And the winner is........

Team Irevna posted a strong performance over the weekend to claim first prize in - not a sports event or a corporate quiz - but a beer drinking competition, sponsored by Kingfisher. The event started on Friday, as we settled down for our usual Friday night post-work drinking session at our regular watering-hole - High Time at GRT Grand Days . When we ordered our first beer, we were approached by some chaps from Kingsfisher informing us about some current promos going on. The deal was - if you completed a jigsaw puzzle in two minutes, you get another pitcher of beer free. And sure enough, we managed to solve the puzzle (not completely, but it was good enough for the Kingfisher chaps) and so it was a pitcher of beer on the house. The Irevna team on Friday consisted of Anish Mathew, Saravanakumar (non-drinking participant), Laxmideepak, Vishnu Balchand, Sunderraman and yours truly.

The above picture sums up our 'can-do' attitude

We are also informed that another part of the promotion was a contest for the maximum draught beer consumed (till the end of Saturday). You get 3 points for a pitcher and 1 point for a mug of draught beer. At the end of the contest, the team with most number of points receives Rs. 5,000 (second place gets Rs. 2,500).

We don't normally need much encouragement to consume vast quantities of beer, but this just spurred us on even further. A couple of hours later, we ended the day on 19 points, trailing the leaders by 1 point.

On Saturday, we knew we didn't have to do much better, especially if the group that was leading on Friday did not show up. We reached the bar at 6 pm after ensuring that there will be atleast 3-4 people to do the glassful. Finally, Team Irevna on Saturday consisted of Anish, Saravanakumar, Santhankrishnan, K. Ramesh and me. Once we got started, we tried calling for further reinforcements, even thought there was no sign of our closest competitors. However, most people we called had better things to do on a Saturday evening. I tried arguing with them to see the lager picture (that's not a typo), but no amount of beer pressure worked. Anyway, none of that was necessary in the end, as we won by the comfortable margin of 37-20 (the chaps from Friday did not even show up). To put this in perspective, that means 12 pitchers and 1 mug (approx. 19.6 litres of beer), over 2 evenings, shared by about 8 people !

We were pretty confident all along, as was one of our regular waiters, who let us know half way through that he had taken a bet that we would win. We walked off with Rs. 5,000 of beer vouchers that could be used on KF draught over the next two months. While cash might have been better, this is nearly as liquid as cash for us (pun intended). Cheers !

Vikipedia is now the Lager Pitcher

Vikipedia is now called the Lager Pitcher. I received an email from someone who has a blog called 'VKpedia' who felt that the name 'vikipedia' was too similar to his blog's title. To quote him:

'I discovered today that your blog has a similar title too. I'm afraid this might, in the future, lead to problems resulting out of name confusions, which might not be to our liking. '

I found the request quite bizarre, given that the blog title in question is, in itself, a play on another name. However, I decided to accept the request, as I did not want to make a fuss.

Pot, kettle, black anyone ?????

Dude, Where's my car ?

No, this post is not a review of the 2000 American comedy movie starring Ashton Kutcher (for those who haven't heard of it, click here) . This is about my experience trying to buy a Maruti Suzuki Swift from a dealer in Chennai. I booked it on June 8th, 2005 and there have been problems ever since (my recent letter below explains this in more detail). I had initally chosen the 'silky silver' colour (nothing silky about it), but then changed my mind to the red (not because I'm a tifosi). I thought making this change should be relatively straightforward, given that the delivery period was more than 8 weeks. However, I was informed by my dealer, as well as local Maruti executives, that there is no way this is possible. As a shot in the dark, I decided to shoot off an email to the CEO describing the situation. I googled for his email address, but did not find it on the net. Instead, I found other Maruti email addresses and used the structure (firstname.lastname@maruti.co.in) to get the CEO's email address. To be honest, I did not expect any response whatsoever, but was pleasantly surprised when I got a reply the next morning from someone at Maruti, asking for the details. In two days the whole issue was sorted out and the colour was changed. Google is making an impact on people's lives !

This is the full text of my letter to Jagdish Khattar, CEO of Maruti Udyog Limited:

Dear Mr. Khattar,
It is with extreme disappointment and distress that I write to you once again, but this time I have been left with no choice. I booked a Maruti Swift VXi on June 8th 2005. The booking was made through CARS India, Chennai. At the time of booking, I was told that that approximate wait time was 8 weeks and this is mentioned on the order booking form (duly signed by the dealer). My Allotment No. is 1403-0019025.

After the initial estimated date had passed (August 8 2005, 8 weeks), I called the dealer and was duly informed that there are more delays due to 'production issues at Maruti'. I was then told that car would be delivered in September. Later this was modified to either the last week of September or first fortnight of October. I have now been told (only after I called) that I will not be receiving it in the first two weeks of October. Further, no committment has been made on when I will receive it. It is ironic that a car with a waiting period of over 16 weeks is called Swift !

What makes the delay all the more disappointing is the level of service (or the lack thereof), during this period. At no point, not even once, has anyone from the dealer to Maruti called me to inform me of the delay or explain plausible reasons for the delay. Every single time, I have had to call and find out about the delivery update (if any).

Someone known to me booked the SAME car (Swift), SAME model (VXi), from the SAME dealer (CARS India, Chennai), at the SAME date (June 8, 2005) and SAME time (7:00 pm). His Allotment No. was 19024, while mine is 19025. Only the colour is different. He received delivery of the car last Friday (September 30, 2005). While I agree that is reasonable to have some variation depending on the colour, the extent of this variance cannot be significant. Even at this point, neither the dealer nor the Maruti is able to tell me a date by which I can expect the car. Not receiving the car is bad enough, but it is completely ridiculous if I can't be told when I will receive the car, after four months of waiting. When I contacted the dealer, I was told that they have no information from Maruti about this. The dealer has forced me to speak directly to Maruti, and hence this email.

Another important fact is that the dealer has received nearly the full payment from my side (excluding registration fees). I am currently paying interest on the loan, which I took based on the estimated 8-week waiting period given by the dealer at the time of booking. I have been told that I will be compensated for the interest payments, but I am not clear about the rate of interest I will receive. The minimum I expect is the rate Maruti Finance charges for its auto loans. I also believe the compensation I receive should go beyond the interest I have paid so far, as this does not compensate for the completely apathetic service I have received.

After 16 weeks of waiting, with no sign of the car or even a firm date by which I will receive it - is this the treatment one expects from 'India's leading car manufacturer' ? This can hardly be described as 'just-in-time' supply chain management, which other Japanese car manufacturers are known for.

Your website claims that your vision is 'creating customer delight' - I can assure you that this customer is far from delighted.

I realise that my situtation may not be unique, but I find this level of service completely unacceptable. The least I expect is to be regulary informed and compensated adequately for the delay. Delivery delays are compensated regularly with most reputed automobile manufacturers in the country and I would expect the same from Maruti. Please let me know if Maruti Udyog Limited finds this request unreasonable.

I appreciate the time you have taken to read this.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

Vikram Vasu

Who is Vikram Vasu ?

After months of delay, caused by a rather unique problem of not knowing where to start, my blog is up and running. For those of you for whom the name sounds familiar, it may be because of one or more of the following - Irevna , University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, Scotland) , RKM Vivekananda College or The School KFI. That very briefly sums up my education and experience thus far.

Trivia for the day - what word connects John Barger and Peter Merhloz ?

(Hint: starts with 'b' and rhymes with log).

These guys are credited with coining the term blog. John Barger is considered to have been the first to use the term 'weblog', while Pete Mehrloz is believed to be the first guy to use the word 'blog' - apparently he split weblog into 'we blog' , thereby also adding the verb usage to the word.