It wasn't too long ago when we were introduced to the habit of calling customer care services to have our queries addressed. Sometimes when I called, they would inform me that the information was unavailable at that moment owing to the fact that “servers were down”. At that time, I didn't know much about computers and thought all accounts were kept somewhere “down” and “servers” had to fetch them up every time .

Now, I am slightly more enlightened... at least when it comes to servers. The response I still get at times, however, remains the same. Ask something complicated to the telecom or bank helpline and the response will most likely be, “Can you please call after some time? The servers are down.” A few days ago, I dialled the customer care department of a telecom company because my registration for their phone-based payment services had not been approved. The registrationhad not materialised even after 24 hours. I was told that they couldn't access my information because they had not received my registration. I was asked to contact the dealer to whom I had submitted the application. The guy turned out to be quite helpful and after a few minutes on a phone call, he said, “The delay is because the servers are down, Sir.” It was only after around 50 hours that the process successfully went through.

It's the same story with banks as well. Once, I called a helpline and gave them my authentication details. The servers that seemed to be working absolutely fine until that moment, came crashing down once I realised that my transaction was faulty. “Can you please call after 30 minutes? The servers are down.” If a service like Gmail or RIM's BlackBerry goes down even for an hour, it causes global outrage. The countertypes are those that customer care executives use which are only occasionally “up”.

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