Toll Free Numbers in India

Got this as a forward, have not verified

Toll Free Numbers in India

Airlines
Indian Airlines - 1800 180 1407
Jet Airways - 1800 22 5522
Spice Jet - 1800 180 3333
Air India -- 1800 22 7722
Kingfisher - 1800 180 0101

Banks

BANK OF MAHARASHTRA 1800222340 & 1800220888
ABN AMRO - 1800 11 2224
Canara Bank - 1800 44 6000
Citibank - 1800 44 2265
Corporatin Bank - 1800 443 555
Development Credit Bank - 1800 22 5769
HDFC Bank - 1800 227 227
ICICI Bank - 1800 333 499
ICICI Bank NRI - 1800 22 4848
IDBI Bank - 1800 11 6999
Indian Bank - 1800 425 1400
ING Vysya - 1800 44 9900
Kotak Mahindra Bank - 1800 22 6022
Lord Krishna Bank - 1800 11 2300
Punjab National Bank - 1800 122 222
State Bank of India - 1800 44 1955
Syndicate Bank - 1800 44 6655

Automobiles
Mahindra Scorpio - 1800 22 6006
Maruti - 1800 111 515
Tata Motors - 1800 22 5552
Windshield Experts - 1800 11 3636

Computers/IT
Adrenalin - 1800 444 445
AMD - 1800 425 6664
Apple Computers - 1800 444 683
Canon - 1800 333 366
Cisco Systems - 1800 221 777
Compaq - HP - 1800 444 999
Data One Broadband - 1800 424 1800
Dell - 1800 444 026
Epson - 1800 44 0011
eSys - 3970 0011
Genesis Tally Academy - 1800 444 888
HCL - 1800 180 8080
IBM - 1800 443 333
Lexmark - 1800 22 4477
Marshal's Point - 1800 33 4488
Microsoft - 1800 111 100
Microsoft Virus Update - 1901 333 334
Seagate - 1800 180 1104
Symantec - 1800 44 5533
TVS Electronics - 1800 444 566
WeP Peripherals - 1800 44 6446
Wipro - 1800 333 312
xerox - 1800 180 1225
Zenith - 1800 222 004

Indian Railway General Enquiry 131
Indian Railway Central Enquiry 131
Indian Railway Reservation 131
Indian Railway Railway Reservation Enquiry 1345,1335,1330
Indian Railway Centralized Railway Enquiry 1330/1/2/3/4/ 5/6/7/8/9

Couriers/Packers & Movers
ABT Courier - 1800 44 8585
AFL Wizz - 1800 22 9696
Agarwal Packers & Movers - 1800 11 4321
Associated Packers P Ltd - 1800 21 4560
DHL - 1800 111 345
FedEx - 1800 22 6161
Goel Packers & Movers - 1800 11 3456
UPS - 1800 22 7171

Home Appliances
Aiwa/Sony - 1800 11 1188
Anchor Switches - 1800 22 7979
Blue Star - 1800 22 2200
Bose Audio - 1800 11 2673
Bru Coffee Vending Machines - 1800 44 7171
Daikin Air Conditioners - 1800 444 222
DishTV - 1800 12 3474
Faber Chimneys - 1800 21 4595
Godrej - 1800 22 5511
Grundfos Pumps - 1800 33 4555
LG - 1901 180 9999
Philips - 1800 22 4422
Samsung - 1800 113 444
Sanyo - 1800 11 0101
Voltas - 1800 33 4546
WorldSpace Satellite Radio - 1800 44 5432

Investments/ Finance
CAMS - 1800 44 2267
Chola Mutual Fund - 1800 22 2300
Easy IPO's - 3030 5757
Fidelity Investments - 1800 180 8000
Franklin Templeton Fund - 1800 425 4255
J M Morgan Stanley - 1800 22 0004
Kotak Mutual Fund - 1800 222 626
LIC Housing Finance - 1800 44 0005
SBI Mutual Fund - 1800 22 3040
Sharekhan - 1800 22 7500
Tata Mutual Fund - 1800 22 0101

Travel
Club Mahindra Holidays - 1800 33 4539
Cox & Kings - 1800 22 1235
God TV Tours - 1800 442 777
Kerala Tourism - 1800 444 747
Kumarakom Lake Resort - 1800 44 5030
Raj Travels & Tours - 1800 22 9900
Sita Tours - 1800 111 911
SOTC Tours - 1800 22 3344

Healthcare
Best on Health - 1800 11 8899
Dr Batras - 1800 11 6767
GlaxoSmithKline - 1800 22 8797
Johnson & Johnson - 1800 22 8111
Kaya Skin Clinic - 1800 22 5292
LifeCell - 1800 44 5323
Manmar Technologies - 1800 33 4420
Pfizer - 1800 442 442
Roche Accu-Chek - 1800 11 45 46
Rudraksha - 1800 21 4708
Varilux Lenses - 1800 44 8383
VLCC - 1800 33 1262

Insurance
AMP Sanmar - 1800 44 2200
Aviva - 1800 33 2244
Bajaj Allianz - 1800 22 5858
Chola MS General Insurance - 1800 44 5544
HDFC Standard Life - 1800 227 227
LIC - 1800 33 4433
Max New York Life - 1800 33 5577
Royal Sundaram - 1800 33 8899
SBI Life Insurance - 1800 22 9090

Hotel Reservations
GRT Grand - 1800 44 5500
InterContinental Hotels Group - 1800 111 000
Marriott - 1800 22 0044
Sarovar Park Plaza - 1800 111 222
Taj Holidays - 1800 111 825

Teleshoppin
Asian Sky Shop - 1800 22 1800
Jaipan Teleshoppe - 1800 11 5225
Tele Brands - 1800 11 8000
VMI Teleshopping - 1800 447 777
WWS Teleshopping - 1800 220 777

Others
Domino's Pizza - 1800 111 123

Cell Phones
BenQ - 1800 22 08 08
Bird CellPhones - 1800 11 7700
Motorola MotoAssist - 1800 11 1211
Nokia - 3030 3838
Sony Ericsson - 3901

Fugitive Histories by Githa Hariharan

This is the first book by Githa Hariharan that I read. After reading the book the first thing that strikes is the author’s excellent narration of the thoughts of the characters. She captures them as they happen in real life to thoughts, as they waver from topic to topic, from people to people and from places to places, triggered anytime by some thought, some visual, a simple word, a familiar situation or just a smell. She is convincingly able to put the character in a time and space and then let their thoughts flow back and forth, high and low, across boundaries, in reality and in imagination.

Having said that the book is nothing but the thoughts of three main protagonists, two of which come from the same family and are mother and daughter, and the third one is someone the daughter comes across while trying to find her niche professionally. Mala is the mother, who comes from a south Indian Brahmin family, marries a Muslim from Mumbai who is an artist and refuses to have any religious identity and craves for true freedom throughout his life. Sara their daughter obviously has many identities to choose from and hence is confused as she is trying to settle with one identity like her brother. Though the author has expressed it in the narrow canvas of hindu muslim dilemma coming from mixed parentage, but this is a dilemma that all the growing up people face who have multiple identities, most commonly faced by children of immigrants. Then there is Yasmeen, a muslim girl who survived riots but lost her brother and had to vacate the family home after riots. Her thoughts and memories have been captured well by the author, in the not so negative way, where she is studying and her mother is determined to make her study. She comes across as someone who has gone through pain, but still has chosen to make her the dreams come alive instead of brooding over the past.

Author has used the sketches made by the late husband of Mala to take you inside her heart and soul and show you glimpses of her life which you can stitch together using your own imagination. She used the similar but not so strong metaphors for other two protagonists as well. There is no story per se, but the thoughts, fantasies and memories of three women woven nicely. The expression is good, the flow is nice, the narration is engaging, but at the end of it you really do not know what the author wanted to say. It is like a biography of a family though the thoughts of two women and the third one inserted from a current scenario or from a scenario that took place in the lifetime of the family.

A light and at times thought provoking read…I am not sure if I have any recommendation this time.

Royal Rajasthan IV – Ranakpur

Ranakpur is a small temple town about 90 kms from Udaipur, and falls in the Pali district of Rajasthan. You can do a comfortable day trip to Ranakpur from Udaipur along with Kumbhalgarh. It primarily has old Jain temples.

The biggest and the most prominent one is Chaumukha temple which is huge by any standard. This temple was constructed by minister of Rana Kumbha in the 14th century, which makes this temple about 700 years old, but it would be difficult for you to believe that it is so old when you see it with your eyes. The temple was destructed by the mughals and has been restored over time, some restoration work is still on, as if the work on temple is always on. This 102 ft high temple has three floors and is spread in about 45000 sq ft, primarily made of white marble. There are 1444 pillars in the temple, none of which are alike, and the legend says because of the design of the temple, it is literally impossible for you to count the no of pillars in the temple. We tried making a rough estimate of pillars as we realized that actual counting would need some effort and a lot of time. There are some pillars on one floor and there are pillars which go across the three floors of the temple. The whole of temple including the pillars, columns, walls and roofs are intricately carved and you can just get mesmerized looking at them. Most of them depict the age old legends and mythologies, like there is a depiction of a snake with multiple tales that has no end, the depiction of apsaras with various dance poses on columns and roof designs that are so intricate that you may need binoculars to observe them completly. Interestingly there is one pillar which is intentionally kept leaning, you can find it at the right side of the main temple if you are facing the temple. The priest there said that the pillar was kept so as to avoid the evil eye, as the temple is so beautiful that it invites envy from most visitors. There is a very intricately carved Toran outside the Adinath temple, which is very similar to the ones you find at Khajuraho except that it is not Makar toran, in fact the color of this Toran is yellowish resembling the color of sandalwood and hence this piece stands out in the otherwise white temple. The temple has four faces and hence the name Chaumukha, and it has been designed in such a way that the temple get the appropriate light and air at any point in time and in any weather. The carvings on the pillars are done in such a manner that from wherever you look the carvings would appear the same. There are big elephant figures on the sides of the temple with a sari clad woman riding the elephant, and I could only guess that these are the people who probably contributed to the construction of the temple and hence have a place for themselves in it.

On the outside there are quite a few gumbaj on the temple and some of them adorn the red and white flag. As you go around the temple, from some angles it would give you the feeling of being a fort rather than being a temple. There is a decently developed park in front of the temple where you can stroll if the weather permits. You are not allowed to take any leather or tobacco items in the temple and you are expected to be fully covered and not wear any revealing clothes while in the premises.

Chaumukha temple is dedicated to the first Jain Theerthankar Adinath. There are other smaller temples also in the complex devoted to other Jain theerthankars and a Sun temple outside the main complex. Even the smaller temples have lot of work done on them, but of course nothing matches the grandeur of Chaumukha temple, just like the Kandariya Mahadev temple is the epitome of art in Khajuraho.

Like most Jain temples which are spread in the wilderness across the country, this temple also has all the facilities available for the devotees to come and stay. There is a dharamshala where you can stay and spend a few days admiring these temples, though I am not sure if this requires some kind of membership.

If the temple architecture and sculpture interest you, Ranakpur is a must visit for you.

PS: Till I visited this temple, I was under the impression that Meenakshi temple in Madurai which has a hall with 985 pillars is the structure with maximum no of pillars, but that myth got broken after visiting Ranakpur. I am curious to know which is the single structure with maximum no of pillars in it, but my Google search really did not help, so if anyone knows please do share the information with me.

Royal Rajasthan III – Kumbhalgarh

Kumbhalgarh is not really on the popular tourist circuit in Rajasthan, but it is enchanting because of few things. It is one of the rare forts that has never been attacked and hence never been captured by any enemy. It has the longest wall surrounding it almost 36 kms encompassing few hills, a lot of step wells and a group of temples, this wall is second only to Great Wall of China. Wait for a few years and you will be able to take a ride on top of this wall. It is also the birthplace of most famous king of Mewar Maharana Pratap.

It is located about 85 kms from Udaipur in Rajsamand district. Built in 15^th century this is said to be inhabited till late 19^th century. The legend behind the fort says that Rana Kumbha wanted to build this huge fort as the biggest fort and a place from where he can see Chittorgarh. But as he started the construction, he could not move ahead with it. Whatever construction work was carried out during the day, it used to get mysteriously destroyed during the night. One night the king got a dream, and the family goddess or Kuldevi told him that he needs to sacrifice a human to go on with the construction of the fort. When king as ready for the sacrifice, he got another dream where the Goddess demanded that the sacrifice should be voluntary and nit forced upon the person sacrificed. King announced this to the public and man named Mer (or Mehar) volunteered to sacrifice but had three conditions. He wanted the fort to be named after him and initially the fort was called Kumbhalmer fort. Next he wanted that after the sacrifice wherever his head falls a temple should be built and wherever his body falls, the palace should be built and that is how the fort was built.

You can climb the fort, and as with most forts, as you keep climbing the view that you get keeps changing. In this fort particularly, your view of the wall surrounding the fort gets clearer and you keep getting amazed at the extent of the fort. There are two parts of the palace on top of the fort, one meant for men and the other meant for women, both with inner courtyards and domes above them. The palace is called Badal Mahal as it is so high that the clouds can enter the palace. You can climb to the highest roof along the domes and get a birds’ eye view of the fort. There are various step wells, some of which are old and some are being built. Then men’s part of palace is being converted into a museum and if you visit this fort sometime down the time, you should be able to visit the museum and go around the fort wall. There is a victory gate, which has never been broken as the fort remains unconquered. There is a yagyashala or the place where yagnas used to be performed by the royal family and a Shiva temple, both of which must have been built along with the fort. There is another group of temples that you can see from the fort top.

There are resorts and hotels around the fort including a Club Mahindra property. There is also a jungle safari that you can take to explore the wildlife. There are trekking options as well, but I guess you can do that for a very limited time during the year as the area is very dry and hot. Combined with Ranakpur, it makes an interesting day trip from Udaipur.

I would recommend a visit to this fort in case you are in and around Udaipur.

Royal Rajasthan II: Udaipur

Udaipur is something that always evoked a romantic image for me, through the images that I had built in my mind after reading about the palace located in the middle of a lake, about the beautiful palaces, about the royalty and most importantly through its association with the personalities like Maharana Pratap, Rani Padmini and Meera Bai, all belonging to the clan that has ruled Udaipur for centuries. In fact I just learnt that they are the longest serving dynasty in the world, with about 76 generations ruling in continuation.

Popular sight seeing options in Udaipur are City Palace, where the Maharanas still live. They have converted the part of the palace into a museum which is open to general public. Another part has been converted into two hotels and in the third part the royal family continues to live. Fateh Mahal houses a crystal gallery along with the Darbar hall, which houses probably some of the biggest chandeliers of the world. Maharanas have sure moved well with the times, as soon as they lost the pension that the erstwhile kings used to get, they converted their properties into heritage hotels and are living off well through the ancestral property. Crystal gallery is a good to visit venue, though the high cost of ticket may make most visitors think many times before they decide to enter it. Lake palace is another famous attraction which is a palace converted into a hotel right in the middle of Lake Pichola. You can get a view of this hotel from most areas around the city palace, Lal ghat, Gangaur Ghat and hanuman ghat, though to visit you have to be a guest of the hotel. The pure white palace does make an impressive sight especially at night when it is well lit up and gives you a perfect shadow in the water. Being surrounded by hills on all sides, Udaipur provides interesting perspectives for shutterbugs, who can capture sunrise and sunset with silhouettes of heritage buildings. There is Bagore ki Haveli, an old royal guest house which has now been converted into a folk art museum and hosts a folk dance and music program every evening. This was the highlight of my trip to Udaipur and I would recommend it to anyone who visits the city. The artists, the puppeteer, the chari dancers, the terah taali performance and the bhavai dance are definitely worth a watch. The performances are done without any pomp and show in the courtyard of a Haveli.

There is garden restaurant which also has a collection of Royal cars over the ages. About 20 old vintage cars along with the new experimental solar rickshaws can be viewed here. Restaurant serves a Rajasthani thali at a comparatively reasonable price and this is another place I would recommend to visitors of Udaipur. Then there are old bazaars and numerous shops selling artifacts from all over India. The miniature paintings and the silver jewellery are the probable items that you can buy, but do not forget to bargain as the first price quoted to you is definitely a tourist price, especially if you have a camera hanging around your neck. Our guide told us that just like Jaipur is a Pink City, Jodhpur a blue one, Udaipur is a white city where most people like to paint their houses white.

Udaipur is a perfect example of tourism economy. It has converted all its old structures, old havelis into heritage hotels, and owners are minting money from them. The whole city is geared up to handle tourists from every part of the world, no wonder it is home to some of the costliest properties in the world. Most old havelis have been restored, with interestingly painted facades and aesthetically done courtyards. Shops around the tourist area are designed to handle international customers, who are sold items from around India, most prominently the garments। There are a lot of tailor shops that keep the fabric and can make out any dress from your chosen material, most ubiquitous are the western outfits with Indian fabrics. The shop owners are courteous and would willingly explain you the lineage of the merchandise that they are selling. You may be lost as an Indian if you try to find the local Rajasthani stuff including food. Most of the hotels and restaurants in the old city area, Lal ghat and Gangaur ghat areas served anything from Pastas to sizzlers to baked stuff and some general Indian stuff, mostly suited for the western palette. We had a tough time trying to locate the Rajasthani local food and locally made gift items. When it comes to setting shops in tourist areas, Kashmiris are the best, you can find them selling Pashmina’s ( I thought selling real Pashmina was banned) and carpets anywhere and everywhere, probably a reminiscent of the times when Kashmir was the Mecca of tourism in India.

It’s a nice city to visit, with colors of royalty and grandeur all around. Preferably visit it during winters, you would enjoy it more.