Ramzan Fever

This Ramzan has been eventful for me. To begin with, my dad who is now retired, enjoys eating Iftaar food and we found ourselves buying some every week at least. We even had a pseudo Eid party at home one day before Eid. Kababs and tandooris, followed by dum biryani, and finished with malpua and rabri as desserts.

It all started with the haleem I ordered from Gati again this year. I got three full kilos to last us a good amount of time. Dad loved it and said we should get more food! I bought iftaar food from Versova for him and mom one evening and he loved it! So he wanted to go visit some stall selling iftaar food as well. I took him to Cafe Alif at Jogeshwari West one day and he made friends with the restaurant guy! The next day, he was back there, buying items for the Eid party!

But what I also did for the first time was that I went to Mohammed Ali Road to eat the morning food at 3 am. My friend, Vedant, and his colleagues make an annual trip there during Ramzan to eat and he asked if I was interested. I wasn't sleeping when he called and so I said yes. Off we went, all on bikes, and ate a LOT of bheja, liver, gurda and regular chicken tandoori. One poor vegetarian guy was totally out of place and even got a piece of bone in his paneer.

Shitty thing was, though, that once we were finished eating, we noticed that two bikes had less air in them. Thinking that somebody's removed the air, we went to a nearby petrol pump and filled in some air. Then we were off to Sassoon docks. At Sassoon docks, the fishermen come in with their catch at about 5:30 am everyday. You can see the entire fish unloading process and buy fish at really cheap prices. Just be sure to wear totally covered footwear and fold your pants up! The dock footwalk is completely layered with mashed pieces of fish that have been stamped on. Not for the light hearted this!

I bought some bombil (Bombay duck) and prawns while other people also bought pomfret and surmai (King fish). The variety of fish we saw was amazing. I saw a 5 foot long fish that the fisherwoman said was a shark. It clearly wasn't. I think they call all large fish sharks! But the highlight of the catch was when I was walking and saw a mound on the ground next to me. I remember thinking to myself, Must be a lot of muck there. should stay away. And then I saw spots on it (it was 5:30 am, could hardly see anything). When i focused harder, I realized it was a sting ray! About 4 feet wide! And even longer, when you count the tail! It's the only time I have seen a sting ray outside an aquarium. Though I did wonder if they are endangered. Felt a little bad too.

Once everybody was done with their shopping, Vedant and I went back to his bike to see that the air in the tyre was gone again. We were now sure that the tyre was actually punctured. It was only 6:30 am and we were looking for a tyre repair shop. Nothing opened until 7:30, we were told, but we could try our luck near Metro cinema at Churchgate station. We rode on at a speed on 5 kmph (lol. people were staring at us) and at last found the shop at Metro. Thankfully, it was 7 by then and the shop was just opening. By 8, the tyre was ready to run after we found 3 nails hammered into the tyres from the side. Handiwork of some idiot kids at Mohammed Ali Road, obviously.

I reached home at 9. My parents did not know when I had left home and had given me a call at 7. I explained that I was out and would return with something for mom. She was real happy to see the fish and prawns!

So that was my Ramzan this year. Nobody gave me any Eidi though :(

Gati - They consider!

Hyderabad is the place for food. Period. I have not seen so many restaurants serving so many cuisines in such less spans of distance! In old Hyderabad, there are hordes of biryani and muglai joints, while in the new city (outside the walls of the fort), its just all types of food. E.v.e.r.y s.i.n.g.l.e t.y.p.e!

And I was in Hyderabad during Ramzan. Which means there's awesome food everywhere. And there's the mind blowing haleem. Haleem is a preparation of lamb which is cut in very tiny peices and cooked in ghee for really, really long (sometimes overnight). And what better an item to bring back for my man than food. So I logged on to www.pistahouse.in which is the website of one of the oldest bakery in Hyderabad which serves Haleem only during Ramzan. They courier haleem to 8 cities in India and so i sent one across to Bombay.

This is where my story starts. Pista House is using Gati's service to courier the haleem. I ordered and paid online and got a confirmation email with an order number. The next day I wanted to check on my order and called Gati's toll free number. Here's the conversation:

Phone rings.
Gati Guy 1: "Hello, Gati...blah blah."
Alpana: "Hi...i ordered for haleem yesterday. I wanted to check on my order."
Gati Guy 1: "Did you get an email with an order number?"
Alpana: "Yes. I got one email with..."
Gati Guy 1: "Did you get the second email?"
Alpana: "Uhh...no. Am i supposed to get a second email?"
Gati Guy 1: "Mam, if you didn't get the second email, then your order is not confirmed!"
Alpana: "What??? So I'll have to order again??"
Gati Guy 1: "No mam, today we have stopped taking more orders as the offer."
Alpana: "But i made the payment!"
Gati Guy 1: "Sorry mam, the order has not gone through if you have not got the second email."

So i hang up and i wonder if the site can help me. No help. You can't track haleem orders. I decide I'm gonna try calling and speaking to someone else who might give me better news.

Phone rings.
Gati Chick 1: "Hello, Gati...blah blah."
Alpana: "Hi...i ordered for haleem yesterday. I wanted to check on my order."
Gati Chick 1: "Ok mam, when did you order for it?"
Alpana: "Yesterday at around 5 pm."
Gati Chick 1: "Then it will reach today, mam."
Alpana: "But i want to confirm this. I have an order number."
Gati Chick 1: "That will not help, mam. We don't have them on the system."
Alpana: "What? Then whats the use of sending me an order number? And how does the system not have order numbers that it generated??"
Gati Chick 1: "Sorry mam. but did you reply to the email?"
Alpana: "Reply to which email?"
Gati Chick 1: "The confirmation email. You have to reply to that."
Alpana: "Why?"
Gati Chick 1: "If you don't reply, your order is not confirmed."
Alpana: "How was I supposed to know this??"
Gati Chick 1: "No mam, its written on the email."
Alpana: "Uhh...no! The email gives me order details, address details and has a note saying Order Confirmation is subject to Payment confirmation."
Gati Chick 1: "Yes mam, that means you have to reply."
Alpana: "What?? No it means my order is confirmed if the payment gets through!"
Gati Chick 1: "No mam, it means that you have to reply."
Alpana: "Listen! I know enough English to know that it does not mean that!"
Gati Chick 1: "But mam..."
Alpana: "I'm sure my order number can be found in some system of yours and I want you to find out whether my order is confirmed and on its way."
Gati Chick 1: "Let me check, mam."

So i wait while she keeps me on hold for 5 whole minutes.
Gati Chick 1: "Mam, we can find the order number in the system through the backend. But it'll take 10 minutes."
Alpana: "I don't think it'll take 10 minutes. I'll wait."
Gati Chick 1: "No mam, you can't wait 10 minutes no but!
Alpana: "So when I call back, i wanna talk to you. I dont wanna repeat all this to someone else."
Gati Chick 1: "Of course, you can call and ask for Vijay."
Alpana: "Vijay?"
Gati Chick 1: "Yes, Vijay."
Alpana: "Your name is Vijay?" (well, id never heard of a chick named Vijay!)
Gati Chick 1: "He he he he...no he's the backend guy."
Alpana: "Ok. I'll call back."

So for 10 minutes, I do some timepass and then call back.

Phone rings.
Gati Chick 2: "Hello, Gati...blah blah."
Alpana: "Hi. I ordered for haleem yesterday. My order number is xxxxx. I want to speak with Vijay."
Gati Chick 2: "Certainly, mam. What's your name and order number?"
Alpana: "Alpana. xxxxx."
Gati Chick 2: "Please hold the line."

Phone on hold for half a minute.
Gati Chick 2: "Vijay's phone is coming busy. You can tell me your problem."
Alpana: "I want to check my order. It was confirmed by email, but there seems to be some confusion."
Gati Chick 2: "Did you reply to that email?"
Alpana: "No!!!! It was an order confirmation! Why should I reply to an order confirmation???"
Gati Chick 2: "But mam, if you don't reply, then it will not be delivered."
Alpana: "I don't wanna discuss this again! I didn't reply. Therefore, i want you to tell me what is the status and what is my next step."
Gati Chick 2: "Ok mam. I'll check."

On hold again.
Gati Chick 2: "Mam, your order is on its way. It'll reach by 10:00 pm today."
Alpana: "Really?" (I actually couldn't believe it!)
Gati Chick 2: "Yes mam."
Alpana: "So now stop telling people to reply! We don't need to reply!"
Gati Chick 2: "No mam. You need to. They considered. So they sent it."

THEY CONSIDERED.

How considerate. I didnt reply to a system generated email. Poor system. Must have felt so bad. But they considered. How absolutely amazing Gati is.

Come to think of it, this should be their tag line. GATI - WE CONSIDER.