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Reader's Mail

Railways' ways

Railway tickets' booking through debit card! That was one big mistake. We booked tickets in early November (PNR No. 233-2555272) for a journey to Chennai by Tamil Nadu Express (December 22, 2006) through debit card at the New Delhi Reservation Counter. The tickets were wait-listed. On the day of the journey the tickets weren't confirmed in the final list and hence we surrendered the tickets by 11 p.m. the same day and obtained TDR.

On January 3 we deposited the original TDR with the Chief Commercial Manager in the refunds office. Later we checked up with the office, and were informed the refund was "in process". The process seems endless.

The money we paid for the tickets has been with Northern Railway for more than four months now but there is no sign of refund yet. The higher authorities should look into this and make arrangements for immediate refund.

P. Gurumurthy,
22, Jai Apartments,
102, I.P. Extension,
Delhi - 110 092.

Paris shows the way

Repeated pleadings by my daughters made me surrender to their demand for keeping a pet at home. Our search for a pup ended with a three-week-old male Dalmatian that we fondly named Spark. The day I brought him home, he soiled my clothes. But never mind: I thought that, like human babies, toilet training would improve his behaviour. But I had no idea what was in store for me.

For a few weeks, Spark kept me on my toes. I had to feed him, remove his ticks and give him a bath too. Despite the strict regimen followed, Spark could not be toilet-trained. We even kept a trainer whom Spark detested from Day One and the trainer became the first victim of Spark's bite. Meanwhile, I became his unpaid sweeperess, always seen with a mop at home. My husband, who was dead against keeping a pet, would pass sarcastic remarks at me every now and then. I felt miserable and thought enough is enough.

Since there is no "Sulabh Shauchalay" in India for pets, I would take Spark to an open drain or a patch of wild grass. This led to objections from people as even open drains are opposite someone's house. For my neighbours, leaving Spark's poop on the roadside was an abominable act on my part. I was almost ostracised because of him.

As I pined for some relief from this routine, a God-sent opportunity came my way and I found myself in Paris, a city well known for its beauty, culture and cleanliness. One day when I ventured out of my hotel, I came across an old lady with a Labrador. I was instantly reminded of Spark and a smile flashed on my face. And then a shock as I saw the dog relieving itself under a tall tree opposite a bakery.

I anticipated an altercation between the owner of the bakery and the old lady. But to my utter surprise the lady took out a pair of disposable gloves and a brown bag from her large leather bag. She put on gloves, picked up the excreta of her pet and kept it in the brown bag. I couldn't believe my eyes!

I also learnt the lesson of my life. If only I had visited Paris before getting Spark home, I could have avoided all the arguments with my neighbours.

I strongly feel that we in India should not wait for the Government to pass a law for us to clean the mess created by our pets. If we love and care for our pets, we might as well learn to respect our motherland.

Madhu Bhatnagar,
A-307, Sector-19,
Noida - 201 301.

Calling Hutch....

I have had a Hutch post-paid mobile number for around two years. My ordeal began a few months back when my total unbilled amount crossed my credit limit. Usually they would apprise me of the fact that my unbilled amount was nearing the credit limit, but this time they did not do so. So when I tried to make a call I heard a message saying that my outgoing calls had been barred. After half an hour of arguing with Customer Care agents, the problem got rectified as a senior agent suggested that I pay some amount right away. I did.

Now again I paid my bill of Rs. 715 on the 22nd of February and on the very same day I found my outgoing calls barred. The Customer Care agent first said it was due to the fact that my payment had not yet been updated. So I asked if it was my fault that my payment had not been updated? And now the agent says it is due to the fact that my bill had crossed the credit limit. Now the agent's tone becomes acerbic and he says I cannot do anything and disconnects the call.

Is this what we are paying for? If this is what Hutch calls service, then I would rather be left without a cell-phone.

As Hutch grows, the service provided by it gets worse. The same is the case with other service providers. The least these companies can do is teach their customer service agents how to talk and how to deal with problems.

Abeer Aulakh,
5161, M.H.C. Manimajra,
Chandigarh-160 101.

No home, no hope

There is so much talk in the Press and other media about giving protection and other facilities to senior citizens. But nobody in the Government has cared to give them proper shelter.

There are thousands of senior citizens in Delhi who have invested their life's savings, along with huge bank loans taken by them, in various cooperative group housing societies in various parts of the city, particularly Dwarka, in the hope of living in their own flat peacefully during the remainder of their life. But no. Even though the flats are ready for occupation and the societies concerned have taken clearance from the DDA and other agencies for handing over possession as far back as two years ago, inaction on the part of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies and other connected departments has left these senior citizens without any hope of getting their flat in the near future. All the appeals made by these citizens to various authorities, including the President, who himself is a senior citizen, have failed to evince any response.

These poor senior citizens are being made to suffer financially and mentally for no fault of theirs. Is somebody listening?

T. V. Gopalan,
A-702, Katyayani,
Plot No.6, S-6, Dwarka,
New Delhi - 110 075.

(Letters for this column may be sent by e-mail to wsins@thehindu.co.in. They must carry the full postal address of the writer and should be marked "Reader's Mail".)

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