Is the customer always right?

"Is the customer always right!" - Right or wrong?

Wrong. Contrary to the popular belief that this is the most catchy phrase to attract customers to be loyal to you, I believe that what this statement should be is "The right customer is always right".
The customer is the most important consideration because he eventually is your source of income, the one who writes you cheques. The notion of the customer always being right is correct when you seriously need to lure him into buying your product or services, but there always is an additional criterion of negotiation. Encouraging an abrasive customer can lower the employees' moral and zeal to deliver the best. In a high competition market this statement must be considered a guideline but not otherwise. Delivering the best service is any company's primary aim and in many cases the customer can be really wrong and you need to correct him and make him believe and develop his trust in you to such an extent that he is ready to accept your expertise as a business man or service provider, you know the deal well.

I would certainly like the customer to come to me repeatedly and this quote was designed to make them believe that we care. The origin of the phrase was in the USA where it is particularly associated with Marshall Field's department store, Chicago (established in the late 19th century).

But as I have no first hand experience in running a business so I would love to read more on this from the real experts who have a day to day involvement is customer handling......

Will it kill me?

smoke-
its hot and smoggy,
burns me inside
and then
is blown out!

the brown leaves-
wrapped in white
just
like my death-bed
wait for me!

smoke again-
makes me sleep
wakes me up
helps me think
is my friend!

the match glows
the bed reddens
the air blows
and..............
the death awaits!

yet again,
it cures my cold
and as i told
it helps me poke
the unknowns who smoke!

but i know alright
that these are no drills
when they write on it
that
smoking kills!

कुछ पल - मेरे लिए भी....

अकेला बैठा मैं ,
रौशनी से क्यूँ भागता हूँ
अँधेरे की छाओं में
-अपने आप से बातें करने को!


क्या ये ज़िन्दगी एक बोझ बन गयी है
या बोझ ढोना ही मेरी ज़िन्दगी है?


कभी रुक जाऊं, सोचता हूँ, बस खुद क लिए......
वक़्त से कहता रहता हूँ
कुछ पल, बस कुछ देर के लिए


पर कोई सुनता क्यों नहीं?
और शायद यही वजह है कि मैं...
रौशनी से दूर, अँधेरे कि ओर भागता हूँ!
____________________________


तेरी आखों में तलाशता रहता हूँ ख़ुशी
नींद तेरी गोद का गुलाम सी बन गयी है!

मैं डरता नहीं हार से, न मौत से, न दुःख से
बस जिंदा रखना चाहता हूँ
-अपने मन को, अपनी रूह को,
उस सोच को जो मुझे जीने का मक्सद देती है


चीखता रहता है मन, जोर जोर से चिल्लाता है
पर कभी कोई सुन ही नहीं पाता!


मेरे आस पास अँधेरा ही ठीक था
रौशनी मेरे सपनों का रंग फीका कर देती है!
और शायद यही वजह है की मैं.....
रौशनी से दूर, अँधेरे की ओर भागता हूँ!
___________________________
सुबह की ये किरने
टूटे हुए सपने याद दिलाती है,
और रोशन चेहरों को देख कर
मन सहम सा जाता है?

भागते भागते थक क्यों नहीं जाती ये दुनिया!
अपने काले दामन पे कालिक क्यूँ मले जा रही हैं?


मैं जो भी करना चाहूँ वो कर क्यों नहीं सकता
कभी बस सो जाना चाहूँ तो सो क्यूँ नहीं सकता
क्यों सिखाते रहते हैं लोग
चलना, जीना और मरना?


जीत जाने की दौड़ में
ऐसे लगे हुए हैं सब कि
रास्ते की ख़ुशी को तो
अब कोई समझ ही नहीं पाता!


टिमटिमाते तारों के बीच ढून्ढ लेता हूँ सुकूं
और शायद यही वजह है की मैं.....
रौशनी से दूर, अँधेरे की ओर भागता हूँ!
________________________




-नितिन विषेन

The dream I have seen hundreds of times!

I usually do not remember my dreams at all! By the way, I am so forgetful that I don't remember stuff that I do consciously after one or two eventful days or even after uneventful, lazy ones. But two days back when I woke up in the morning with a good morning call, I remembered the dream I just saw and suddenly realized that I have witnessed this particular dream, I don't know, may be hundreds of times at night, in a slightly different setting each time inspired by my current location and people on my mind. Here is what I saw that night.....

I and my friends are partying around, may be on the New Year's Day. It seems like the new year's day because everyone is on the streets having a blast. Then suddenly, out of nowhere our car hits some vehicle, with no harm caused to anybody and we run away in a hurry. To our amazement, in a few minutes a police van is chasing us and we run for our lives. Then we run out of fuel and all the four or five of us start running to find out a hide out with police chasing us......I woke up while I was being chased.

This has happened several times earlier too and every such time I get up to a faint memory of a similar dream. I have been having these dreams since as many years back as I remember. As a child I used to run along with my friends and sister in the filthy lane behind my house and in and out of the broken wall of my school. Sometimes I have seen myself as a freedom fighter and I and my "co-revolutionaries" are being chased by British Police in India.


Several similar dreams have just not registered themselves in my forgetful mind that strong an impression but I can just remember that I have had many of them......

Do they signify something? Can a psychiatrist predict something about my personality or behaviour or my mentality from my dreams?


Why do I see them so often?

Bonjour-India: Wasteland-a dance show

How many times do you just go and watch a french group performing a unique blend of hip-hop, flamenco and contemporary dance coloured in the vibrant shades of theatre in an awesome auditorium of Siri Fort, Asiad Village?- I did, for the first time in my life yesterday, and that too free of cost!

I went along with Satvik to the dance show "Wasteland" organized by the French embassy under their program celebrating Indo-French relationship and cooperation through a series of exhibitions, concerts, literary meetings, film festivals, debates, conferences, food festivals and economic, educational and scientific exchanges, through December 2009 - February 2010.The dancers were as amazing in my imagination. The show started with three guys taking steps towards a common goal but careful to keep every move shrewd, calculative and measured. The dance was mainly a blend of contemporary and hip-hop or the famous street dance, highly coordinated to make you wonder whether the three of them were connected at their souls. Then the wall-hat trick was thrilling when it seemed that the guy is hanging upside down and his hat getting lost and found behind that wooden wall with innumerable and unpredictable doors, windows and holes, out of which came out crawling hands and legs on the beat of the song.

The next came, definitely a masterpiece of solo hip-hop dance accompanied by an innovative usage of that same old wooden-Planck wall and and the hat which seemed the most sought for stuff of the whole act. People fighting for it, trying to steal it, girls trying to seduce boys to get a hold on that hat of reputation, money, power or may be, just a thing of desire, I don't know. The wasteland displayed a an old lady walking with the help of a stick just coming around and doing unimaginably difficult stunts. The old lady was enacted by a boy, by the way. The guys and girls walked up, danced, rotated, slipped down and posed on the tall street light pole that was installed on the stage as stage-setting. The following part had amazing tricks of may be a circus, with stacks of cartons and tires merged again with B-boing and contemporary.

The dance was choreographed on a beautiful music piece which could easily incorporate the feelings of love, separation, desperation, poverty, revenge, selfishness, arrogance, torture and fun!The delightful backdrop which displayed the night view of a city of skyscrapers, its tall buildings' silhouettes added to that beautiful new moon which almost came alive! The 8 dancers-2 women and 6 men danced like the angels of the wasteland. Though they missed on the coordination a few times but made up for it with their breath taking acts of flying and jumping on the stage and off that pole!

The 1:30 hour show ended up in a 10 minute long applause on the beats of "Smack my bitch up!" with the artists' introduction........and for me the evening ended up in India Habitat Centre, having some delicious dinner and of course alcohol, thanks to the batti department of IIT Delhi, for letting me taste "white bacardi rum" for the first time. I think I liked it in orange juice!

A cherishable evening!

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