This is 7 am on a nice sunny morning (20th November 2013) in Bangalore, am reading my book and the cook is busy preparing awesome chole and parathas for me. Or so I thought.
The gas cylinder got over and I was called to connect to the new one. Cake walk you may think. I tried doing just that I realized that as soon as I turn the knob on, it starts leaking, just next to the regulator. I tried this 3 times in the next 20 minutes, carefully giving enough time. Even my cook tried once. All in vain.
Now I woke up my neighbour to give me his spare cylinder so that our half prepared food can be done. You can say I love chole parathas that much. I do.
The gas cylinder got over and I was called to connect to the new one. Cake walk you may think. I tried doing just that I realized that as soon as I turn the knob on, it starts leaking, just next to the regulator. I tried this 3 times in the next 20 minutes, carefully giving enough time. Even my cook tried once. All in vain.
Now I woke up my neighbour to give me his spare cylinder so that our half prepared food can be done. You can say I love chole parathas that much. I do.
I got the new cylinder and realized that the problem persist. Holy cow, now what. I asked our cook to stuff every-half-cooked-food item in fridge while I call up the emergency number of Indane Gas Service and once the problem is fixed (hoping it would be fixed in a few hours) the cook can come back and finish the cooking. So I called the emergency number – 080-49247247.
The call was picked up in 3 rings (amazing), the person spoke English and I explained the problem and this man told me to call up 7899781843 and said this man will come to your home and fix the problem. Alright, this sounded perfect to me. Then I called up the person on this new number, he asked for the situation (guess he was judging how bad the situation is) and then told me he will come to my place in 2 hours time. Fair enough. It was 7:15am now and I thought by 9:30 things will be sorted out, half cooked food can be fully cooked by 10am and then I will go to office. No big deal.
It was a BIG deal. I kept calling that person every half hour and he kept saying am coming. At 10am someone else picked up this phone and said the person is coming sit tight. I called again he said another person will come, call here – 8553488919 his name is Vinod.
I called Vinod, he was angry since I called the agency manager (of sorts). He still obliged me by answering to my problem, he gave a simple solution – our gas cylinder delivery boys are coming to your apartment today, I should talk to them and they will sort out the issue. He gave me the cylinder delivery ‘boys’ number (later I found out he was a fully grown man but the agency manager kept referring him as ‘BOY’. Puppy love may be, just saying). Raju is the ‘boy’ and his number is 9845833888.
I called up the delivery ‘boy’ and he said I will be in your apartment complex in 2 hours time hence wait for me to come. It was around 11am by now. In between I got a brilliant idea of getting the regulator checked at the agency (Sri Sai Prasanna, Hulimavu, Bangalore). So I went there with the regulator and it was checked by the one of the ‘boys’ in the loading unloading area, on a brand new cylinder. He suggested that the washer inside the cylinder would have got damaged hence there is a leakage from right between the regulator and cylinder connection.
I went back home to ensure when the delivery ‘boys’ come home to inspect, am there. I called Raju twice at 1pm and 2pm. I got to know that he will be here soon. So I waited. at 3pm and 4pm I check with my apartment security if any gas cylinder delivery ‘boys’ have come at all today, answer was no. I again called Raju multiple times but by now he had stopped taking my calls now.
Now I pinged the so called agency manager (Vinod) and he sounded surprised that his ‘boys’ have not paid me a visit till now (it was 5pm now). He suggested I wait and he will send another ‘boy’ soon. By now I had lost all hopes that this ordeal will finish today.
Surprisingly within the next 15 minutes a person came (no ‘boy’ from any angle) and looked into the problem and fixed it in 120 seconds! Literally. He said the ‘washer’ was the issue, he has replaced it from the empty cylinder and now its good. I rechecked, it was perfect now. He said give me Rs.30 for my services, I paid without a question.
The amount was nothing compared to the learning I had that day. If this problem happens again I know exactly how much time it will take me to solve – not 10 hours but only 120 seconds. I returned my neighbour’s cylinder immediately.
While he was leaving I asked for his name. He said Raju. I gave him a strong stare and then smiled he reciprocated. Guess the ‘boy’ has transformed – ‘Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman’.
The cook came later in the evening and I finally got to eat Chole and parathas, on the same day.
The call was picked up in 3 rings (amazing), the person spoke English and I explained the problem and this man told me to call up 7899781843 and said this man will come to your home and fix the problem. Alright, this sounded perfect to me. Then I called up the person on this new number, he asked for the situation (guess he was judging how bad the situation is) and then told me he will come to my place in 2 hours time. Fair enough. It was 7:15am now and I thought by 9:30 things will be sorted out, half cooked food can be fully cooked by 10am and then I will go to office. No big deal.
It was a BIG deal. I kept calling that person every half hour and he kept saying am coming. At 10am someone else picked up this phone and said the person is coming sit tight. I called again he said another person will come, call here – 8553488919 his name is Vinod.
I called Vinod, he was angry since I called the agency manager (of sorts). He still obliged me by answering to my problem, he gave a simple solution – our gas cylinder delivery boys are coming to your apartment today, I should talk to them and they will sort out the issue. He gave me the cylinder delivery ‘boys’ number (later I found out he was a fully grown man but the agency manager kept referring him as ‘BOY’. Puppy love may be, just saying). Raju is the ‘boy’ and his number is 9845833888.
I called up the delivery ‘boy’ and he said I will be in your apartment complex in 2 hours time hence wait for me to come. It was around 11am by now. In between I got a brilliant idea of getting the regulator checked at the agency (Sri Sai Prasanna, Hulimavu, Bangalore). So I went there with the regulator and it was checked by the one of the ‘boys’ in the loading unloading area, on a brand new cylinder. He suggested that the washer inside the cylinder would have got damaged hence there is a leakage from right between the regulator and cylinder connection.
I went back home to ensure when the delivery ‘boys’ come home to inspect, am there. I called Raju twice at 1pm and 2pm. I got to know that he will be here soon. So I waited. at 3pm and 4pm I check with my apartment security if any gas cylinder delivery ‘boys’ have come at all today, answer was no. I again called Raju multiple times but by now he had stopped taking my calls now.
Now I pinged the so called agency manager (Vinod) and he sounded surprised that his ‘boys’ have not paid me a visit till now (it was 5pm now). He suggested I wait and he will send another ‘boy’ soon. By now I had lost all hopes that this ordeal will finish today.
Surprisingly within the next 15 minutes a person came (no ‘boy’ from any angle) and looked into the problem and fixed it in 120 seconds! Literally. He said the ‘washer’ was the issue, he has replaced it from the empty cylinder and now its good. I rechecked, it was perfect now. He said give me Rs.30 for my services, I paid without a question.
The amount was nothing compared to the learning I had that day. If this problem happens again I know exactly how much time it will take me to solve – not 10 hours but only 120 seconds. I returned my neighbour’s cylinder immediately.
While he was leaving I asked for his name. He said Raju. I gave him a strong stare and then smiled he reciprocated. Guess the ‘boy’ has transformed – ‘Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman’.
The cook came later in the evening and I finally got to eat Chole and parathas, on the same day.