My Inner Self

For those who are unaware of what SBI is, it stands for ‘State Bank of India’ one of the largest banks in India. I have been using SBI’s credit Card for a while now and was pretty happy with purchases* but when it came to payments it was always pain in the neck.

The bank does not accept cash for payment even if you care enough to walk-in to the bank.  will take checks, but the bank employees do not know where the hell is the Check Drop Box, you got to call the call center for it. I usually pay it online through banks awfully maintained horribly slow website. When I got to the bank site from my bookmarks today morning, the page was not there. So, I Google around and found that the last part of the website address has changed and behold I see that the site has been given a face-lift(only to find out later that they forgot to include the brain).

So, to quickly(LoL) finish of my payment I enter my credentials and hit sign-in, it was throwing up website unavailable or some error. So, me knowing(from experience) that these government websites are tested only on Internet Explorer,  I move on to Internet explorer as I use Mozilla. I opened the site in Internet Explorer, punch in the credentials and hit sign in, Nothing….. zilch….. no response. My colleague sitting beside me told me that its been down from a week or so.

So, as a last resort I called up the call center to check on whats happening, read carefully, it’s going to be real funny from here on …

As soon as I punched in the bank telephone, it took me to its IVR [I have been associated with various banks from past 7 years and no matter when you call, the first lines in the IVR will be, many of our options have been changed to serve you better,  listen to all the options completely before making a choice - MY FOOT ] and after selecting the appropriate options to talk to Customer Service representative and punching in my card number, I got the message “Your approximate wait time is 15 seconds” I was shocked by the approximation and whats even more shocking was after few seconds, I got a message “Your estimated hold time now is 9 seconds” I was like, if I really get a person in 9 seconds I would faint.

Keeping up to my expectations, I did not get any person in next 9 seconds or in next 10 minutes. Instead I was getting a message “All our customer service representatives are busy talking  other customers, However  for faster assistance you may choose to call between 8 am and 7 pm” - Isn’t that message supposed to come when I call in after the regular support timings? And I was calling at 3 PM in the afternoon dammit! The lines which came after the above one irritated me more and more ““We apologize for keeping you on hold, we are eager to speak to you” - seriously? eager? What are you guys so eager about when talking to your customers?

After 10 minutes of hearing the above crap, I got a lady and I explained my helplessness to her. She said I can pay to the Credit Card even without logging into the site and directed me in doing so. I was happy and she transferred me to the survey  about the call and hung up. Poor me not knowing whats in store I gave good ratings for her quick help and set out to try her instructions. I have my Credit card details and all the other information required and at the point where I choose my bank account from which I am going to pay, I was not seeing my bank in the whole list of other banks. I shuffled between the browsers cleared cache / cookies and still in the drop down I  could not see my bank – the largest private bank in India.

So, I call the bank support again, I get another lady I again explained my helplessness, she said she can see my bank in the drop down menu from her side, I explained her that I tried couple of browsers and few trouble shooting and now she blurts out ” I am sorry sir, there is some problem with that one particular bank and it will take few days to fix it” so initially she did not even bother to check weather it working or not. Now with the apologetic tone she said I have the no other option except go to the bank and pay or drop in a check. As the due date is tomorrow , I asked one of my friend to visit the bank and pay cash, and behold then we came to  know that bank does not accept cash for payment or the bank employees do not know where the hell is the Check Drop Box.

So, my friend contacted one of his friend who had a bank account with a bank which was displayed in the drop down menu and had the payment done.

So much for it and I am on the verge of canceling the Card.

And it’s begun… don’t know what to say glorified path / burden of education. New phase for both Twinkle and us which at least(if she is willing to) will last for another 18 years.

Twinkle got into Play School starting today, I guess a beginning of new acquaintances, learning  stuff and a start for lot of new things.

Below are few clicks form the special day.  All pictures clicked with flash bounced off the wall.

Above: Is it serious? are you guys sending me some place new, ‘just’ to play?

Below: I see a smirk on Dad’s face! tell me the truth Mom Also, why is he laying on the floor and clicking pictures? I suspect a catch here ….

Below: Looks like its inevitable for me to go where ever these guys are sending. Don’t bother, I will figure it out myself what it is….

Wish me ‘All the best’ and to my parents too

Chetan, you left this world a month ago leaving every one of us in sorrow. Its your birthday today and  we wish you were here with us…

Every day we wake up
We hope we’re dreaming
We can’t believe this happened
Cant believe you ain’t here
Sometimes it’s just hard for us to wake up
Its hard to just keep going
Its like we feel empty inside
We would do anything man, to bring you back

We miss you big!

Sri Venkateswara Engineering College (SVEC) – The college from where I completed my Engineering in Electronics and Communications in the batch of 2002. I remember it for many things but the most precious ones it gave me was a great bunch of friends. More of my buddies and our adventures to follow in coming posts but for now it’s the formal introduction of the college and the batch.

Below: The college

P.S: One person the college took away from me, it my Brother-in-Law Chetan who was to complete his engineering in 15 days and fly to UK for MS but met with an accident when he was driving back from college to Hyderabad and went to the place of no return. The hole he left in everyone of our hearts is unfathomable .

The above picture was taken at Pragati Nagar, Hyderabad couple of years back when I was searching for a flat to buy

Ahobhilam is located in the Allagadda mandal of Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located at a distance of 40 km from Nandyal and about 150 km from Kurnool, the district headquarters. The legend has it that this is where Lord Narasimha blessed Prahlada and killed the demon  Hiranyakashipa.

The story of Lord Narasimha is so interesting that I can’t help putting it here for those who have not heard of it, for those who know it read it again, it might add something to already what you know:

In his previous avatara of Varaha, Vishnu killed a demon  known as Hiranyaksha. Hiranyaksha’s brother Hiranyakashipu, greatly angered by this, started to abhor Vishnu and his followers. To which end he decides to attempt to kill Vishnu by gaining mystical powers, which he believes Brahma, the chief among the devas will award him if he undergoes many years of great austerity and penance. This initially seems to work as planned with Brahma becoming pleased by Hiranyakashipu’s austerities.  Brahma thus appears before Hiranyakashipu and offers him a boon that he will personally make true anything he wishes for. In reply to which Hiranyakashipu requests the following:

O my lord, O best of the givers of benediction, if you will kindly grant me the benediction I desire, please let me not meet death from any of the living entities created by you. Grant me that I not die within any residence or outside any residence, during the daytime or at night, nor on the ground or in the sky. Grant me that my death not be brought about by any weapon, nor by any human being or animal. Grant me that I not meet death from any entity, living or nonliving. Grant me, further, that I not be killed by any demigod or demon or by any great snake from the lower planets. Since no one can kill you in the battlefield, you have no competitor. Therefore, grant me the benediction that I too may have no rival. Give me sole lordship over all the living entities and presiding deities, and give me all the glories obtained by that position. Furthermore, give me all the mystic powers attained by long austerities and the practice of yoga, for these cannot be lost at any time.

Prahlada (Hiranyakashipu’s son) when growing as a child began to show symptoms of this earlier training by Narada, gradually becoming recognized as a devoted follower of Vishnu, much to his father’s disappointment.

Hiranyakashipu eventually becomes so angry and upset at his son’s devotion to Vishnu (whom he sees as his mortal enemy) that he decides he must kill him,but each time he attempts to kill the boy, Prahlada is protected by Vishnu’s mystical power

When asked, Prahlada refuses to acknowledge his father as the supreme lord of the universe and claims that Vishnu is all-pervading and omnipresent. To which Hiranyakashipu points to a nearby pillar and asks if ‘his Vishnu’ is in it:

“O most unfortunate Prahlada, you have always described a supreme being other than me, a supreme being who is above everything, who is the controller of everyone, and who is all-pervading. But where is He? If He is everywhere, then why is He not present before me in this pillar?”

Prahlada then answers, He was, He is and He will be. In an alternate version of the story, Prahlada answers He is in pillars, and he is in the smallest twig. Hiranyakashipu, unable to control his anger, smashes the pillar with his mace, and then following a tumultuous sound, Vishnu in the form of Narasimha appears from it and in defence of Prahlada moves to attack his father. In order to kill Hiranyakashipu and not upset the boon given by Brahma, the form of Narasimha was chosen. Hiranyakashipu could not be killed by human, deva or animal, Narasimha is neither one of these, as he is a form of Vishnu incarnate as a part-human, part-animal. He comes upon Hiranyakashipu at twilight (when it is neither day nor night) on the threshold of a courtyard (neither indoors nor out), and puts the demon on his thighs (neither earth nor space). Using his sharp fingernails (neither animate  nor inanimate) as weapons, he disembowels and kills the demon.

That was a happy ending to the mankind . Coming back to our visit to the place,  here are nine temples each having Lord Narasimha in one form around the Nallamala Forest range. A few temples can be reached through trekking. Some temples are inside the cave. Some temples are very difficult to trek too. So due to the lack of time we decided to skip couple of temples which are at couple of hours distance from the main temple where only heavy duty off road vehicles(Mahindra Commander )will reach to some point and after that we have to trek. So we decided to see the 5 temples surrounding the main temple and the most difficult one ‘Ugra Stambham’ (the pillar which the lord came out from in the above story).

Want to see the pillar? In the below picture, over to the left is the pillar which the lord came out from, if you are wondering where the pillar is, the huge mountain you are seeing and a pillar like structure is the pillar . The picture on the right is how it looks from the very top at the tip of it after a treacherous trek.  That small blue color thing(if you can see) in the right picture is the bridge from where I took the picture on the left from below.

The local guide has to say that this current place, which houses a dense forest now was demon  Hiranyakashipa’s palace 5,00,00 crore years back and the river flowing from top  of the mountain is red in color even now representing the blood of the demon which flowed when the Lord killed him. According to the guide, many scientific research institutes took the sample of water from the river and when checked they found out blood compounds in it and once you are there there are many such interesting things around which the guide will tell you about relating to the things you see on the trek to various temples.

On the very top, there are stone feet of the God and it is believed that if we go around it three times we will be blessed. In the below picture you can see my friends Anand and Siddu doing rounds and the way is so narrow that only one person can go at a time and you can see whats beyond it in case we have a slip.

Below: Closer view of ‘Ugra Stambham’ (the pillar which the lord came out from in the above story).

Below: View from the very top. we all had only few words ” we are on top of the world”

Also, it is believed that if the water flows at a neck level of a bird sitting on the tip of this mountain that is the end of the world and it is said by Bramhamgaru, the equivalent of Nostradamus in India.

Over all we(Naveen, Anand, Siddu & me and our respective wife’s ) had a great trip with our usual fun on the road, eating out and pulling each others legs. Also, to mention, the AP tourism Guest Houses at Ahobilam were pretty decent and affordable.

This post was long pending from many months(along with many other) I just shook off my laziness a bit and taking the occasion to post one of the picture I have clicked. My passion of computer games started with Pac-Man around 18 years back and it’s never left me.

My tribute to Pac-Man which completed 30 years last week .

The scene you are seeing above is the Sun setting in the background of  L & T towers at GachiBowli, Hyderabad. The thing which is giving the Sun the PacMan shape is a water tank in front of the towers.

Yes, big is not just enough, Avatar big is! May be I am the last one on the planet to write about the movie Avatar, still I cannot help share my piece of cake with you all. I waited so long to see avatar  in 3D and as someone rightly said it’s not a movie, its truly an experience. I was awestruck with it’s sheer awesomeness in every frame and James Cameron’s creativity is a visual treat. The details in  every scene  shows the hard work of thousands of people behind the screen the care taken to gave us the Avatar effect.

I guess I am too small to write more about the Avatar experience, all I can say is it’s just has to be experienced.

P.S: I got to watch this movie in Inox, the new multiplex which came up in GVK mall, Hyderabad. I should say the seating was little uncomfortable and the 3D glasses were over weight and not ergonomically designed. One other surprise is you get when you go the theater,they take R.s150 refundable deposit for the 3D glasses which came as a surprise and which I felt ridiculous; I will definitely watch Avatar in IMAX again for big screen better experience.

Picture clicked at TYDA, Araku Valley,Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India.