Connected Incidents

Looking back on the life lived so far, a pattern seemingly occurs of stray incidents getting linked to later events of significance in a most unobtrusive manner albeit unerringly highlighting those invisible linking threads.
Today sharply at 2.30 p.m. the power failed – a rare occurrence in the area where we live. Even if there is a power failure it generally is restored within the next couple of minutes max ten. When the fans/air conditioner (it’s a hot October noon) failed to come to life within the predicted time, alarm bells began to ring. There has to be something drastically wrong or else the problem is restricted only to our living quarters.
On calling up the MES (Military Engineering Services) helpline the latter was confirmed. Since my elder son had a Skype Interview scheduled for his Ph. D - University of Holland at 4 p.m. I got busy trying to make sure either the power was restored or to make alternate arrangements with kind neighbours. Suggestions to visit the Cyber Café were vetoed off very vehemently by my son. The MES executive promptly dispatched an electrician to locate the fault. He did arrive about 25 minutes later. I was on the look-out on the balcony anxiously scanning all entrants into our common driveway shared between two high-rise buildings. Uncannily I spotted the guy and reckoned him to be the electrician and sent my man Friday to nab him before he wasted further time in trying to locate our quarters. My man Friday being a lazy lout took a good ten minutes to locate the electrician who was by then already busy at the meter board on the ground floor. Apparently the cut-out had snapped and as the electrician helpfully explained – he had temporarily given a direct connection but advised me that it would take half an hour for him to go back and get a cut-out from the stores and replace the exhausted one. Till then we could use the current sparingly. I went into overdrive instructing all the fans, gadgets, even mobile chargers to be switched off except for those in my son’s room.
Soon thereafter the storekeeper followed saying that this was not within their capacity to issue cut-outs and the responsibility lay with the BEST – Bombay Electricity Supply and Transport Services. Fleetingly I wondered why the nomenclature hadn’t been changed to MEST as with everything else in Aamchi Mumbai. After successfully rummaging for the BEST bill to locate a helpline number, it took about 15 minutes to go through the minute vernacular lingo to locate a helpline number which was the central one. The executive obligingly gave me the helpline number for my area. Here too, the call was attended by a most helpful executive who managed to understand my dilemma and promised to dispatch a cut-out and the electrician with the caveat – if he reached by 3.45 p.m. then he would fix the problem or else wait for my son’s interview to get over and be there if any exigency occurred and then fix the cut out. Amazing BEST services, I must say. The nomenclature perfectly matches and I hope it remains unchanged.
My son’s interview went off as scheduled and with a slight hiccup in power snaps a couple of times. I must add that after the whole incident was over my son went about thanking his younger brother for offering him timely counsel on the availability of a vacant cyber café nearby. When I pointed out that he has perhaps overlooked that his mother that was instrumental on thinking on her feet and having the electricity restored and sure shot standby ready (neighbours) he stated in a matter of fact manner that I was only doing my duty.
Uncannily again why do I feel that this incident is going to be linked to some future event in a most significant way – my ESP working overtime.
And as regards the BEST services – kudos to them. Can’t say the same unfortunately about the other most necessary services which we cannot do without – the Indian Oil Company Ltd – which supplies our gas cylinders. The other day I tried practically 6 helpline numbers mentioned on the invoice again in the vernacular and none of them worked. The only number that worked was that of the National Consumers Co-operative Helpline number wherein the call centre executive obligingly gave me the email ID’s and phone numbers for the Deputy Managers of IOC for the Mumbai and Maharashtra Areas and their email ID’s. Neither the telephone numbers worked nor the emails sent on the ID’s worked (the mails were returned back as “Failed Delivery Notifications”). The lady on the National Consumers Helpline had predicted this and obligingly given me this suggestion as a last resort – Madam, since your gas cylinder is leaking it can lead to a disaster and so if the IOC doesn’t respond as usual, you must call up 100 for help. Thank You. Must say, other than BEST, the efficient of the Mumbai Traffic Police is well-known. But for these kinds of complaints, I wonder if the Mumbai Police or the IOC will get the upper hand in being the most Inefficient ones?
:idontgetit::idontgetit: