The Indian airports

Just during the recent travel, I went through the airports in the two major Indian cities… Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai & Delhi International Airport Limited.

Mumbai airport and the facilities there can be described in a single word as Terrible!

Almost all the people who were having transit from International to Domestic terminal were stranded. There is no proper information or infrastructure for the transit to occur. Many of them were shocked to hear that they have to collect their baggage, board a bus and reach the domestic terminal to catch their connection flight, which will depart like in an hour!
The worst part was the announcement system. There weren't any!!
The airplane staff had to go around the whole terminal shouting, repeating the names for passengers who are yet to board.
One positive thing I noticed was the personnel were trying their best to help. They were trying to guide the passengers in transit & to gather passengers from all the corners to board the plane.
I guess they are used to the angry banter of the distraught passengers. They kind of switch to autopilot as part of reaction and keep repeating the same useless consoling words and express their helplessness.


In sheer contrast to it is the New Delhi airport. A top class international airport with all facilities like travelator, snooze chairs, excellent gates, duty free shops, there was even a Delhi Daredevils pub.
The pics speak for themselves.

But the people, the indifferent and arrogant attitude is unbearable.
The typical "Dilliwallah" attitude, I have power, so I must use it put others in distress!
How else can you explain the behavior of the security staff, giving instruction to the Japanese transit passenger in pure Hindi, without even any hand signs?
The poor single traveler was lost when the uniformed staffs were asking her to get the tag for her hand carries, and for her to go the female section (when there was no queue of Ladies sign). They ask her in Hindi to open her bag for verification. She was so perplexed and the staffs were enjoying it. They were not even trying to hide their satisfaction & happiness by torturing others.
When asked, the security officer replied to me that this is how things are done here!

So sad that a set of our own people are spoiling the reputation & the standard we are trying to achieve.
If you do not know the language, I would suggest to take the transit at Mumbai airport ..

Restart

New year is a good time and well accepted excuse to kickstart a lot of things which have been neglected for a long time. Especially activities concerned to the self which are not mandatory in real life. I am not naming them as resolutions Coz it quite compels me to break resolutions.
Couple of activities pending for a long time are blogging and healthy life !
Restarting blogging might be an easier one, mainly Coz I am having a very active life these years meeting a lot of people and learning loads of new things & my blog is not specific to an area/ just myself. So I will be pretty much writing here things which interests me and my readers :)
Healthy lifestyle is something which I have been aiming to start to practice and achieve for a long while. The sentence shows my inertia towards it ;) with the current lifestyle with loads of wining and dining this has become kind of unavoidable if I wish to continue the fabulous lifestyle :) over the past year I have learned the theory of it.
Workout atleast thrice a week.
Reduce processed food.
Complex Carb in the morning, proteins for the daytime.
choose brown rice, brown sugar .
Cardios are our good friends...

I have decided to embrace the words of wisdom and be healthier and to lose the excess weight I have accumulated over the past year.

So these two are the two small tests for me this year :)

Happy new year all ...

A snap which takes me all the way to Japan

Just a snapshot of spring days in Japan ..
Oh! how much I miss the blue blue skies, the cherry blossoms, my good friends out there and ...

My Baba & I

Me and my boyfriend were spending a whole weekend shopping in the city. Roaming around on Sunday nite we saw the walls of Singapore Arts Museum, got interested and walked towards it. Beside it was a temple. Seeing a South Indian temple and a Chinese temple side by side in the midst of the city skyline was curious enough. Even more curious was the sight in front of the temple.
I noticed a small crowd in front of the temple. As you know me, naturally I wanted to know what was going on in the centre. What I saw there was total surprise !.!

An Indian astrologer lady was predicting future of a Chinese family .
I was not sure if my clicking pictures now would end up in a commotion. Since I couldn't resist it I started showing my usual interestingness expressing and focusing.


Seeing me with my SLR and stuff, the lady started taking out cigarettes. I guess she wanted to look cool in the pics ;)


The Chinese lady and family were pretty concerned about the issue they were facing in life and she somehow believed that this Indian lady could put their life out of misery!
Hey .. look who the force is ..


And later a pretty long advice and thinking session, the fortune teller asked the recipient to buy a few chains and pendants from the adjoining stall at the other end of the slab. The smokin lady started chanting manthras and handed over the chains to each and every family member and blessed them.


Hopefully, the family felt relieved and have their problems sorted out by now...

It could be a common sight in India, probably without the cigarettes.. But in Singapore!! Naa.. never expected to see a session like this !! But after thinking more about it, I think it just points to the common human behavior to have faith in someone big, powerful than the self!

CATCH 183

Well well well ... For me to restart writing?? It should be something too important or irresistible ne? So, here it comes...
As the general knowledge goes.. I have been working with an MNC for the past 3months as a sub-contract engineer. And being a star performer, a proactive team member and etc etc .. the management decided to end my contract asap and convert me to a permanent staff.. See.. Good resources don't come by so often naa ;)
Stopping with the boasting now and getting to the real matter..
Me and my current employer were pretty pleased with the offer and things were going smooth. Things were all set for the transfer. On the day prior to the transfer, I went to their office to complete the relieving formalities. I get the last pay slip, have a look at it and I felt like my heart even forgot the promise of beating rhythmically!! The figures seem to be around less than 1/3rd of my salary.
What happens is, in Singapore, if you are leaving the job within 183 of commencement, the employer is supposed to file the tax on behalf of me. Doesn't matter if you are switching jobs or leaving the country. Rules are the same !!
My tax will be assessed as if I am a non-resident. And the tax rate is 15%!!!
Woah! I hadn't seen that coming. Turns out even my employers hadn't speculated it.
Suddenly I got very interested in the tax matters and stuff. My mind said..
Go and save yourself ... Google it out girl!!
Guess what! All the stuff happening is clearly stated in the Inland Revenue Authority's website.
http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/page04.aspx?id=274

As with the predictable Singapore, help lines to the rescue
http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/page.aspx?id=2374

But, my employer assured me that, there should be some way to get a refund of this amount as I am continuing to work in Singapore. Maybe be by the end of the financial year !!!
The kind IRAS official over the phone reassured me that as soon as (1) my ex-employer has remitted the tax on my behalf and (2) I have entered the new job, I could submit a request to IRAS to reassess my tax as a Resident.
For that I need to get certificate of employment from the new place and fill out the Form No.15 [Request for Tax Reassessment from 'Non-Resident' to 'Resident' Status] found in this link: http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/page.aspx?id=848
Seems I need not wait for 183 days to apply this! Good for me :-)

Have to drop a word of thanks to my ex-employer who made a great effort on my behalf and arranged finances for me so that the tax stuff won’t be a burden upon me.

But then, as somebody told someone ... "Ignorance is never an Excuse"!! So, better be prepared and take care of the 183 days if you come to Singapore for a short term assignment on a local payroll.

Now, when that is settled, let me start finding ways to sort out the tax refund I am eligible from Japanese and Indian governments!!