GATI Scamsters: Stay away from them!

One fine day, I decided to initiate the long overdue task of getting my bike transported from Delhi to Hyderabad. I (unfortunately) decided to inquire the "Big Player" of the market, i.e. GATI. It all went fine, they stated a few things up front which were:

1. You need to get the bike packed. We do not provide any packing service.
2. Pick up will be scheduled between 12 pm and 4 pm, Monday to Saturday.
3. A few documents such as the RC copy, insurance copy and ID proof copy.
4. Leave the handle lock open and empty the petrol tank.

It all seemed pretty standard to me so I went ahead and booked the pick up for Saturday, 25th October, 2014 and relaxed, hoping that they stick to their commitment of delivering it within 4 days (excluding the pick up date) to Hyderabad.

Till 25th Oct noon, i.e. a few hours earlier, I got absolutely no confirmation from their side and got suspicious so decided to prod them about what the exact status was. That is when I got to know the real story.

12:20 pm: Their executive tells me that the pick up will not happen today (despite it being "confirmed" the previous day) and that it can be done on Monday.

I was OK with that but then decided to make sure everything else was right about the deal so prodded the executive about the details of the person who would come to pick up, etc.

12:35 pm:

My parents (in Delhi, the pick up point) get a call from GATI saying that the pick up cannot be scheduled before Monday and they are provided some Pappinder's number - the person in charge of the pick up.

12:50 pm: A female calls up my parents from the no 8130195141 and tells them that "as your packing is not professional, you need to get it re-packed by "our" packer." And that wasn't enough - they were asked to get the bike delivered to Dwarka Sector 28 (GATI's warehouse). Else, provide the keys to their agent who would ride it all the way to Dwarka, get it packed and loaded.

This really was the tipping point. I decided to call up Ms. Neelam on the mentioned number and find out what really was going on.

Her initial "suggestion" was that she'll send over someone to pick up the bike and the person would drive it all the way to Dwarka (carefully tagging the line that if the keys get misplaced in the transit, Gati would not bear any responsibility). On being asked why wasn't it possible for them to do a normal pick up through a truck (as is so often the case), she said the policemen harass them if they carry bikes in trucks. This seemed bizzare to me, esp when a neighbour of mine had got his bike picked by Gati at his doorsteps last month. On further questioning, she said they do not have the trucks available for pick up every day hence they have to find other ways to get the bike.

My patience gave up at this point and I did not feel like trusting such a company with my bike. There is always a chance of them damaging the bike and then refusing to own up to it. Now I would rather wait for some more time and get my bike here by train, the next time I plan a trip home. I have done this once and it worked perfectly fine!

Driving Woes in Delhi

Driving a car has been one of my less ambitious and more practical childhood dreams (few others being flying the MIGs and SUKHOIs and taking on the Taliban on my own, bombarding the terrorist camps in Pakistan, captaining the Indian Cricket Team to a World Cup win, winning a Grand Master title in Chess, becoming a multi trillionaire.... ok ok.. billionaire and taking jibes at that school time crush of mine for turning me down........ let's come back to the original topic!). It got realised rather smoothly, as last summer I learnt the art and managed to negotiate my way to a permanent Driving License without any fuss, thanks to my father's contacts. A broken number plate, two scratches, 12 months and about 1500 kms later, I can say that I'm about as close to being a perfect driver as a normal person who doesn't harbour dreams of taking up driving as a profession can get. The saying that one is never happy with what he has been proved true for the zillionth time, as I don't want to pursue my "dream" any more, unless I'm being pursued by an elder and more powerful family member(which unfortunately all of them are) to pursue it! Obviously, there are reasons to it and this post is intended to uncover them to my non existent readers.

Negligent pedestrians: This breed can easily be found here, especially on comparatively cramped roads(which are at least 16 feet wide anyway!). The idea of sharing the road with anyone else doesn't amuse them one bit. No matter how loud, continuous and irritating the horn gets, these runts continue the stroll in their backyards. I met one such person about 7 hours ago, while on my way to the Sarojini Nagar market and that is when the idea for this post originated(at least the person did something constructive). My honkings fell on deaf ears, as he and his friend were walking side by side, arms on each others' shoulders, probably celebrating the legality of homosexuality when he was struck by the bonnet of a Santro(deliberately slowed down to 20-30 kmph) right behind his kneecaps and he barely managed to avoid falling on the ground. He tried to give me an "Angry young man" stare but before he could put up a look to back up that stare, I was shouting at him, questioning the existence of his ear-drums, fully aware that we were in "my area" and there would be shopkeepers to help me out if the intended war of words turns leads to something more physical. However, it did not get to that and the fellow stepped aside rather quietly. This was a surprising case because the pedestrian was a male. Normally it is the fairer sex of Delhi for which the words "ancestral property" and "roads" seem synonymous. When you cannot predict whether that speeding car or yourself would win the race while crossing the road, the protocol is to keep your eye on the car and change your plans mid way,if needed and keep crossing. However, the ladies/girls would simply turn their backs on you and start crossing, forcing you to do the entire thinking, i.e. calculating speeds, checking them out, calculating the probability of escaping alive if you dare hit them, etc, etc.

The mindless honkers: This breed is no less irritating than the previous one. The reason being that they think they can achieve something by honking at my car when even they can clearly see that there is absolutely NO WAY OUT of the jam/red light we're stuck in. I recently found a way of dealing with such people. I simply stick out my hand and indicate it to them to overtake me through the non existent space. It is my way of telling them, "Idiot, if you can see any space available, be my guest and take it."

The careless bikers/drivers: The rule of the traffic jungle is that there is more than a fair chance of you getting seriouly injured for no mistake of yours. One sudden lane change by the driver ahead of you is sufficient to bring down curtains on your healthy life and hence, this requires luck and emphasises the need for lane changes.

Hurried idiots causing and worsening jam situations: It will take some explaining.. imagine a 6 lane road, with 3 lanes meant for traversing either direction, separated only by a yellow line after the 3rd lane. Red light is on and cars start stacking up one behind the other in the three lanes. Now there will be one impatient idiot, who will cross the yellow line and take up the first position in the queue, hence blocking the lane meant for traffic coming from the other direction. In a matter of seconds, cars stack up behind this one and then there will be people thinking of occupying even the fifth lane!! This halts up traffic from the other direction and consequently everyone will be honking at everyone, including the person who started the whole thing! This will lead to the conditions mentioned above and there will be total chaos. "Money can't buy you brains" is perfectly examplified here. I do feel like walking up to such drivers and questioning their common sense, but somehow I've resisted till now.

PARKING WOES: The capital letters should be enough to mention its importance. I read some time back that lakhs of new cars hit the roads of New Delhi every year and it is no surprise that despite the efforts of the NDMC and MCD by building multi level parking lots, the problem keeps on sky rocketing. You are required to leave the keys of the car with the workers at parking lots and that does raise a few eyebrows. In fact, it surprises me that how can one trace the car, in the event of the parking lot guy running away with it?? I guess you can hold the concerned authority responsible for it(NDMC) in most of the cases but still, one should be able to do without these troubles.

I really hope The Almighty blesses the diseased people of Delhi with some common sense. That would want me to drive more.