A small letter.

Earth,

My best friend.

You soak all my tears. The small ones absorbed by you spread joy and bring a mesmerizing aura to your earthlings. The larger ones destroy your earthlings, tremble you but you never refuse more.

I sometimes wonder if you are my friend or my victim.


With love -
Your tormentor
The Cloud.

Early Days

A Poem I wrote eons back... And it still seems so relevant! 

Those were early days ,i thought I'd win 
Blessed with sun rays ,life was yet to begin 
As days passed ,the sun went strong 
Making life easy? Wasn't I wrong? 
I had left the string too lose 
The sun had set and the kite was just to fall 
And the dew made it wet 
I looked back at the day 
Yeah the kite was up;up but low all the way 
Had I woken up? 
I passed the night that way 
Fighting the cold and dew 
There was no ray,even friends were asleep 
The journey has just begun 
Begun not to end 
Earlier I was miraged 
My destination was about to bend 
The rocky land had made it tough 
But I will reach the mountain 
Undeterred by the rough 

The green smile

I looked at the tree. The leaves, the fresh green leaves hid the bondage, the burden and the agony that the soil had given it. 

I thought that the green bright green colour was what trees had, while the smile, the broad smile was what I had.

Not a single wave.

You are not a single wave. you are the whole Sea. You just have to look beyond your own shoulder....

The Banking Ombudsman

The post below is written in a very calmed down manner and does not express any emotional suffering that I went through because I want to keep it informational rather that sensational... 

Please share this with whoever you can so that he/ she knows where to go if the bank goes against him in even a simple ATM transaction!

‎2 Weeks back I got a mail from HDFC that I owed them 2.5 lac rupees on a credit card since 22/12/2008 that I never owned. I called the officer Anubhuti Kapoor from HDFC who said very rudely that I must have forgotten about the account!! 
The mail said that my name would be shared with CIBIL blacklisting my name/ credit rating.

I searched the net about the solution and a way to initiate something in the consumer court. Thankfully I got some hope in the banking ombudsman. 
I put a written complaint through the ombudsman. I got a reply in 5/6 days from HDFC bank that my name is cleared. 

Why I am putting this message is to let everyone of the power of the Banking Ombudsman.

Below here are the details of my mails and the conversation I had with the bank officer. 

Payment.Reminder@hdfcbank.com	7 Dec 2012
to me, Anubhuti.kapoor

Dear Customer,
Re: Your HDFC Bank Credit Card # -        XXXX-3659
It is observed that we are not in receipt of any  payment towards your card account since 22/12/2008.Owing to non-receipt of regular payment to cover even the minimum amount due ,the credit card account has been invalidated from further usage. 
As we are unable to contact you at the numbers updated in our records, we are constrained to refer your account to our legal cell for further action for recovery of the credit card dues.
Please also note that the existence of your card account and details of any default/settlement that may occur or have occurred will be shared with a Credit Reference Agency ( Credit Information Bureau India Ltd. [CIBIL] ) and the same will be shared with other lenders and / or credit card issuing entities.
Please effect immediate payment of Rs.241,723.38 that is presently outstanding on your card account.
Please do get in touch with our Debt management Executive at the following number / e-mail ID for any further clarification.
Officer Name: AnubhutiE-Mail ID: Anubhuti.kapoor@hdfcbank.comPh: 9312832510/01142210495
Sincerely,

Officer HDFC Bank - Debt ManagementTHIS IS AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE - PLEASE DO NOT REPLY DIRECTLY TO THIS EMAIL

The Reply that I sent to anubhuti.kapoor@hdfcbank.com on the 13th December is here:

This is not my account and it is also the first time i am being informed about possessing an account with this number. Please cyeck your email id and see that this is the correct information.
Please also send me the details of the accountholder and the signatures that u have on th form. This is a case of forgery and please look into it.
My phone conversation with you has led to nothing
Furthermore
My first account with HDFC was in 2010 

I called the same person (I will call her the rude woman from now on.) I called her on the 14th of December. The conversation was like this. 

I told her my name and the credit card number. I told her that this was not my account. I told her to very and tell me what my personal details were. She said that it was Nishant Sah. Surprise Surprise she claimed that my birth date was also the same as this gentleman. 

The thing that really; got me on was that sir aap ka hi account hai aap bhool gaye honge! 

I had no clue what had to be done. I was sure it was not my account aand I told her that my first account was made in 2010. But she was not interested. I was surprised why HDFC gave me the name of this lady in the mail if she was not ready to listen to me. 

THe only option was to complain to some governemnt office. But given the justice delivery system of this country I really fretted. I did not want my credit rating to be blotted!! 

I search the net to find the banking ombudsman and sent this mail to HDFC in written through their website. The RBI needs us to send a written complaint before taking up the matter. SO i mailed them this one. 

                                                                     
                                                                     

    
I recieved a mail from payment.reminder@hdfcbank.com on 7th of December 2012 to my email Id nishantsah@gmail.com
it read like here: 
______________________________________________________________________________________________
**********************************************************************************************
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Customer,
Re: Your HDFC Bank Credit Card # -        XXXX-3659
It is observed that we are not in receipt of any  payment towards your card account since 22/12/2008.Owing to non-receipt of regular payment to cover even the minimum amount due ,the credit card account has been invalidated from further usage. 
As we are unable to contact you at the numbers updated in our records, we are constrained to refer your account to our legal cell for further action for recovery of the credit card dues.
Please also note that the existence of your card account and details of any default/settlement that may occur or have occurred will be shared with a Credit Reference Agency ( Credit Information Bureau India Ltd. [CIBIL] ) and the same will be shared with other lenders and / or credit card issuing entities.
Please effect immediate payment of Rs.241,723.38 that is presently outstanding on your card account.
Please do get in touch with our Debt management Executive at the following number / e-mail ID for any further clarification.
Officer Name: Anubhuti
E-Mail ID: Anubhuti.kapoor@hdfcbank.com
Ph: 9312832510/01142210495
Sincerely,
Officer 
HDFC Bank - Debt Management
THIS IS AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE - PLEASE DO NOT REPLY DIRECTLY TO THIS EMAIL
Know more about us on www.hdfcbank.com. Connect with us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hdfcbank
______________________________________________________________________________________________
**********************************************************************************************
______________________________________________________________________________________________
I have no such account under my name. I have another credit card which ends with ****-****-****-2968 which has been blocked by the bank inspite of my payment and clearance of the whole amount in the Bhagalpur Branch.
I told her my name is Nishant Sah, She told me that this policy holder's name is Nishant Shravan Sah. 
My call to mrs Anubhuti Kapoor on the 13th of December on her first phone number led me to a reply "aap bhool gaye honge" "You must have forgotten"!!! 
I replied back to her on this email id on the 13th of December 
______________________________________________________________________________________________
**********************************************************************************************
______________________________________________________________________________________________
This is not my account and it is also the first time i am being informed about possessing an account with this number. Please cyeck your email id and see that this is the correct information.
Please also send me the details of the accountholder and the signatures that u have on th form. This is a case of forgery and please look into it. 
My phone conversation with you has led to nothing
Furthermore
My first account with HDFC was in 2010
______________________________________________________________________________________________
**********************************************************************************************
______________________________________________________________________________________________
I have recieved no reply to this mail till today. I am personally very stressed and need a quick reply from the bank explaining its lax policy in adding this account to my name.
I also demand the removal of my name from  Credit Reference Agency ( Credit Information Bureau India Ltd. [CIBIL] )  if it has been done already. I also request a fine on the bank which is deemed appropriate by agency for this harrassment. I am under extreme mental pressure. 

Thank YOu and regards.





Surprise surprise the same bank sent me a mail today (within 3 days!!) 





Dear Mr.Sah 
This is with reference to your recent communication received from Office of Banking Ombudsman, Kolkatta regarding your HDFC Bank credit card account.
 
We take this opportunity to inform you that we are looking into your query related to the payment reminder mail received by you for a HDFC Bank credit card account. In this regard, we shall respond to you in 7 business days (by 27.12.2012) and request you to bear with us in the interim.
 
For any further assistance/clarification in this regard, please feel free to write tocustomerservices.cards@hdfcbank.com  or call us at 033-30434001/30434002 and we shall assist you.
 
Kindly note the query reference number for this correspondence is 12352735968.
 
Assuring you of our best services at all times
 
Regards,
 
 
Rajeswari Jayasekar
Asst. Vice President
Service Quality – Credit Cards





followd by this one... 



Dear Mr.Sah, 
This is in continuation to our interim response dated December 18, 2012 with reference to your recent communication received from Office of Banking Ombudsman, Kolkata regarding payment reminder notice received.
 
We are disheartened to note that your recent interaction with the bank has not been upto your satisfaction and sincerely regret the inconvenience you have been put through in the experience. We hasten to assure you that your feedback has been treated with full attention and your specific comments have been shared with the concerned for an appropriate review.
 
We understand from your e-mail that you have received a payment reminder email pertaining to a credit card account XXXX XXXX XXXX 3659 which did not belong to you. A review of our records indicate that the payment reminder email was inadvertently sent to your email address and we may please request you to ignore the mail. Having said so, we regret for any inconvenience that has been caused to you in this regard. We assure you that necessary steps have taken to ensure such incidents do not occur in future
 
For any further assistance/clarification in this regard, please feel free to write tocustomerservices.cards@hdfcbank.com  and we shall assist you.
 
In line with our focus and commitment to Customer Service, we trust that your grievance has been addressed in a fair and equitable manner and the issue has been resolved to your satisfaction. If you require any further assistance, you may write to our Principal Nodal Officer Mr. RatanKumar Kesh at HDFC Bank Ltd., Trade World, “C” Wing, 11th Floor, Kamala Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai-400013 or E-mail at pnohdfcbank@hdfcbank.com or Fax at 022-42197125. Alternately, you can call at Tel: 022-30961541 



I am 100% sure that had this complaint not been routed through the RBI's Ombudsman website, The bank would have kept my case hanging forever.






So please if u find any difficulty with the bank, complain using this link here http://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/bs_viewcontent.aspx?Id=159



:) 



People have been paid 16000 rupees for a failed ATM transaction of Rs 500 in the past. 95% + cases are solved withing 60 days of appeal. So u see some bright spot in the otherwise dark judicial system of India

Dear reader, just like the color of a brush dissolves in the water, this reader of yours got dissolved in the expanse of this world. He sees colors no more and the world is transparent and dark like the infinite space of the universe. Each pigment of color in water reminds him of the numerous small planets in the dark dark universe.

Dear author close your eyes and think of a fresh brush put in this same damned water and imagine how magically the brush pulls back the yellow colour and when you pull the brush out it has yellow patch on it. 

The burial

At an old time friend's cremation, I was seeing his face for the last time. His loved ones putting him in a coffin, burying him a few feet down the ground and covering it by sand one layer after another. Each one adding sand, i thought was doing it with a heavy heart. Probably burying a part of themselves too? I was thinking to myself that the corpse would decay slowly and what would remain is nothing? I was wondering if the soul of the close by relatives who came for the cremation also get decayed slowly? 

The sun set and everyone started slowly leaving. I sat there alone in the graveyard thinking how I knew someone put to the grave alive. I looked at my heart. It was being buried too. Layer after layer. It would stay buried for ages and meet the same slow decay. The dead has no soul. It undergoes decay slowly without anyone but the graveyard knowing. My body felt like  the graveyard. It concealed the decay marvelously.

Now I feel my body's decay too. Each time my heart decays, my body decays too. I wonder why no one else sees! I wonder why I want anyone to see? I wonder why no one ever felt that graves could breathe while we humans could live without breathing too!