Bye Bye Dubai

Ok at last after a plethora of hiccups and hitches at work, i am finally ready to say goodbye. As usual since hum bahut nostalgic ho jaata hoon ---about places i ve lived in feeling a little sad to leave. (actually feeling this for just 5-10 mins everyday)---

Plan of action upto Apr 15 well--there are two schools of thought. First says study and brush up concepts which are long forgotten---moron you are going to spend 16 lakhs towards this--u better be prepared!

The second school of thought says you have one big year of hard work. Take a chillpill and relax. Hum bahut confused hoon.
Work life balance lana padega life mein(basically the work component)--------That would be a good pre-preterm thing.
Ram(class of 2006) has started posting some kool pictures of ISB life. Inspired by that i am also putting up a photo feature of Dubai. Blogging also needs practice---- so this is towards that



A futuristic View of Burj Dubai Its supposed to be the tallest in the world. Rite now only the foundation is ready

The Old town

The old Souk(Market)

The Dubai creek--a witness a many Bollywood shoots

The Dubai skyline--looks amazing at night


And finally the burj al arab------a true landmark of Dubai. One of the world's finest hotels

Ok Maa' salam Dubai( Good bye in Arabic). Next post from swadesh and amchi Mumbai. Looking fwd to the meet on Sunday

The Last trip

It was one of those magnificent trips as I realized that I may not make such trips anymore at least for sometime to come. This weekend I made a trip to Oman. I am very nostalgic about the place as I have spent about 30 months there.

For the first time visitor its difficult to believe that Oman is a part of the middle-east which is characterized by deserts. Oman is beautiful. Wide roads, a lot of greenery (natural and created) and rich cultural heritage are characteristics of Oman. Geographically it is located about 450 Kms east of Dubai. It is an excellent tourist destination in my opinion. More about Oman can be found on http://www.destinationoman.com/

Talking of the Middle East, it’s an absolute paradise for the driving buff. Excellent roads (better that the US, oh yea I ve seen both and can say this with authority), dirt cheap petrol and affordable car prices make driving very pleasurable and attractive. I calculated yesterday that I ve driven about 300000 kms on the highways(thanks to numerous trips between Dubai and Muscat) in Three years and most is it was pleasure driving!!!!!

One more week and I ll be out of this place. No regrets as better things are in store. Only memories shall remain--------(and a lot of themJ)

Main Kaun Hoon?

ISB has developed a new microsite for use by all new admits. We are required to fill up certain information online. One of the fields in the accommodation request section says "Mother Tongue". The title of this post propped up into my mind immediately on looking at this field.

For some its an easy question. For me very tough , being a third generation of a south Indian family who migrated to north a century ago-------being one who can speak better Hindi than Tamil------and being one who has north Indian accent and a name like Krishnamooti Venkat Raman, I face huge identity crisis when posed with questions like this Since the beginning I ve been blessed with remarks like oh u look more like Punjabi: I would say theory of adaptation , oh your Hindi is so flawless no one would believe that u are a madrasi: he he I am the inspiration behind the santoor ad( Twacha se meri umar kaa pata hi nahi chalta )

But this is making me think about the unnecessary importance that is given to origin, mother tongue, caste, creed and what not in this country. Its never enough to say I am an Indian----from where, what language u speak, whos your father whose your father's father etc are very important. I have not been able to comprehend the reason ! Possibly this is one of the reasons we lack a feeling of oneness at times-----But then i guess all this diversity is what is great about India as well---

Now my next worry is what if I am booked in with a bunch of Tamil speaking guys at ISB------Well parents will be more than happy if I can learn some solid Tamil But who cares-----m just too happy celebrating ISB. Identity crisis will take its own course. For the time being i have decided to put "Tamil" as my mother tongue even though i am the worst Tamil speaker on planet earth :)