Unless adapted, technology is worthless

After 10 years I landed in Bangalore couple of weeks back to a swanky airport unlike the earlier HAL one. Last time I was at the airport, I could see a couple of television sets informing the arrival and departure of flights and the entire process of information was done manually. This means a person sitting in a PC opened a Power Point and physically moved flight numbers and this was clearly visible to all and sundry at the airport.

Now things are international standards and the best thing here is the Vayu Vajra or the Bus shuttle service. I dont think any other airport has this facility. And despite being the most developed state, the condition at Ahmedabad airport is worse than the worst public bus stands. Even today, you see those primitive Rikshaw guys pouncing upon you and virtually looting you. Many taxi services and systematic planning efforts at Ahmedabad failed miserably. Passengers are now at the hands of the ruffians and despite not being able to manage this petty issue, Gujarat call itself vibrant. But then I had thought why any one from the so called software capital didnt help the airport authorities to automate the system in Bangalore. Or for that matter why the so called great institutions in Ahmedabad, CEPT, IIM, NID failed to give a solution to these problems though they are teaching their students to tackle problems a million times harsh than this?

I called from Ahmedabad to a chain called The Fern where I have a corporate membership to know if I could get corporate rate in Bangalore too. The Ahmedabad Fern staff said they dont have a hotel in Bangalore where as a Fern Hotel exists in Anand Rao circle. The Bangalore guy said they dont have one in Ahmedabad. Oooh La. Why this corporate programme then?

I looked at the Fern Citadel Bangalore site and saw a package which I asked the reception  guy to book and confirm. But he said there is no such package on their website. I went ahead booked online and got the same package. So much for Information Technology and hospitality integration.

Bangalore has changed a lot and so the new areas were alien to me. But then technology also has transformed and there is now all sorts of maps available. I chose Google and Waze to help me through the city. So without any hesitation, I started off to White Field in one of the hundreds of Volvo Services and no sooner I reached the outer ring road, my Vodafone 3G conked off. There was no data service at all. I switched on my other phone and the same result. I had shared my live location to my friend who would be coming to pick me up at Cosmos Mall. But his update showed I havent started my journey at all. The net result - we started sharing location the old way - through calls.

Whatever you term the country of, we are still a century behind where we should have been. I am now at the airport staring at the TV where Mumbai police has revealed they have cracked the Photojournalist gangrape case.

We are not concerned about all what should be. Most of our parties are fighting for petty causes and most of us just support them. I headed to Kochi where last time I was there, I didnt get any data service after Supreme Court banned Vodafone from sharing services from Idea. But to my surprise, I got it this time. may be the court has failed to get reporting from its representatives.