Thugs, Robbers and Dacoits!

I've already blogged about HSBC's thuggery and unscrupulous banking methods. The call I got today, however, completely took away the cake, the baker and the bakery for good measure.

HDFC wanted me to take their lifetime free Titanium credit card which apparently comes with a slew of great "features" (the CSR took more than a minute to describe them). I listened politely and then politely refused. The CSR, however, was persistent and began to tell me how very beneficial the card would be and ... At that point I politely told her that I had had a bad experience with "lifetime free" credit cards and didn't want another one.

She asked, was that an HDFC card I had problems with? No, I replied, that was HSBC. She brightened immediately. Ma'am, she began -- HDFC is different. Our lifetime free card is very different. It actually carries an annual fee of Rs 199. Only if you SPEND more than Rs 5000 within the first three months, you become eligible to call and ask for a waiver of the fee!

This would classify as funny if only it didn't seem so totally unethical.

Kailash cannot be

Years ago my sister lived in Delhi and laughed at the names of places. There were, she said, areas called "East of Kailash", "Greater Kailash I", Greater Kailash II". But where was Kailash?

Well, I now live in Bangalore and understand...

We have two Ring Roads. One is called the Inner or Intermediate Ring Road. The other, in order to completely avoid confusion is called Outer Ring Road! So where, exactly is RING Road?

I am certain, even if a circular road gets built between the two Ring Roads, it will be called something like Middle Ring Road or Second Ring Road (correct whichever way you start counting ;-)). Ring Road cannot be ;-).

Neither can Kailash ;-)

Perfection is Illusory

I was asked, "Have you straightened your hair recently?" for the third time in one week. My reply was the same as always, "No, I was born with this hair". The response "Oh, I straighten my hair periodically, otherwise it looks awful" set me thinking about contemporary "issues".

Is my hair straight enough?
Is my skin fair enough?
Are my eyebrows shapely enough?
Are my nails shaped enough?
Is my figure perfect enough?
And on and on ...

As we answer these questions to the satisfaction of the bottom-lines of the "aesthetics" industry, till reach what is the most important question of all: Is my self-esteem high enough? I wonder what percentage of the population will be able to say yes to that one ...