Sleepless in Dubai Marina

Monday 3:00 a.m.

Here I am in one of the most luxurious hotels on earth called "THE ADDRESS" in Dubai Marina..but such is the irony of life that in the very place that they claim is "designed for my comfort", I can't sleep... You can provide all the comforts of life..the best quality of srevice..but you can't beat the damn jet lag.

After 22 hours in flight from Mexico via Amsterdam, 9 of which were spent sleeping..there was no chance I was going to have a normal first day in Dubai. I reached around 6 in the morning had a hearty breakfast (although my stomach had no clue whether it was meant as breakfast, lunch or dinner) ...came back to the room ..switched on the TV and promptly went off to sleep..

The next I knew anything was when the incessant ringing of the phone woke me up and the clock showed 5:00. To realise whether it was a.m. or p.m. took me five minutes..and consequently at 5:05 p.m., I was completely if regrettably aware that I would not be sleeping tonight..

Well you could not bame me for lack of effort...I tried hard to tire myself up in the gym..had a huge indian dinner (chicken tikka :))...tried to bore myself by watching some arabic song and dance channel...but to no avail. I still feel like Poppeye the sailor with spinach in me.

Well sometime after Germany beat the hell out of Australia (world cup soccer)...I picked up a book recommended to me by a colleague. Its called "The Broker" by author John Grisham ..whom by the way I had written off somewhere on 123rd page of "The Summons" a few years back. But boy can he tell a story.

The book was an eye opener. Well, I did enjoy some of his old books... like "The Firm", "The Pelican Brief" and especially "The Runaway Jury" but I used to think that all he can write is legal dramas. But no sir..he grabbed me on the fourth page of the book and never let go till I turned the last page. The story has everything..drama, espionage, love, intrigue...its practically a hollywood movie. But the Author's note right at the end beats everything. It is one of the most honest and endearing confessions by an author.

Well, as you can see my last ploy ..talking to no one in particular through this newfound medium..has also failed to put me to sleep, I have no choice but to start the new day.

Have a great day.

The Businessman

Its not always that you get to meet a rags to riches guy in real life..and when you do..however much you try to be cool about it...the natural reaction is pure admiration.We met one such person who I will not name just because you might read a book about him very soon and I don't want to get into any copyright discussions :).

The strangest thing is that we met him halfway around the world in Mexico city when he actually is from Indore MP India..our very own hometown. However its been over 20 years since he is calling Mexico his home..He was gracious enough to spend close to a couple of hours with us at lunch and tell us his life story. It has bollywood movie written all over it..and I believe a very successful one at that. I will not tell you the story as i believe thats his prerogative but..I can tell you this...In those two hours we realised that we are sitting with a great man..

After loosing everything at a very young age he has practically rebuilt life for him and his family singlehandedly with sheer "muleheaded" drive and abilty to grab the right opportunities!! He has learnt life's lessons the hard way..maybe the hardest possible way..while working in countries where even in today's age staying alive is a quetstion of chance at best. He now owns property in four different countries across three continents...has at least three highly profitable businesses and from what he told us launching his fourth big one very soon.

Wish you all the best sir for your future and wish more people get a chance to learn from you.

Once upon a time in Mexico city

My wife...my love...mi amor...is a remarkable woman. I would write songs in her praise... but lets be frank, neither I have the ability nor you have the time..so I will make do by telling you a small story.
We came to this wonderful exotic country called Mexico sometime in May with mixed feelings. On one hand we were excited to see a new country..a new culture , on the other we were scared..primarily because of the dangerous statistics which are abundant on the internet..crime rates..drug mafia...kidnappings..you know.
In circumstances such as these it is easy to get inside your shell..be overly conservative..and then miss all the fun of the new place. But that is not what happened with us..in fact we are having the time of our lives..and the credit goes to her. On the third day in Mexico she realised that the best use of her free time would be to learn the new language..promptly called a few agencies..interviewed some teachers and BAM..on the fourth day in a new country she had made a new friend. From then on with the improving command on the language she has practically become my support system in Mexico. Ordering food..sightseeing..using the local public conveyance..just became so easy..
What is even more remarkable is that she has now started a small business of doing mehendi for the local people by appointment...this way she enjoys her free time and keeps on making new friends..All within the span of less than three weeks. A feat most indian women can't imagine. just can't admire her enough.
Today I have to leave for Dubai for a conference..but I have no concerns about leaving her alone in Mexico at all...she is just so much able to handle her self..that all my misapprehensions have dissipated.
But I am going to miss her and I am sure she is going to miss me...
Well..its just seven days..take care jaan.. I love you..:*

The other side of the world

I am today practically on the other side of the world from my home. They say if I dig a hole through the center of the earth right here in Mexico city it will probably open somewhere in the north east of India. But is this world really that different? well to tell you the truth yes!!

For a start the female hotness ratio is inverted. Ok..maybe i jumped a step..Female hotness ratio can be defined as the number of females that you are sure will be hot if you randomly pick out a hundred females. In India if I want to represent a number for the whole country then I believe it would not be more than 15. It probably depends on the location within the country too. For example in Delhi and Bombay I think it can touch about 35. Chandigarh...may be 45. But thats about it. In Mexico I can safely say its more than 70. And from what I have heard so far I believe it stays about the same or higher for all of Latin America. So guys..maybe a trip to Latin America is in order what say?

Well just having a lot of hot girls is as good as having a bottle of beer without a bottle opener. If you don't know the trick you can break your teeth ;) . Thats where I believe we Indians have an edge. When we come to Latin America we are no longer the mundanes but the exotics ;) if you know what I mean. And as we all know if you are an exotic, then the probability of getting it on with the opposite sex increases to 80%...oh you didn't know.:O

Anyway, SO I guess all I am saying is if you come to Latin America and get out of your hotel in public there is about 70%*80% = 56% chance that you will get to be with a hot latin girl. SO all you need to do is get out of the hotel more than twice a day and you are done. :)

Disclaimer: I do not put my ideas into practice for personal gains. I am a happily married guy. I am much like indian politicians always thinking of the betterment of my fellow countrymen.

Chao

Charlie - the bastard

This is for all those of you who have never watched "Two and a half men". I just do not possess the literary capability to express what you guys are missing...and yeah the stress is on "guys". Sure there is something for you girls too..CHARLIE!!

He charms the hell out of one gorgeous girl after another with his inacndescent wit and wagon loads of style...and you can't help but iconise him. What, with a dumb ass brother...and an even dumber nephew to boot...one can't ignore the genius in casting. To top it off you add a roughish housekeeper, a cute stalker with one hell of an attitude and an incorrigibly wierd mother and what you get is 30 minutes of pure humour.

On a serious note, there is a lot to learn from Charlie..both for our personal as well as professional lives. With that curious note I end this ..well review...

Do watch it!!

my first blog

Hi guys,
Finally the peer pressure has proved too much for my petty resistance to change...and here I am writing my first blog....
As you habitual bloggers would know this is not an easy task...you need to think about what you want to write...then try and express it in flowery words... put in a bit of humour...some sarcasm maybe...include some current affairs (you know to sound serious)....you know the grind!!!..seems a bit too much of work to me...
SO may be I will do it another time...
keep reading!! :)