tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982248223705694147.post8646288261367149012..comments2023-06-24T16:03:11.387+05:30Comments on Not Too Random: Waltzing with the unionsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982248223705694147.post-69909067179818493242010-06-09T17:59:20.773+05:302010-06-09T17:59:20.773+05:30Wow! This is as bad as the zamindaar autocracy! Th...Wow! This is as bad as the zamindaar autocracy! They sure must be powerful these unions.Meehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03286610719358841350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982248223705694147.post-49708250022302997862010-06-09T17:14:20.977+05:302010-06-09T17:14:20.977+05:30@mee: 'nokku-kooli' literally means 'a...@mee: 'nokku-kooli' literally means 'a wage for looking/seeing'. So the way it works is you bring, let's say a large generator that needs cranes and stuff to be unloaded. Now the union chaps can't unload it - too heavy for them. so you use the cranes and instead give them nookkukooli to let you unload it. See, simple, no? One example... BTW it's supposed to be illegal, but... :)Sankar Radhakrishnanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10383822121715414440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982248223705694147.post-64838047906066138152010-06-09T12:39:28.540+05:302010-06-09T12:39:28.540+05:30@heeee k:) what does Nokkukooli mean?@heeee k:) what does Nokkukooli mean?Meehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03286610719358841350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982248223705694147.post-81269327083495372132010-06-08T21:57:20.811+05:302010-06-08T21:57:20.811+05:30@Mee: Yes, the crazy, bad sort of horror. Not the ...@Mee: Yes, the crazy, bad sort of horror. Not the scary stuff a la Nightmare on Elm street.Sankar Radhakrishnanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10383822121715414440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982248223705694147.post-17275195005722445422010-06-08T10:13:22.622+05:302010-06-08T10:13:22.622+05:30Horror as in crazy bad right? not horror as in gho...Horror as in crazy bad right? not horror as in ghost scary right? If its the first look fwd to hearing such tales....Meehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03286610719358841350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982248223705694147.post-12442282098818469522010-06-07T19:45:02.373+05:302010-06-07T19:45:02.373+05:30@Mee: No horror stories here. Such stories best to...@Mee: No horror stories here. Such stories best told face to face :)Sankar Radhakrishnanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10383822121715414440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982248223705694147.post-69278178862491188492010-06-07T12:12:20.110+05:302010-06-07T12:12:20.110+05:30O boy! Am I glad or am I glad I did not face it in...O boy! Am I glad or am I glad I did not face it in any of the zillion moving of homes I have been thru inside and outside India:)<br /><br />Tell, tell some of these horror stories? Whats the worst that has happened?Meehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03286610719358841350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982248223705694147.post-62442024681037712752010-06-01T14:33:03.440+05:302010-06-01T14:33:03.440+05:30@Mee: You haven't heard half of it! Lots of ho...@Mee: You haven't heard half of it! Lots of horror stories that will gnaw at you in broad daylight :))Sankar Radhakrishnanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10383822121715414440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982248223705694147.post-51172477194218708392010-06-01T12:26:21.338+05:302010-06-01T12:26:21.338+05:30Gosh! As it is moving homes is stressful. Added to...Gosh! As it is moving homes is stressful. Added to tat these unionized workers...does not bode well:(Meehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03286610719358841350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982248223705694147.post-9458473743280712872010-05-18T10:38:34.462+05:302010-05-18T10:38:34.462+05:30@SunnyS: Oh i think we could do a book or two on K...@SunnyS: Oh i think we could do a book or two on Kerala's adventures with nooku kooli and the rest. I guess this is the price we have to pay for living and working in Kerala... i guess there has to be some price for the pleasure of living in GoC! <br />:)Sankar Radhakrishnanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10383822121715414440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-982248223705694147.post-82679853018987444202010-05-16T22:22:11.668+05:302010-05-16T22:22:11.668+05:30Nokkukooli! Every day I open the papers to find at...Nokkukooli! Every day I open the papers to find at least one nokkukooli-related incident. One was when a housewife (forgive me for being politically incorrect) unloaded a truckload of bricks all by herself; another, more recent article, said these union guys had beaten up a woman (!!) who refused to pay them nokkukooli. And still our government is characteristically mum on the issue.<br />My neighbour, who works with DP World, tells us ghastly tales of the goings-on at the Vallarapadam International Transshipment Terminal. And here, we are talking of a project that garners global attention!! The MD of a prominent hospitality group in Kerala recently shared his tales of woe at his Mararikulam resort. Apparently, a group of headload workers park themselves in a coconut grove right outside the resort, smoking, gambling and generally wasting time. The moment a consignment of any sort arrives at the resort, they spring into action. No, they don't want any work, you see, just some money to watch the hotel staff unload all the stuff. It's become so much so that the hotel staff cannot even unload ice-cream cartons without nokkukooli. The only way out: get everything in and out in the dead of night when the headload workers are for sure drunk themselves to senselessness with their 'earnings'!<br />My stories of dealing with headload workers pale in comparison. Oh, and I can do a whole blog post or two on the attitude of certain professional movers & packers in Kerala. More on that later!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05174892940000109939noreply@blogger.com