The proof of the Paneer..

a few days ago, i noticed, for the first time, that a chocolate comes with an instruction manual!
as part of my interest in usability, i advocate the creation of products that do not require a user manual.
as a poser to my audience, i would ask for suggestions for the best location / position to  keep a user manual for a soap!
but then, in this case, it seems to be part of the premium positioning of this chocolate.
the ad byline says 'you should earn it'!

this is part of the instructions that tell you how to open, how to smell, how to bite and enjoy the experience.

these instructions are printed on the inner side of the wrapper!

I realized yesterday - at the delhi airport - on my way back to bangalore that paneer [indian cottage cheese] is like pudding.

i had bought some cheese that is much fresher and tastier than what you get in bangalore in most places.

in the past, i used to keep it in my hand bag [a pull along] and invariably there would be a question about the contents.

this time, i thought that i would preempt the questions by keeping the packet separate to be scanned.

sure enough, this raised a suspicion and i was asked what it was.

the officer who would stamp the Tag was not sure if he should allow it and checked with his supervisor.

The supervisor thought for a very brief moment and said 'Khaake Dhikao' [eat it and show].

i had to prove that it was indeed paneer by eating a piece.

till then, i thought that eating was only proof of the pudding..

now i know that the proof of paneer is also in the eating!

the Leela experience

this is a semi nostalgic post.
nostalgic, because it is more about memories of what were..
semi - because, it is not all that old memories.

after about 5 years in this unique location - in the heart of bangalore - one of the busiest streets - the [old] airport road, i am moving to a new location.

this location had many pluses..

a roomy, naturally lit [with 2 large french style windows] - was my favourite. i have been lucky for the last 19 years - when i moved to bangalore, to have an office with a window.

my earlier office overlooked a park.
this one did not quite have a park outside - but a small balcony with some potted plants.
enough to attract some pigeons

or the blocked view of the old airport runway - but still an occasional flight taking off or landing - behind the buildings

one good thing was to do some spring cleaning of many old papers and other things that had accumulated over the years.

left the cobweb that was building in the sky - on the plants in the balcony on the 6th floor..

while i have a small window in my new office too, i will miss many visitors who would drop in to say Hi or to catchup, when they came for some event at leela.

Now, i can get on to google maps!

the last couple of weeks have been very significant in terms of my identify beign associated firmly with my address.

some time back, i mentioned that i had very little to prove my residential address.

through a series of actions, some that were very long pending, i now have multiple such proofs.

the first was the sriving license. the RTO was kind enough to accept the documents i had and was convinced to endorse my DL with the right address.

then, it was the passport office! while the passport was issued very painlessly, there was a typo in my father's name. the procedure to get it corrected was very simple. i had to fill up a form and submit it at the enquiry counter or send it by registered post - and, if it was their mistake - in this case, it was - they would send it in a couple of days.
the problem was that the particular form was not accessible online.
so, i had to take off from work for half a day, wait in line for a couple of hours for a 2 minute submission.

surely, the passport was ready and reached home in 3 days!

another offical record that now had the address is the BBMP issued land record.

with so many official records, i can put my address on the map!

there are still a few more records to be updated - like the voter id, PAN card etc that do not have the correct address still :-)

guess what? i've grown!

could not think of any other, more appropriate title for the post.

that was the feeling i got last week, when i was back home - home, where i grew up as a child.
this is the house my father built!
house where i grew up.
we moved upstairs when the first floor was built and since then, the ground floor was occupied by tenants.
now, after my sister moved in to the ground floor, i visited the place and spent the night there.
a flood of memories of my very early childhood made me realize that it has been many years since then.

it sounds illogical and impossible now - but one such clear memory was my crawling through the window.
i distinctly remember me going through one of the windows that had a slightly larger gap.
but now, looking at it, looked impossible.

another interesting development was that the door number had changed again. don't know how i missed it.
the original number was 4A. then it became 14. another round of renumbering, it became 17.
that is what i have been using as my permanent address in all official documents in the last few years.
but the number had changed again - to 14!

this was surely something that comes round a full circle.

the government is online but.. inaccessible!

two recent instances:

1. my passport, that was recently re-issued, as my father's name mis-spelled! i was quite happy that i was able to complete the process for getting an additional booklet in the first visit to the passport office. as per the current process, they issue a new passport with a 10 year validity.i was able to track the progress of my application online, and when i noticed the details for confirmation had my father's name mis spelt, the website had a provision to send comments to a special mail id.
many attempts to send a mail, failed. after 4 days, i sent the details of the failed attempts to the PRO - as per the escalation procedure - which again, was impressive - to see a government department having all this clearly spelt out. no responses.
a few days later, the passport arrived - with the wrong spelling.
once again, the website was very helpful - apparently this is not very uncommon - all i had to do was to fill a form, that is downloadable from the website, send it by registered post and, if the fault was that of the passport office, i would get my corrected passport in 4-5 working days.
only problem was that the page was not accessible.
the only option i have is to go to the passport office once again - and hope that the process is as smooth and efficient as the last time.

2. i saw an announcement about the electoral rolls available for verification.
my first search for my name did not return any results.
then i searched for my wife's name.
again no results.
searched for a partial name - and found hers.
my name was misspelt in that.
with the mis spelling, i could locate mine!
this time, i could download the form for correction, without any problems.
but, i cannot submit the corrections online.
i need to make a trip to the municipal commissioner's office for that, where the electoral office is..

i am happy that a lot of information is available online.
it is a lot of relief - to not have to depend on interpretations of intermediaries.

it should only be a matter of time to actually transact government business also online.

heights of automation: (im)personalized bankiing

I was among the first few hundreds of customers, when this bank launched their mainly off-branch service model.
time was, ATMs were not that common and using electronic banking was also a fancy.
those days, i used to get a printed statement or communication from the bank once a quarter or six months.

i had given a letter to the branch about 3 weeks ago. since then,  in the last 3 weeks, i [and my wife] received 6 snail mails - that had the following messages:
- we have updated your mailing address as requested
- we have updated your email address as requested
- we have updated your phone number as requested
all these mails were received in duplicate with identical content - each copy addressed to one of us!

today was the height:
it was a thank you note - that ran:
'We have observed that you had not been operating your account in the last six months. We are glad to note that you have resumed operations on the same recently. In case you require any assistance on the account, please contact us.
We thank you for banking with us
Sincerely Yours
Manager.'

no name. no street address.only a PO Box #.

i can understand that with automation, such letters can be generated automatically when some transaction is detected by the computer system.

i remember the 'letter to Mom' template that used to be part of the MS-Office installation many versions ago.
that used to talk of how everything was getting impersonalized and even writing to Mom might one day be templated...' etc etc etc

getting back to this bank that never sleeps - what i found most amusing was the letter that I had given to the bank was a request to close the account.

and, these letters started arriving AFTER i received a confirmation of account closure.

maybe it is the sleep deprivation that is making the computers also overworked and fatigued.
so much for personalized banking.

Ragi Gudda

I visited the Ragi Gudda temple after a couple of years.
it was evening and the temple was crowded.
i was happy to see that there has been a lot of 'development' such as paved, guided paths that took you along the optimal route while ensuring that you do not miss out on activities along the way, such as handling your footwear on your way in to getting your prasadam on the way out.
the steps to the top of the hill - location of the main deity - hanuman - is now paved with marble.
the paths now have railings that prevent straying away.

it was also good to see many youngsters visiting the temple.

but, what i missed were the intimacy and the freedom that i remember of the temple.
when we had moved to bangalore - about 18 years ago, this was one spot where we could spend time at leisure near the deities, then on the hill slopes which was a favorite for the kids.

but now, since it was the evening and a lot of crowd, one could not go around the deities. those paths were blocked.
nor could one step out of line to sit on the hill.

i guess that i should visit the temple very early one weekday morning to enjoy the magnificent view from the hill top.