What to do when your wallet with debit cards and credit cards gets stolen.

People have their wallets stolen all the time, its happened to you, its happened to people you know.  picked from their pockets in the train or in the bus or in a crowd or their domestic help flicks it  and you  realize it only when the messages start popping in for the transactions of withdrawals at ATMs / merchants/ fuel pumps and you really don’t know what to do because you don’t even know the account number/ card number sometimes you don’t even know the Bank name either and in the state of Panic you forget the name of the account holders too which is you yourself or your spouse or which or your children or …….   

 WHAT DO YOU DO?

  

In a lot of ways I just refuse to connect with people but somehow people associated with my wife and my child imagine me as the man who probably works in a bank and has the answer to everything associated including the odd phone call every now and then from neighbors, friends and relatives to check if the bank was open today or would open tomorrow or not.  

To be fair ; the banks print a lot of paper on the DON’T DO THIS LIST but people simply refuse to read it because it is fine print and if its bold print then they are only selling something. So why read it. 

Ignorance and Stupidity have no age. At the age of 15/20/30/40/50/60/70/80 also you can remember the name of your childhood crush and his/her birthday but you simply refuse to memorize a 4 digit password for an ATM Card / Credit Card.  You would rather keep the password noted on a piece of paper or maybe the same paper along with the respective cards in an organized manner and pat yourself on your back for your meticulous organization skills. Some of you would even keep signed blank cheques in your wallets, just In case the ATM runs out of money.  So much so for a backup for a backup.

  

It’s amazing how the same person who has an OCD of checking the house lock twice and then walks away but turns back to open the lock again, reopens the lock and walks into the kitchen to check if the Gas was fully turned off, Locks up the house again, checks the lock twice again after turning the keys and keeping it in the pocket and walks away knowing he has done everything to secure the house from theft and fire. 

To cut a long story short – people forget their wife’s and offspring’s birthdays despite running successful and rewarding lives but don’t know what to do when they find their wallet missing other than asking for  help, which is also a great thing. It’s a good thing to seek help. By nature all of us are helpful and sensitive in nature.  

It’s just money, earned through your lifetime lying in your bank account, waiting to find a purpose 

Call the helpline of the respective banks. Immediately !

Yes, you need to know the names of the banks for you to start with, to begin to even search for the help line numbers or anyone to be able to help you.

I could note down all the helpline numbers here but that would be a waste of time or maybe I will, who knows. 

Almost all bank help lines even the automated Interactive Voice Responses have the first option as Card or Bank account and then generally have the 1^st option as report loss of card. It is Open 24x7x365.  

There is a real human being’s voice at the other end. (That should put you at ease) 

Tell your Name/ Bank account/ Debit Card number/ Credit Card Number and the representative would hotlist the debit cards / credit cards immediately after verifying your identity with your complete name/ date of birth/ mother’s maiden name / last transaction / last payment / last withdrawal / mobile number / billing address or any other random information that only you would know.  

Remember to take down the service request number / the last transaction on the account and the balance for follow up action.

You might ask why would they ask you for verification, instead of simply blocking the card but the fact is that if they don’t, you could simply block anyone’s card by just knowing his/ her  name. Imagine the fun pranks you could play on your friends by simply blocking their debit cards and credit cards.  Yes you can do that, if you do your homework properly. (There is a forward going on in whatsapp on why to remove your name/mobile from Facebook else fraudsters can empty your bank account without even stealing your wallet)  

Now here is the tricky part in the mind - - like most people including me,  you don’t know your account number/ debit card number/ credit card number so what do you do now ?

If you are, who you are saying who you are – say upfront you lost your cards with your wallet and you don’t know the numbers.

Assist the representative of the bank with your Name / Date of Birth / Pan Number / registered mobile number and he/she will be able to pull out all the details.  It is all a matter of keying in the details while you speak it out slowly and clearly.  

If you don’t know or don’t have your PAN Number or can’t even remember your Mobile number -  then you might face some difficulty or an extension of anxious moments but nothing that can’t be overcome because searching further requires isolating your name matched details with further verification.   Yes there are other people in the world who have the same name and the same date of birth as you, living in the same country and having an account with the same bank in the same city and the same branch. Amazing isn’t it. 

If it is a bank account – it helps knowing the city and the branch in which the account was opened for quicker search and find on the bank’s data base.  

Well so you get the general drift now.  That’s about all there is to it. 

If you have overcome your state of panic by this time, then go ahead and request for a fresh replacement credit card/ debit card in this phone call itself.  Considering you don’t know your account number or card number and the representative would not be disclosing the same to you, other than confirming that the same has been blocked.  You would not be able make a fresh phone call to request for a new debit card/ credit card till you go through your records at home to find your account/ card numbers. 

Repeat the above process by calling the helpline for all the remaining banks.  I know it is not fun but every subsequent phone call is easier to follow through as you go down through your list of cards to block. 

On re-issuance of the plastic, all your standing instructions would get transferred to the new number and you don’t have to do anything for that and trust me that knowing that from beforehand is a big relief.  

But then not to underestimate the power of the buffoonery of the humans and the quality of the mobile network - Calls can get dropped - Please call back.  Sometimes a particular representative may not be able to search for your particular account successfully and express regret. Not to worry – Simply disconnect and call back again and start afresh. The representative at the other end is a new one and would have a different skill and training level and may be able to help you successfully. I have experienced such instances in my life time and hence mentioning.  Please also explore the possibility that you might not have an account with that bank either. 

I have also come across a bank whose helpline was not willing to search and find without knowing the account number or the debit card number and that was truly a scary situation to be in that despite giving all personal details the helpline expressed its inability to act upon the loss of debit card and that is what prompted me to write this piece. 

Interestingly the wonderful thing about the cards in your wallets are that they come with an expiry date too. If you are lucky you might be carrying cards in your wallets which have expired and the helpline would update you on the status as EXPIRED.    

In the times and age that I live in, the word “EXPIRED” never provided so much of relief.

In case you are the internet savvy customer – all banks have the option of hot listing of debit cards including registered credit cards after you have logged in.  It’s faster than calling the help line.

In case you have the mobile app of the bank you use – you can hotlist your card on that aswell.

Replacement cards generally arrive in 3 to 4 days. If you live in the Metros you have the new card at your doorstep even before you have taken complete stock of your life after you lost your wallet and made those phone calls. 

Now that you have the cards - replacement cards cost a mere Rs 150/- plus taxes to Rs 200/- plus taxes and vary from bank to bank.  

Hope this helped.

   

Monsoon Magic 2016.

Observations of a working visa tourist Life in Mumbai monsoons. 

People walking along the road and crossing the zebra crossing all seem to be walking with a purpose.  They seem to have a spring in their walk by and large.  Very Unlike the Delhiite who waddles or saunters or simply drags his feet.  

People leave their shoes under their work stations, change into their walking shoes and head for home. In the morning they practically dress up in the office.  

Folks eat breakfast in office. It's their morning togetherness  before beginning the day.  

Folks buy breakfast on their way to work from street side vendors and bring it to workplace in their tiffins. 

It's a regular practice not a one off day of indulgence.   

It can rain anytime with no predictability on either the strength or the length of the time of the downpour.  

The city does not stop just because it's raining.  

The city does not stop just because it is flooded.  It only pauses.   

In any case traffic only crawls in the best of times.  

Auto drivers are generally polite. They do travel by the meter without an exchange of argument, depending on the time of the day. It's all a matter of demand and supply at the pickup point.  

The meter does rule.  Auto drivers return change of Rs 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 7 or 7 or 8 or 9.  They don't crib about it and try to make an extra few bucks in the name of chutta nahi hai.  

By and large they wish you back with an exchange of greeting. 

Well all is not really fair.  You do have a few autos with their meters rigged.  For a regular Rs 37 bucks can end up being Rs 40 on the same route at a shorter distance and lesser time.  Yes it does happen.  Sometimes it's only Rs 34 or Rs 35.  It sets the mind wondering.  

Wish I had made notes of the conversations with the auto driver and the ola cab.  It's an insight into life you have seen and not seen, heard about it or not, known about it or not known about it.  It's all good because the conversation will end without a baggage at the destination.  

The security guards that frisk you before entering the metro are not used to being wished a good morning or a thank you. No wonder their return of the greeting is a little delayed but they do turn around and wish you back though you have passed them by.  

The office building security guards are pretty polite about requesting to see your I card.  

The residence building guards respond to your good mornings and good evenings with equal enthusiasm.  3 fortnights down the line.  It's the reverse.  They wish me instead of me wishing them just in case I miss - if I am lost in my own world or am occupied on the phone.  

It's like creating a new world of familiarity around you of people wishing you a good morning and a good evening or a good night.   It's kind of immaterial.  What's material is the smile that it brings on the face without any deliberation  even if it is artificial and we might not know each other's name ever.  

Ladies selling breakfast on the pavements of Mumbai from 8.00 am is a fairly common sight.  They are all neatly dressed with well oiled hair and yes they do wear flowers in their hair.   If it's raining there is an umbrella at hand and the hand is that of a gentleman.  

Umbrella?   Yup you always need to carry one on you.  It's like a walk in the city with your phone in one hand and an umbrella in the other.   

Don't mind getting your shoes wet ?   

Keep waking in the rain.  The street turns into an ankle deep fast flowing river.  Now that your leather shoes are soaked in water you will mind it and there is nothing you can do about it as the passing by double decker bus sprays water all over your trousers upto knee high. Squish squish is a sound remembered from childhood rainy days. Cut to : Why not drenched upto your waist ?  Well you know buses can't really drive very fast in this city.  Leather shoes soaked in rain water muck don't dry overnight and there is no sunshine.  If you are lucky to see the sun don't make the mistake of drying them in the sun. You need to dry them with newspaper lots of newspaper. 

Keep marching onwards. 

There is no sense of panic till the time you can make it to the 6.22 pm fast local to wherever and that's how you figure out that this city is not tuned into the system clock or the sun or the moon or the rain or the shine. It's tuned into to the digital clock of the Mumbai suburban railway and the Indian railways only recovers 36% of the the operational costs from the passengers.  So for all of you who thought this was a city driven by capitalism.   It's socialism that's powering the entire city daily all the way through the heart and back. 

Ever seen a road on a map that simply ends.  Of course you have. But  have you seen a road simply end because there is no place to go on land.  

Well that's Bombay for you. 

And when the sun does come out, You can smell it through the entire city.  I always thought that's dead fish.   Of course it's dead fish ! damn it ! but we are drying them so that they did not die in vain.  

As a kid staying outside the municipal limits of Lucknow -   It used to be an event going to town.   

At age 43 in Mumbai.  "I am going to town" is also kind of an event. 

The great divide still exists.

  

A happy childhood is something that no one can ever take away from you.

Sometimes I wonder what does make me happy ? I have no answers. 

What has made me happy ?

Getting a Walkman with a 3 band graphic equaliser on my birthday so many many years ago. 

Owning an iPod touch does not match.

Getting a BSA Mach 1 in school after a BSA slr can never be matched. 

Having dad's Maruti  800, Baleno and the Wagon R all 3 put together can never add up.

Having a psp and a ps2 can never match up to the joy and happiness of a  solar powered pocket video game that costed 350 bucks when my father's salary was 1800 bucks. 

It means so much more now than all the toys that Arjun has. 

I never have to sacrifice anything to provide for my son.

All the Nike, reebok, addidas and puma that I have today can never add upto the joy of having Sumitabh's worn out pair of Nike.

All the tshirts and clothes that I can buy today without batting an eyelid at the swipe of a card can never match up to the joy of searching for that one gem of a Tshirt from the used clothes lot at the Nixon, in the company of friends, who are still friends for life.  

The world is no longer the same.   

All the watches that I can buy for myself which I never do cos all they do is tell the time or gifting them to people I still love today which I actually do once in a while with or without a reason can never match upto the happiness of having the timex digital in class XII. 

What brings happiness ? 

Is it having something , or is it longing for something and then having that something. 

Or is it the time that one can spend with things acquired over time.  

Happiness is probably a state of mind which differs at different points of times in the entire life span.  

Here today, gone tomorrow.

It's all the same.  

A happy childhood is something that no one can ever take away from you.   

12 December 2011

The last picture of the heart & lungs of Maruti 800 under the hood.

A few days  short of 15 years of care.  

1999 to 2014 AD. 

As children of parents who grew up helping in polishing the Premier padmini and the Ambassador with waxapol over the weekends --   

The Maruti 800 brought in a new world of unimaginable driving experience all together for both the generations at the same time. 

The fun and thrill of driving a white Maruti  800, wearing white t shirts and the black seat-belts in stark contrast across the chest for special effects and the naturally flat stomach will never come back.   

For all the creature comforts of the cars that we drive today, the 800 would be rated at the top of the favourite list for the simple reason that it gave us independence to be where we wanted to be from where we were. 

White t shirts and black seat belts will always be a Sumitabh Badgel original idea.  

Have driven a lot of cars with a lot of creature comforts.  But there are two intangibles in a car that come only with time.     "Trust " and a gushing flooding rush of "memories" every time you sit behind the wheel.

Rio - Christ the Redeemer

Meandering of a mind in conflict. 

We lie to the world without a second thought because calling a spade, a spade means getting hit on the head with the same spade.   

We keep our thoughts to ourselves with our loved ones, for reasons best known to our own perceptions.   

We don't listen to our own self.  

Interestingly there is so much of chatter in the mind yet we try to drown it instead of making sense out of it.  We think we have all the answers without knowing the questions.  

When are we really ourselves ?  

"Our entire life gone by",  is the basis of the perception of our own life at the present moment and is the reason for the way we are -  the way we are, so in a way it's a self fulfilling prophesy of yesterday repeating itself today and then the same today becomes tomorrow and life becomes a photocopy of no change except the change in age.   Which eventually means we become animals  of habit with a mind without a mind of its own - on the larger picture. 

The imperceptible  changes - though visible to us are not ignored but we fail to act upon them.  When we fail to act upon them, there is nothing else to do but to react to them.  Reactions are generally of the knee jerk kind, both in the mind and in real life, which basically means that we end up with an action and a result which is more often than not - unwanted or unwarranted. 

Do luck or stars or karma play a role in your life is another line of thought that plays on the mind of why we are, the way we are but that's only when you choose not to fight the flow or not to take the blame for your own mistakes in life. 

Yes we all do make mistakes in life whether we choose to accept them or not is again a matter of choice.   When you have a choice you  make a choice. Choosing not to choose is also a choice. Choices are not always left, right or centre.  Sometimes the choice could be just to stand still and breathe deeply or simply run faster on the same path to self destruction or self gratification which ever way we look at it. Destruct we surely will,  like all humans- eventually when breath becomes air and what you leave behind is immaterial to yourself. If you look back you can plan a seamless transition from being there to not being there for what remains behind you.  

The idea is not to press the self destruct button.  The idea is to press the button of "Keep going" every morning with or without knowing where we are going ourself but we send the child to school every morning thinking we know which path we are sending him/ her on and where it leads to. Or do we even really know that ? 

We just know it leads to the future.  What the future holds is not known but the belief of creating a better future than our own is the goal.  

As I write this I am reminded of what my dad always said that his dad in turn told him that as a parent you have succeeded only if you leave your child on a platform to walk ahead in life than what you ever walked on. I never really understood those words till maybe today as I sent  my son or should I say despatched him to school imagining that he is headed for a better future than mine while not knowing what the future holds. It's all imaginary.  It's all about creating more opportunities for him to be better than his grand parents when he looks back at his own life. 

Which of "The 7 Wonders of the World"  would you like to visit ? : 

If my son wants to go to "Rio" out of all the locations of the wonders of the world for the simple reason that the Fifa World Cup was held here and Messi won the golden boot here and so on and he writes an entire page of it for class work but we rub it all at home and say - "Son, all this is very nice and very well written but you can't write this for an answer. You can't write what your mind thinks.  You have to write what your teacher wants you to write, what she expects you to write." And so he writes about "The scenic beauty around Christ in his flowing robe with the beautiful ocean on one side and the city of Rio on the other and the image of the feeling of warmth of the embrace that Christ's arms are  open wide for all of humanity and it's only befitting that the Olympics are being held in the city with Christ overlooking it." Or something to the effect.   

The beginning of teaching the child to lead a dual life has begun in real earnest.  

Ridiculous that we preach to allow the child to be what he wants to be and express what he wants to express and be how he wants to be.  

Children learn best by example. 

Are we really the complete perfect sample of what we would want our children to be like ?  

The child also does not really know you or maybe he/ she knows you better than you know yourself because he/ she sees you for what you are and not for what you have become.  

12 August 2016

  

Time and Quality time for children.

A few games of chess in a few hours with unknown children  at age 8.5 years.  

So you lose some and you win some. 

Sometimes you lose all and sometimes you win all.  

It's how you feel after you win or lose that makes the big difference to your psyche.  

A high after a win.  The need to share that win. To Share that achievement.  You need someone for that.  It's a natural human need, more so for a child.  

A low after a loss. The need to withdraw into the invisible shell.  

You need to be physically there  To reach out to the child inside that invisible shell that you can't enter.  To coax him out of the shell. To pep him up, to send him to play the next game when he does not believe in himself that he can win but so desperately wants to win.   It's the "wanting to win chord" that needs to be touched. So long as that chord is there you can always believe that - all it needs is a nudge to go back to the table and that it's just another game and it starts afresh and the previous losses don't count.  The mind has to forget it.  You have to remind the kid to look forward and not backwards.  

You have to make the child to live in the moment.   

If the child is not living in the moment then he has become an adult and that we all know - what it is like to be robbed of our childhood.   

BE THERE, even if you think you are not required.  

I was so wrong about thinking that 

all the movies that show the crest fallen face of children whose parents don't make it to their child's first baseball match or soccer match are over dramatised and the child is only being melodramatic and the wife saying that the kid really wanted you to be there --is so much of "booooo"  is highly over rated.   They are bloody right.   

As a parent Somethings have to be experienced to believe in.  

Some moments don't come twice.  

In hindsight I am so glad I was there for those 5 hours for Arjun to share his 2 losses followed by 2 wins and ending with a loss, for sharing his anticipation and strange anxiety of knowing the final score and final position in the tournament.  His jubilation to know that he was not last looked kind of a strange emotion to me till he told me that all his chess mates at school and sparring partners where he trains had told him that they had all come last in the first tournament that they had participated and that he would surely come last too.  

There is so much that a kid contains inside him that he does not share till he is ready to share with you and can share only if you allow yourself to spend time with him.  It all comes out with time only.   

Don't expect him or her to share what happens in his or her life in the Quality time window that you have identified for him or her out of your life at your own sweet convenience.   

The child will share it only when he is God damn well ready to share it with you.   

There is no substitute for "time". "Quality time with children" was a phrase invented and coined by folks who wanted to remove the guilt from their own lives for not being able to spend time with their children. 

On the 5th of August 

for 31st of July 2016

PS. Don't confuse spending time around and with your children and being a helicopter parent as being the same.  

Rambling inside an empty mind.

This particular rambling of the mind was noted as I watched over furniture doing nothing.   

What one sees, sets the mind off on a tangent in the orbit to nowhere in particular, and then gets nudged to the next tangent off another orbit which again is orbiting to nowhere, by the next thing you see.   

Folks offloading electrical fittings.  

The man who drives an Audi also buys the same stuff. 

Khaitan kitchen exhaust,

Usha bathroom exhaust,

V guard geyser,

Crompton ceiling fan.   

Yeah unlike the man who drives a Santro,  he bought Surya tubelights instead of Philips.   

Whatever be the take away from this observation. The idea is that is Surya a better tubelight than Philips or is the Audi owner cutting corners on price front or Philips has no perceived value addition in his house or simply that light is light what's in a name or a brand, as it is tube lights in a world of LEDs. 

A diesel Innova makes just as much noise as when the Audi A4 crawls.  It's the Honda city which is the silent killer till the radiator cooling  fan cuts in without any warning.   

Interestingly the Delhi and Gurgaon number plates almost match upto to the Noida and Ghaziabad number plates. So the society really is a melting pot.  

Female property dealers have also made an entry into the deal and guess what ? They were selling the cleanliness of the property as a bigger USP than the greenery. 

It is good to see the economy thriving on Tommy Hilfiger, genuine or fake it's all the same. Everyone is wearing a Tommy.  Somehow Tommy always reminds me of the lack of imagination while christening a puppy.   

It's nice to see car drivers wearing better shoes than the car owners.  

If those Japs had shifted more asses down to India to sell and supervise manufacturing in India, they would have done well like a Samsung and a LG.  You see so many Korean kids around than before and not only in the well heeled places playing ball but single women shopping and bringing home the green grocery from Big Bazaar.   

Part of the global economy.  Samsung global mobile unit got a new CEO after 6 years because of stagnating sales.  Would you believe that ? Samsung sales stagnating.  It's proof that you are as good as your previous month only and no matter how good or bad a thing you make. If it does not sell you are history. 

Wonder of wonders Micro Max is about to beat SONY mobiles in total sales revenue. 

Ok so where do you draw the line with not being judgemental ? 

Shoes. Soles. Laces.  Watches -  Dial or strap. Pen clip. Place where it is clipped. The walk. The car. The car paint.  The body line condition.  None of it really matters.   

Ok none of this matters but the way the man releases the clutch  yes I am bloody judgemental about it whether it's the driver or the owner on how a person treats his car engine.  

Well so you see this tall slim lady in mauve tights and matching heels and you know that her hair is straightened and keratin bonded ( that's my imagination ) and the maid walking next to her just as cool and they have this conversation going in Hindi.  "Mera toh Mann Gurgaon move karne Ka hai"    And you know life is full of wanna be's for the simple reason that her maid is carrying a petite one year old and the conversation is in Hindi.   English has still not arrived as a medium of conversation in life between the mistress and the maid out for the evening walk.   

Spent 3 hours outside a partially inhabited high rise on a Sunday afternoon and the take away from the entire period and watching humans interact with humans is that everything is about monetary exchange of perceived economic benefit and I guess it's the sole purpose of existence.  Its just a job. 

The new economy is about transport and the future is tele transport.  We live in pigeon holes and a CNG fitted car or a diesel Swift Desire or an Indica comes to ferry you from your pigeon hole to your work station or the airline  seat or the train chair or berth.   It costs the same to reach the railway station as the air conditioned train ride  to Chandigarh with meals included. Such is the paradox of the economy and then the common man complains that the Railway budget is not fair.   Well this really is not the common man's world anymore.   

The only saving grace of the day was the spirit of Jim Beam and seeing the joy and happiness of folks moving into their OWN house. 

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.  

The great Indian middle class dream of having your OWN house on an EMI.  

Have it any God damn way you like.

   

Basketball before School.

I have realised life and the household revolves round the child. 

You wake up half an hour before him 

Prepare his milk and nutritive additive, make him drink it in his sleep. Put him back to sleep and coax him out of bed after 20 minutes.  Sleep walk him through the ablutions and cleaning his teeth and then coax life back into him under the shower by this time he becomes a shampoo and shower gel wasting monster that depletes the bottle faster than his parents can use in half a month.  He becomes a question spawning machine to which you have no answers and the cell phone and google is not waterproof so answers can wait for another time.  

You help him tie his basketball shoe laces cos the laces are too long for him to master the double knot. 

Mother has packed his breakfast tiffin. Water bottle and bottle of Tang for the sugar rush when he wants it. 

School bag and the change of school dress clothes and black shoes and the jing bang,  basket ball juggling and car keys between the two of us.  We scuttle into the car, drive .... Reverse park infront of the school boundary ball for an easy getaway when the regular school mayhem sets loose and all organised pandemonium of 12000 kids start to drop in to the school for the day.   

You half speed walk and half jog with all the juggling towards the basket ball court.   

We reach before the coach does.  

The coach reaches.  

It's 6.35 am only.  

The day begins to roll...  For the next one hour it's a lot of stretching running round the big field, warming up before the shit on the court begins. I just read today about what motivated the kids to bust their asses.  

"Why do I bust my ass so much ? So that I can bust yours !   "

So much so for sweating and dribbling the ball and the beads of sweat all over the court with a few water breaks and shooting through the hoops.  Running running and running and stop break sideways and change sides and reverse run.  While I watch from the sidelines.   

Lots of the kids are doing the same thing but you can tell that some are just going through the motions and some are putting more than their heart into it.

Thank god we are back to the evening routine.  🎈  

I would never have survived the morning ordeal with him.   

As he grows up in pictures.