Anonymous's blog

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Kya aisa bhi hota hai???

Last weekend it rained like cats and dogs and thanks to the heavy rains; a lot of places got flooded. For example - the loading dock in my apartment building was flooded - the cars were half in water; the roof at the reception was leaking; the electric room was flooded and ya, the boiler got damaged and the tranformer got bursted... I am sure you are wondering if this was the next tsunami hit area or what??

So as you must have already guessed - because the transformer got bursted - bijli chali gai!! (translation: the electricity went off).. and this happened on the auspicious day of 25th June, 2006 and i-am-sure-you-cant-guess-this but us din se aaj tak bijli wapas aai hi nahi!!!! (translation: since then the electricity is not back yet!).... It is amazing that its been four days that the technicians have been working on a 24 hour basis and they still havent fixed the problem. (I think they need to take a step back and revisit what exactly is the problem and what they are trying to solve...:p)...

So since the last few days; every few hours I call my apartment and this is how it goes...

Lady at the front desk: Hullo, this is Anne (name changed) speaking; how may I help you? (sounding very polite and nice...)

Me: Mmmm hi, I would like to know if the electricity is back?

Lady at the front desk: No its not yet back but they are working on it. (sounding nice...)

Me: Do you have any idea when it will be back?

Lady at the front desk: No we dont.

Me: ok thanks, bye.

Lady at the front desk: bye.

And the phone clicks. After a couple of hours I call again - this time I try to be a little more polite...not that I am not polite but still; just in case that motivates her to push the technicians and at least give me an estimate of when it might be back (I have Great Expectations!!)...

Lady at the front desk: Hullo, this is Anne (name changed) speaking; how may I help you? (sounding very busy and quick...)

Me: Hi, I would like to inquire if the electricity in the building is back yet?

Lady at the front desk: No its not!! And they're workin on it!! (highly busy and irritated...)

Me: Do you think you can give an estimate of when it might be back?

Lady at the front desk: No we can't give you an estimate ma'am but they're working on it!!! (frustrated...)

Me: ok thanks, bye.

Lady at the front desk: bye.

Arrrggghhh this doesnt work and my patience is exhausting now.... Another call towards the end of the day and I am just very frustrated and impatient.

Lady at the front desk: Hullo, this is Anne (name changed) speaking; how may I help you? (this sounds veryyy mechanical now...)

Me: Is the electricity back?? (I noticed I dint even say hi, hello etc etc.. )

Lady at the front desk: No its not back and we dont know when it will be but they're workin on it!! (whoa did she reallyyy guess it was me and anticipate the next line of questions!! or has she been attending tooo many of these calls by now...)

Me: thanks!!!

click click... wow, I cant believe this is happening for the last 4 days!!!! Now I am just soooo sure that they have lost the focus of the problem!!... they probably got side tracked and started fixing something else instead!!!... Or may be they are just spending their time pretending to work and are probably chatting or doing something else!... probably the problem is not that big and they are just using the latest buzz words to show its really big and killing time and earning money... anyway, I am just extremely curious to know what those technicians are doing there!!!... May be I should go and help... May be I would have solved the problem much better and faster!!!

At the end of the 4th day I reach home at night and ask the front desk -

Me: What exactly is wrong??

He: The boiler etc. in the electric room has got damaged as the room got flooded and they need to change parts etc.

Me: oh ok. but does it take soo long to change and fix parts?

He: oh but there are tooo many!!!!

Me (Finding it hard to control my giggles) : Well ya, but they are working 24/7.

He: yes, but its complicated.

Me: oh ok. thanks anyway.

I am back to being patient now and just hoping that they fix it soon and most of all I am praying that they test whatever-it-is-they-are-doing well; coz you dont want another short circuit or another fire and some damage after waiting this long coz it really is an ordeal to take a cold shower in the morning!!! Everything else is manageable and trivial except the cold shower and I have to literally literally prepare myself before I get into the shower and grace my neighbours with the auspicious screams and the oohs-and-aahs caused by the cold water trickling through your body...

Anyway, till date nobody has been able to answer what exactly is wrong, where, why, and how its going to be fixed and when... btw, in case you are wondering this is not some remote village in india or some developing country, but the so-called-capital-of-the-world : Washington D.C. where you find yourself wondering Kya aisa bhi hota hai?? (translation: Does this happen too??)

1 Comments:

  • This certainly is incredible...that such a thing can happen in DC...

    It would be nice if this had happened -

    You: Well ya, but they are working 24/7
    Lady at the Front Desk:It's complicated...(irritated)may be you should take a look at it yourself...

    So you both go to that room where the problem is and...

    You:May be you should plug this wire in there and see if that works...

    (...)
    Kaboom...there is power...

    Lady at the front desk:
    I knew it was complicated :-)

    Cheers
    Vara.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:39 PM  

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