The Year that was....2008!

Well it has been more than a year now in Dubai, and it has been a mixed bag.

2008 started with me coming out of a period of extreme activity, into a period of dullness.

By April, I was all set to be married, but I probably had the most distracted and busy weeks of my life just days before the D-Day! 

The highlight of the year! - I got married and spent the most wonderful time in India, and then it was time to move back to the grind in dubai.

Then, I got into a series of business development activities and the moved into a project in Egypt.....

And then started another remarkable set of experiences..working mostly out of Cairo....and ended the assignment with a fabulous trip to Europe (Spain, Germany and France!)

Then came the gloom in the form of this global crisis we all face.....inerrupted by some brief yet fun personal moments.

As I end this year, I have moved into a new house, but all the while Iam now thinking of one thing....What next, Stay or Move, India or Dubai, enjoy the present or work harder for the future.

As this year winds down, Iam just hoping for the new year to present opportunities which will keep me excited and stimulated.

I just want to be keen on Work and Life! 

Hoping for a fabulous 2009...HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Later

Back on the banks of the Nile

Well....Blogging again after a very loong time.

Well thats coz I got married in May and man,......now I understand why married people are just so busy all the time!

There seems to be so many more interesting things to do :-)

Anyways, now Iam back to being a bachelor again now! I recently cracked this deal with a spanish client looking to enter egypt. Iam currently working out of cairo doing a market assesment and entry strategy for this client.

For starters, Working in cairo has definitely not been the most professional experience! Language is a barrier, Too much politics even to get a simple interview going and very opaque when it comes to releasing information.

But, of course the plusses are, the hours are not half as bad here compared to dubai....very chilled out people here. Further, we are located on the nile....a simple breathtaking view everytime we look out the window.

Next weekend we are off to alexandria and the following weekend to luxor and aswan! Looking forward to these and of course my trip back to india the following weekend to see the missus.....it feels stragely odd to say that, ill settle into it soon enoug i guess.

Well Ill leave you with an interesting fact about egypt: The men to women ratio here is about 1:4, but its not easy to get married here because the prerequisite here to get married is a car and an own house.....I mean lotsa choices for dating (slightly difficult in conserrvative circles), but Cant gett married easy :-).......You cant have your cake and eat it too :-)

Neways....more soon.

In a Holding Pattern

First things first.....ISB has been ranked as the 20th Best B-school in the world by FT. Well timed before placement season i should say.......its going to be a mad rush on campus this this year....hats off to the ISB management team.....Somebody please write a Case study about ISB will ya?

On to more mundane updates, The past few weeks can be best described as me being in a "Holding Pattern". Let me explain.....Work has been hectic with meetings everyday and deadlines every other day! But somehow, I seem to be holding and waiting for something around the corner....its a wierd feeling, that something significant is just around the corner....

On other things, since my last post, I did a quick trip to india.....as always it was a great trip! After that I had been to muscat for a day trip.....This period at work has been my attempt at serious Business develpment work. Iam just realizing that BD can be fascinating and frustrating at the same time, especially in the consulting / knowledge based businesses. Its really not about selling a product or service, but its about scoping the need or even sometimes creating the need.

Now, I know that sounds fancy, but its much tougher than that because one has to keep thinking and adapting at all points......Well, fancy this: I have gone from Mechanical engineer to Research associate and then Product development engineer; onwards to Business strategy and marketing then flipped over to Management consulting and now slipped nicely into Business development.....Whew!

I really need to figure out what exactly i like out of all this soon, frankly I like it all in bits and can be good at most of it!

Well lets see whats next around the corner for me......Hopefully a really strong career and some realy good money :-)

On other things, last week my mother had visited and we had a blast...or at least she did. All I did was run around behind her and provide as much cash as I could :-). Sign of things to come??? Hmm....

Well next trip to india in early march and hopefully my holding pattern will break then.

Thought for the day: Lets get going already!!

Giza Gazing!

Another interesting day started off with a visit to the famous pyramids at Giza.

Of course they were magnificent, but i seemed to be rushing through the sights of this great monument. Such brilliance, yet come to think of it, this entire area was secluded as a cemetery in the ancient times! They seemed to be obsessed with the thought of life after death...these Pharoahs!

As it ought to be, i got hassled by salesmen on the site, and was made to buy some worthless trash at some exorbidant rates, but i have to agree that egyptian sales men have mastered the art of push selling!

Also I visted the burial chambers inside one of the large pyramids, but the route to get there was this 3ft X 3ft tunnel, which got me very claustrophobic! Post this, I saw the Sphinx which was a huge disapointment.....it was like small broken down monument, not really worth all the hype.

The highlight of the day however was my visit to the perfume factory, where i was treated to a wide array of concentrated perfumes...quite exotic i should say!

Later on I also visited a Papyrus shop, where i got my self a couple of neat soveniers for family back home.

After all this, I had a very insightful meeting with the minstry which rounded off a very egyptian day for me at Cairo!

Thought for the day: 1 Wonder down...6 to go!

Clueless in Cairo!

Well well.....Iam in cairo, and not in my wildest dreams would i have imagined being here like 6 months ago. Iam Here on a business trip which has been reasonably successful so far.

Iam back from a long hiatus for finally i do have some inspiration now! My visit here has been interesting from the moment I landed here. Firstly, I dont understand arabic and noone here understands english!! So currently iam learning the art of sign language and body language to get a simple thing like a loaf of bread!

Cairo is one of the most polluted cities I know, and one of the very strange things here is, everyone seems to own a car!.....and Egypt is not one of the richest countries i know....it is similar to india in many ways.

Yesterday I visited the Cairo museum and the highlight was visiting the Room of the mummies! That was a scary but interesting tour. Iam now looking forward to visiting the pyramids and the local market Khan el Khalili.....old style market place here.

This is my first visit to africa, and so far it has been an interesting visit, even though i have been greeted with some very very cold weather. More to come and Iam looking forward to my third trip back to india later this month too!

More later.
Arabic word for the day: Ezayk : How are you?

Happy times....

Well, the D-Day nears! My engagement is scheduled for next week and it marks the beggining of my transition from bachelorhood to a marriage.

My thoughts at this stage are just to go home and enjoy the occasion with friends and family. But the strange part is, I feel like iam just attending somebody elses engagement...one of my freinds recently asked me " So are you ready and set for the engagement?" and my response was " What do I have to do?, other than just being present and smiling" :-).

But it marks and end to the first phase of a remarkable change period in my life.....new work, new place and new life!!

My currenty thought: Cant wait for the next phase to unravel

Zeitgeist....Mind blowing!

Well this is probably one of the most revealing movies I have seen in a while!

In one fell sweep it answered my long held suspicions of the common roots most modern religions, the lengths a few people will go in order to makea profit and the most elaborate plans to conquer the world!

Well, some things i was not aware of:

• The US fed is a privately held bank
• The US has signed an north american union agreement which will yield the amero currency soon
• The ancient egyptian god Horace was the original reference to gods son, which mean the SUN and the whole of christianity was based on mythical story about the SUN, light and darkness!

I have always felt that religion exists for the purpose of control in modern society and nothing else! But the thought that a group of international bankers and governments would kill so many millions just in order to yield power and make huge profits is still hard to digest, but the evidence is almost incontrovertible.

I am sleepless again tonite, but thats because Iam intellectually stirred! I would recommend this movie to everyone....It was released exclusively on the web and cannot be accesed through conventional media...try it out.

Cheers

Sleepless in Dubai

Finally...My insomniac days are back.....!!

After a loong time Iam unable to goto sleep tonight. Lets see now, I have had ths condition only during times when i have had extreme anxiety , either due to a current depressive state or a current state of nothingness....

Right now, I think I suffer it because of the latter.....Or the simple reason could be that I had a little too much caffiene through the day and a little too much sleep last night ;-)

The worst bout of insomnia i had was in the US, where I could not sleep before 4 AM everyday, real worries about the future then! Then it was followed by forced insomnia at ISB, so much work, so little time n yet it all seemed so pointless!

and then onwards to bangalore, where I had doubts in the future of my job and the prospects.....

Now I think the anxeity is not about career, but about my pointless separation in dubai....

How to solve this? In the past, I have gotten over it by occupying myself compltely or tiring my self out with a lot of physical effort. Or else, I have managed to be on the phone....

Now, I intend to just ride out this night...the best solution, get a lot more physical activity going!

That said....lets hit the sack now!

Cheers.

And the loop is complete.....

Yes....Finally, it all seems real now and Iam loving every minute of it. Only now, I have to start refocussing on work again......

The trip to india was memorable to say the least....I never knew I could smil so much in a 6 day period!! It was action packed time, with the first 3 days being spent in bangalore....beautiful, beautiful bangalore!....perfect time spent with friends and the familiar hangout spots.....

Then onward to chennai......between all the dinners, lunches and shopping we did manage to sneak out some time to drive out of the city.....again its funny how even the heat doesnt bother you as much when you are having fun!....

Now after meeting everyone back home, the loop somehow seems entirely complete.....

Ramadan boredom.....

Well....I got done with my first very interesting project and have now started work on the second. Iam working out of Abu dhabi for this one and it is not even remotely as interesting as the first!

To compound it, its ramadan season is here in the middle east and most of places are closed.....there is almost no life during the day and the working days are very short......Iam practically bored of this situation.


What Iam looking forward to now?...its a trip back home to india and more so to see the situation back home with so many things having changed since i came here......I dont even think I realize the extent of the change that has happened over there.

Of course...cant wait to get to bangalore either! Well, just waiting to see what other surprises are in store for me when I get back.

Cheers

And Life has changed again.....

Yep!! Firstly, I found true love and am getting married to her...now how many people are that lucky?? I dedicate this post to my dear wife to be: Welcome home :-)

the month of August has been truly remarkable!

• Finally found my soulmate and let myself act on my hearts command!
• Accepted a new job to move to dubai
• Shopped like crazy and completely changed my wardrobe!
• Walked straight into a minefield project and came out victorious....worked like a dog though!
• Finally, end of it all i was left wondering why I left so early???

Well.....now life has played a cruel trick.....found the one for me, but iam having to stay away for what seems like ages!....not fair!

Cheers,

(Happy Karthik)

Dubai Ahoy!!

Well.....the far seas beckon again...this time Iam leaving the country for the land of black gold...in search of a little gold myself.......only I struck gold right here .... :-).

During the past week, I have found myself in an inextricable dilemma.......to be or not to be....to say or not say.......Catch 22 as it is rightly put!

Well...Iam moving to Dun & Bradstreet in a consulting role and the role will be very very demanding of my capabilities and skill (!!).

More later....

It doesnt get any better than this!

Well...it most certainly does not!..... No more am I feeling bad leaving, cause My heart is firmly rooted here.

I found love and more so...I found home!

I leave to dubai on the 19th and have a whole lot to get done before that, but Iam in such a state of bliss now, its inexplicable. Its like a scene right out of a movie that I never imagined I would ever be in!

God...please make this last forever!!!

Laterz

Win some ......Lose some!

There are some remarjable phases in every individuals life which he/she will always cherish. I think I just such a remarkable phase in the last month or so.

I have been given some really wonderful things, but somethings very dear to me have been taken away :-(.......Iam supposed to be very happy...Iam moving to Dubai for a consulting job, but I feel very sad for leaving something very dear to me behind.

Life rewards you whatever you ask for, but it also takes what you hold dear!!

This phase of life will only be filled with fond memories and no regrets.........I want to capture this snapshot forever!

Thought for the day: Life always plays a fair game....its us who are confused !

My First Car!

Yep....Finally. It is my 28th birthday gift to myself :-). Its yet another addition to a long list of black automobiles that I have owned.

Black TVS Champ - 1994
Balck Kinetic Honda - 1996
Black Honda Activa - 2005
Black Pulsar - 2003
Black Apache - 2006
Black Santro Xing - 2007

I guess that leaves a black merc sometime in the future!

A prediction for the future: I will gift myself a black BMW/ Merc on my 38th Birthday!

Well....life is good :-)

Ciao

Another year younger !...Its a hap hap happy b`day to me :-)

Well...not really.....I feel older!! I turned 28 today, and alomost feel like people are looking at me differently now ;-)......

Down memory lane:

11th Birthday: Was having fun in the U.S......but desperately wanted to be older...the number was 28 I think!!

13th Birthday: Revelling in a lot of importance having turned into a teenager......was also opening up a lot of gifts post my poonal ceremony :-)

16th Birthday: Was gifted my freedom in the form a TVS Champ....my first two wheeler!! How I tortured that poor vehicle!!

18th Birthday: Got myself a Kinetic honda....dissapointed cuz I couldnt buy a bike!!.....Didnt how how to change gears:-).Celebrated my 18th birthday with my first beer (At least thats what all of my family thought :-))

23rd Birthday: Celebrated in the US....bought my self a 1984 Camry for $300!!! the leaky vehicle cost less than the amount of money I paid for a speeding ticket that i got... :-)

25th Birthday: Celebrated this bangalore.....I remeber this day vivdly....I was so engrossed at work, I was late for my own Bday party.....it was a very low key family thing!

26th Birthday: Another memorable birthday........I had broken my leg and i was brought cakes by both my very considerate frinds and later on by family.....

27th birthday: Celebrated in a pub in chennai with some good friends...it was a rollicking time!!

28th Birthday: Spent most of my time writing about my earlier birthday and sitting around at work......probably the lowest I have felt during a birthday in the last few years!

30th Birthday : ????????

I cant believe Iam 2 years away from being 30 yrs old!!!!......And I have done almost none of the things that I set myself out to do:

• Travel to at least 20 countries
• Make enough money for me and everyone close to me....
• find true love!!
• Achieve some thing so significant..that My name will become a brand!

Well iam not even close to any of the above.....!!! lets see what the years to come have in store for me.

Ciao.

BOOORRRREEEEDDDDD.......

Well...that covers my sentiment today!! After a lot of travel and a whole week off, Iam back at work and doing what I dislike the most.....Typing out a report!!

Last week was possibly one of the worst holidays I have had a while...spent the entire time at home in chennai !!!! Imagine that.......Compare it with last years holiday in the himalayas!!!! AAH....really bad deal this year!

What Iam not clear about is whether Iam bored with this job, or am I bored with work in general???

Is it a question of motivation?? or is it of laziness??.......

Nyways....i think I go through a phase like this every summer...booring summer!

6 out of the last 7 years, I have basically spent the entire month of may doing basically nothing!!

Maybe everyone is meant to have a holiday, but frankly Iam not ready for a holiday yet you know!!!...so much to do, so much to see.....yet that inertia holds me back.....

Wild idea for the day: Just quit now and leave for a world tour..... :-). What an exciting thought!!

More later....

Karthik Bhai.......

Yesterday was one of the most remarkable days I have had in a while! We were to meet around 10 motorcycle customers and have a chat with them about thier preferences and buying behaviour. My biggest insight here was that in the hindi belt of our country, the education levels play a big role in terms of the media mix that can be applied for this category of products. Also, the level of industrial growth vis a vis IT sector growth plays a major role.

We met customers from various income classes, right from bhel puri walas to teachers in udaipur. The remarkable thing here was that lower the education levels, lower was the interaction of these customers with conventional media like newspapers and TV. Key influencers and Word of mouth play a much bigger role in such cases. Also, with a large number of self employed people in these areas, the best medium to effectively communicate and influence them is activities in the marketplace with activities and demos. Almost none of them had any recollection of the communication and even if they did, they did not back thier judgement to make a choice based on such communication.....This has a grave impact on the way companies in such categories go to market with thier products and promotions!

Buzz is the key word , and those who master the art of buzz and build trust effectively will be the eventual winners!

Coming to the interesting part of the day, Our guide for the day was an ex-don in these areas who is under the cover of having turned over a new leaf in the eyes of the police. Initially, he was very quiet but as time went on , he started talking about his escapades and his less than enviable criminal record!.....It was a little scary, but end of the day he was a perfectly nice guy....Bhaigiri is just a way of life, and it was nothing out of the ordinary for people around us. The personality change was so apparent as soon he started talking of the past: "Kyon Bhai....ek dum chakaaas....." with the ostensible accent we all hear only in the movies :-).....

Anyways.....good times....looking for more such experiences....

Thought of the Hour: Education is the only way to liberate the indian hinterlands!

Life is but a movie.....

My life in the last two weeks has been like a scene out a hindi movie......I was talking to a very interesting lady, circumstances lead me to a potential two timing situation and then the classic miscommunication between the characters leading to some heartburn...but now Iam back on track.

This weekend, one of my friends got engaged and he wanted to surprise his bride by turning up for the event which he was not going to be there for initially......this dude tavelled thousands of miles completely undercover and I was the chief enforcer to ensure that the surprise was well executed. I virtually halted the the engagement for a 15 Mts period in order to " deliver my gift" :-).......but alls well that ends well! it was an amazing surprise and it was a very joyous occasion.

Finally, work has brought me to Udaipur Rajastan. I think fate has it that I will have to travel to every nook and corner in this country and make up for all the time I spent cozy in corner of the country for almost 20 yrs of my life! Till I was 21 the northernmost point in my life was Bombay!!....In the last 1 year, I have travelled to Dehli, Bombay, pune, Calcutta, Interior tamilnadu, Kerala, Upper reaches of the himalayas, Manali, Himachal pradesh, Chandigarh, AP and now Rajastan.....Whew that quite a lot!!

Anyways, The Mood of the Hour: Patience is a virtue, but will it get you anywhere??

Travel Travel...till you Unravel !!!

I have never travelled so extensively in my life thus far, I have never seen so much of india thus far, and yet Iam very excited about yet another short trip tommorow (for entirely other reasons :-))

Last saturday, I started from bangalore to chandigarh and then onto Nalagarh in Himachal pradesh.I had been there for the opening ceremony of our new plant there.The highlight of the place was this amazing Hotel that we stayed in. Its called the Nalagarh fort, which used to be the Maharaja`s house. Supposedly he had 365 rooms for each one of his wives...ideal for a hotel huh!! The view and the amazing regal Bar just added to the fun, but the place was a little disconcerting...I mean there were bats flying around and the bathroom was filled with furniture...how wierd is that!....

Then came delhi....now this is one city which is really starting to scale up to international standards in its infrastructure....the metro was just amazing! Then we visited Karol bagh for some dinner and shopping...the hustle and bustle was simply amazing.

Next day, we moved onto UP....Ghaziabad. It was largely uneventful and we returned to delhi the very same evening. The next day, we started our pilgrimage to the holy city of Varanasi. Now this is when it struck me as to how backward india still actually is!! After dusting off some work, we visited the Kashi Viswanath temple on the banks of the Ganges....it was a nice experience and very different from south indian temples. The again tried to shop , but failed miserably....Im just sooo impatient!

Next day, we visited markets like Mirzapur and then to Allahabad....my impressions were further worsened. Supposedly, all that we see in the movies is very true in eastern UP. Allahabad was tense with the oncoming elections and there gunmen all over the place....

Finally, some solace when we finally came to Lucknow...now this place seems to be developing rapidly and did wipe off some of the nasty memories. Hey, on the way there, we were encountered with a freak storm called Aandhi. It was a wierd sandstorm after which it rained.
Finally we ended out trip in the gandhi stronghold of Rae bareilly.

Whew..that was a tough trip especially in the heat! But great experience though....

Thought of the hour: Customers behave remarkably similarly across markets, corporates are the one who are different across markets