CITYLIGHTS

CITYLIGHTS

Service, with more than a smile

This reporter, while vacationing in a tier-2 city, experienced unparalleled customer service at a cooperative textile shop. On Christmas eve, the reporter and her friend went clothes shopping. However, post shopping, there was a hiccup when all ride-sharing apps cancelled trips as there was traffic congestion during the holiday season. After multiple failed attempts to book a taxi, the shop owner, who saw how distressed they were, ordered his staff to drop the customers home. The reporter was pleasantly surprised to get such customer service, and realised that even the most advanced technology is no match to the warmth of human kindness.

— Mamtha Asokan

How far away is Chennai?

Signboards are meant to help you but, on our highways, sometimes they only serve to confuse you. On Mudichur-Gandhi Salai, one such board says that you are 19km away from Guindy. Just a few 100m away, near the police outpost, another signboard says that Guindy is 16km away. And yet another, on Gandhi Salai-GST Road junction, says that Guindy is just 12km away. While locals may just ignore these signboards, they would definitely confuse migrant workers and people coming from other states. The highways department should take note of it and make the necessary changes.

— A Selvaraj

Meet the Coronnials

We've had the baby boomers, Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z, the millennials... well, the latest to join the alphabet soup seems to be the 'Coronnials', or babies born in 2020, the year of the pandemic. Don't stop the presses yet. It's still unofficial, but doing the rounds nonetheless. I saw a new mother the other day, walking with her little baby strapped inside a pram. She was stopped by a couple who were excited to see the baby. "Oh my, is she a Coronnial? You know what we mean, babies born in the time of Corona?" they enquired enthusiastically. The new mother stared back bewildered. Not me, though, for I had got a little nugget for this column.

— Kamini Mathai

Number confusion

People booking railway tickets online were really confused recently to see two trains with the same numbers showing up on the website. The railways was quick to address the issue but numbering of trains is proving to be a big challenge for officials. The reason? Railways is in the process of resuming most of the express trains that were running before the pandemic. These trains have been slotted as 'specials' and cannot have their original number along with the names though they run as per the pre-Covid timetable. This is because the railways don't want to declare that scheduled trains are back on track until they get a final clearance from the ministry for normal operations.

— V Ayyappan