Roll Against (your) Companion

I thumbed my cell phone to check the latest status of my wait-listed train ticket. "RS4 31" it said. Not completely familiar with the acronyms of Indian Railways, I was jubilant that my waitlisted ticket had moved up to confirmation! I reckoned that they must have a bogey RS4 in which I was allotted the berth 31. Or some frustrated underpaid software developer had casually added that 'R' in front of S4. So sure were we of getting a berth going by similar experiences in the past, that my parents and I even expressed surprise and ranted on about the corruption and foul play rampant in the Railways. I SMSed my wife about this development in all excitement and we exchanged some "Cool", "Waiting for you" messages. Little did I know what was waiting for me at the station.

Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai was bustling with people mostly returning home after the Christmas vacation. There was a long winding queue even to get the platform ticket for my parents who had come to see me off. Dad made a couple of attempts at jumping the queue. Others in the line already frustrated by the long wait came charging at him. Overwhelmed by the outburst he coyly moved away as the crowd continued to vent their angst out on the clerk behind the counter who was chatting away with a fellow clerk in all earnest. It was decided that we bid each other good bye here and I proceed to my platform. I ambled towards my train as there was still a long time for its departure. Passing the unreserved coaches, S1, S2, S3, before reaching S4, I stopped on the way to buy some strips of paper soap and a bottle of water. Somebody had just pasted the reservation chart still wet with the watery gum that was liberally applied on it. I moved my finger down the list and there it was. I found my name against berth number 31. But wait what's this! There was one more name against the same berth! It didn't take time to put two and two together. The 'R' in 'RS4' stood for 'RAC' - Reservation against cancellation. I was to share the berth with a fellow passenger.

Although I had always known about this concept, I had never really given it a thought. I never had traveled in RAC before. "Share a berth"! Come on it's like sharing the bed! Now I would have jumped at this opportunity of cuddling up with my wife if she was traveling with me but that wasn't the case. And to do that with somebody else! I squirmed at the ribald thought! In self-pity I messaged my wife about the turn of events. My companion was 30 M boarding at Kalyan and accompanying me all the way till Davangere. I walked up to my berth and was greeted by the fellow passenger in 32. "RAC?" he asked and gave me a look of empathy. I settled down in my seat as he climbed up and nestled in his berth leaving me seething with envy. As the train chugged along, I must have dozed off. "Ashish?" somebody called. I must be dreaming I thought. "Ashish??" somebody called again. I opened my eyes. It was my RAC partner. He had studied the reservation chart and that's how he knew my name. I huddled myself up and crouched on my side of the berth. He took his time in arranging the luggage and then introduced himself. I had no intention of engaging in a conversation with him. I was tired, sleepy and now angry at this intrusion knowing very well that it was meant to be. He told me how he got late and had to rush to catch the train and casually stretched his legs beyond the imaginary line dividing our berth into two. Trying to avoid the talk, I pretended to look out the window as if trying to find something in the darkness outside. Taking the hint he shut his mouth and buried himself under the blanket. Soon he had stretched himself and was fully prostrate. Although annoyed, I myself was craving to lie down. I had been fighting the thought partly out of dignity and partly out of respect for the fellow passenger. But emboldened by my partner's advances, I too stretched myself and tried to sleep. It was anything but comfortable, embarrassing if not anything more as I twisted and turned on that little berth trying to find the perfect horizontal position and yet avoid any physical contact with my RAC-partner now deep in slumber. It was getting cold and I had to take the sweater out from my bag under the berth. With him outstretched like that it was not an easy task. I could have easily woken him up. But courtesy prevailed over me even at that awkward moment as I bent down over him trying to pull the bag from below. My back stretched and abs flexed while trying to avoid the slightest of contact with my sleeping companion. I was amazed I was still so supple. After a few minutes of this workout I had successfully managed to pull my sweater and shawl out. Spent by the exercise, I was sweating already! I triumphed at my achievement which was clearly worthy of an entry into the "Guinness book of World Records" or "Minute to win it" at the least. I smiled at the ridiculous thought. Sufficiently warmed and exhausted, I still had one more task to do. I had to fit my body jigsaw like in the space left by my mate. Mind you this was no child's play as well. While my head and feet fit perfectly next to his feet and head respectively, it was our midriff and waist that posed a problem. Now this fellow was comfortably sleeping on his back leaving very less place for me. That was fine as long as I sat with my legs stretched, but as I tried to level myself I just wouldn't fit. I had no choice but to turn to one side. I preferred turning to the window even if that meant facing my bum to the world as otherwise I would be left smelling his feet! It flashed through me that this was the perfect way in which two people could share a berth and yet maintain all civility and decency. I mean imagine if my partner had decided to turn to a side too. We would either be left with our bums touching or even worse some pose straight from the book of Kamasutra!

But even that supine pose proved far from comfortable. The window was ajar and the night cold breeze blew straight on to my face. I would pull it down and latch it. It would stay there for a few seconds before magically moving up as if playing some childlike mischief. I gave up after a few failed attempts at shutting the window and buried myself under the shawl. That provided some defense against the wind but not quite enough. I tried to twist and roll. But so snugly did I fit that space that any movement in that plane was practically and scientifically impossible without displacing my partner. He on the other hand slept like a baby all this while. I sat up trying to rest against the wall. No good. My back ached and neck stiffened. I closed my eyes. I saw the dimly lit bedroom back home. The spacious queen size cot in the middle. In its soft fluffy bed I lied asleep tucked under the blanket with my wife in my arms. I would have loved to go on but somebody was shaking me and I felt it even in that rattling train. It was the old man from the top berth. He had woken up in the wee hours of the morning. "Go take my berth", he said pointing above in some language vaguely similar to Marathi. I wanted to jump out and climb up to his berth lest he changed his mind. "Really? Are you sure?", I asked in a drowsy tone trying to emote disbelief and concern at the same time. He nodded. With his raised hand still pointing to his berth he appeared like one of the Indian gods, who impressed by his disciple, had manifested to bless him with his wish. I quickly thanked him, jumped out of my seat and climbed up to his berth. And of course all this without a slightest hint to my RAC companion!

Hail Indian Railways!

-Ashish.

Intelligent Shopping Cart

The thought of waiting in the long queue at a retail mall makes us all cringe. Many a times it takes more time for billing than for shopping for the family! With malls becoming the favorite weekend retreat for more and more people, the problem is only going to get worse.

Here's a thought...

Two things happen at the billing counter -
1. Computing the total bill
2. Payment

People come with basket or at times baskets full of goods. Obviously it takes a while to scan all of them and compute the bill. How about modeling a shopping cart on the lines of an online shopping cart? Make it intelligent so that it can compute the bill as the goods are added to or removed from it! All that is left to be done at the counter is the payment, which takes relatively lesser time.

It's feasibility and design would require some serious pondering but hey! it's a thought! :)

-Ashish.

CVV misuse

Credit card frauds are rampant these days. Here's a thought on the card verification value or CVV that appears on the credit cards...

Consider the following case:
You go to a petrol bunk and fill petrol in your car. You hand over your credit card. The card is swiped, you sign and zoom off. One month later you see a huge charge against your card and a list of all those transactions that you never made!
The bunk owner was a nasty chap. He made a note of your credit card details. All that he needed to execute an online transaction is the credit card number, expiry date and the CVV or the CVV2 if I should be more precise.

Question: Why should the CVV be printed on the card?

Thought: I see no reason for the CVV to be printed on the card. The banks should be more discreet in distributing the CVV. They do that with the ATM card PINs... why can't the same be done with the CVV? This way we can avoid the card being misused by the corrupt merchants like the one in the case cited above.