An experience with Bekar Seva Nigam Limited (BSNL)

I have used some shortcuts below, considering the number of times I have referred them.

BSNL	Bekar Seva Nigam Limited
LL	Landline Telephone
BB	Broadband Service
EXG	Telephone Exchange office
BBO	Broadband Office
HO	Head office
TEL	Telephone
#	Number

One could say, I was a satisfied BSNL customer until the below saga hit me hard! BSNL is good as long as it works, however if it stops for some reason, it can be real awful!

Below is an account of a painful journey I had with them for about a month.

On 1/Dec I shifted my house. I made necessary applications at BSNL HO for disconnection and transfer. Accordingly, the phone shifting was initiated and was completed by 4/Dec. Excellent stuff...however, it wasn’t working!

LL & EXG

When I contacted the EXG, they said it’s fixed. LL was indeed working, when I returned home in the evening. Phew! Relieved! I thought to myself, I simply had been a worrying XX when in reality getting a phone to work could be that easy.

I thought of checking, to ensure that I can receive and make calls. When I called up my # from my cell phone…there was no ringing anywhere! Then I called from LL to my cell phone and to my surprise it flashed a different number!

I had read it somewhere, that if the shifting happens in same locality/EXG the TEL # does not change, however I told myself, maybe I was wrong. How does that matter? I have a phone that is working!

Day-2: LL is dead! Every time, I call the new #, which flashed on my cell phone, yesterday, another phone is ringing in our building. A bewildered me, at first, thought it was a coincidence, however it repeated and I concluded that the # belongs to someone else in our building.

When I complained again and told them this is not my #, they said, probably there is a fault in building line itself and that they would correct it. This was done as promised. Cannot understand how they work!

BB Services

Now starts my painful journey.

This is a real long tale and I hate to type this as what I have covered until now is up to 7/Dec. I have an uphill task of reaching until the 26/Dec!

With my LL started working, I, like a fool, assumed that my BB services will also start automatically since I had opted for a combo package of BB+LL services and mere shifting the TEL, would have no impact on BB. How foolish I can get, as you read below you would realize, how tough this process could get!

EXG # - a PiA

Earlier, to get the TEL working, I made several calls to EXG and by now, as soon as I mentioned the #, they would recognize the case. This reminds me - the EXG helpline #, which one cannot get through 95% of the times and the other 4% times one, gets through, there is nobody to attend it. So one has to be really lucky and patient to tap that 1 attempt at which you get to hear some human being's voice on the other side.

Anyways, I managed! From my entire busy schedule at work place and at personal front I made it a point to call them regularly. Every time I called them up, I had to explain them my problem – how I applied for shifting, the TEL was shifted, then it started working and now my BB has not yet been activated bla bla…In return answered, patiently, all their questions, which place did I have the TEL before shifting? Which EXG? Where is it shifted, which EXG? When was this initiated? Name? #? So much so, that towards the end I was finding it difficult to say my # for I had said it so many times earlier that the numbers started jumbling up in my mind!

Anyways, thanked God for making me choose my new house in the same EXG! I cannot imagine solving this, had this involved 2 different EXGs!

EXG v/s BBO

Initially on my complaint, the EXG kept telling me that BB services will commence by evening and I went home every evening in a hope to see it working, only to find the computer always plainly staring at me and yelling - The DNS server is not responding!!!

After repeated calls, one fine day, the EXG mentioned that the problem has been resolved from their side and the BBO would activate my BB services. They were also kind enough to provide me with the BBO #. Chalo kuch nahi tho itnahi sahi! At least the case moved forward.

BBO #:

I tried the BBO # for a day, however never got through…another PiA!

I again switched to EXG, made several attempts to talk to a human's voice, managed to get a different # of BBO.

Getting through BBO # was more or less similar to EXG # with only difference being it rang almost 99 percent of times however gets picked only once. I am dead bored writing all this, one can imagine what in reality it must have been to go through this.

One fine day, I could get through this # and spoke to a person, explained the problem (imagine telling whole shifting story), he took my # and said he will find out the details and callback. Callback? Did I hear that right? I was prepared mentally, for another day and another calling attempt. But, wait, here comes a pleasant surprise! The guy actually called back…wow! He mentioned to me that they haven’t received any intimation to process any BB related work on my TEL and that I should be calling the EXG and telling them that the work order is still pending from their side. Oh God, please come down to resolve this!

How do I bring the EXG and the BBO together to resolve this? Guess, God heard me…the BBO guy also added that he has already called the EXG person and explained the case and that they would be resolving this.

Online Complaint and 198!

All this time, when BB was not working I thought of logging an online complaint through my account.  When I browsed to the complaint page, it stopped me with a warning - I cannot log a new complaint as I already have a previously logged complaint against the #. I browsed to 'My Complaints' section and found that one of my very old complaints still showing as unresolved. What the heck!!

I would not give up so easily…another Kida in my brain…198...BSNL helpline!

Now, as you read below, it may sound a lot like an exaggeration...but no, this is all real. I called 198…

For English press 1...

For LL complaints press 1...

Now comes the funny part, it would not accept my input! God...have mercy!!! After 3 attempts it said, sorry, you did not enter a valid response (what the %@$#^@...I did for God's sake...)

Press 9 to speak to a Customer Care Executive, I did.  It rang, played an on-hold melody and got disconnected...I am running short of word to express how miserable I felt! (Few of you, who must have tried calling 198 and attempted speaking to their CC Executive, would agree with me).

At this point, an insane me felt that my LL instrument's keypad could be faulty and that may be I am having an issue with the number 1 on the keypad (though it dialed 198, which had a 1, this thought came to my mind as previously I had faced a problem with this instrument's keypad...well, that is another topic to write as the brand new Beetel phone had stopped working on the 3rd day of its purchase!)

I thought of verifying if the digit 1 works by dialing my cell phone, how sad...both, me and my wife does not have a 1 in our cell #! :P

I give up!

Next day, I browsed for couple of new phone models on internet as I was planning to buy a new handset!

I decided to switch back to traditional approach...back calling EXG/BB.

EXG v/s BBO Returns

In the meantime it was a holiday season and I was out of state for 4 days so could not follow up.

When I returned and found nothing had changed, I resumed follow-up. Finally one day, EXG said the problem is resolved from their side. They asked me to visit the BBO, along with the modem and get the setup done. Why modem? I knew this had nothing to do with it however, I just followed the instructions!

BTW on the previous night, I attempted 198 again (By now I am sure you guys appreciate my patience and tenacity!) Voila...this time, everything worked and I could log a complaint on 198 (which means digit 1 on my LL worked? :))

(This was important to be mentioned here as there is a funny incident linked to this, ahead)

BBO

Next day, I went hunting for BBO.

Reached BBO, it was just post 2PM. I was little skeptical and was expecting to be shooed away as it could be an extended lunch hour! But, today it is! Today was my day!

I went in to a room much like a computer lab of a college, which was almost empty with just an elderly lady and a guy. The guy seemed uninterested and having found the lady, motherly, I decided to walk towards her. Well, she was really nice to me; she quickly attended to me, checked something on the computer and said she is not seeing any orders from HO regarding my work.

Roadblock!!!

I personally checked the system, (in my mind, I was drawing up the city roadmap to go to HO). The lady, however (I think) changed that status so that the order gets assigned to the BBO. She made me connect the modem, change the settings and made sure that internet works. Good lady! I left the BBO like a warrior!

Ok, why I mentioned about logging a complaint on 198 earlier? Here – a funny incident took place while I was at BBO. When the officer was trying to resolve my case, my cell phone beeped and flashed a SMS, 'Dear Customer, Your service request (complaint) XXX is completed. Thanks for choosing BSNL as your Service Provider'...fainting was the only thing that could have happened to me at this point!

I did not know what to react. I showed the SMS to the officer, how am I getting this contradictory message, when we both know that she was still working on my issue? The lady just smiled and I was in no mood to poke her on this, any further.

26^th Dec: I will not forget this day, this was the day my BB started working at my new place, finally! We came a long way, from 1/Dec, when my shifting was initiated.

On a final note (this can help my readers, in case they are not aware), while I was browsing about this BSNL nuisance, I learnt that in case their services are stopped for few days due to issues from their side, one can ask for rebate on the rentals.

The website also mentioned that the BSNL should be doing this on its own however they do not do this and expects the customers to give an intimation letter (I would suggest do not wait till the services resume).

I gave a letter on the 19^th Dec and they have given me rebate only until that day. I have no energy left in me to fight for this. The rule says that if the services are down for more than 15 days, they should give a complete month rebate.

Now BSNL are bombarding me with SMS to pay bills! I got a SMS to pay my bill for the month of Dec (by 27/Jan). How prompt! Fine, I will pay, but wait...then I get another SMS, asking me to pay my November bill and then one more, pay October bill and then September...really killing me now!

Well, I agree we leave some bugs in the software that we develop however I think there is a rat in this system... a rat deliberately introduced on a mission to harass customers!!!

Glam, fame, wealth and an untimely mysterious death!

Until she married Union Minister, Shashi Tharoor and shot to fame, to be then seen prominently in the social circuits, people barely knew Sunanda Pushkar. However even before she could be well registered in people’s mind, she left for a heavenly abode.

 

This is not an account of who she was or what controversies followed her. This is about how the life had been rude to her and many such people in one form or the other, without, sometimes, any of their faults.

If one has to peep into their life in yesteryears, most of them, like all others, toiled in the beginning of their careers. A few succeeded and climbed up the success ladder, some even stayed in the spotlight while few strayed, however all of them left the journey abruptly.

 

They were all successful, wealthy, earned fame and fortune, they carved a niche for themselves, had a fan-following, people loved them, they touched thousands and sometimes millions of hearts, yet many of them were lonely, unhappy, discontented…life offered the best to them in terms of materialistic happiness and been harsh to them, to take their lives away at a young age!

There could be manifold reasons associated with such deaths: work pressure, depression – unable to cope up with lifestyle, illness, failed marriages, soiled relationships, infidelity, over-doses of certain habits, accidents, financial downtime…. Some of these well-known figures, fell prey to severe illnesses while some deaths, even today, remain a puzzle!

 

Whatever happened internally in their lives within the family, loved ones, remains a private subject however when it leads to an extreme step of killing oneself is something always shocking and hard to accept!

Why I call many of such demises, mysterious is because many of these cases had a controversy attached with them, just before they chose an extreme step to end their lives.

 

The tinsel town has witnessed some really shocking incidents of celebrities dying a mysterious death. To remember a few: (I have listed only a few here, whatever I could recollect)

 

Divya Bharti: suspicious death of famous Bollywood starlet remained a mystery ever. She rose within a short period, however had a short-lived career and life. It was one of the most shocking deaths the industry witnessed.

Smita Patil: I am sure none of us have forgotten her. Starlet of Indian Parallel cinema expired at a young age of 31 at the peak of her career.

Viveka Babaji:  A promising supermodel committed suicide just at an age of 27!

Gulshan Kumar: 'Cassette King', the founder of the T-Series music was killed.

Nafisa Joseph: Again a young model and MTV Jockey, she hanged herself at a young age.

Silk Smitha: South Indian siren, she was called. No one really knows, officially, the reason behind her death.

Parveen Babi: One of the most glamorous starlets of her time died a rather sad death. The once upon a time, talk of the town, had been living a lonely life in Mumbai!

Jiah khan: The most recent suicide by her shook the entire film industry. The reason could have been fallout in relationship however which again was not publicly known.

Anuradha Bali: Not many of us might know her as she did not belong to Bollywood however she too died under tragic circumstances, after having gone through a short-lived stint with one of the ministers.

If one looks at the sequence of events in her life, the life seemed to have stopped so abruptly for her! Fiza, as she called herself after she got converted to Muslim, hit the news headlines as she eloped and married a minister in Haryana government. She was deserted in time less than what it took the relation to take off.

Starting the love story with eloping in 2008 and ending it with her mysterious death and 2012! All seemed to have been over in the blink of an eye.

There are several other prominent celebrities who passed away quiet early in life, leaving the world shaken up.

The most shocking ones were the crocodile hunter Steve Irwin, charming Princess Diana, the pop icon Michael Jackson and few others like singer Amy Winehouse, Anna Nicole Smith, Jim Morrison, and Big Brother fame Jade Goody (who had a controversy with Bollywood star Shilpa shetty).

 

In the Indian history too some death mysteries have remained unresolved: Sanjay Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Subhash Chandra Bose.

The mystery surrounding their death continues to haunt their relatives, fans and all of us, even today.

 

On a parting note, while the reasons associated with such deaths could be any, however it has brought sorrow to all of us and such incidents have always perturbed and stirred the human race!

Lokotsav-2014 at Goa: A cultural treat!

Yesterday had an opportunity to visit Lokotsav-2014, organized by the state government of Goa at Darya Sangam, Kala Academy, Panaji. This is a 10-day folk festival which will continue till 16/Jan, a perfect platform for a lot of folk artists and craftsmen from various states across India to showcase their talent and display/sell various arts/crafts.

 

A lot of locals, domestic tourists and foreigners are flocking to the place to have a glimpse of the festival. There is no entry fee however the government could have charged a nominal fee.

The festival hosts hundreds of stalls of handicrafts, eatables, arts, pottery, furniture, carpets etc. A few of them are by the local artisans from Goa, as well.  

 

 

 

 

A large number of artistes perform folk dances, music, songs exhibiting traditional culture of various states in India. To name a few: Ghoomar (Haryana), Bhangda (Punjab), Bihu (Assam), Kalbeliya (Rajasthan), Mewasi (Gujrat), Ghodemodni (Goa). The festival is a must-visit and all the performances are a treat to watch.

 

 

 

There are also food courts that serve traditional local delicacies from various states. One can try some Chaats, Paanipuri, Jalebis, Kachodi, Aalu Tikki, Lassi and of course from local cuisine like Chicken Xacuti and Pao!

 

 

The festival is being held for last 14 years and is a praiseworthy event organized by the state government. The schedule and details are available on the official website of Art and Culture department of Goa, at: http://www.artandculture.goa.gov.in/news_disp.php

It’s a very festive atmosphere for one to spend a good evening with friends and families…go today, check the true richness of our widespread culture.

While returning I happened to notice, nice segregated garbage collection unit put up by the Corporation of the City of Panaji – well done guys! And you all readers – do make use of the same, when you visit next!
 

 

Building collapse tragedy at Canacona, Goa – have we learnt a lesson, yet?

The tragic incident at Canacona Goa, in which 17 innocent lives were lost and an equal or more number are still feared to be trapped – is one of the worst calamities Goa has witnessed in recent years.

Post-mortem of this event will have fingers pointed at one another, blame games played – truth may or may not surface, actions may or may not be taken. However, the incident has multiple questions posed for the administration and the government.

One amongst the top questions to be asked: Is the state well equipped with Disaster management?

Are our officials well trained to handle such circumstances? Does the state government have enough machinery or capacity to organize for a helping hand from specialists in quick time?

It was the Chief Minister’s presence that could supervise the situation on the day this event occurred. However, we cannot expect his presence and instructions in all such cases. The associated departments and their officials should have been prepared to handle any such incidents.

From various newspaper reports it can easily be inferred that neither the Disaster Management Authorities nor our medical facilities were prepared to tackle such situations. Hence, Indian Army and the National Disaster Management Response Force from Pune were pressed to join in the rescue.

The way state administration has handled the rescue operations, only testifies their ill-preparedness in handling disasters of this magnitude. Time was of essence here and we lost most of it!

The next worry that follows: Do we have the best and easy-to-reach medical care and facilities?

This tragic incident has clearly opened up the limitations of state government in terms of medical aid. Inadequate number of ambulances and attendants, lack of medical staff and basic facilities at primary health centers and so on. The injured had to depend for aid to arrive from Hospicio in Margao and take help of private vehicles to be hospitalized. We cannot have Goa Medical College as our last resort, especially when the tragedy strikes at a distant place like Canacona. Cannot we have our primary health centers upgraded to cater to medical aid even of the people in its locality?

The only silver lining was the efforts of doctors who were learnt to have continued working post their regular shift hours keeping in mind the magnitude of the situation.

Another question that is revolving around my mind: Is the government having any control over the rampant construction that is happening around?

I am not sure on any checks and inspections that our state officials are taking up to ensure safety of our buildings. What about the land conversion, other legalities and permissions? Is any state authority aware of the quality of material that is being used for such constructions? Are we toying with innocent lives for some monetary gains?

Is there also any formal examination done of the old structures in the state? What about many of those dilapidated buildings in various towns of Goa? What about our school buildings, hospitals and government quarters/offices?

We should learn our lessons from these tragedies and put in place appropriate measures. If not, such disasters are always waiting to happen!

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in power…what’s next?

Until December, Modi was riding on the wave as the only hope against the Congress in India. But the Delhi assembly poll results have changed the picture. The entire nation seems to have now started riding on the AAP wave.

If one looks back at the AAP’s journey so far – it’s an A for all the efforts they have put together.

First, the Lokpal Bill, the Anna Hazare movement, then the conflict of interests, formation of political party till winning the elections and forming a government … the journey seems like a dream achieved for the AAP activists.

And, the post winning public support and response they have received is massive. This has been proved by some recent statistics on how the AAP is hogging limelight from the BJP’s PM candidate.

However, a good start needs pursuance. People were seeking change – and they have rested their faith in AAP.

The challenge lies in running the government, fulfilling Junta’s expectations and proving why they were a wise choice over the earlier ruling party.

The second important point is, what impact the AAP factor will have on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Looking at popularity figures published by some of the social mediums/media channels, the AAP leaders are stealing the show from their BJP counterparts. Now, will this see a hung parliament? Will the AAP intrusion benefit the Congress/UPA?

I am sure this will leave the aam aadmi voter in a confused state of mind. Obviously, the Lok Sabha results will mostly be driven by the local political hold however the AAP’s growing influence is set to have an impact on the national level calculations.

Nation was looking for a change and the people were looking at BJP as a strong option against the current ruling party. Modi too, to some extent, had successfully raised the necessary political wave – which is now surely to get a jolt with this astonishing success of AAP in Delhi.

We cannot afford to have a third front. I expect the AAP and the BJP to share certain commonality in their political agenda and goals and hence it becomes important to join hands wherever necessary. Locking horns may end up with the opponent running away with the medal.