#FAIL: Never book railway tickets via Cleartrip!

I made a railway reservation from Indore to New Delhi via Cleartrip. The ticket was waitlisted till the preparation of chart, so I did not get to travel. That's fine, I should have made the reservation in time.

So I call up Cleartrip and ask them about the refund after the train has left Indore station. At first, I am told:

We can't tell you about the refund amount since it'll be processed by IRCTC and we don't know about it!

Excuse me, I made a deal with you! If you're in the business, you better know it down to the last detail. If you can't do that, please move out of the trade.

So the lady puts me on hold for a little while and then comes back to give me an "approximate" number. I am told, in a cool, cam, composed manner, that the following fees would be charged:

1. IRCTC Charges
2. Cleartrip Charges
3. Transaction Charges
4. Reservation Charges

Now this drives me crazy! I am being charged for the reservation I never got!? I'm exasperated, she realizes and says:

The reservation charges are levied by IRCTC, we did not charge you for this.

That's an "Aha!!" moment for me. She means I should argue with IRCTC about it, when I actually made the transaction via Cleartrip? Aha!!

So then next time onwards, why should I make the reservation through Cleartrip, and not go to IRCTC instead? That's what even Cleartrip is doing. The service they provide is certainly not worth my money, no way! Booking through IRCTC is almost the same (pain). If done via IRCTC, I'll know the exact refund amount as well.

I'll tell you what I'll do from now on: Research about the train and availability on Cleartrip and then book through IRCTC. Up yours, Cleartrip!

In case anyone from Cleartrip cares to read this post, here are the trip details, if they want to verify:

Cleartrip ID: 912021268
PNR: 8337869853

PS: Regardless of that, Cleartrip's calendar feature is very well thought-out and done. Give it a try (and leave the site after that). Did I mention that their support forum also does not work?

When you need something badly, give it your best shot ...

When you need something badly, give it your best shot, keep improving yourself, keep trying, stay focused, stay motivated. Even if you don't get it, you come out a better person and that's more important.

Yeah, that's by me. Please feel free to use it wherever, whenever you see fit. If you do, try to drop me a link to it here although that's completely optional.

Super Mario Bros tunes

This post is just so that I do not have to search for the MP3s next time around.

Oh, and I love it! :-)

Deciding which IT challan you need to fill

If you are unsure which IT challan [280-283] you need to fill while filing income tax (new or revised), take a look at the FAQs section on the IT department's website.

If you don’t know Assessing Officer (Ward / Circle) ...

Here's a handy tip:
If you don’t know Assessing Officer (Ward / Circle), Find it here by submitting your PAN.

How could one be loosing his/her data?

One of the blogs I try to read regularly is FavBrowser. No doubt, it has good content. You should follow it if you are interested in news and stuff related to web browsers, though it is, by no means, the source all the interesting news.

Anyway, so I was reading this article today, posted on FavBrowser, and here's something interesting I found (pay close attention), and I quote:

Firefox uses SQLITE databases to store lots of its settings. By the time the databases grow and Firefox starts working slowly. SpeedyFox compacts those databases without loosing any data.

So I said to myself, "Must be just another copying mistake", so I headed over to the source to verify, and I quote again:

Firefox uses SQLITE databases to store lots of its settings. By the time the databases grow and Firefox starts working slowly. SpeedyFox compacts those databases without loosing any data.

Turns out, they had quoted it from their own source, and I quote once again:

Firefox uses SQLITE databases to store lots of its settings. By the time the databases grow and Firefox starts working slowly. SpeedyFox compacts those databases without loosing any data.

The funny thing is, I've also quoted it without any modifications/corrections but I hope the message has been conveyed :-)

When it comes to mobile space, Opera rules!

I've been experimenting a lot in the mobile space lately, mostly as an end user. This includes trying out various applications available for the device.
One thing that has emerged very clearly is: Internet on mobile means Opera. Mini or not, Opera is the browser for all platforms.
Just for the record, I like Opera Mini 3.1 on my MotoRokr E6 much more than 4.2 Beta. BTW, I use Firefox 3.5 Beta on my desktop every day, so I know what beta means.

Way to go, Opera!

Follow @Opera on Twitter, just like me.

What is this?

So you have to tell me what is being described here:

Inside there was only an enormous, transparent block with infinite internal needles in which the light of the sunset was broken into colored stars

Some extra information:
1. This is the description by a curious person who is living in an isolated village, unfamiliar with what Science has achieved in other parts of the world.
2. What is being described here is something most of us come across almost daily.

Source: Book titled 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' by Gabriel García Márquez

I've finished only the first two chapters of the book but it looks to be a MUST-MUST read.

I have a secret admirer!

Today morning, on Thursday 03, 2008, I recieved a pleasant surprise in the form of a paper-flower mounted on the outer wall of my cubicle, waiting for me. Take a look at it in the attached shot:

From Misc

Enquiring with friends did not reveal anything; and I did not try too hard either.
It is an Origami-kind paper-folding-art flower, made out of 'Stick-It' notes. A very fine use of office stationery supply, eh?

(Notice the tag 'Insanity' ;-)
Update (26/02): The flower fell off its stem some days back & the operations staff cleaned it up before next morning :(

Woo Hoo!

In case you did not know/realize (and I do understand that you have no means or motivation to realize), this is my 'century' post on this blog!
And I'll celebrate it just the way my current favorite explosive batsman Adam Gilchrist celebrated his most recent century in the IPL (109* off 48 balls):

Woo Hoo!

(See the video and celebration here)

...and in case you can't see that video, read the commentary here.