Axis Bank - Stop the harassing calls

The headache of harassing phone calls from Axis Bank started about a month and hasn't stopped till this post.  Axis Bank's agents call me everyday asking why we haven't paid the credit card dues that aren't dues to start with.

For the first few days, I politely explained the reason.  After that I started avoiding the calls.  But the calls continue and seem to have gone to the next level.  Earlier the calls were from their Hyderabad call center, so I started avoiding unknown calls from area code 40. But now the calls come various mobile numbers and speak in Tamil. I worry if these guys are squatting near my home and tracking our movement.  Their next step could be to knock our doors or even confront us in our own neighborhood when we step outside.

It all started with Sita losing her credit card in February and blocking it within 48 hours.  But the crooks needed only 2 days to splurge several thousand rupees on games software and god knows what else.

Then we went through lot of hassle to dispute the charges which included filing a police complaint and whole lot of other formalities.  Axis Bank told us that the dispute would take 120 days to resolve.  If resolved in our favor, the charges would reversed, else we would have to pay the disputed charges including the the exorbitant interest.

While the charges are under dispute, Axis Bank started charging interest and at some point last month, flipped our account to a collection agency.  Since then, I am getting increasingly annoying calls asking me to explain why I haven't paid.

If Axis Bank is listening.. Here is a message to you..
We have been your customer for over 10 years and with good standing.  Please stop the harassing phone calls immediately.

Movie Marathon @ 37000 feet

For the first time in many of my recent long haul flights,  I saw three very different movies.  I had originally planned to catch up on some work and get some sleep in my Emirates flight from Geneve to Dubai.  But the airline had refreshed its entertainment offering and I ended watching movies doing neither of things I had planned.

Emirates, perhaps has the best on-board entertainment called ICE (Information, Communication & Entertainment) that offers plenty of choice even in the 'cattle' class.  Recently, I have been getting my Hollywood fix via ICE and my today's non-stop kondattam was two Hollywood and one Bollywood movie.

The Last Stand - This must be Arnold Schwarzenegger's come back movie after his california political stint. Masala to the core and not much to write about... Watch only if you have nothing else to do.. you would end up wasting time anyways.

The Guilt Trip - A comedy released last year.  This movie is about a road trip that mother and son take together across USA and their discovery about each other.  Enjoyable and touching at places though predictable at times.  Watch it if you are in the mood for a decent flick and want to feel time well spent.

Oh My God (OMG) - Of the three movies, I liked this the most.  I am not an Akshay Kumar fan but this movie was refreshingly different.  This is about an atheist who sues God for destroying his shop in a earth quake.  Though my Hindi is 'Ek Gaon mein ek kissan rahta tha'.. I thought the dialogs were pretty incisive and thought provoking.  The movie doesn't tell you if there is God or not.. But says enough to make you think and come to your own conclusions.  Regardless of your belief in God, if you believe in Good movie.. see this one.

Now off to Chennai.. where it is 'Semma hottu machi'..

Traveling Swiss

Traveling in Swiss is a treat.  The entire experience is pleasant and comfortable.  From purchasing tickets to reaching the platforms with luggage to transferring to local buses.  All steps in the journey are neatly choreographed and works to the legendary Swiss watch precision.

Public transport is the most preferred and convenient way to commute in Swiss.  Whether you are heading to one of the two main airports or to the snowy hills or navigating through the Swiss towns; trains and buses are your best companion.

I usually get to Lausanne by train from Geneva airport by train.  But buy tickets every time either via vending machine or at ticket counters.  It has worked well but my Swiss colleagues showed me a better way to travel.

I was making plans for heading to Geneva for the weekend marathon and was looking through the train schedule stuff.  While I was trying to do that in my laptop, my colleague searched ceaselessly via her iPhone and encouraged me to do the same. 

Curious, I downloaded SBB mobile app for my Android phone, registered and was on my way to purchasing ticket in a jiffy.  I looked thru the schedule; picked the train, purchased and got the ticket delivered to my phone, all in a matter of minutes.  I also got receipt and other usual audit trail details sent to my inbox. 

Here, I couldn’t help but contrast this experience with what I went thru last week with Indian Railways.  I heaved a sigh of relief after going through the odyssey of booking tickets for Sita & Meera for their travel to Bangalore.  It took over an hour of combined effort and prayers to get past many IRCTC hurdles.  Each time we ‘clicked’, we would keep our fingers crossed and say a prayer for the site to take us to the next logical step and not crap out.  At one time, we were ‘this’ close but the payment gateway decided to take a break, and we got back to square one.

I could sense what my Indian friends saying now.. ‘we have come a long way and this is better than the manual system we had before’.  And I agree, yes this is much better than what we 25 had years back.  In fact, I played a small part in Indian Railways ‘computerization’ at the beginning of my IT career (Don't blame me for the current status though:-).   But, why can’t we have the BEST system that the world can only envy?  I am sure, we can come up with 100s of reasons for why ‘we can’t’.. but then they all would be reasoning our own weakness.  Seriously, if there is one fundamental change I wish to see Indian Railways, it would be the elimination of manual scavenging.  Indian Railways employs the most manual scavengers in the world and in fact has a job category by that name.  I hope it happens in my life time..

Off my soap box, back to Swiss Trains

Ticket in my mobile phone used for scanning by the Ticket Checker - No Paper

I am on a train heading to Geneve now and when the ticket checker came, all I had to do was to show my phone.  He scanned in his portable system and the job over.  Now it’s time for me to get off and head to the Geneva Expo....

Adios Amigos.. 

Healing the Heel

Many of you know that I have been struggling with left foot PF problem for about 11 months now.  The pain doggedly persisted over several of my attempts to shake it off and put a question mark over my Comrades participation this year.  But was it really PF or something else?  Here is the rest of the story..

Since my Comrades DNF last year, I may have been trying to 'cure' a problem I wasn't afflicted with.  I am not saying, I didn't have any problem, but just saying I was chasing a wrong 'problem'.

I quit Comrades last year around 55K after my left foot refused to move and I started dragging left leg due to excessive pain.  At that time I contributed it to running in Vibrams and Plantar Fasciitis (PF).  So, I switched back to Asics and started seeking cure from PF.

And to shake off PF, tried several things from asanas to arch support and much much more.  I consulted several folks including runners who have had PF problem to Physiotherapists.  But all that wild goose did not take me anywhere near solution.

I ran 7 marathons since comrades and each of them was a struggle.  I was no longer enjoying the marathons as I used to before.  So, after struggling thru London Marathon, I decided to seek help from a doctor and started getting ready for it.  I connected with Dr. Krishna Raman and he asked me to do foot X-ray and blood tests via email.

But before I could see Dr. Raman, I met with trainer Radha and her physiotherapist Vidya at the Chennai Runners clinic yesterday and together they seem to have nailed the issue.  After listening through my symptoms and examining my foot, Vidya concluded that what I have is not PF but heel fat pad syndrome.  While the symptoms are the same for both, PF starts lower down the heel and runs through to mid and center of the foot.  But, fat pad syndrome is localized to the heel and could felt by pressing the center of the heel.

In my case, the difference between two heels were stark.  While right heel felt spongy, left of rigid and flat.  According to the stuff on the net, fat pad syndrome could be due to age and or heavy heel strikes.

Heal the heel - So, what is the cure for fat pad syndrome?  Vidya suggested I buy silicone gel heel inserts and use them while running.

I bought the only pair of silicone gel heel insert available at Reliance Foot Print before heading to Lausanne.  I was curious to see the 'results', so went out for a 11k run immediately after landing here.  Glad to report that results are encouraging.  My running gait felt better and I wasn't tentative in my strides.

I am gleefully optimistic that, Radha & Vidya may have finally nailed my elusive left foot problem.  I am not declaring victory yet.. but hopeful.

The real test would be Geneva marathon in 6 days.. will keep you posted.

Haridas - A Marathon First for Tamil ?

Though the movie has been out for a few weeks, I got to see Haridas with my family yesterday and was mildly surprised to see marathon figure prominently.  The maker of Haridas has taken lot of cinematic liberty in calling 3K run as marathon.  Nonetheless, was thrilled to see long distance figure prominently in a Tamil movie.  (Now, what happens to Sivakarthikeyan's Ehtir Nichhal now?  I hear that is also based on Marathon).

Haridas is about Hari, an autistic kid and his single parent (siva) Das who is an 'encounter specialist' with Chennai Police.  Director Kumaravelan has woven an impressive storyline between the struggles of a father trying to understand his kid and the job which pits him against the worst elements of the society.

Through sheer luck, the tough cop finds that his son may have the spark in running.  He then goes great lengths to introduce him to the world of long distance running but doesn't live to see him win laurels.

The movie opened with the camera slowly moving around showing various marathon certificates including New York Marathon and then got in to rewind mode.  Only the second half of the second half movie gets in to running and ends with the boy 'winning' the Chennai Junior Mini Marathon which is 3K event.

Besides running, Haridas also puts a spot light on autism and the challenges of raising special kids where the society often misconstrues autism for madness.

Net net, I recommend this movie because it puts a spot light on running and special kids.. Good movie.. Watch it with your family.