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02/15/2012

This post is dedicated to the Indian Telecom companies

"I hate you."   

Nothing new here.   
Vodafone has been my scapegoat for the past 3 years. Whenever I feel the anger rising (for anything), I know I can call them and they will say something to make me lose my cool! I'm exaggerating, but not much. Where I am not exaggerating is that they do have a knack for upsetting me. What's the point of having teleoperators if their only answer is "you have to go to a Vodafone store Madam"?
I managed to get a postpaid connection (after long and painful hours of fights) but failed miserably with the prepaid one. I did try hard ... I started by buying the sim card and giving the papers. After 2 days incoming calls stopped working. I provided other papers at the Vodafone store. After 3 days outgoing calls no longer worked. I went to the Vodafone store again. After 2 days nothing worked. I gave up.   

And here I am, in Delhi!   
You can imagine that there is no number migration between Delhi and Mumbai (for those who don’t know, when you leave a State in India, you go "roaming", and it costs more money)...   
So I decided to try Airtel. Ah well, I was not disappointed. I was already in a horrible mood – so I knew I should avoid telecoms then but... I gave the papers. Including my lease agreement. My lease agreement was not proper: it was not notarized. Nice, that’s a first. But good news: there is a notary in Nehru place! So we made photocopies, we certified the papers, we made new photocopies, we gave the papers. And then I asked the killer question: "And do you do "home verification”"? I saw the face of the guy (whom I already disliked) and I realized it was dead...
That is because, in India, the telecom companies come to you to verify that you live at your place. Useless. Any terrorist can rent a room, sit for three days and then go right? In India, this “home verification” is hardly an issue: they live at fifty in one room. But a girl staying alone, and without a full-time employee, she can sit on her connection. I have asked them to come in the evening. But no, it must be a "surprise", during office hours, and any time over a period of three days.   

I left super angry.   
I called Vodafone. Who offered me a pseudo-solution involving my office address. And above all, an employee would come and see me at the warehouse the next day ...   
And the next day, the guy was no different. He asked me for my company’s bank statement. (???) I explained that it was for me. Then he had to do the "home verification". And there, listen carfelly! I told him that there was nobody at home, if he wanted he could go and talk to my cat. Then he turned to my colleague and asked him, with the utmost seriousness, if my cat could give him a photocopy of my passport. Of course my cat will open the door, serve you a cup coffee and certify that I live here ... It's a grrrreat cat.   

Result: my colleague came to my rescue, gave his address (they will go and check) and I'll know on Friday if my connection is activated.   

Since we are here, I'd like to go back to Reliance, for the Internet connection. It's been two times now that I stopped the line (the first one when I moved in Mumbai, second when I moved to Delhi). Ah well hang on! The guys they never give up. They tell you ok and then they call you every single day to ask you why you want to cut the line?? Ah you are moving? But we can move your line!! You are moving to France?? (Sometimes you have to lie.) Okay then we will stop it. And the next they call you again “why do you want to stop your connection??” I'm not kidding. And everything in Hindi because it's more fun. You end up screaming in the phone to go to hell!

All is well...

11/12/2011

The French seen by the Indians

The other day I was asked a rather… surprising question: How do the Indians see the French??

 

It surprised me, because firstly it is really egocentric, and quite typical of a French! (But well I guess every people genuinely feel that the world evolves around it…).

 

I thus answered that, for the large majority of Indians, there is India and the U.K. And maybe America. No France! Question of perspective…

Cf my Indian physician who tells me “ah France! It is next to Vietnam isn’t it?”

I also found myself once in a situation which I perhaps already told:

-          Vèrrre from?

-          France.

-          Vèrrre?

-          Mmhhh Europe?

-          Vèrrre??

-          The U.K.?

-          Ahhhhhhh! (with a look like why didn’t you say it immediately??)

 

Those who have been to France will (in general) remember 2 things: we do not speak English and our food is bland; besides it is very difficult to find vegetarian food.

Some also know the world-famous clichés: most guys are gay, we eat cheese, we are arrogant, revolutionist.

 

In Bollywood style, they know of our political community only Carla Bruni.

 

And in the news recently, they are outraged enough by prohibition to wear the burka.

 

In short a French, before being a French, is a (white) foreigner. And if you want to know how Indians see foreigners than there is lot more to say!!

 

Cf: http://www.indiandacoit.com/archive/2010/09/27/the-world-according-to-the-indians-and-the-french.html

11/08/2011

Foreigners working in India

On October 12th I happened to watch the news and to see an outraged journalist asking that “how could the UK plan to tighten immigration rules?” Yeah what the hell huh? hat the least they owe the Indians!!

 

The story here is that till now, “temporary immigration led to an automatic right to settle here”. So if you are a foreigner and you have worked in the UK for 5 years, you can stay without a visa. And now they want to control the immigration of workers.

 

Before crying wolf, it would be interesting to look at your own immigration rules. Because India is also trying to prevent workers from coming to India and “steal jobs from Indians”! Basically, to prevent Chinese (and some other Asian) laborers to come and take the jobs of Indians, India makes it very difficult for any foreigner to get an employment visa. And then they complain!

 

So not only do the Indian authorities make it hell to get an employment visa (you need to earn a minimum of US $ 25, 000 per annum,

except if

 

you are (a) Ethnic cooks,(b) Language teachers (other than English Language Teachers)/Translators, (c) Staff working for the concerned Embassy/High Commission in India and (d) Foreigners coming for honorary work (without Salary) with NGOs registered in the country). And here is what happened when you have renewed your visa 4 times (and thus stayed 5 years working in India)!

india,foreigners working in india,indians working abroad,visa,employement visa,business visa,indian diaspora,chinese workers in india,chinese

Now you go back home and get a new visa my friend!!


But I guess that since we can count around 50,000 foreign workers in India (out of which 1/3rd is Chinese) against 5 million Indians working abroad, the rules of visa to India do not interest Indians much!  

 

PS: Foreigners working in India

 

I found it impossible to find out how many foreigners live in India and how many foreigners work in India!

 

I found a figure of

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