Stomping on resolv.conf
Using resolvconf is supposed to make it easier to coordinate updates to /etc/resolv.conf, but I've never really learned to get along with it. At best, we have an uneasy truce.
Using resolvconf is supposed to make it easier to coordinate updates to /etc/resolv.conf, but I've never really learned to get along with it. At best, we have an uneasy truce.
A flock of Blyth's Pipits seen several times near Sultanpur was the next surprise in a winter that finally rewarded the years I've spent looking at Paddyfield Pipits.
Ramit's police complaint (made by way of some suitable boffin) resulted in the police going to the station the next day and arresting two people expanding their cellphone collection by the same means as before. They may not be the same people whom Ramit met, but the indications are that at least ten people are involved and—as we suspected—this is something that has been going on for a while.
I wonder if the earlier victims complained to the police. It's hard to believe that none of them did; so perhaps their complaints arrived too lown down the police hierarchy to prompt any serious action.
But I hope the cops find every one of the robbers now.
I remarked to a friend, in jest, that if I went camping in the Great Rann of Kutch, nobody might ever hear from me again, but I'd die happy if there were larks singing (the Rann is known to host more than a dozen species of larks). She responded by sending me the following Haiku (which I had never read, and which nobody seems to know the original author of):
Small bird forgive me, I'll hear the end of your song In some other world
How astonishingly apt.
I was #20 in a very long cause list at the District Consumer Forum this morning. In my previous appearance, I was asked to file evidence ex parte because no opposing parties appeared in court despite repeated announcements.
It took me a while to understand how to file evidence. I asked in the office at the Consumer Forum, but was told only to go to Karkardooma District Court, where "someone would help me". I went and stopped the first lawyer I saw (black coat, white shirt), and he was kind enough to look over my complaint and tell me exactly what I needed to do: compose an affidavit that restates my complaint as a deposition, and have it attested by an Oath Commissioner (and not just a Notary Public).
I found several Oath Commissioners sitting in a hallway, and one of them pointed me to a "computer guy" who would print out my affidavit for him to attest. I had my complaint on a USB stick, and it took only half an hour or so (after the many lawyers ahead of me had finished their work) to cut-and-paste the details of my complaint into a previous filing. I paid INR100 to the computer guy (INR15/page for not-quite-7 pages), and INR10 to the Oath Commissioner.
I then prepared three complete sets of the affidavit with all the evidence (which were "annexures" in the original complaint, but turned into "exhibits" at this stage).
When I was called to appear today, someone from Exide was present. As I had suspected might happen, it turns out that Exide's counsel did appear in court the last time, after I had already left. They filed a response to my complaint, of which I received a copy only today.
The response begins:
The instant Complaint is a gross abuse of the process of law and has been filed by the alleged Complainant with the sole purpose of harassing and pressurizing the Answering Respondent to submit to its unreasonable and mischievous demands. The instant Complaint is based on false, frivolous and baseless facts solely to suit the illegal designs of the alleged Complainant.
It continues on for a long time in the same vein, alleging repeatedly that I have "unclean hands", and making "vehement" and "categorical" denials of everything in my complaint (including a couple of facts of record).
I have been asked to file a rejoinder at the beginning of March. I shall think about how to proceed.
Ramit was robbed of his mobile phone by four armed men while waiting for me outside the New Ashok Nagar Metro Station. The Delhi Police were nowhere to be found.
Today we attended a demonstration at Jantar Mantar to protest against the conviction of Dr. Binayak Sen by the Raipur Sessions court on trumped-up charges of sedition. Despite a complete lack of evidence and clear signs of police misconduct in his arrest, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The verdict brings into sharp focus the sorry state of the government in Chhatisgarh.
One of the signs at the protest: "Kangaroo court in a Banana republic"
A sighting of Richard's Pipits at Dadri made for an excellent morning despite the cold and foggy conditions.
I saw my first ever Red-throated Pipit at Basai, near Sultanpur.
Today was my fourth appearance before the District Consumer Forum. I expected Exide to respond to my complaint, since they sent someone to collect a copy a month ago, but they weren't there. The judge (the lady who had initially accepted my filing) said she would hear my evidence ex parte at the next hearing in early January. If it's compelling enough, I guess a default judgement will be issued in my favour, and Exide will proceed to ignore that as well.
I usually read a book while waiting for my case to be called, but watching the proceedings can be quite entertaining. Some lawyers argue at length for the reduction of symbolic fines, with no success. Others come prepared to rant and rave about injustice to their clients, but stutter and stumble when questioned about the facts of the case. One case was attended only by two people from the same opposing party. Every once in a while, people are reprimanded for talking in the courtroom.
And while the case drags on, the UPS batteries are now completely dead, and we have been forced to order three (slightly cheaper) 42AH batteries to replace them.