Customer Service

What is true customer service?  Let me illustrate with two real life incidents that occurred earlier this morning.

As soon as my elder daughter returned from school, we went to a nearby grocery shop to purchase a small item. Being in a rush I did not take my wallet but took a 100 rupee note. En-route to the shop, we handed over an empty bottle to the local sugar cane juice wallah requesting him to fill it up with three glasses of juice.  Both these places (the established-pucca grocery store as well as the makeshift-kacha sugar cane juice outlet) are frequented regularly by us.

At the grocery shop however the mid aged grumpy lady scowled at the 100 rupee note as though it was something evil. “Don’t you have change?” she asked. The item cost Rs 13. I informed her that I did not take my wallet. “Do you have three rupees” I patiently repeated the earlier statement. Instead of billing the item she went on and on about the lack of change and the insignificant amount that I had spent.  After I raised my voice slightly and ticked her off on the customer service angle she reluctantly billed the item.

As we were walking back my 10 year old daughter had only remark. “When the lady opened the cash counter for the change I saw a wad of change and a bag full of coins. Why did she not give it in the first place?” I told her that sometimes the smaller roadside vendors are more customer focused than organized shops. 

I was proved right moments later when we reached the sugar cane juice vendor. He had filled up the bottle to the brim and said “Saab there were 4 glasses of juice in the vessel and I have poured it into the bottle but since you asked for 3, please pay only for 3”.

Guess which of the above two places I would think twice before frequenting again?

Blackberry blues and holy soaps!

After nearly a decade of service with a wonderful organization, I exited the day before yesterday. I am planning to take a short break before exploring new opportunities.

The past ten years have been very fulfilling – in terms of career growth, achievement of team, departmental and organizational targets and on many other fronts. What has been however most satisfying is the relationships I have built with some wonderful people over the years and the satisfaction of seeing many of them grow their career taking up new opportunities. The satisfaction of believing in their abilities and being proved right time after time is second to none.

The first day off full time employment has been very interesting. While I was preparing myself to deal with the new phase of life, one interesting aside has been the number of times I checked my ‘new’ feature phone for ‘mails’.  The hangover from the blackberry fixation will take some time to get over I suppose!

Around noon, probably to keep me occupied, my wife suggested we go shopping for groceries and gifts for a family friend.  We visited a nearby super store which I have not frequented for quite some time. One thing that struck me was the prominent display of products from a company promoted by a new age guru. There were jams, juices, cereals, oils – all types of processed food. While we initially toyed with the idea of making an impulse purchase of one of the items, we decided to skip the edible products section. We settled for a couple of exotic ayurvedic soap bars.

So what I did do differently on my first day off work?  I took baby steps in getting over my blackberry email fixation and took a holy bath!

Break from blogging

Ever since I started this blog this has been the longest break. No particular reason..just plain lazy I guess.

Looking forward to the annual family get together in December which is a topic I do not normally forget to blog on.

Am not saying that from now on I will be more regular ....just hope to be less irregular. 

The double negative above has a slightly different tinge from the regular statement  :)

Make it night again !

Kids have no idea of the limitations of their parents. This incident happened on a recent (sunny - very sunny) weekend morning. It was around 7:00 AM and my second born (Niya) woke up with a start with a warm stream of sunlight kissing her cheeks.

Not finding her mother beside her, she called out loudly. Mother duly rushed from the kitchen. Here's the ensuing conversation -

Niya - Is there school today ?

Mom - No Dear

Niya (after a pause  and may I add, in a relieved voice ) - Ok, then lie down beside me

Mom - No I can't, its morning and I need to make breakfast

Niya (in a shrill voice) - Then make it night again. 

Mom (smiling) - Um..

Niya (offended) - MAKE IT NIGHT AGAIN. I said...MAKE IT NIGHT AGAIN

My Dear Niya, if only we could roll back time....

2014 family trip

It’s that time of the year again ... as 2014 draws to a close its time for a travelogue on the annual family get together (Kadu clan) now into its second successive year.

This time around the places we visited included Bhoothathankettu, Thattekad and Vagamon.

On Christmas day, after polishing off a heavy breakfast at our aunt’s place (Kothamangalam), we headed off to Bhoothathankettu which was less than an hour’s drive away.

View of the reservoir from the dam

Before embarking on a walk through the forest to the Periyar river, we were sweet talked into engaging the services of a guide named Thankappan. In hindsight it was good thing because Thankappan regaled us with stories – facts about the trees and the animals and myths about the place as well! Though he kept advising us to keep silent so as not to disturb the animals, you can imagine how silent a group of 45 excited ‘youngsters’ can be!

Creepers covering most of the stem of an old tree. In a few years time the parasitic creeper will squeeze the life out of the tree

After an hours walk through the dense foliage we reached that part of the Periyar river from which the name Bhoothathankettu came into being.  Thankappan spiced up the story for us. Legend has it that Lord Shiva wanted to cross the river to visit Trikkariyoor temple to meditate. He asked Parvathi devi to stay put and wait for him. Even after 4 months of waiting there was no sign of Shiva.

Parvathi decided to cross over and search for him. When she reached Trikkariyoor she found that Shiva was busy - not meditating but having a good time with Ganga devi. Incensed, Parvathi headed back to the Periyar river in a rage. In the meantime Shiva wisely decided to lie low for the time being.

Parvathi hit upon an idea to extract revenge. She decided to block the river so as to flood and submerge Trikkariyoor. She took the help of the Boothangals (demons). The demons could not be seen as overtly taking sides, hence under the cover of darkness (at which time the demons are supposed to have super human strength) they rolled large boulders and threw them into the river. They had almost completed their task when Shiva got wind of their tricks, took up the form of a rooster and crowed. The Boothangal fearing arrival of daylight fled from the spot. Even today we can see the result of their work – huge boulders block most of the river – except for a narrow area which they could not block in time!

Nice story indeed – however the actual reason for this formation is unknown. People say there were two big floods in the 4^th and 14^th centuries which could have led to landslides causing huge rocks from the neighboring mountain to roll down to the river bed. Either way the first explanation makes better reading !

The second stop was Thattekad – the place made famous by Dr Salim Ali, the world renowned ornithologist . Thattekad (meaning flat forest) is a lowland marshy forest located between branches of the Periyar river in the catchment area of the Bhoothathankettu dam. Spread over an area of 25 sq. km, it is home to over 322 species of birds. Dr Salim Ali had once described Thattekad as the richest  bird habitat in the Indian peninsula.

We reached Thattakadu by late afternoon and were advised to defer the walk through of the bird trail to dawn the next day.  The afternoon was spent at Pooyamkutty where the whole family lazed around in the cool shallow waters of Kuttampuzha (a tributary of the Periyar).

The indoor activities started immediately after tea. Whereas the previous year we had serious discussions driven by the grown ups, this time the whole programme was run by the kids. What followed were a couple of hours of singing and dancing by the tiny tots.  Who does not enjoy performances by kids especially when they are your near and dear ones!

Those interested (which included most of the group) woke up before dawn and got ready for the bird trail trek. First we had a quick darshan at the Thattekad Shiva temple.

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Then it was time for a walk through the bird trail.

We walked through the low lying swampy forest (apt conditions for birds to thrive) for the next hour and a half. While we did not get to see too many birds (except for a distant glimpse of the odd wood pecker, stork, hornbill and wild hen) the walk through the dense foliage was really enjoyable especially since the day was just about breaking

Our guide for the walk was Stephen.  He gave us a good overview of the types of birds that inhabit Thattekad.  When we enquired about him, Stephen revealed that he was adept at catching snakes. He told us stories about the different types of snakes he had caught and also of the occasions when he was not successful. He has even lost a couple of fingers to snake bites.

Thattekad, a bird’s paradise has been opened up to us humans for us to enjoy the natural beauty. However the irresponsibility of humans was on display everywhere. En-route to the sanctuary I had seen at least 3 or 4 prominent boards indicating that this was a plastic free zone. Forget the main road, even inside the trail, we could see plastic wrappers, discarded plastic bottles and even empty bottles of alcohol. In the picture above you can have a glimpse of Stephen collecting plastic during our walk to be disposed of later. When asked, he shrugged and said he collects plastic waste from the trail almost on a daily basis – mostly left by domestic visitors to the park.

After a quick breakfast, it was time to head off to Vagamon –the  tiring drive (it took us almost 3 ½ hours to get there) was worth it – the weather at Vagamon was wonderful, the air crisp and cool. En-route to the first stop (Pine forest) we passed by scenic tea and cardamom plantations. 

The Pine valley was not really up-to the mark (especially compared to Kodai and other hill stations). The tree cover was good but the trail was dusty and the approach a bit too commercialized for my liking.

From the pine valley we headed off to the famous meadows.  It was late evening by the time we reached there. This spot was worth the visit. The view was excellent and as mentioned earlier, the weather was amazing. We felt we should have got there earlier – just the right picnic spot, an ideal place to spend a whole day lazing around.

Unfortunately it was getting late and all good things must come to an end. We boarded the vehicle to get back to Kothamangalam and from there to our respective abodes.

It was a tiring couple of days but well worth it.  We visited a few wonderful locations and saw some new sights. But what we will cherish is the fun we had and the quality time we spent together. As the bus hurtled along the highway into the night I started dozing off already dreaming ahead to next year’s trip.....

As I sign off I wish all of you a very Happy and Prosperous 2015!

Dad’s utility value

I am the ‘bed time story’ person in the family. Recently I was telling an old Indian folk tale in which a man whose family is on hard times decides to do away with his old father. The man takes his father in a bullock cart to the forest – accompanied by his young son.

When they reach a clearing, the man starts digging a grave. The inquisitive little boy soon bugs his father and is told that grandpa is of no use anymore and is a burden on the family. The boy starts digging a hole on his own.  The man asks the little boy what he is doing and is told “When you are old, I don’t want you to wait till I finish digging a grave”. You know the rest of the story …

Well, after the story telling session, I enquired of Nandu on what she would do when I was old. Her reply  - “Acha (father), you would definitely not be in the ‘no use’ category. You make good dosas” J

Vada with a hole!

Kids prefer a world with black and white choices and are pretty simple and quick in their decision making. I was reminded of this recently when we had snacks and tea at a restaurant.

We had been driving around completing shopping chores when it was tea time. We decided to hop into a nearby south Indian restaurant. Nandu indicated before we entered the shop that she wanted to eat ‘Vada’. She raised this in advance as Vada is an oily snack and she wanted to secure the necessary approvals before we entered!

When the waiter was asked about the range of snacks available, he rattled off the list – ‘Medu vada’, ‘Curd Vada’, ‘Sambhar Vada’, ‘Bonda’, ‘Bhajji’ … and a few more.

Nandu’s face fell – she said she wanted the “Vada with a hole”!

In her sharp young mind, the choice was made up before she entered the restaurant. Not swayed by the goodies on offer she was clear on what she wanted and that is what she eventually got as well. For Medu vada is indeed the “Vada with a hole”