Customer care vs Harried Customer

Adjectives fail me to describe Airtel Customer Care.
Please read and help me find words ;)

For the best effects, I recommend you start reading from last email at the end of this Blog :D


From: Devchander M
Date: Thu, Dec 2, 2010 at 8:14 PM
To: 121@airtelindia.com


Dear ma'am,

Did you and your team really read what I had written in my previous email??
Or you keep using some standard format to reply????

I am repeating what I have already told,
I kept pursuing this matter by calling up customer care, then escalating to Nodal officer and when even they could not help me, I finally escalated it to the Applet server team.

Finally after a month, this matter was amicably resolved in last week of October and Airtel refunded 80 percent of my money.
So in simpler terms, I was able to solve the original problem my own.
But I recieved absolutely no help from your customer care team

Now my complaint is that Airtel does not seem to take its customer's concerns and best interests seriously
This whole interaction just shows how inefficient is your Airtel customer care

I sincerely hope you do not send back a standard formatted reply to speak to your nodal officer about it
I am done with wasting my time replying to your no-assistance emails for now

Regards,
Dev


On Thu, Dec 2, 2010 at 8:02 PM, <121@airtelindia.com> wrote:
Dear Customer,

We understand from your previous e-mails regarding disconnection of your Airtel
mobile number 9880031632.

We regret the delay in responding to your mail and apologize for the inconvenience caused in this regard.


The Nodal Officer is an authorized Airtel employee whom you can highlight your concerns related to our services, in case you have not received a satisfactory response from our Call Center, Email, SMS or Showroom.

You may get in touch with the Nodal Officer with your earlier request or complaint number if it is still unresolved
nodal officer.wb@airtel.in.

Please find below the Nodal officer details for your reference:

For further assistance, mail us at 121@airtelindia.com.

We thank you and value your association with Airtel.

Yours Sincerely,

Leelavathi B
Customer Care
Bharti Airtel Limited

---------Original Message----------
From: devchander@gmail.com
To: 121@airtelindia.com
Cc:
Sent: 29/11/2010 16:08:37
Subject: Re: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT MAIL. [|BAL|9880031632|2911201025132|]

Hello,

I was always available on my alternate number.
Even if you could not reach me on my alternate number, the least you could have
done was reply to my email much earlier and and not after a delay of nearly two
months. Which is unacceptable
Overall, this entire chain of interaction with Airtel has been extremely
unpleasant. Unpleasant enough to consider discontinuing all my Airtel
connections

Regards,
Dev


On Mon, Nov 29, 2010 at 3:56 PM, <121@airtelindia.com>wrote:
Dear Customer,

We understand from your previous e-mails regarding disconnection of your Airtel
mobile number 9880031632.

We had tried contacting you by phone to explain the details. We were unable to
touch base with you.

We sincerely apologize the inconvenience caused to you in this regard.

At Airtel, we value the customer's feedback, which helps us to provide you with
improved services and solutions. We would like to assure you that your feedback
will be used to improve our products and services to ensure that your
experience with Airtel is a pleasant one.

For further assistance, mail us at 121@airtelindia.com.

We thank you and value your association with airtel.

Yours Sincerely,

Ramya priya p
Customer Care
Bharti Airtel Limited


From: devchander@gmail.com
To: 121@airtelindia.com
Sent: 29/11/2010 15:37:56

Hello Ms Ramya,

First up, thanks for responding.
But I am appalled at the way Airtel Customer care handles its client's concerns
First, You reply back to me after nearly two months.
Then you tell me that there is no solution for my original concern- "How do i
get back the balance amount in the pre-paid connection that you have blocked"
How can you afford not to have a customer's best interest, as your top
priority??

FYI, after I got no response for my email, I kept pursuing this matter by
calling up customer care, then escalating to Nodal officer and when even they
could not resolve, I finally escalated it to the Applet server team. Finally after a
month, this matter was amicably resolved in last week of October and Airtel
refunded 80 percent of my money.

This entire episode has left me very unhappy with Airtel service

Regards,
Dev


On Sat, Nov 13, 2010 at 12:20 PM, <121@airtelindia.com>wrote:
Dear Customer,

We understand from your previous e-mails regarding disconnection for your
Airtel mobile number 9880031632.

We had tried contacting you by phone to explain the details. We were unable to
touch base with you.

We regret to inform you that the number has been deactivated due to negative
tele verification and there is no provision to reactivate the same number.

New prepaid connection:

We request you to walk-in to any of the nearest Airtel showrooms after
reaching
home network with the following documents, in order to activate a new
connection under Airtel Prepaid plan:

¿ APEF (Airtel Prepaid Enrollment Form) to be filled along with form 60/61 at
ARC/retailer/ASC
¿ Address proof
¿ ID proof
¿ One Passport size photographs

Starter pack needs to be bought and the same is available at Rs.49/- and will
get activated within 4 hours, to know the details of the same kindly visit
www.airtel.in site.

We request you to check the attachment of Airtel relationship centre for your
reference.

For further assistance, mail us at 121@airtelindia.com.

We thank you and value your association with Airtel.

Yours Sincerely,

Ramya priya p
Customer Care
Bharti Airtel Limited

.......
two months
.....
one month
.....


From: devchander@gmail.com
To: 121@airtelindia.com
Cc:
Sent: 27/09/2010 21:15:26
Subject: Re: Acknowledgement Mail.

Hello,
Its been more than 24 hours and my connection is still not restored
Please respond fast
Regards,
Devchander


On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 10:22 AM, <121@airtelindia.com>wrote:
Dear Airtel Customer,

Thank you for writing to us.Your request has been registered with us and your
unique reference no. is 2409201013405. Request you to quote your unique
reference number for future interactions. We shall get back to you within 24
hours.

Warm Regards
Airtel Customer Service


Date: 24/09/2010 10:12:27 AM
From: devchander@gmail.com
To: 121@airtelindia.com
Message body:
Hello Sundara Vadivelan.
Here is the information you have asked for

Name of the Address Proof: Driving License ( Karnataka state)
Name of the ID Proof: Driving License ( Karnataka state)
Address of the Show room Saangeeta Mobiles (No.
71, 21st Main Road, Banashankari 2nd Stage, Bengaluru - 560070, Phone:
42104011)

Retailer ( from an Airtel agent who sits in the
above mentioned Mobile Showroom)
Date of Submission: 1 August 2010
Customer name & address Devchander Mohan, 83, 12 main, 29 Cross, banashan kari 2 Stage. Bangalore. Alternate contact number 9845305298


Hope that will suffice

Regards,
Devchander


On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 6:47 PM, <121@airtelindia.com>wrote:
Dear Customer,

We understand from your previous e-mails regarding disconnection for your
Airtel mobile number 9880031632.

We understand that this situation must have inconvenienced you.

We are unable to process your complaint as the details furnished are
insufficient for taking necessary action. Hence, we would request you to
kindly
provide us with the below mentioned details to enable us to initiate further
action.

Name of the Address Proof
Name of the ID Proof
Address of the Show room
Submitted at: Retailer/ARC/Dealer
Date of Submission
Customer name & address
Alternate contact number

For further assistance mail us at 121@airtelindia.com.

Your response will help us to enhance your experience with Airtel. Please
click on the link below & provide us your valuable feedback on this interaction.

We thank you and value your association with Airtel.

Yours Sincerely,

Sundara vadivelan
Customer Care
Bharti Airtel Limited


From: devchander@gmail.com
To: 121@airtelindia.com
Cc:
Sent: 23/09/2010 16:50:38

Hello Sundara Vadivelan,

I am amazed on how you could do a negative verification of my documents.
Because I have give a Valid copy of my driving license as ID Proof and a
valid photograph
Please clarify this to me and I know that I had a balance talk time in that
number
Please address this issue or share a contact number so that I can talk to a
you or your representative

Regards,
Devchander


From: <121@airtelindia.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 12:02 AM
To: devchander@gmail.com

Dear Customer,
Thank you for writing to Airtel.
With reference to your e-mail dated 22/09/10, you have expressed concern regarding disconnection for your Airtel mobile number 9880031632.

We understand that this situation must have inconvenienced you.

We regret to inform you that, the SIM card has been disconnected due to negative verification of your documents.

Also, we regret to inform you that, there is no option to use the same number as per process.

To get the new connection:

Further, to avail the new prepaid connection, we request you to contact the nearest Airtel Relationship Center or retailer shop with the passport size photo, photo ID & address ID and needs to fill a prepaid form along with form 60/61 for new connection.

Also, we would like to inform you that the connection will be activated within 2 hours.

For further assistance mail us at 121@airtelindia.com.

Your response will help us to enhance your experience with Airtel. Please click on the link below & provide us your valuable feedback on this interaction.

We thank you and value your association with Airtel.

Yours Sincerely,

Sundara vadivelan
Customer Care
Bharti Airtel Limited

Hello,

My name is Devchander and I have a pre-paid connection number: 9880031632
But since past few four days, I am getting an errror message: Sim Card registeration failed

And trying to call that number gives message that it does not exist

Please rectify the same

Regards
Dev
Alternate Mobile: 9845305298

A Passage through Contemporary India

Hey PPl,

If you want to admire India's grandeur, its multi ethnic culture and at the same time, muse at its follies, the best bet would be to undertake a long distance train journey and particularly in general or a sleeper class compartment

If you book an AC class ticket, then you have just housed yourself inside a cozy coccon.
And for that, I award you no points, may god have mercy on your soul!

On such a pilgrimage, you will get to see a multitude of contrasts that epitomize our contemporary India
Ah yes! for a non-fussy foodie, each region will be a Culinary Ecstasy


This time, I take you back to train journey I did in 2004
Cho-Cho Trains! Haven’t they always captured our imagination right from our nursery school days??

These caterpillar-like mechanical contraptions carry millions of people and a myriad of emotions within its metallic creaking exo-skeleton

The journey I speak of was an eye-opener in quite a few aspects.

After finishing a demanding project in Vizag, I was relieved to travel back to ‘namma Bengaluru’. My friend was not all that enthusiastic coz his home town was Vizag and the project gave him an opportunity to spend a few weeks at his home.

Seated with us, were a middle aged couple and the lady’s attire suggested that they were followers of Islam faith.
The other co-passengers were a husband and wife, two children and an old man.
This group really captured my attention.
They spoke only Bengali and the old man could manage a bit of occasional Hindi sentence. They were from a remote village in Bengal (forgot the name) I could see the hardships that the land demands, etched on the elder’s faces

The old man somehow managed to convey to me his destination and told me to let him know when our train reaches that place.

The destination he mentioned got me thinking.

That place is the headquarters of an internationally famous spiritual personality.
As an adherent student of science, I look at people who do miracles and proclaimed as god-men with suspicion.
I pondered, "why do these people leaving all their work and traveling this far, sitting and waiting for hours together, with thousands of other people, just to take a glimpse of another fellow human being??"
Well “the world is a funny place and each to his own” was my verdict
And I decided to read that book I was carrying

Around afternoon, we reached the mighty Godavari River.
Crossing the approx 2K long bridge that spans the wide wide river, will leave you in awe of the imposing river that makes this part of the country lush and abundant

After the crossing, I decided to catch some sleep. So I climbed on to the top berth and probably dozed of after some time. The train stopped somewhere and I woke up. It was evening and I came down to my seat for a cup of coffee.

Sunset on the green horizon and the steaming coffee was indeed a refreshing combination.

Now began the interaction with my co passengers.
The train stopped in a small station and here, a pretty young nun got into our compartment.
It seemed like she did not get a reservation and the TC had assured her that he would get her a berth soon
She came over to us and requested to sit in our compartment, till then

We obliged

Through my friend was trying to strike a conversation with our pretty nun, I was not all that enthusiastic.
Back then, in opinion Monks, nuns, god-men are those who just turn their backs to worldly duties and concentrate more on propaganda of religion.
They focus on getting their audience to listen to what their faiths have to say, rather that listen to what ails the people and solve it without bringing in sins, god and religion for solution

So I merely remained a listener to the conversation.
Now, the Islamic couple started interacting with the nun. The man said about how nuns keep traveling world over and are not permitted to get married and lead a highly disciplined life and his wife asking the girl if that was so.

I could sense that our nun was a little uncomfortable with the progress of conversation and I decided to change the discussion.

“I do not think that your faith places that sort of restrictions and sanctions regarding marriage or lifestyle, right?? I am told that you are free to choose your way of life as you wish” was my statement.

The Nun smiled back and said that yes they do not have such restrictions and proceeded to speak with me.

We initially had some general talk

I could not resist asking this question "As a nun, what is your job description??"
She Replied: “Currently I am doing my In-house and will probably practice for 2 years in my college‘s hospital itself”

‘You are a???’
‘’Yes, a student of Medicine in St John’s college, Bangalore’

WOOW!

‘After that, I plan to get back to my Village and work there’

‘That’s noble, indeed’ was the only thing I managed to say

Here was a lady, who could have gone places after completing a degree from a Premier Medical Institution. But she had more noble plans to serve humanity in true sense.
Now, I continued conversing with the pretty ‘nun’ oops the ‘doc’ more at ease

The TC came over and said that he still could not get the lady a berth.
Even as I was pondering if I should offer my berth (since we had a side berth, which me and my friend could still sit and manage the night journey) the Muslim person got up and came up with a solution.

He spoke to the TC and said that there was a berth available somewhere in another bogie, which was reserved for defense personnel.
If it is unoccupied, he can give it to our lady.
Thus our Lady was to spend the rest of the journey a bit more comfortably

As it turned out, this man was a soldier in Indian Army
He was posted in North east and was returning to his home town after quite some time

And now our conversation was focused on his work in north east and he was describing the difficulties, hostile and sensitive conditions that he faced in his line of duty

Now, I have to make a statement
"As we label and associate certain communities with current global commotions, here was an instance that insists we do not fall prey to ‘paint with the same brush’ syndrome"

Then it was dinner time and now the rural family started to prepare their dinner

The constituents of their dinner was very interesting. They put some puffed rice ( in kannada 'kalle puri'), added mashed banana to it, mixed a little bit of water and their dinner was ready.
I was amazed to see such an efficient and swift dinner preperation

The old man who spoke the broken Hindi, graciously offered us a share in their meager dinner.
After dinner, he started to communicate with us.

We asked him if they travel all the distance to see this god man, every year.
His reply was that they had tried to come last year itself, but managed to get appointment for this year

Appointment?!

‘Yes the boys need operation- hole- heart’ he managed to convey and showed us their medical reports

Now that made sense!
These kids were born with cardiac disorder and a surgery was their only hope of survival.

Our god man runs this huge multi-specialty hospital which treated thousands of such underprivileged people free of cost

Hats off to such righteous work!

Hey, personally speaking, I would revere a person for doing such a compassionate duty.
Why did he have to perform questionable miracles and proclaim himself to be a superior mortal?
I could only come up with one plausible deduction
‘Marketing’ dude!!, Divinity sells better than philanthropy

On concluding words, I will leave you with this thought:

"It’s assuring to know that we have individuals amidst us, who make a constructive difference to lives of people around them
Their perseverance bodes well for not only our India, but for the entire mankind".

Quest For Kurunji!

My Dear People,

I have never really documented any of my wanderlust till date.

The reasons are many and here are some worth mentioning

* I was too lazy to sit down and write
* Well it was just another Trek, just like the one before and the one that I would go next
* Sometimes, the events that transpired would get too surreal to express in words

But this quest of Kurinji flower has every essence needed for a captivating memoir.

If I do not write this Kodaikanal-Munnar enterprise while it is still fresh in my mind, I would offend that angel of intuition and good luck that guided me over those two days

It all began in like this.

The seeds of this quest were sown in my mind around 20 years ago

When I was little boy, I had read in a magazine called 'Wisdom', about Kurunji flower that blooms once in 12 years in Kodaikanal.

Twelve years ago when kurunji last bloomed, I was in my PU and struggling to get my academics on track. At that time, I had neither the time nor the funding required for a visit to Kodaikanal.

So, when the kurunji had bloomed once again in 2006, I had to see them in bloom or that 'little boy' would never forgive me!

So, here we go!

Much against my conventional practices, I left home a good solid one hour before the departure time of the bus (9:00 PM)

But what happens?? I end up in a 2 Km long Traffic Jam.

The dumb time does not seem to respect namma Bengaluru's traffic jams. It kept ticking merrily to chime 8:45 PM, with me still sitting in the auto.

So,I decide to make a 2K dash to bus stand.

I ran the distance zigzagging between jammed vehicles and manage to reach the bus five minutes before the scheduled departure time, Yippee!

But for what joy????

The bus driver was in no hurry to leave. Reason: still half of the passengers were yet to arrive

That was the first sign that this journey will go either way: a real damper or a sizzling bestseller!

The bus finally started about an hour late and reached Kodai at 10:00 AM.

Kodaikanal, a let down!

Instead of a scenic hill station, an overcrowded small town welcomes me. Our KSRTC driver who knows only Kannada, is also rookie to kodai and has no idea where is the bus depot. With guidance from locals, we finally reached the depot.

My first destination was the DFO (forest dept) to obtain the necessary trekking and forest entry permission for trekking around kodai. But,contrary to what a Forest official (with whom I had spoken on phone, three days back) had told, it was closed for festival and none of the staff were available.

Now, it was up to me to find the kurinji

Surprisingly, the local people around had no idea where to find kurunji flowers in the wild! They all spoke of a temple called 'Kurunji Andavar' Temple, where I can see these flowers

Now, my only hope was a Taxi driver who could guide me to a location where I can find kurunji

And the taxi guys are only interested in taking you for a ride, literally! The standard pricing was Rs 700 for an entire kodai tour

Finally, I decided to haggle it out with one Taxi Driver and he agreed to help me find Kurunji and show the whole of Kodai, for Rs 250, instead of the regular

A cool deal in peak tourist season!

Later while we were traveling, he explained the reason for such a bargain.
When he had approached me first, he had spoken to me in Hindi and I replied to him in Tamil.
That really cohered with his Tamil patriotism!

So he takes me to this temple first,

Here, I see kurunji!

But how????

At a Flower stall, in a plastic tub, chopped stalks of dying Kurunji plants at the rate of Rs.10 per stalk, is what I got to see!

I did not even feel like looking at them. Still, I went over and asked the shopkeeper where he got them from. But he was only aware that they grow in forest, and clueless as to where exactly

As I dejectedly walk back to the car, the driver beamed me a satisfied smile and asked whether I was happy that I got to see Kurunji flowers??

I was tempted to give him a display of my culturally rich eloquence and hold on Tamil vocabulary that he had admired so much

But something told me that keeping cool would be the only way I can reach my objective: the kurunji flowers.

If life throws a lemon at you, make Lemonade and sip it, lying down in shade!

Sticking to this philosophy, we set out on a 'sight seeing trip'. The driver was next taking me to Suicide point and caves called 'Devils Kitchen'.

How appropriate! Since I could not find my kurunji till now, that seemed like a fitting destination

Before that, he stopped for a treat: a government store that sells honey, homemade chocolates, spices and such stuff.

I have heard that cocoa induces strong passions especially, if you spread honey and lick it!

(You may interpret this sentence as you wish!)

And at that moment, I felt a dosage of it would do me no harm.

At First, the shop lady offered me a sample of one chocolate flavor. I ate it and purchased it

She immediately gave me one more flavor. I purchased it too

This strategy worked so well that she offered me a sample of every chocolate
flavor she had and I remember counting 12 of them.

I calmly ravished them all and choose to buy only 5 flavors.

Now with my mood a little elevated, I asked the people in the shop, where are Kurunji blooming?

"Vatakanal Falls, In Pambar shola" they said.

Voila, I found Shangri-La!

"Vata- What??"

"How do I go there?"

"Go back the way you drove for 500 mts, take a right turn, head down the mud road and a 10 min drive will get you to falls and you 'Might' find Kurunji out there."

"If not walk down towards Dolphin Nose and there, you 'may' find it"

At last, I was getting somewhere!

I asked the driver whether he could drive there.

Now, even my polished Tamil could not convince him to drive his car on the mud roads.

So I told him, 'Dude, I am willing to forgo the rest of the sight seeing trip and I will visit the Devil's Kitchen after I get married.'

Assuring him that I would surely seek his services on all my future visits, I bid him adieu and started walking towards Vatakanal falls.

A 15 minute walk brought me to a small but scenic Vatakanal falls.

But where is my Kurunji?

I saw the falls from a distance, clicked a snap of it and headed down into the shola towards Dolphin's Nose.

At last, I was having a peaceful trek with no one else around.

Now, a really disturbing thought stuck me!

Well I had seen pictures of Kurunji Plant and its flowers

I knew they are blue/lavender in color and they grow in abundance all over the hilly slopes, hence easy to find!

But, if there is a solitary Kurunji growing in the wild, will I identify it??

Or worse, did I fail to recognize kurunji when I passed by it a kilometer back??

That possibility was disturbing!

Heck, I should have paid more detail to those Kurunji stalks in the plastic tub!

Wait a minute, Dev! You had clicked a snap of those flowers in plastic tub!

Yeah! Let me scrutinize it in detail!

And I continued walking

After a few minutes, I walked into a plantation that was touching the shola.

Here, I saw an elderly lady walking up the slope towards a jeep parked on the mud road.

Though she was a Westerner/ Foreigner (hey, what is the politically correct term??), the way she was dressed and her gait gave an impression that she was not a visitor/trekker, but knew this terrain pretty well.

I smiled and asked her where can I find Kurunji??

She gave me a big smile and said 'Oh dear you are a bit late, they were all blooming a month back, but have subsided now"

She walked up to the place I was standing, looked over my back towards the rocks and said,

"Right behind you, there is your Kurunji!"

I whirled around "Where?!"

She walked by me, stood below the rocky overhang and pointed up.

Six feet above the ground, there it was!

A solitary Kurunji plant in bloom, growing out from a crack in the rock!

I started laughing uncontrollably!

At Last!

Kurunji!

In the soil and blooming!

"Ma'am, you dropped down like an angel" was what I finally managed to tell her.




Then, her husband Robert (Bob) walked up to us.

Three of us sat down and I got to know more about them and their small buteffective organization, the 'Vatakanal Conservation Trust', which has been working successfully along with the Forest Department to protect and restore the Pambar Shola

Even they were curious to know more about the conservation activities happening in Karnataka with which, I am associated.

That is how I befriended Tanya Balcar and Robert Stewart, a wonderful English couple who have dedicated the last 20 years of their lives in restoring the fragile Ecosystem of the Pambar shola

They invited me to visit their Nursery.

Here, I saw the saplings of many of the aboriginal Trees of Pambar shola which are endangered and some were written off as extinct, before the Vatakanal Conservation trust began its activities

It was heartening to know that in a matter of years, these saplings would grow up to be gentle giants and will grace the hill slopes with the soothing shade of their canopies

More importantly, I found a garden full of Kurunji!

I sat down among them, inhaling and intoxicating on their fruity fragrance, feeling them,
And clicking as many snaps as possible!

Me, Bob and Tanya spoke for some more time. They mentioned that Perumal Malai, had abundance of Kurunji this time, but the bloom time was over.

I told them my next destination was Munnar to see if I could catch Kurunji in
bloom, at Rajamalai.

Soon, it was time for me to leave

We even decided where we would meet up next!

That would be in a couple of month's time for a for a weed-out program in Mukruti Peak, near Ooty

I bid them goodbye and hurried back to Kodaikanal to catch a bus to Munnar.

After having seen my Kurunji, going to Munnar was just a formality.

I Started from Kodai at 5 PM, in a private bus. In that bus, I met Mr. Raju Gowda and his friends.

Gowda, originally form Mandya has been in Kodai-Munnar for last 15 years. He is a manufacturer and distributor for all the handicrafts Emporiums in Kodai-Munnar.

So, next time you buy any handicrafts in this region, be assured that they were manufactured in our Mandya-Mysore ;-)

We reached Theni, a town at the foot of Munnar Hills at 8:00PM. Since the bus to Munnar was at 2:30 AM, we decided to have dinner and see a second show Tamil movie! It was some dumb family drama, lightened up occasionally by some real hilarious performances by Vadivelu.

We boarded the 2:30 AM bus to Munnar, which was scheduled to reach Munnar by 5:00 AM

Now, fate adds a twist to the Tale!

The driver got a call on his mobile telling that the route was blocked and he had to take a detour of 75 kms.

That meant we would reach Munnar by 7:30 AM

This turned out to be a blessing in disguise

After somehow managing to catch around three hours of sleep in the most comfortable position that I could manage in that crowded bus, at 6:00 AM I opened my eyes

What do I see??

Green mountains wrapped in silvery mist!

The eastern Horizon was glowing with the first blush of daylight.

The glorious sunrise that I witnessed amidst the mist and tea estates, will forever be etched in my memory.

I must admit that in whole of South India, I consider these Hills of Munnar to be the most beautiful




Upon reaching Munnar, I booked a 2:30 PM bus, back to Bangalore. Now, I had around 5 hours time to spend in Munnar.

I was told by Gowda that Rajamalai was the place to catch Kurunji in all its glory.

I set out to Rajamalai and Eravikulam National park, in a Kerala govt bus

To my dismay, it seemed like whole of Kerala was out there as well!

There was a long line of vehicles jammed over 3 Kms narrow hill road.

There was a queue of more than 5000 people at the entrance of Rajamalai

Analyzing the situation, I was sure I could not finish Rajamalai safari in time and catch my bus to Bangalore.

So, I decided to return to Munnar and started walking back with a hope to catch a bus.

I did not regret this decision, since I already had my moments with the Kurunji

At this juncture, the lady luck shines on me once again!

Out of the blue, my friend from Yoga class Mr.Hiremath stops his vehicle before me! He and his family had come for a trip to Munnar.

I graciously accepted his offer to drop me back to Munnar. After Lunch, I reached the bus and was about to board my bus.

At bus stand, a middle aged gentleman dressed in impeccable traditional British attire was sitting in a car with his wife and son, probably one or some of them was about to board the same bus.

He saw my Trekking rucksack, walks up to me and introduced himself as Mr.Shamshuddin Marikar. Then, he introduced his wife Lakshmi and his son Naushad

He asked me if I had come here on trek. I answered in affirmative and told him about the purpose of this particular trek.

Thus, I made an acquaintance in Munnar too!

He went on to describe about Munnar. His family has been in Munnar for last 100 years and surely, that makes him an authority on that topic! From him, I got a first hand perspective of Munnar and its history.

With pain, he spoke of how Munnar has been devastated by uncontrolled growth in name of promoting Tourism and how it was destroying the very soul of Munnar, both ecologically and sociologically.

He explained how he and his like minded friends in Munnar, were standing up for the cause of protecting Munnar, its tradition and ecosystem

I wished this crusader the best for all his endeavors and boarded the bus.
His son Naushad boarded the bus along with me. Naushad was a total automobile freak and from him, I learnt that Mr. Marikar was a Distributor for Skoda cars in Kerala. No wonder this chap likes cars!

When I felt that all my surprises have come to an end, one last bout was slowly about to surface.

We had to do the Munnar to Udlampet journey in a Mini bus (coz bigger buses cannot ply the narrow ghat roads), and from Udlampet to Bangalore in a normal bus. This mini bus first goes to Udlampet and then to Palini, which is further 40 kilometers away. I was aware that there is also a bus from Palani to Bangalore by the same travels.

The driver decided to take a shortcut, when he was 10 kms from Udlampet.

The bus kept going for almost half and hour.

An alarm rang in my mind! Something funny is happening out here!

I got up and asked the driver, when we would reach Udlampet.The driver merrily replied that he would be reaching Palani, half hour before the scheduled departure time, because he took this shortcut!

'Ah, no wonder' I thought

I said that was fine, but I repeated, 'when would we reach Udlampet??'

The driver, now a little worried. He asked why I wanted to go to Udlampet at all.

'My bus is from Udlampet' was my cool reply.

Now, he saw my ticket and panicked.

He started blaming his conductor for prompting him to bypass Udlampet and take a short cut to Palani. As it turned out, the travels office had wrongly told that all the passengers in this bus, had their transit bus for Palani.

'Its Ok, calm down, what's the alternative?' I asked.

He did a quick stop, called up the travels office in Udlampet and told them to stop the bus till I would arrive.

He told that he would put me on private bus that would take me to Udlampet.

He swore never to take a shortcut. Ever again!

After a round of apologies and "'its ok's", "no problems, as long as I do not miss my bus" talk, I boarded another bus and reached Udlampet.

And I took the Bangalore bus and reached Bangalore with no further incidents.

Thus ended my quest for Kurunji

This whole episode left me a bit dazed with a myriad of characters and emotions, and wishing for a life more ordinary!

PS: Kindly await the sequel to this story. To be released in Year 2018 AD when the Kurunji shall bloom once more

Ciao