Indian mobile network providers should work on VAS

India's mobile networks have been buzzing with low charges on calls and more recently on messages as well. From very high calling rates in the initial years we have now reached the stage where we are probably the cheapest nation in terms of call charges. Call rates trickled from pulse (3minutes) to a minute and now paying by the second. In the same breath, messages also have started being charged on the basis of characters used rather than a whole 160 character message.

With this whole reduction in prices of calls and messages, one thing has gone missing and thats value added services. Sure, caller tunes have been in operation since quite some time to replace the boring tring-tring but other than that there has been nothing to offer to the customer. One service which I have been using for quite some time has been GPRS/Mobile Internet and haven't seen any improvements in this regard over the period that I've used. The speeds are awfully low and loading of pages takes an eternity.

Now I was hoping speeds would improve with a better handset and I had a BlackBerry in consideration. (Yeah I know, I don't get that many mails and I'm not a businessman or whatever but the BlackBerry's look so cool!) I was thinking of getting a BlackBerry 8250 Curve.

So I went about checking Vodafone's website for charges for data connection and that's where my dreams were shattered. So the Vodafone Delhi people who probably have yet to come to terms with 2009 have the following data charges :

• Rs 299 (monthly rental) - you can use the E-mail services and download as many attachments as you want without any problems. You can use messengers such as Yahoo, GTalk, BlackBerry Messenger etc etc but no web browsing and usage of third party applications. So yeah you can't use Facebook application, or Twitter or hundreds of other cool applications.
• Rs 499 (monthly rental) - This being the most shocking one and the most ridiculous of all the plans on offer. So here you can use applications, E-mail, browser, messengers etc etc. So what does it make a stupid plan? It comes with a 500KB free data limit. Usage beyond this is 1 paisa per KB. Yeah so if you use 100KB then you're spending a rupee. A meager 100KB! Free data limit of 500KB? Gee, thanks for the generosity! Now Vodafone people, come back to 2009 when you're done playing with your pagers. Good.
• Rs 899 (monthly rental) - Its a corporate plan so all of us who are not being helped by our company to use this fantastic mobile phone can move on to the next one.
• Rs 1099 (monthly rental) - Yeah so now fellas who have use the BlackBerry themselves and are not salvaged by their company to pay their expenses will have to shell out Rs 1K+ for just data connection. Oh did I tell you I pay Rs 1000 for my 384KBPS connection on my laptop. Would the speed be the same you ask? Are you stupid is all I can say!

Yeah so until and unless you're ready to shell out at least 400 bucks more from your pocket every month then you're good. If not, then I suggest getting another mobile phone. I think even iPhone charges for data connection are Rs.99/month and unlimited usage. Vodafone seriously what age are you in! 

Russell Peters--L-L-I-I-V-E-E-E

Russell Peters came back to Delhi on the 29th.We had gone to see him perform last year at the Sai Auditorium and it was great fun.Totally worth the value and money and well the hype for us all.It had started late but it was compensated with a fabulous laugh riot.

This year it was at a different venue(meaning more seats) and the ticket prices had shot up(inflation/financial crisis here too?).The hype was the same,the expectations were the same.Despite the bigger venue and bigger audience,the crowd management on the part of DNA Networks was absolutely awful.There was a single queue for nearly 700 odd people who had come to watch the show.People would join in the middle and like how we did,found someone we knew and stood with them.VOILA,we're inside the premises in 5minutes which otherwise would have taken not less than half an hour.

The show was to start at 6:00PM SHARP,well that's what the tickets said.We were inside the auditorium hall 5minutes before 6.Made our way to the first floor and after being guided to our side of the hall by the escorts we were seated.We didn't like our seats,they were too far from the stage and had a weird angle.Although after much bickering and smiling at the security guard of the better wing by the girls to get better seats failed,we decided to stay put.Show started at 6,45 with an opening act by Rusty Dooley.He took the stage and got hold of the mic and that's where the event started to go horribly wrong.The speakers were echoing and that made the whole concept of "stand up comic" a complete disaster.(Yes the title signifies the echo in the LIVE show!)

After Rusty's act,there was a huge round of applause for the man himself.RUSSELL PETERS! There were screams from our wing and the other wing about the sound issue as one guy in our wing put it,"We hear three of you!",to which came the reply,"You hear three of me?Dude,stop drinking that much!".LOL.

He made fun of how Bangalore has banned dancing(Yes,many of us aren't aware of that but that indeed is true.WTF!)and there is no restriction on Pee-ing in public! LOL.
He also picked on Aishwarya Rai and said,“Aishwarya Rai is a beautiful stunning woman to look at. But she can’ act worth a shit. She should be better left to do only endorsements because of her beauty,”.LOL.
Another joke,which shows how observant he is of Indian people is the joke on men holding hands or pinkies to be very clear and trying to be all macho and checking out girls in the process.Its too hilarious to even imagine,let alone witness it being performed.

He rounded off the evening with his great joke on the comparison between Indian Parents and their kids against Canadian Parents and their kids,famously known as "Somebody’s gonna get a hurt real bad".(See Video below)

Delhi vs Mumbai: Political Capital vs Financial Capital

VS

I apologise that I haven't written in 2months,so here I am with a well a cliched topic!

I know this topic has been discussed time and again and its like New York vs Washington,Men vs Women(cliched comparisons I mean) but I wanted to jump the bandwagon too as well I recently visited Mumbai and since am a Delhite,the comparisons just becomes well inevitable.

I won't be comparing based upon random things which other sites/blogs would but I would be making the comparison upon things that matter to ME!So you see how something that might matter to you,may/may not matter to me.In short,I decide what goes!

I would be putting down 5 positives of both the cities,so here we go!

Delhi(because home comes first!)

1.Food - I mean who cannot like Delhi food.There is street food,which includes Indian and Tibetan(Momos,big hit!) then there are restaurants which offer every cuisine a normal human being would want to eat.(Yes that rules out rats and other weird animals.TOO BAD!)

2.Space - There is ample space.Well compared to other big cities I've been to.And this by the way does not include parking spaces which is well a big problem but other than that there is good enough space to roam about and have parks and all.

3.Metro - Although the transport in general is a mess with over charging autos,buses not being comfortable but Metro is a great service.Although its getting messy now too but who cares! Public transport hai what do you expect!?

4.Infrastructure - Look at the roads,the flyovers,the toll bridges! You think you've reached some German city where there is no speed limit and you can zip pass the slow cars or well slow drivers too.(oldies need to learn to move faster than 40kmph!)

5.More brands - Well this doesn't matter much to me but hey compare the brands we have here to the ones in other big cities.And Delhi doesn't mean Delhi ONLY but NCR(national capital region) so we have looooadsa places to chill and shop.

Mumbai(probably the second home :p)

1.Law abiders - Yeah people here actually abide by the law and it doesn't matter if its day time or night time.Law is Law! I like it when people abide by the law,especially road rules like lane driving and respecting the road signs and if the sign says ONE WAY then it has to be ONE WAY and not change to two way that happens in Delhi.

2.Transport - Unlike the auto walah's in Delhi who just charge according to their whims and fancies,Mumbai auto walah's would take you according to the meter and so would the cabbies.Be it day,be it night.Meter is what decides the fare and there is no bickering over the charges too.As for the prime transport "The Local Train",its great but I would die to get inside it in one go,especially in rush hours and sometimes I think the rush hours don't end at all!

3.Respect for Women/Security - This is a very strong issue for me as I firmly believe that men in Delhi only think of women as show pieces and wouldn't let go of an opportunity to stare inside a girls' shirt! Although Mumbai men are no less who do the same but at least they don't turn to such heinous acts which men in Delhi are famous for.I would see girls in Mumbai move around without much tension at night but in Delhi moving around in the colony itself at night is a thing I've still not seen.

4.Babus - Government servants or Babus as they are called,do not work on a "bribe and work" policy which happens often here in Delhi.You can get the work done without bribing someone and the quickness would be the same if you had bribed too.So better to keep the money in your pocket!

5.Concerts - Yes! Mumbai hosts many concerts and many international artists come to Mumbai for a gig but seeing them in Delhi is a dream which still has to be fulfilled.Boo you Delhi Government with its lax arrangement and high entertainment tax!

So I leave it up to you to decide which city you like more(because I don't know which I like more!) and leave your comments.

Thanks for reading!