A Short Trip to Kuwait, Officially

clicked while driving past this popular
structure @ Kuwait -IPhone !

Made a short, official trip to Kuwait, early this month. I am not fond of travelling, really. But once I reach the destination, I love it, for the new experience.. Kuwait was no exception. Enjoyed the week-long stay!

Kuwait was hotter, and also humid, unlike my karmabhoomi. Humidity was attributed to Indian monsoon though :)
Loved the place for its sheer variety and limited-openness ( better vis-a-vis Dubai, which is 'too open'!) The sheer variety of cars on roads.... wow! Saw many driving my fav car, Porche Cayenne.
Kuwait can definitely boast of a high proportion of women drivers.
A friend made an interesting observation, 'most mallus drive Pajero'. Perhaps one of the mallu-super-stars (mammotty/mohanlal/suresh gopi) may be driving a Pajero, with folded dhoti/mundu ! :)

In spite of high temperature during the day, I went to the Udupi restaurant ( veggie only!), for lunch, not once but for three consecutive days!
A friend took me to the Japanese restaurant. Great location, but not a veggie's delight !

Hotel Marina seen from Marina Mall

Was unable to check out Asha's, supposed to be one of the best Indian restaurants, owned by Asha Bhonsle, at Marina Mall.
(Ashaji has joined the bandwagon demanding a Bharat Ratna for Sachin Tendulkar!! No comments !!)
Stayed at Hotel Marina, one of the best places I have stayed in recent past. Great location, fantastic sea-view, great people & service. I was pleasantly surprised when the GM, who was at the lobby, passed by to greet and exchange pleasantries. But, veg-option in menu was a disappointment and the chef did not bother to help either, when requested. But hope to come back with family...

The term, Success, always fascinated me. Like so many other things in our lives, 'Success' means different things to different people. One of the parameters of success I consider is the number of self-less friends we can count on. God has been very kind to me,  on this front too. Kuwait visit was memorable, thanks to some old friends and new friends through them...

Vacation 2010 @ Incredible India!

Middle East hit consistently 50 degrees plus. Friends confirm this is hottest summer, and we are just peaking! So, the timing of my vacation turned out to be almost perfect. 'Almost' because, it is raining cats & dogs in amchi Mumbai ! ( Hence the new blog design-template with monsoon-touch. Pls let me have your feedback)

A short pilgrimage to PSN. Back filled with peace and tranquility. Still counting my blessings....

Thanks to good monsoon all over, even the drought prone areas are green...Was part of the alumni-group to plant a few saplings...My usual lip-service to Green campaign ( I earn my bread from car finance!)
We need to do so much more to sustain the environment. We can not forget our environmental responsibility...Our children deserve a greener earth!

Samastha Loka Sukhino Bhavanthu, I pray fervently. . .

Vacation 2010 @ Incredible India!

Sachin hit a double! I am a die-hard fan of the cricketer and the person. We have mortals to look up to. . .
Loved the article on ToI, which indicated why Sachin is so successful, for so many years. (Chk out link : Sachin's 300 )

• Discipline  ( he went to bed on wed @ 830 pm, was up early, etc!)
• 300 runs..'will come, if it has to': that is practical SSSpirituality!
• He played like the debutant at other end, Suresh Raina - 'every day is a new day in the life of a great artist'!

Inspiring stuff!

PS : While batsmen from both sides happily accumulated runs, test cricket hit a new low....:( Test cricket needs better pitches. ICC needs to step in. Sharad Pawar can start from home...

The green food movement - Culture - livemint.com

This is one of the most inspiring articles I have come across recently, on this topic that has a direct impact on all of our lives...and also, on future generations...

The difference is, while many of us just restrict ourselves to convenient levels of 'Green'-activities, Oswal has gone ahead and taken the challenge to EXECUTE the thoughts....

Hats off to Oswal... we need hundreds of such initiatives to save our environment.

The green food movement - Culture - livemint.com

CHECK OUT THE LINKhttp://www.livemint.com/2010/06/28215806/The-green-food-movement.html

The green food movement

With a menu and decor that aims to control carbon footprint, a new fast food outlet in New York started by an Indian, is a vegetarian restaurant with an environment-friendly twist

Blog to Publish

Dear all fellow-bloggers, would-be-authors!

I am sure many of us, at some point of time, dreamt of writing a book...becoming an author...Many of us are able to fulfil the dream, thanks to this option, Blogging !

Some of us are yet to get on to the bandwagon (blogging), content with tweets/FB, etc., while some are yet to transfer the thoughts on to the paper, before publishing.

For all bloggers, you have an option to publish your blogs. Check out....
http://blogspot.sharedbook.com/blog2print/googleblogger/index.html

Many of us, who may not be qualified to get an agent/publisher to fulfill our literary dreams ( publish) or just don't want to get in to that process, another option is SELF PUBLISHING.
Came across an interesting article...authors shake up traditional publishing with do-it-yourself ( WSJ)

I am a fan of Amazon.com  and the idea itself. Now such players are enabling budding authors to enter the publishing world, fearlessly. We mey be 'at the leading edge of a technological disruption...' WoW !!

Too much of anything is bad

I have a nagging feeling, I am spending too much time on my computer/phone... on the verge of becoming an E-DDICT! ( addicted to e-world)

Partly because of work. Personally, I am into a bit of blogging, gmail/ymail. Low on Facebook/Linked in/alumni portal. A passive presence on Twitter/Buzz. I am on linked-in for professional reasons, and on social NW sites just to be in touch with friends...Those were the days when we would actually write letters to friends...I used to write quite a few...

The impact of too much time on e-world may end up 'infanstalising the 21st century mind', says the article.Check out this link
Are we too switched on for our own good? ( check out this link)

How do we get out ? The author says, 'digital detox, fast ....imagine', etc.
Manage time better, consciously switch-off...I am tempted to add, Meditate...be Ssspiritual 

ADs, irresponsibly

Messi is all over...at South Africa, though he is yet to perform to his best, yet...just like some other greats, incl Rooney. But Missi's KFC ad is quite all over  ( Check out at : Messi World Cup Ad)

While I am a great fan of Messi and his coach, Maradona, did not quite like him featuring in KFC ad. Nothing personally against KFC. But, being a converted veggie, not in favour either :)

Another ad featured seemingly no great player - but still McDonald was riding on the popularity of the game. To feature a kid, their target audience, was good marketing decision. But not healthy.

The pepsi ad featuring, Messi, Kaka, et al, is beautiful (Pepsi Ad| Oh Africa - Akon ). But afterall a Pepsi-ad. 

My thought: the sporting greats should be more selective in accepting endorsements ? Something more healthy, more wholesome and Local-Organic...Pls GO GREEN!

An entire generation, across the world, is growing up on Pepsi/Mc/KFC et al. Add to that, less physically active.  Not a bright prospect :(

Loving Tribute to my dad

I am usually critical to all these fundas of 'days', which is more western influence...Valentine day, father/mother day, etc.
But, in this fast-paced life, it is good to remember, with love and gratitude, our parents, teachers, at times... Of course, need to be Ssspiritually conscious of God, always!

I plan to write a book on my relationship with my dad. As a child, he was terror. As I grew up, he was more approachable. Once I hit teens, he became a friend. The respectful distance always remained between us, but we were close in a way we would not exhibit. Me as a youngster, and himself as a career-faugi!

I have learnt so many things from him...and try to emulate him.

• family- first. He made it a point to be in contact with all relatives/siblings, friends,etc, but his family came first. 
• compassion - for people around him, not just family, but beyond
• discipline, time management, etc -being career-fauji, it came naturally to him. 
• passion for fitness 
• he inspired me to stay away from alcohol, as he was a tea-totaller, in spite of being in army & CSD...Seeing his addiction to smoking, I resolved to stay away from cigarettes. 
• his style of parenting was not by preaching, but by practise and setting example ( something I 'try' with my son!)
• reading habit -my passion for letters and blogging, is something rubbed off from him.

 He is no more...we miss him. But he lives in our lives....

When Bapu kicked the ball - Lounge - livemint.com

When Bapu kicked the ball - Lounge - livemint.com

Now an e-magazine for Indian writing in English - Thiru'puram - City - The Times of India

This is very interesting.... finally, something that may be truly representative of Indian-writing.... beyond some of the more prominent, but not truly 'representative' and less flamboyant!

Now an e-magazine for Indian writing in English - Thiru'puram - City - The Times of India

Bhopal Gas Tragedy - Toooo little.... just toooooooo late

The verdict has made a mockery of our legal system. We just don't value human lives... :(   The system has failed not only those who were affected by the tragedy, but the world. The government got to wake up and do something at least now.

NDTV was right in asking.. if this had happened in America ??

Incidentally, America is struggling to come to grip with the another man-made disaster - the oil spill. It is said even natural disasters affect the popularity rating of leaders and governments. This spill and inaction thereof, is suicidal. But, you can count on the President of USA and others in his establishment failing to live up to this challenge.

Thomas L Friedman rightly commented, oil spill is a defining moment for the US ! 


Even the most powerful on earth can fool Nature... Nature invariably hits back - it is our choice to term it mere action-reaction or Malthusian effect or Doctrine of Karma.

Kapil Dev in Riyadh

Annual day celebrations at a school reminds us of our own school days...esp if we were active in the extra-cultural activities like drama, music, et al. Similar is a feeling when annual day function is held at the school of our children, when they have to juggle between studies/tests and practice. ( At least our school days were less stressful). The excitement among all children and us, parents, hit a new high when the news of this year's chief guest was confirmed. Kapil Dev, one & only...! Memories took me to my school/college days..!
Kapil became a popular cricketer when he started playing for India. Those days, The Hindu, Sportstar, Sportsweek, etc were the source of all news and analysis. He became an icon when his brilliance, both as a player/all-rounder and captain, enabled India lift Prudential Cup. The brilliant match-winning knock against Zimbabwe ( ironically, we are out of tri-series courtesy them!)... The brilliant dismissal of Viv Richards in final...He is one great player, who has given as much back to the game... very few have made such a difference!

A caricature of him, with the cup, was the sole picture on my room-wall for a very long time, as I struggled with my maths, physics earlier and then commerce! He was not from a metro, did not speak fluent english, was not flamboyant... many of us could identify with him. He inspired a few generations of professionals and achievers,not few fast & medium pacers!

As I walked, or limped thanks to a sprain to the venue at school, I thought... Kapil was fit throughout his playing career.

We were seated,eagerly waiting for him. He walked in, to a roaring reception of a packed house...So many of us were overwhelmed by his sheer presence. The tall, dark and handsome, also fit even now, Kapil revived memories of our own school/college days, when we were TDH&Fit ( certainly not now, at least most of us parents in the audience!)

He sat through the program encouraging the students and staff. We were just happy to be in his inspiring company.Kapil gave a short, but a very inspiring speech:

Most of us (NRI's) would have gone through similar struggles in our early lives, just as Kapil did. But all differences end there. Kapil worked very, very hard and reached the pinnacle. We were not as focussed, committed! If Kapil could reach the top, each one of us could have reached, in our respective fields too... A little more goal-orientation, hard-work, sincerity, prayers.... would have helped!
One key difference was he could pursue his passion and many of us could not, as we did not have the financial security or our parents would not risk ( not to blame our folks, as we would have perhaps done same if we were in our parents' shoes)
But, our children are better off. Their parents have some amount of financial security. Many of them will be encouraged and supported to pursue their dreams. But, how many children will reach the top ? How many of them will identify a passion, work very hard, keep up the focus and will reach the top, maintaining impeccable value-system....!? Like a Kapil, Sachin, Vishy Anand, Dr Kalaam, Nrn Murthy, Pt Jasraj...real Indian icons...

Even if a few students reach such levels of Total Greatness, Kapil would be the happiest for his humble contribution( inspiration). Their alma mater will be proud. Their teachers will be happiest. Parents would have done their duty. May God bless and guide our beloved children...
A big thanks to DPS...
Thank you, Kapil Dev!

The Music Room by Namita Devidayal - A beautiful experience

I always return from India with a small box of books –  personal choices of wife, son and myself. While son picks up the children's books, we try to thrust on him ‘better’ books on self-development, spirituality et al.

During our visit to friends @ Cairo, we had an interesting discussion. The hosts were reading books from the two opposite ends of the spectrum – lady of the house was reading ‘Shantharam’, he was reading a book on ‘halo’. He felt reading all such books/novels was sheer waste of time. The other two couples, including ourselves, had their own views. Interesting discussion, that was…!

Personally, I have been reading less of fiction-types, but more of other serious types. ( Though Shantaram is being planned, put off due to the sheer size of the book!)

Now, why all these…? I just finished reading a beautiful book – The Music Room, by Namita Devidayal. After finishing the book, I am unable to start another book. It had such a profound impact on me…

As a child, I wanted to become a singer, more like Yesudas. I started my classical music training at the age of 9, but could not continue as we shifted out of our village. I re-started with another master when I was 13. Again, we moved. Somewhere, I lost whatever little singing capability I had. I don’t know was it due to the serious typhoid or hitting adolescence. 

I had this fear, if I will be re-born just to fulfil the dream to become a singer! 

As my life took a fantastic twist and became Spiritual, bhajans stuck a chord. When I sang as part of a group, my cacophony would not stand out. My singing improved.Singing became one of the nine spiritual steps, ‘Keerthanam’. Thanks to repeated singing, cacophony became more ‘bearable’ ! From a follower, I became an occasional ‘lead-singer’. I was fulfilling a dream… to sing…’keerthanam’. 

May be, I don’t need to be re-born to become a singer, but to take care of other effects of Karma J

Against this background, I saw a book on music, in India. I saw the comments. On the cover, ‘Fantastic! A must for every musician and music lover – Pt Ravi Shankar’ and similar reviews on the back-cover. I picked up the book… The Music Room

Somewhere, my priority in life shifted to education, career, etc. Music was not a priority! Unlike the author, "Part of me is a mom and part of me is a singer and part of me is a writer and part of me is a party animal”.

So many of my friends are music-lovers. From film songs ( hindi/tamil/etc), classical (Hindustani/Carnatic), western, instrumental, devotional-singing, etc… But, for many of us, music is an integral part of our lives. For some of us, it is meditation/sadhana/spirituality…

"To play a raga, you must see it standing in front of you." – is the most inspiring thought in the book. 
The Prologue, Bhairavi, on the Vision is just Divine.

A big thanks to the author for sharing this wonderful musical-story… God Bless…

"….this kind of music is the closest one comes to spirituality. It's so meditative. It makes you forget the outside world. It's almost like going into a musical wonderland. "

"...The book is also about how someone from a contemporary, modern world interacts with someone from such a traditional world"…    http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/sep/20namita.htm

PS : A must read for all music lovers, who are from India, want to know about India, and want to understand what music means to Indians & beyond…

Moving stories of two young professionals

We have been MANGALORED...

check this out...HATE GOODBYES ! We lost some great, common people too in the crash.

we have been MANGALORED :(

Mangalore has always been a very special city for me. That is where I started my career, way back in early 90’s. It ‘looked’ similar to Kerala, perhaps greener. But, people were quite different. Having covered  into Hassan-road, Kanhangad in Kerala and Kundapura towards Konkan on the job, I got to meet a cross section of people of all three faiths, backgrounds, culture, etc. As a management trainee, professional life was at its best. Had three great bosses in quick succession, learnt some big lessons with them. (Professional life has never been so cool since then, having got in to the rat-race and ‘trying to climb’ the proverbial corporate ladder. )

Travelling into Kerala on work, I came across many people who had gulf connections. There would be several people slogging it out in Gulf and their family having a good life, blissfully unaware of the difficulties of their bread-winner in Middle East. (My childhood chum captured the essence of the suffering in his hugely successful movie, Arabi-Katha, in Malayalam). All of them invariably spent a fortune on their dream-homes ( thankfully, the lenders had not extended their tentacles by then, thus preventing the gulf-mallus from getting stuck in debt burden – that was even before the advent of ‘blade companies’, as the not-so-popular private money lenders are popularly known!).

Even for us, a credit card was a luxury, but we were aware of the values of living within means…Then, I had to make an official travel to Mumbai, by air. As I was dropped off at airport, the scenic beauty hit me. But, the location of the airport was a bit scary… I thought, this should have been a helipad !

Last year, I was back at Mangalore. I was back to spend my vacation, in typical NRI fashion. While all youngsters go to gulf and spend a fortune on their homes, I was in Gulf partly to fulfill my dream of financial independence and pay off my mortgage loans too!!! I was there with my mom, wife and son, on a pilgrimage. We covered Katil, Kollur, Murdeshwar, etc. We enjoyed the food, and also the liberal servings at Ideal Ice Cream, one of Mangalore’s pride! Mangalore was always a veggie’s delight.

Landing @ Mangalore airport, I was shocked to find the same airport, with little cosmetic changes. I thought again, this should have been a helipad. Now, I am no engineer/aeronautical expert. But, it was sheer common sense. We need no brilliance of Malcolm Gladwel ( as he explained in OUTLIERS), to make analysis of this disaster. The mountain-top airport should have been a helipad…perhaps !

A flight from Dubai…with many passengers belonging to DK & North Kerala have met the tragic end. Leaving behind hundreds of relatives, friends, colleagues and dependents. Many would have been bread winners for their families. 

In spite of our rich cultural & spiritual heritage, somehow we don't seem to value human life. So many deaths happen around us... have be become so insensitive. 

Most of them would have spent all their youth in the desert, to provide a comfortable life to their near & dear ones. All this because the establishment has failed to upgrade the infrastructure… We have been tragically  ‘MANGALORED’. :(

Turn veggie, prevent chronic diseases - Diet - Health & Fitness - Life - The Times of India

This is no great revelation. Most of us are aware. But one of the things we don't implement. We tend to postpone/ignore...

Right eating is a critical part of Spiritual Living...Hence blogging this link from ToI.

I feel, if we are on spiritual path, it helps to move from non-veggie to veggie. It would still help to move towards vegan.

Still better if we Go-Local & Organic. It would reduce the transportation impact on our planet ( 'Go Green') and also help local farming community. Positive impact of organic needs...we all know very well.

It is one of those elements of Spiritual Journey... worth trying to move, one small step at a time. But worth trying... trust me.

If you are not yet on spiritual journey, what are you waiting for ? A crisis, as someone shared with me recently ? ( Don't we have enough crisis around us already ?)

Happy Spiritual Journey!

Turn veggie, prevent chronic diseases - Diet - Health & Fitness - Life - The Times of India

T20 World Cup

Indian cricket hit a new low !

We put up a pathetic performance, individually and collectively.
IPL did not help our own players, but it helped someone else... KP attributes his success to IPL. Let us not miss out the fact he spent extra time at practice and working hard. Naturally, he was clear about his goal to hit form and make valuable contribution to his team's winning

If that was not enough, they are in news for wrong reasons...creating a scene at a pub !

Role Model

One of our fundamental responsibility as a parent to our children is to inculcate in them the right value system. A friend uses a more appropriate term, 'SANSKAR'! How true... !


This should be done by not preaching, but by practicing. But we forget this and try to preach than being a role model. Just practise !

Meditation

People have different opinions about 'meditation'. But still, many are yet to experience the beautiful experience of this simple activity! We don't find time for ourselves. We have time for everything else, many of it not very necessary to our personal life, happiness or spiritual growth.

I held on to the view we need at least 20 minutes of meditation to reach a higher level. This is based on the various readings, and a few popular techniques I have learnt.

But Master comes up with something out of world, as always. 11 seconds of true meditation enough, He says. He is obviously not trying to lower the bar. But actually raising it. If we can practice true meditation for 11 seconds, it may not be very difficult to practice for 20 minutes or beyond. But, in this Kaliyuga, where instant/fast food is more popular, we could reach higher levels of consciousness by reaching true meditation level for 11 seconds. Needless to add, rest depends on Grace of the Master, based on our sincere efforts.

Happy Meditating...

Dubai Visit

A short visit. Enjoyed the weather, it was pleasant esp during early morning and after sunset. It was not sultry either.

Morning walk was cool. Thought would not see many people on road on a Friday morning. But was pleasant to see few morning walkers and also a fairly big group of joggers, perhaps preparing/running marathon/half marathon. We, residents in GCC, needs to take care of our health better.

Dinner at Saravanabhavan was just great - great food, fantastic service and nice Indian-middle class ambiance ! A veggie's delight! Curry-leaves soup was a revelation.

Love the sheer energy of Dubai. Reminds more of amchi-Mumbai. People are always on the move.. in a hurry. Healthy too...

But the economy is yet to recover. People fear the property market may hit a new low soon. The fear is still there. A correction was definitely due.The dubai-story defied all economic to philosophical logic. But, at individual level, it has affected several people and their families... dreams gone sour. Feel bad for them.

In all, great experience @ Dubai, except at airport... was a big disappointment, on return.At check in,  immigration counter, food court, book-stall...etc. Not in sync with the energy & courtesy of Dubai! Wonder why I don't 'command' respect, not even basic courtesy. In spite of being decently dressed and putting up a confident, sincere smile. Food for thought.