There WAS a Meru and there IS a JustDial

Sitting in the first row of the class has its advantages. Though it makes it a little difficult to doze off, it makes sure that few words bombarded by the professors are well preserved in the cerebrum. Two such words which finds mention in the following lines are:

1. Meru Cabs

2. Just Dial

(Technically speaking, they are four words. But the reader is requested to ignore such errors)

For the benefit for my fellow classmates, who are not very regular to Mr. Anshul Gupta's class , let me enlighten you that our Professor is a huge fan of both these services. Meru because these guys bring him from Navi Mumbai to NITIE ( seriously, braving Mumbai traffic by navigating this distance makes a compelling reason for all of us to acknowledge him by having a class strength of at least 80%) , and Just Dial...well..he hasn't shared any particular reason ,but somehow you don't need to be Archimedes to deduce his love for Just Dial.

So every time these two names came out, I used to wonder why at all both these fellows are so dear to our Professor. And finally, the JUDGEMENT day arrived. Presenting to all of you the chat transcript of yours truly and "executives" from Just Dial and Meru Cabs:

Players in the play:

A: Yours truly

JD: Executive of Just Dial

MC: Executive of Meru Cab

---------------------Dialing 08888888888-------------------------------------------------------

JD: Hello, Just Dial Mumbai, this is Shivani speaking. How may I help you sir?

A: Hello Shivani, I am Abhinav ,speaking from Powai.

JD: Good evening Mr. Abhinav, how can i help you?

A: Well, I want some contact numbers of good florists in Powai area.

JD: Sure sir, do you want us to email you the results apart from the SMS which we are going to send you right now?

A: (pretty impressed) Oh..that would be wonderful. Please note down my email address

(The girl had few problems understanding my name. Only after i played my masterstroke by saying "ABHINAV" as in "ABHINAV BINDRA" did she understand the name)

JD: Thank you sir. You will send you the details shortly.

(Meanwhile, there was a call coming on my phone. It was an unknown number. I hurriedly wanted to put the phone down)

A : Ohh.. thanks Shivani. Bye

JD: Have a nice day sir

Hurriedly, i connected to the incoming call.

Caller ( a pleasant feminine voice) : Am i speaking to Mr. Abhinav??

A: Speaking, who is this??

Caller: Sir, we are calling from *** florists. You wanted to have flowers delivered.

And so on....

It did not stop to this. Withing next 10 minutes, my poor phone rang at least 6-7 times. All of them were florists and were eager to offer their services. ( In fact, one lady advised me to go directly and choose flowers of my choice from local vendors. It would save quite a bucks !! )

Wowww!!!! 50 % of Prof. Anshul's service measuring parameter was validated. There was absolutely a sense of Awesomeness with this kind of service. And unlike our Kung fu Panda's free awesomeness, this awesomeness came at a price of Re.0.77 - the cost of 1 local call to Just Dial. Yet , i can't complain, can I??

So after arranging for the flowers, i decided to solve the logistic issues. And the very first name which struck me was MERU CABS. Following is the chat transcript of our conversation:

--------------------------call to 022 44224422-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Within 1 ring an automated voice greeted me

Welcome to MERU CABS. Dear customer, now you can book our cabs blah blah blah.........

"To hell with this gyan, just get me to the operator Madam You know who " ,i muttered

After giving my fingers ample exercise by making me dial 1s and 2s for various option, i finally managed to reach the "human" customer care executive

MC: Good evening , this is Akshay speaking. Can i have your name please

(do i feel a pinch of arrogance in the voice??? Anyways)

A: Yeah, this is Abhinav speaking from Powai

MC: Mr. Abhinav, Can i have your full name.

(what the hell!! have i dialed a taxi service or police station??)

A: No you can't. I prefer calling me Abhinav.

MC: Okay, Mr. Abhinav, can i have your mobile number please.

(Good Lord, when are we coming to the point)

A: Yeah,.its 970*******.

MC: Thanks Mr. Abhinav, So how can i assist you with??

A: Well i need to book a cab for 11.30PM from Powai.

MC: Sure sir, May i know your pickup point and drop point?

A: The pickup point would be NITIE, Powai and the drop point would be Ghatkopar.

( Silence follows)

MC: So sorry to inform you Mr. Abhinav , but all our cabs are booked till 3:15AM.

( An increased temper follows)

A: Sheh, then why at all did you take all my details in the first place. You would have straight away told me about your "booked" cabs.

MC: I am sorry sir, but...................................................

I never heard rest of the story, as i banged my phone down. To hell with his cock and bull stories.

So what happened next?? Well, for few minutes I was cursing MERU CABS. I hurled some nasty words aloud in my room, which , even in this post- Delhi Belly era, are not suitable to be posted on a public forum like this.

The remaining 50% of Prof Anshul's service measuring parameter was validated. Dismay was the feeling which I was experiencing. Though, if i may add, the feeling is not exactly dismay. Its a mixture of Dismay+ anger.

I did not stop at that. My cerebrum reminded the example of use of social network in the context of services which was discussed by Prof. Anshul in the class. Taking cue from it, i posted a one line comment on my Facebok wall. I got 2 comments in a matter of few minutes. Now considering that neither i am a girl nor i am popular among the girls, 2 comments in a matter of minutes is not that bad.

The purpose of sharing this experiences is not to wage a crusade against any xyz CABS or eulogize any abc DIAL. MERU may be a fantastic service for someone, and JUSTDIAL may invite abuses from someone. But sometimes, its feels good when the things taught in the classrooms are actually validated in the real world.Perhaps studying "Services" as a course is one such rare occasion where we experience the things taught in the classroom the fastest.