I am boycotting Domino's Pizza from Today

I’ve been a regular unhappy customer of Domino's pizza. I have been fine with their pizzas, their non-spectacular taste, the fact that they don’t provide cutlery for the fact that they are somewhat cheaper on the pocket.

The thing that riled me (repeatedly) is their worst customer service. I have visited many outlets in Chennai and in Bangalore and have noticed that the best of their service is being indifferent.  

And of all the outlets, the Mylapore one in R.K Salai, takes the pizza (or the cake if you prefer).

First, If a customer enters to order, he or she is completely ignored. For how long – entirely depends on the whims and fancies of the staff.  For the most part they are busy arguing, joking, jesting among themselves or discussing some very useless matters. In fact, for the most part, the customer has to call to make himself visible to their presence and most of them do that after waiting for the decent amount of time.

Second, in 9 out of 10 times that I’ve had there, they have not had coins for change. Invariably you will be told that the change will be given along with the order and invariably it will be forgotten. The ploy here is to embarrass the customer to come back and ask for small change and if he does not, then pocket the same! What a way to earn your profits!

Third, you just have to wait out your order. I do not think the employees in this place understand that the are working in a place where customers are waiting for food. Again their attention is all on other things and invariably the customer has to come and ask for orders that would’ve been taken out of the oven and sitting on the shelves.

What broke the camels back (or my stomach) was that for the last two consecutive times they forgot to even put my order in the oven. The first time, it was plain forgotten and after I reminded them 20 mins after the order, the dough entered the oven and I got the pizza. The last time, my order was actually given to another person who ordered after me. The staff realized this and then without telling me anything put the dough on the oven. This is again 20 mins after I ordered. After all this, I again had to do step three above, i.e. ask them to pick the ready pizza from the shelf and give to me. It was 35 mins before I had my lunch on that hungry day.

The only person who works in this place are the 2 cleaners that I’ve seen over the last 6 month period. The others are a bunch of boorish, totally non-customer friendly crew.

And here is their CEO announcing his plans to open a 100 more stores in India.

I shudder at the thought of having 100 more stores and 1000 more customer unfriendly souls flooding our lives!

Hence my boycott of Domino's pizza until I hear that they take their customers and customer service seriously. I am sure it does not make one difference to them, but if you also feel and have the same experience, I would recommend and request you to add your comments and then boycott yourself. Hopefully it will give them some reason to change!

  

Tintin, The noble hero & Tintin, The truthful movie

What I like most about the Tintin stories is that Tintin is an Ideal, Noble, No frills adventurer unlike the regular fare being treated out with the American adventurers and super heroes where female angles, sob stories are an integral part of the mixture.  

Got to watch the Tintin movie today. I did have some apprehension after reading a few reviews. The movie has captured the spirit of the Tintin stories well – It is fast paced adventure, Clean comedy, No blood shed or ripping of guts etc, Noble characters that stay true to their characters. Although some complain that the spirit of the captain Haddock and Bianca Castafiore are a bit subdued, I feel that on the whole, it is the best way the clean adventure could’ve have been handled. I am sure Herge did the right choice in handing over the rights to Spielberg. I have decided that in future, I would read the half baked reviewes with a pinch of salt and have more trust on Herge and Spielberg.

I think the end scenes capture the characters in true light. 

Tintin is happy that the adventure is over and is looking forward to the next tone. 

Captain Haddock is filled with pride and struts with his ancestor’s hat. 

Nester is happy to be back with his original Masters.

No one is overly interested or focusing on the Jewels or the Treasure. What a team!

Kudos to Herge on creating the Hero(s) and Kudos to Spielberg on bringing the best of the story and Characters.

If you are even remotely interested or want to show a good, clean, noble movie to your friends or kids (even to neighborhood ones), do them a favor by taking to the movie.

Sachin - He is an Icon, He is a cricketer, No!, he is an actor, an Artist

Seems Sachin tendulkar's primary profession is an actor/artist and cricket is his "other source" of income. Referring to his tax filings...

Read here...
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/actor-sachin-tendulkar-gets-tax-break/1/139537.html

As a fan, I am aghast that this was tried, rejected and re-applied. Is this even required by him? or is he being hood-winked/ill-advised by his accountants/legal team. Eitherway, it is a blot and a stupid one! and what to say about the Tax department that accepted such a claim!!

Mumbai test Seems Ripe for Sachin's 100th ton

Well, the pitch seems to have tons of runs in store. As of the 3rd day, it looks like draw might be the inevitable result. Ideal conditions for Sachin to score his ton of tons, don't you think?

Do you also have difficult sorting in gmail?

Have been wondering about this many times during my usage of gmail and today google-ed it. Seems many many netizens have this same problem. One of the links is here

Observations such as Gmail is search based and not sort based - is like the many junior guys in my company hiding behind technical jargons instead of looking from user perspective. What does the user care?

Anyway, the above link gives round about workarounds in which you can get the mails you want - Not the same as sort, but can probably help 80% of the needs. One good think from google is that if you enter "to:" or "from:" in the search box, it displays the available options from your contact list.

Anyway, My suggestion would be to Convey to google our displeasure and prioritize its implementation in a straight fwd way - Will helps us cleanup megabytes of data and free data center hard disks:)

To provide your Vote for the suggestion, go to http://mail.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=suggestions.cs

Deepavali wishes and a nice surprise

Wishing you all a wonderful Deepavali. May the festival of lights bring in a lot of cheer, good health and success to all of you.

The world can definitely do with a bit more Cheer and good-naturedness. Let's add our bit to it.

Nice Surprise today - A Happy Diwali message from Seth Godin - http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/10/shubh-diwali-and-digital-lights.html

Blue Cross of India - In the Service of our 4 legged and 2 legged friends

Blue cross of India, is doing service in the areas of rescue, rehabilitation, Shelter, adoption and many other for our neighbors - the animals and birds that we share our place with.

Urban habitation makes life very difficult for these neighbors and put them frequently in face of danger.

Here is the link to the Blue cross site to get information. http://bluecrossofindia.org/;

Their contact #s in Chennai are 044 2235 4959; 99628 00800;

Here is the link to donate http://bluecrossofindia.org/donation.html

I'm not affiliated with Blue Cross. I Just happened to see their service in action yesterday and making a donation to help their cause. Thought I would help spread the word

Fruits of Labour are Sweet - Thanks to Chennai Corporation Sewage department

Did someone say "Fruits of the Labor are Sweet - Harder the labour, sweeter the fruits"! - No one!, well, in that case, let it be yours truly..

For the past couple of days, Chennai has been receiving good quota of rains. After y'day's downpour many parts are flooded (As an aside, I find that there is a good amount of interpretation of difference between "flooded" in India and "flooded" in U.S.A - For e.g. while driving on U.S. highways if there is even a thin stretch of water that has not drained, a board "Highway flooded" will warn you, I've many times searched for the flood water in such cases.. In India, mostly "flooded" is used as a synonym for 'inundated'). Many parts of Chennai including the main G.S.T road was under a few feet of water for many hours.

Going back a few days, over the last week/10-days, I've been watching Guys cleaning up the Drains in the R.K. Salai. The stench was unbearable for the passers by. One can only imaging how it would be for the cleaners. The debris was being dumped on the footpaths and the roads and I thought "What a mess!"

Cut back to today, and after the rains, the Salai is so clean. Even after a few minutes of rains, portions of the road will be filled with water and Pedestrians would have to navigate a tight 3-way balance between walking on the dirty water, Getting water splashed on them by vehicles and walking on the middle of the road in the dangerous company of speeding vehicles.

But today the regular culprits like the corners next to Tafe, the entrance to Dewberrys' cafe, stretch near Citi center are so clean, that there is no water logging.

Appreciate the difficult, dangerous, dirty and nasty work done by the Cleanup guys. It has been their Labour, for us bearing the sweet fruits. Thank you lots!

Anna - Tuje salaam.

Hats off to Anna Hazare - http://ibnlive.in.com/news/i-can-fast-for-nine-more-days-anna-hazare/178274-3.html, for his positive attitude and spirit towards a noble cause

Many counter view points are being raised like..

• whether someone can try to blackmail or subvert the government?
• whether jan lokpal is the panacea of all ills?
• How many diff kinds of corruptions will this solve
• Is Anna and his team "clean"?
• At the end of it will it give a wrong chance for Congress to come up as Mr. Clean?

and lots more...........

Sadly these are raised by many intellectuals too, who are misguided or blinded to the important and bigger implications

• Corruption in India over the last 10 years or so has graduated to astronomical proportions - Jewels like Common Wealth, 2G Spectrum, Adharsh, Others Mega ones like Madhu Koda's thousands of Crores, Mining scams in Karnataka, Land grabbing everywhere, Many many more
• In recent times, the Corrupt has really become bold and arrogant - With a superior-than-thou tone - e.g. zero loss in 2G and CAG is just human to make mistakes.
• People in power are ready to sell India - Its land, Mines, forests, coasts, Spectrum, Any resources - for peanuts just to make a few crore rupees for themselves
• For them Public resources, public money is their money
• There will be nothing left in a few decades for the General public/Aam Aadmi

So, the questions that are of importance are

• Do we need anything left for our future or future generations?
• Do we need to put in some fear factor on the corrupt?
• Do we hope for a period where things happen in a open,transparent and clean manner (without bribe/commissions/cuttings/dealings) ?

Apart from all of the above, Anna has given a hope that one man can make a difference. Persistence does bring in good results. Kudos to him and Prayers for his good health.

Rajinikanth supports Anna Hazare movement

Rajinikanth has openly lent his support to the Anna Hazare anti corruption movement.

http://expressbuzz.com/entertainment/news/rajinikanth-gives-thumbs-up-to-team-anna/307039.html

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/showbiz/kollywood/hazares-movement-bloodless-revolution-rajinikanth-748

It is a good gesture from Superstar. Of course, many can say what is the big deal, but I think any iota of support of any form is a addition to the noble cause.

Last time around, the Heroes were missing. This time, they seem to have woken up to the thought-of-the-hour. If only, our politicians can also come out of their self-deceiving cocoon.

Thank you - Anna Hazare

"Hazare ended his 98-hour protest after the government issued a gazette notification constituting a 10-member Joint Committee of ministers and civil society activists, including him, to draft an effective Lokpal Bill."

A great achievement. A selfless gesture by a person, not for personal gain.

It was the kick start that everyone was waiting for. Although majority of the public suffers from corruption and wishes he/she could do something, the action was missing.

Thanks to Anna to have opened up a path, a way towards light at the end of the tunnel.

Corruption in India is not restricted to the major ones like 2G, Adharsh, Bofors or the other 100 well known ones. Corruption is part of day-to-day life - In Roads, hospitals, All government establishments, everywhere.

Corruption free India will be a much Safer and Happier place to live.

The few 1000s of politicians have become Corrupt and act blatantly, without any fear or hesitation. There is hope now that the Crores of voters can again be Masters over this small minority!

Support for Anna Hazare in Chennai - Beach, Near Gandhi Statue

In Chennai, there was a candle light vigil today near Gandhi statue - About 500+ supports had turned up and were enthusiastic in voicing their opinion against corruption.

From Citi Notes

Programs/events in Chennai:
Morning 9 to evening 5 - Prayer meetings in Thakkar baba school, Venkatanarayana Road, T.nagar (Near TTD )
Evenings 6.30 to 8.00 p.m. - Candle light vigil near Gandhi statue ,Marina beach.


Coordinator contacts for Chennai
Venkata Narayan Krishnan 9940066327
Venkata Prasad 9382525222, 9500032718

To find contacts for Anna hazare support in your cities, check out http://indiaagainstcorruption.org/citycontacts.php

Reference websites
http://indiaagainstcorruption.org/
www.annahazare.org

Heroes or Zero-s? - Where are the Heroes when required to support a cause

Anna Hazare has taken up a very courageous step in fighting against corruption.

Where are our Reel life Heroes when we need them. (Applause to some of them who have come out and supported, who had the courage and the goodwill)

While they fight causes in studios, where are they when they are needed?

Where are the Stars, Super Starts, Kings and others?

Check out http://indiaagainstcorruption.org/. Take action!

India Wins ICC world cup 2011

What a wonderful feeling. Indian team won the world cup after 1983. I still remember a few moments from that match

Micheal holding's runup from near the boundary line, Mohinder Amarnath's wickets going cartwheeling, Srikanths' pull, Greenidge shouldering up only to get bowled, Mohinder Amarnaths victory run and of course the Champagne and celebrations from the Lord's Pavilion

2011 is a great win. The team really went about winning in a no-nonsense way.

Just like Spain in Soccer, it was good to see a "Clean" team winning the world cup.

And as an added feather in the cap, India went on to beat all the previous world cup winners in the correct order - Windies, Aussies, Pakistan and finally Srilanka.

Kudos - Indian team and Kudos Dhoni. Dhoni shone as a cool, controlled captain and the indian team played as a unit with a mission. Sachin thoroughly deserves this missing cup on his shelf.

Carry on and show the world how to play and win "Cleanly"!!!!!

50Bucks, R.K. Salai: Good value for money

Had the chance to go to 50bucks restaurant more than a couple of times over the past few months. It deserves appreciation on a few things

1. Nice, simple concept and a straight forward way of marketing (all dishes are either 50bucks or less)
2. Found a nice niche segment - nicely positioned between the Mess kind of eateries and the restaurants
3. Good menu/choices
4. Neat interiors - Nicely setup tables, simplistic and clean
5. Not too stingy on the Air conditioner

They are true to their name, 50 bucks or less. Menu consists of South indian, North indian, Oriental, Thai, Mexican and Continental choices in both Vegetarian as well as Non. I have tried south indian Thali, Shanghai fried rice, Pasta, Lasagna, Thai rice with Curry etc and they have been good. The portions are decent.

Obviously, they are doing good as can be seen from the increasing lines and the fact that most times the place is filled.

A few suggestions to make the experience "better"

1. Cleanliness - Steel wares, plates as well as the cleaning procedure (till about a week ago it involved just brushing stuff from tables to the ground)
2. Service – Initially there were less employees, but they were nice and smiley, now there are more guys (with nice uniforms), but the care and attention is definitely gone..

I have not mentioned about the food quality/taste here. It is Good. Not bad, not great, but good enough.

Bhagavata Mela - Rukmini Kalyanam, A fantastic treat

Normally I am not one who has opportunities to view art, theater, performances etc., so it was a pleasure when I got the good fortune to witness the dance drama "Rukmini Kalyaman" in Karnataka sangha school auditorium on 29 Dec 2010.

The drama was presented in a unique form called "Bhagavata mela" where a fixed set of stories from Bhagavatam are being enacted in the traditional form over many years (More about Bhagavata mela @http://www.bhagavatamela.org/)

The event started with some details about Melattur Bhagavata Mela and its unique properties. (Melattur is a village near Thanjavur and this art form is being practised only in about 5-6 villages around Thanjavur). The songs are sung in Telugu (as written originally many decades ago) and all artists are amateur male artists.

The dances follow a method in which each character was introduced by performing a traditional dance routine and then the drama unfolded.

Totally the dance drama was for about 2.5 hours (seems it is a smaller edition for city). The dances and the sincerity from the artists was just amazing. The singers were prefect to the last beat and the dances were graceful and beautiful.

The best part was by Rukmini, the grace, dance and the makeup was amazing. The emotions, pathos and the dance movements were so real that after a point in time, it was very difficult to remember that it was a male artist performing the role (Most of the audience felt the same)

The artists included doctors, bank officials, retired Government officers, Engineering college kids and like.

Though the event was free, there was sparse audience (about 50 in a room capable of 900+ seats). Kudos to Sponsor who helped in bringing such an art to the city and Kudos to the artists and their hardwork.

Would have been great if some of the portions were explained a bit more for the audience, but that was a minor glitch which I am sure they'll overcome in coming events.

All in all it was a great event as I got to see a theater at work and I wish the team a big success.