 1524
PE1#sh mpls forwarding-table de
Local Outgoing Prefix Bytes Label Outgoing Next Hop
Label Label or VC or Tunnel Id Switched interface
16 Pop Label 10.1.1.2/32 0 Fa0/0.21 172.16.12.2
MAC/Encaps=18/18, MRU=1504, Label Stack{} --> Default, Stll no change ? Why
CA040FE80008CA030FE80008810000158847
No output feature configured
Now lets change it on subinterface
PE1(config)#int f0/0.31
PE1(config-subif)#mpls mtu 1524
PE1(config-subif)#^Z
PE1#
00:55:38: %SYS-5-CONFIG_I: Configured from console by console
PE1#sh mpls forwarding-table de
Local Outgoing Prefix Bytes Label Outgoing Next Hop
Label Label or VC or Tunnel Id Switched interface
16 Pop Label 10.1.1.2/32 0 Fa0/0.21 172.16.12.2
MAC/Encaps=18/18, MRU=1528, Label Stack{} -->Changes show up,
CA040FE80008CA030FE80008810000158847
No output feature configured
Local Outgoing Prefix Bytes Label Outgoing Next Hop
Label Label or VC or Tunnel Id Switched interface
16 Pop Label 10.1.1.2/32 0 Fa0/0.21 172.16.12.2
MAC/Encaps=18/18, MRU=1504, Label Stack{} --> Default
CA040FE80008CA030FE80008810000158847
No output feature configured
PE1(config-if)#mtu 9216
% Interface FastEthernet0/0 does not support user settable mtu.
PE1(config-if)#mpls mtu ?
<1501-1524> MTU (baby giants bytes)
<64-1500> MTU (bytes)
PE1(config-if)#mpls mtu 1524
PE1#sh mpls forwarding-table de
Local Outgoing Prefix Bytes Label Outgoing Next Hop
Label Label or VC or Tunnel Id Switched interface
16 Pop Label 10.1.1.2/32 0 Fa0/0.21 172.16.12.2
MAC/Encaps=18/18, MRU=1504, Label Stack{} --> Default, Stll no change ? Why
CA040FE80008CA030FE80008810000158847
No output feature configured
Now lets change it on subinterface
PE1(config)#int f0/0.31
PE1(config-subif)#mpls mtu 1524
PE1(config-subif)#^Z
PE1#
00:55:38: %SYS-5-CONFIG_I: Configured from console by console
PE1#sh mpls forwarding-table de
Local Outgoing Prefix Bytes Label Outgoing Next Hop
Label Label or VC or Tunnel Id Switched interface
16 Pop Label 10.1.1.2/32 0 Fa0/0.21 172.16.12.2
MAC/Encaps=18/18, MRU=1528, Label Stack{} -->Changes show up,
CA040FE80008CA030FE80008810000158847
No output feature configured
MPSL: LDP backoff
PE1#sh mpls ldp parameters
Protocol version: 1
Session hold time: 180 sec; keep alive interval: 60 sec
Discovery hello: holdtime: 15 sec; interval: 5 sec
Discovery targeted hello: holdtime: 90 sec; interval: 10 sec
Downstream on Demand max hop count: 4
LDP for targeted sessions
LDP initial/maximum backoff: 15/120 sec -->Defaults
LDP loop detection: off
PE1
PE1(config)#mpls ldp backoff 60 240
PE1#sh mpls ldp parameters
Protocol version: 1
Session hold time: 180 sec; keep alive interval: 60 sec
Discovery hello: holdtime: 15 sec; interval: 5 sec
Discovery targeted hello: holdtime: 90 sec; interval: 10 sec
Downstream on Demand max hop count: 4
LDP for targeted sessions
LDP initial/maximum backoff: 60/240 sec -->Modified
LDP loop detection: off
PE1#
Protocol version: 1
Session hold time: 180 sec; keep alive interval: 60 sec
Discovery hello: holdtime: 15 sec; interval: 5 sec
Discovery targeted hello: holdtime: 90 sec; interval: 10 sec
Downstream on Demand max hop count: 4
LDP for targeted sessions
LDP initial/maximum backoff: 15/120 sec -->Defaults
LDP loop detection: off
PE1
PE1(config)#mpls ldp backoff 60 240
PE1#sh mpls ldp parameters
Protocol version: 1
Session hold time: 180 sec; keep alive interval: 60 sec
Discovery hello: holdtime: 15 sec; interval: 5 sec
Discovery targeted hello: holdtime: 90 sec; interval: 10 sec
Downstream on Demand max hop count: 4
LDP for targeted sessions
LDP initial/maximum backoff: 60/240 sec -->Modified
LDP loop detection: off
PE1#
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)