All over europe

Recently, I have had to do a bit of travel to Europe and much more to follow very soon.

A couple of quick trip to Milano...saw the duomo cathedral and a huge castle in the centre of town! The hotels so far have been quite bad..even the hilton was pathetic for the money paid.

The place is not too great in terms of food....I ate the same chicken sandwich 3 days in a row for dinner.....the pizza and pasta in italy was not upto my expectations!!...all in all Milan was boring.

Next up is paris, then off to Holland and belgium for a few days and then finally a possible trip to the UK.

I know that all this travel seems fancy and nice, but when you have to do this on work...believe me, its not pleasant!

I always wanted to see new places and experience newer cultures, but i think iam growing older and tired of all the experiences now!! I think i just want holidays now, not travel on work!!

Thats it form me now....see this space for much more exciting news very soon.

Cheers...

My first house!!

Well...I guess I am following the general trend! Like every other normal tamilian boy who is turning the bend of 30, I have now invested!!...This is quite a change for someone like me, who has never saved or invested in the past! Well, I guess this is a good start...

The funny part is, I have ever seen this house, nor did I visit India at any point during the course of the signing, this was completely remotely managed from here :-)

Cheers, thats it for now.

Busy Busy....

Well..the last six months have been one of the busiest times in life! Constant travel...to the extent that my wife sends me a message one late evening " When do you plan to visit my house " :-)

And if I thought it would be over now, fate has it that I already have a packed travel schedule well into the next 4 months at least!

Well...At least I am getting closer to my plan of travelling to as many places as I possibly can, when i can!

the IPL3 is here and that's the only solace nowadays, apart from an otherwise slightly boring personal life.... don't get me wrong, but we seem to have saturated practically everything there is to do in Dubai!

Guess have to get more creative here, to spice up the evenings a little more.

i am blogging after a long time, coz I have just not been inspired enough to do so. I have lost touch with a lot of my friends and family and Iam making too many new friends either.

I guess this is one of those phases in life!

Well, Thats it for now....more later, hopefully.

BTW... Iam off to Milano for a couple of days...hope i will get to go there for a full fledged holiday!

Ramadan Slowdown

Well...sigh! Yet another Ramadan season is upon us and what was already slow has now trickled down to a snails pace!

Well, I am trying to get away from this place...Me going back to India for a reasonably long break and I am really looking forward to it now. This will be my break after practically one whole year......

On the work front, i have now been promoted as a senior manager, with PnL responsibility for a significant market close by. well, it certainly is going to mean a heck of lot more travel and hopefully a lot more excitement in the coming days!

Next month we have also managed to organize a mini break to Kodaikanal...hopefully it will do my attitude and energy levels a world of good!

Another big reason for this trip is basically for a complete physical overhaul. Over the past year, I have truly suffered with Backaches ( which has later been diagnosed as a Disc prolapse), persistent Allergic cough and also one of blood tests suggests that I might be Anaemic!

Well...i hope to come back refreshed, renewed and with greater levels of vigor and excitement into my new role here.

Well that that's the update from me....More soon I hope.

cheers!

My trips to the Maghreb! Tres Bien!!

Well, I am finally back after a loong time. I just haven't been motivated enough to write anything on this blog till now.

Over the past couple of months, Life experiences have certainly been interesting and times of change. Finally, my family in Dubai is complete with the arrival of my wife for good. We moved into a new house, which has a full fledged club house with an awesome pool, steam n sauna...the works....

Now finally I feel a little settled in this country. Apart form this, work has been interesting to say the least. I have been travelling to Algeria ( not Nigeria !!) quite often recently, helping a client with their market entry strategy. It has most certainly been an eye opening experience. This whole region is Franco-Arabic and the language barrier is immense. Very few people speak English and I absolutely don't understand French or Arabic. Well I did overcome this handicap with the use of a a lot of sign language and contextual understanding. I think learning deal in such difficult environments enhances your ability in understanding situations, and also does help in removing the fear of the unknown!

From a marketing perspective, We Indians don't fully realize the potential Brand India has across the world. I was literally a superstar, just for being an Indian in Algeria!! Indian products and services are in great demand thee and we command huge respect form the locals...they seem consider us very smart, cultural etc.l and look up to India for some strange reason.

Anyways, I have one last trip left to the Maghreb and the Mediterranean beaches and then a trip is pending back to Spain for the final presentation.

Net-net, things are OK now, hope I can keep up the momentum.

ta ta till I visit the next exotic location :-)

A Wii bit of magic

Finally, something truly fresh and interesting to write about....with my own twist on a business concept I have been mulling over for a while now......

 I recently got my a Wii gaming console with a whole bunch of exciting games.....Now I have tried the PS2, PS3, PSP....the works...but nothing comes close to the interactive element this brings to the table. A brilliant idea which the converts the sedentary gamer into an energetic one....The concept being simple: What do people really want in this day of closed doors and self sufficiency? To be able to bring home everything they needed to leave home for.....Home Theatre systems are good examples of the same and so are treadmills at home.

Now, when you play a game of tennis or boxing in Wii, you can actually interact with another entity, either the machine or a competitor....

 Swing your arms, learn the visuo-spatial tricks and truly experience the outdoors...but indoors!

 My question from a marketing standpoint though…..is this the future of things to come? Will computers in the future be made like this? Will this be the equivalent of touch screens in mobile phones?

 Wait n watch I guess….One thing it has succeeded in is….bringing non-gamers into gaming….. and made it into a pastime…rather than a niche hobby for youngsters!

 I believe, gaming parlors based on the Wii have already opened up in different places…..just imagine the possibilities!! This will make the next wave in general entertainment, not just the movie theater or the amusement park. It’s the new virtual reality entertainment business coming your way very soon. Keep an eye out for it.

 I can’t wait for it to unfold.

 Ciao

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 !