Petrol stop

It usually happens when you're in a hurry and can least afford the time:  the auto rickshaw driver stops for petrol.
And though I don't ever see passengers in the other autos lined up, I assume I'm not the only one this happens to, right?

In this instance, the driver said it was needed, and this line was just too short to pass up.

One bonus to the time in line there was seeing this auto decked out in pink and hearts.

It is the law that for safety's sake everyone has to step out of the vehicle while it is being filled with the CNG.  It does strike me, though, that if we are all standing within 5 feet of an auto that is going to explode, it is not going to make a bit of difference whether we were inside it or not.

Grieving for the dead gas connection

15 months.
Is that something to be proud of, or does that mean I cook too little?
It took me that long to use up a cylinder of cooking gas. It finally finished while attempting to make some chai.

I spoke--well, no, that's not the right word--interacted with the interactive voice response system to make a booking for a refill. It gave me the number 6 and 0. I don't know what kind of confirmation that is.

Five days, 18 phone calls, five emails, and 3 smses later, I came to understand it was not any kind of confirmation. It doesn't mean anything at all.
And I went to the the gas company office.

The girl sitting at her computer typed in my consumer number and right away told me my account was "dead".
That's what she said: "dead".

My account has died.
Oh tragedy.
And--right on track with moving through the phases of grief--I went from denial (she'd already had to say it twice because of my what-are-you-talking-about face) to anger...

Who let this happen! I changed to a "shocked--how could that be" face.
I need cooking gas. What am I supposed to do if I don't use up a cylinder in less than six months (bargaining phase)!

Calmly, she gave me the list of requirements for reactivating the account.

Oh sheesh. Give up the drama, I told myself, and begin the process of reactivating the account and gathering all the paperwork. Again(acceptance phase).

So I had to return with all the documentation 2 hours later (after lunch) and then I had to write a letter requesting they reopen it (re-entering life phase).
After which, the girl changed something in the computer and told me my new cylinder would arrive the next day. I waited to see.

Nope. Nothing arrived.
Not the following day either.

So it was my first priority this morning. To go to the gas company again and ask them where my refill was.
But it was kind of a slow morning, and I didn't have a chance to go anywhere before the doorbell rang and there it was: a full cylinder.

That's a happier than expected ending. And in celebration, I will go make some chai.

Loaded shikara

Is this why Kashmir is considered a dangerous place? They load shikaras with gas cylinders?

I am reminded of the ridiculous opening scene in the movie Mission Kashmir when a shikara explodes.
Who would explode a shikara. And why?

Well this guy might, but not intentionally.

That cheating gas man

When I arrived home today, there was a gas man in my house.
How did he get in?
Well, he showed my guest his badge and convinced him to open the door.
No worries there, I would have done the same.

He was making a mess, that gas man.
Throwing his trash around, walking in the house with his shoes on (I did scold him for that and felt somewhat vindicated in the release of frustration.)

Some gas company man came only 5 months ago, and I'm supposed to have 6 months before things start expiring. My memory of the last argument I had with a gas man hasn't even faded yet.

I told this guy that I didn't need what he said I needed.
He said that, yes, I did.
What he thought I needed for my kitchen stove was:

• a new hose
• a black spring thing to put over the hose --adamantly refused that dirt collector
• a cleaning kit--have 2 or three I've never opened, so refused that
• some metal put-over-the-flame thing that is supposed to make it use less gas--refused. But he made me watch the demonstration anyway.
• and the megnetic gas saver--no, no, no, how I refused this thing, but he'd already put it on. And it was so expensive!

He then tried to charge me 250 for the hose, though the package clearly states 60-90rs. On top of that, his bill had a 150 service charge, for a service I never asked for.
Argh.

After the gas man left, I apologized to my guests. "I'm sorry you had to see that," I said. Wish I could say, "It'll never happen again."
But, oh, it will. :)

Cylinder order

A man showed up at my door today with a slip of paper saying I'd ordered a new cooking gas cylinder.
No, I hadn't.
He had the right address, right floor, landlord's name--but no, I hadn't ordered a cylinder.
I told him I didn't need it. I hadn't order it.
But yet, there was his piece of paper that said I did.
The cleaning lady who was in my house at the time, assured the man that, no, I didn't need a new cylinder, I still had gas.
And finally, he went away.
Then the cleaning lady laughed and said, "Why would you need a new cylinder? Where would your gas have gone? You never cook anything."
Smart aleck.

The gas is gone

My propane cylinders I use for the stove are empty.
I need a new "connection". Getting one is a tedious process, especially since government offices are involved. This morning I went out to get that process started.
The cycle rickshaw driver thought he could find a different gas office in a different neighborhood and we spent about forty minutes riding around looking for it, before he finally arrived at the original destination asked for. I felt bad for him, pedaling so long. But I also didn't because it was his own fault for trying to find a short cut and not take me where I wanted to go.
By the time we reached the gas company office, it was 1:16pm. Lunch time. The office was mostly deserted, but there was a woman who said to come back at two o'clock with the proper paper work (which I had in my bag). She wouldn't help me then.
I noticed a sign in the office. I'm wondering if it's true... Making me come back in forty-five minutes does not seem like something that is for my "convenience".
I got change for the cycle driver by buying potato chips from a small snack store and went to a Tibetan restaurant to eat momos.
Then I returned to the office and submitted my paperwork. I was told that "between a month" someone would come to inspect my home. Then I could have a gas connection. If I pass inspection.
I should.
I think.
I submitted all the paperwork. And what about my "satisfaction"?