Indian airlines defies time, cheats and gets away with it

If you are booking flight IC971 from Chennai to Mumbai - read this!
I booked a tkt on IC971 from Chennai to Mumbai - scheduled departure from MAA 7.00 a.m. If you search in IA site- you will see that the scheduled departure is 7.00 a.m.
Once I went to the airport, the IA staff told that the flight is rescheduled to 10.00 and if required I can get a full refund. Well, I had to book another ticket on Jet Airways as the matter required some urgency.
The IC971 left by around 9.00 a.m.
Later I found out that the flight IC972 from mumbai to Chennai is "Scheduled" to arrive at 8.50 - i.e its regular expected time is 8.50 a.m.
Since IC972 is the one returned as IC971, and its scheduled arrival at chennai is 8.50, how can IA sell tickets for 7.00 a.m and put customers to hardships?
Did any of you face the same issue or am I missing something?

Spams Emails in the name of Income Tax India

Recently I have been getting some spam emails with sender as "Income Tax India"
Sender email : refunds@incometaxindi.co.in..
The email has some note about refund amounts etc and gives a link that says "Tax Refund Online Form". The hidden link actually points to http://mail/ murdochsmith.co.uk. (complete link http://%20mail.murdochsmith.co.uk/images/refundtax/gov.in/formular.html ).. added as space in between to break the link.)

Can't something be done regarding these fake emails?.
I checked out the Income tax india govt site about whether I can raise a complaint/warning and all I get is this link
http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/archive/CBDT_PressRelease_09102009.pdf which warns people regarding spurious emails and tells them that the responsibility rests with the individual.

Can the IT dept atleast provide an email or form to send such spurious emails so that they can track with cyper police and cut down on people mis-representing them?

Save indian tigers - only 1411 left?

"Save Indian tigers" seems to be slogan of the day - We have top sports people, film stars and others telling us that only 1411 left and Aircel is making a major campaign.
It is nice to see corporates and prominent personalities taking up the cause of the wild cat. Seeing the cubs in the advertisements that look like kittens, it is hard to imagine the evil in the minds of those who are ready to kill these wonderful animals purely for money.
What can be done - I guess there are many organizations doing wonderful service. I'll try to list them here as I find them.
To start you can register your support in http://www.saveourtigers.com/
If you know of any organizations or any way to do something, please post comments/links

Superb program on sun tv - Asathapovathu Yaaru

Saw this program on sun T.V. the other day - Two twins (Ashok and Anand, I think), did a wonderful program.
They juggled with Apples (in different ways), and at the same time, kept eating the apples one by one. It was fun to watch and the timing was just great as they managed to juggle by themselves and also between each other, eating the apples bite by bite.

Copper chimney in R.K. Salai - Good taste, decent service.

Went to copper chimney y'day with my cousin and had a couple of veg items.
The place is spacious and service is pretty good. Price is equivalent to other similar level restaurants - For a 2 person veg food costs around 400/person with starters and main course.

The only delay was a 10 min time in bringing the bill.

Hot breads - Mylapore (Near Saravana Bhavan) - Can do better.

Went to Hot breads today with a friend and his 7 yr old daughter. The place is too small and can set about 12 people in a crampled sitting space. The other end is occupied by the cake master! and his assistants doing their interesting hand works on the cake.

I had a Mexicana veg (the menu mentioned something regarding a fajita) and my friend got a veg chutney sandwich. his daughter was very clear (as kids of that age are) and had a veg burger.

The mexicana veg was nothing special. I earlier had mexican chilli cheese (cheese and Jalapenos). That was better.

Eitherway the portion is too small with only 2 bread slices trimmed. And I also see that many sandwich places in chennai don't use the bigger sandwich bread but use the regular/small white bread

Can provide a better value for money

ETWOW in Chennai - Very Good and short.

http://etwow.in/

Watched the show y'day. Very good show. 8 teams of artists from different coutries (russia, france, hungary etc) provided some tricky and dangerous entertainment.

• Started with two acrobats doing some major balancing act - A test of strength and balance. Some of them were too good. As a climax one artist balanced himself on one hand, which was placed on the head of the other - Amazing stuff
• The mono cyclist was a joy. He had a glee while doing his tricks, did some interesting ones including jumping from one Mono cycle to another and also doing some highjumps. How he is able to land perfectly on the pedals of a moving mono cycle is a mystery.
• The man on the german wheel was great. Skirted too close for comfort when he reached the edges of the stage.
• The hula guy was just too quick. The speed with which he was able to switch the hulas between his neck, waist, legs and hands was in flick of the eyes.
• The 2 skaters put on a sensual act (or tried to). The stuff was pretty dangerous with the lady's head inches off the trampoline bar. It was too fast, too quick and dangerous. The music for this piece was slightly jarring - with a kind of eerie feel.
• The 3 young girls from Russia were extremely flexible and strong. Nice music and nice work
• The statue show was from a person from France. The timing was very good and the fun element was nicely presented about the two statues coming to life and interactive with each other
• Finally was the laser show. The guy was able to bend light in many diff ways, did a great work in splitting, joining and making very diff shapes and the timing was perfect with the music
  Overall a mini and quick version of Cirque de soleil - http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/default.asp
  The only problem was the timing of the show. It was too short and in some cases the artists were there only for 7-8 mins. It seemed as though they were rushing out. I was expecting a break at 1 hrs and 15 mins. I did get a break of course, coz by that time the show itself was over.
  For sure, the could have timed it better to give a more wholesome and satisfying experience
  
  Music Academy seating is great,the view is just great as you can see the stage and artists very well even from far seats.
  
  Great artists. Great show. Slightly low on the value for money

The Extra terrestrials in Chennai - Don't know to pick up phone?

In the ET movie, the key part is played by a phone call (an inter galactic one if you prefer to see that way)

But the organizers of the ET show in Chennai (http://etwow.in/ticket.php) seem to have forgotten the trick of the trade.

The phone number - 9380514803 mentioned in the site just plays a "Reliance jingle" and shuts off

Kinda spoiling ET's reputation I say - What say you?

Sony Center in Anna salai - Do they need customers?

Went to the Sony center in Anna Salai (Near Shanthi theater) the other day as I needed a memory stick for my new Sony cybershot.
First, there is a guard in the front, who doesn't care to even open the door.
Once inside there were a cpl of people (none of them customers), talking to themselves as I walked all around the shop looking for the memory card.
I found it in a wall, unscrewed the holder and removed the card and went to the billing person who was busy watching T.V.
Had to disturb him in order to confirm whether the stick matches my camera and to bill for the same.

Sony Center - Anna Salai, Chennai

Don't think this sony needs customers as they are busy with themselves.

What do you think?