Someone time ago I met a screenwriter friend of mine at a workshop. In response to his polite, “What’s new?”, I let off a verbal barrage about Kkrishnaa’s Konfessions. In my defense, the first copy had just come out and the novelty of being a published writer hadn’t quite worn off.
He enthused about what a great achievement it was (he is a nice guy). Of course it was huge! But I wasn’t going to let on that I thought that. What kind of a writer does that? Instead, “Really? I don’t think so,” I said, trying to be oh so blasé about it.
“Are you kidding?” he said, “How you can write in a city like Bombay?”
I disagreed with him then (I still steadfastly maintain that a writer will find a way to write. Anywhere) but I see what he means now.
If it’s not one thing it’s another. At first it was the whole computer crashing business which took two whole days. Even after the comp was resuscitated, the Internet refused to show any signs of life. So I decided to change the ISP. A bad choice as it turned out which led to the whole Tata Indicom fiasco. I ended up wasting a whole week of my time with constant follow ups etc. When it became apparent that it wasn’t happening I had to cancel that, which entailed another flurry of calls. The hunt for yet another ISP began with, you guessed it, another round of calls. I finally settled on MTNL which, while being extremely efficient, still took four days. All in all, I lost three weeks of my life.
A bit extreme, you say? But consider this. All the personal visits and follow-ups on the phone only happen during working hours. Which happen to be my working hours as well. Even if I have to make a visit or a phone call later in the day, say post lunch, and have the morning relatively free, I can’t write. Because once I begin I lose track of the time and before I know it, it’s evening. So all through the morning I have anxiety attacks lest I miss the appointed time and can’t concentrate of writing.
At last, I thought it was all done. Computer, check; Internet check. I could sit back and concentrate on my work. But guess what? My Internet banking password doesn’t work! According to the call centre, “I must have forgotten my password. Yes, it happens even after everyday use,” they assure me.
The way I see it, I have two choices. Either I could argue with Shweta, Mohnish, Shalini and Rupesh at the call centre, or, as they suggested helpfully, “I could make a personal visit to the nearest bank branch and put in a requisition to reset the password.”
Either way, I prepare to waste another working day. Happy writing guys!
When tall, suave, handsome Kaustav Kapoor walks into her office, ditzy private investigator Kasthuri (aka Katie) Kumar has anything but detection on her mind. He is, after all, a scion of Bollywood’s first family—perhaps he has a role for her? Perhaps she will, at last, get to sashay down the red carpet in a designer gown, with flash bulbs following her every move?
But Kapoor’s intentions are much more prosaic: he wishes Katie to trace the heroine of his new blockbuster (and, if Katie’s read the glossies correctly, his life) who is mysteriously AWOL. Despite her misgivings, Katie finds herself unable to refuse the task entrusted to her, and thereon follows a bewildering hunt for the film star across a trail of corpses.
And if that isn’t excitement enough, she has to contend with the maddening and mysterious, but, oh-so-hot, Tejas Deshpande.
The first in a brand new detective series.
IN BOOKSTORES NOW.
Smita Jain's Weblog 
After the recent information leaks from call centres around India, banks no longer trust them with passwords. That is why you’ll have to waste another working day of yours. Airtel broadband is the most efficient ISP of the lot. Try it out if you plan to change your ISP sometime in the near future.
@Varun…noooo! no more please. I’ll lose my mind 🙂 About Airtel, i’m sure you’re right. But I have no complaints of MTNL. So far.
I second @Varun on Airtel. I have been using their service in Bangalore for more than two years now and I have no complaints at all. Their customer service is quick and efficient but I rarely needed it because their connection rarely goes down.
Write on your comp at home
Copy it on you pen drive
Take it to a near by cyber cafe
Attach the document
Sent the document
Simple?
@Jay, you missed the point of the post, I think. You see, my comp was down. So where do I write? And there’s no cyber cafe in the vicinity. So everytime I have to send something I have to travel at least fifteen minutes to do so. In any case, the post was about these fixing these stupid problems that take the better part of your working day. But, thanks for the tip 🙂