Dubai Tourism. Should you opt for a Dubai Tour Package or not?

Dubai Tourism

For a Dubai Tour, most of the people will opt for a Dubai Tourism Package via a local travel agency. If you ask Indians what is their dream destination or if given a chance which country would they definitely want to see in their lifetime Dubai is one place which will figure in the list of at least
6 out of every 10 people you will come across. That's the reason first timers want everything planned by people who have been organizing tours & don't want to risk their enjoyment while on tour with the anxiety of planning, interacting and fixing deals/negotiating with foreigners in an alien territory.

A lot of people also have the misconception that a Dubai Tour Package would be very expensive, beyond their budget. However this is quite contrary to the factual reality.

Dubai is a dream destination- this fact is contributed to by the promotions it gets from our very own Bollywood movies. The most recent movie "Baby" featuring Akshay Kumar & Rana Daggubati was shot extensively in Dubai. Among the 'Old is Gold' category movies, Sanjay Dutt's Naam was shot in Dubai. These movies & a lot of other movies have been shot in and around Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab etc hence these locations have shot into prominence.

Most of the tourists have Dubai Aquarium, Desert Safari, Burj Khalifa, Dubai Marina & Burj Al Arab at the top of their list of places to visit.

Burj Khalifa was earlier known as Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration in 2010. It is one of the most wonderful and exotic locations. It has the honor of being the tallest skyscraper in the world. At 829 meters, the peak of Burj Khalifa provides you with a fantastic view of it's magnificent & clean surroundings. It has 124 floors, 57 elevators, and 8 escalators. Witnessing the whole city from
the top is a once in a lifetime opportunity. From the top, you get a bird's eye view of the whole of Dubai which is a sight to behold, a memory which you would want to cherish for the rest of your life.

Burj Al Arab is a luxury hotel which is amongst the 'not to miss' list of tourists. The unique part about this hotel is that apart from it being a luxury hotel it has been built on an artificial island which
was specially constructed only to lay the foundation to set up this majestic hotel which was named as Burj Al Arab. It is located at an approximate distance of 280 meters from Jumeirah beach. If you will
look at the hotel from a distance, it will look like a ship. The fact that a small island makes up the base & some of the world famous genius architects have gotten together to demonstrated their skills in full glory in developing a structure which resembles the sails of a ship, is a sight that everyone who visits Dubai wants to witness without fail. These places in Dubai provide a soothing & relaxing experience to one's eyes as well as the brain.

How to make your Girl happy? How to go for shopping with your GF?

How to make your GF/Wife feel that you have been with her, even mentally, while she was shopping or while she was trying various outfits to finalize that one outfit she is gonna wear  for the party at the weekend?

Visualize this scene...

Girlfriend- Which one is better? This one or that earlier one?

Boyfriend- *has a blank mind but gives her a deep look. Kind of thinking hard look*(In reality he did not even hear her question. Was checking Rohit Sharma's strike rate after hitting 200 in ODI against Australia on  Cricinfo*

Girlfriend- Tell me what do you think?
BF-*Now with a blank mind he has a blank look*

GF- What are you thinking about so deeply? This is not looking good, no?
BF- *she is holding a dress, must be asking about the dress* I was thinking what should be added to this outfit to make you look more stunning? Just change of colour, probably more dark?(Wowww! such a life saving, pragmatic monologue)

GF- Even I was thinking that it is making me look fat. See, almost like I have a tummy *looks at her reflection in mirror*.
BF- That's what I was thinking, was searching for words to express my thoughts.

GF-Crimson red & scarlet red make me look jaded as well. Brick red always makes me stand out in the crowd
BF- Huhhh! Red has so many variations?

*Another shop*

GF- These curtains will look good in my room. Walls are of grey colour, doors have a dark coffee colour, study table has pink cloth laid over it & ceiling is white. Will Magenta be fine? Or I think the curtains should also be of grey colour, what do you say?
BF- *Bloody hell! So many things need to be taken into consideration to decide the colour of curtains?* I think this dark one will be good because it will give a soothing effect(safe option- pick a colour giving any vague reason that you can think of)

GF- You mean magenta? No yaar, dark colour will absorb more light. Not good for my room. Grey colour curtains will look good.
BF- Right & you even have a grey T-Shirt!

GF- Wowww! You remember that T-Shirt? *grins* I no longer wear it after that day.

The point is your girl/lady will invariably give you the straight answer or at least drop hints in the conversation unknowingly herself ,as to what option she wants you to choose... Be on the look out for clues in her monologues. You are just loitering along with her while she does some meaningful shopping(from her perspective) to make her feel secure & give her company. It's imperative to make her feel that the choices she makes are the choices she arrives at after some really deep intellectual analysis.

Opportunist - Naam Hai Siddhu! Siddhu snubbed by Imran Khan! What's wrong with Siddhu?

In Hindi there is an adage which goes like "Bin Pendi ka lota". Google.com suggests its English equivalent as "Rolling stone" in some places. The message the Hindi adage conveys is having no inclinations, preferences or leanings. The Hindi adage uses analogy of a rounded vessel which is used to pour water. Since the vessel is absolutely rounded hence when it is left to roll on the ground freely, it can roll in any direction. Sometimes the 'lota' or vessel will lean or move to the left and sometimes to the right. You can neither predict in which direction it will turn nor you can explain or understand why it turned in that specific direction.

If we talk about human equivalents of "Bin pendi ka lota" one might be able to think of a lot of generic examples from history, past, personal experiences etc. However, if you talk about the contemporary scenario, one individual has really caught everyone's attention. He might even leave the 'lota' embarrassed & red-faced. The 'lota' could surrender by putting down its weapons saying "Mr. Navjot Singh Siddhu, you are better than me at MY art." But how come? From where did you pick these skills up, Mr. Siddhu?

Or is it just that you are making your moves with a clandestine agenda up your sleeve?

Siddhu has made a paradigm shift in his loyalties. His switch in sides from BJP(Bharatiya janata Party) to Congress, from being pro BJP, to becoming intensely anti-Modi, anti-BJP, pro-Congress, pro-Sonia Gandhi has zapped even the apolitical individuals & has forced them to sit up and take notice. Siddhu's switch in loyalties is so drastic that he has been absolutely condescending in addressing or talking about BJP & PM Narendra Modi. Images of him touching the feet of Sonia Gandhi have gone viral. No one has a clue as to what is the exact reason...

There was some disagreement earlier between Siddhu & BJP party members because of some issue. It pissed Siddhu off so much that he quit BJP. He was dilly-dallying with the idea of joining AAP(Aam Aadmi Party) or even floating his own party. He took a while to decide & to everyone's surprise, he joined the Indian National Congress(INC) Party. 

After some introspection, his recently developed vocabulary & oratory skills, recalling his wisecracks which he used to come up with in commentary during cricket matches or serials like The Kapil Sharma show etc one's mind refuses to believe that Siddhu's decision to join INC is an imbecile decision. This could actually be a very well thought out decision. Considering the fact that Congress Party is absolutely deprived of balanced orators who can speak with a rich blend of knowledge coupled with recent facts and statistics it could be the most shrewd & tactical decision made by someone in recent times.

We have all heard that when you need to prove yourself, it is prudent for you, to line up among the fools. It becomes easy for you to make a mark & impress people. With the Congress party having a lot of tainted leaders like Shashi Tharoor(suspected of killing his own wife) & the current 'party president' Rahul Gandhi allegedly 'Raul Vinci'  managing to reveal his 'dementia' every time he opens his mouth, Rahul Gandhi & Sonia Gandhi just managing to get bail & several  more cases of corruption lined up against them, Siddhu could turn out to be the show stopper for Congress.

He could turn out to be the standout star performer in the run-up to 2019 elections. Apart from his switch in loyalties, if you look at Siddhu's credentials everything seems to be right about him. From lofting Shane Warne for sixes at will, being a celebrated cricketer, to wielding his willow at Aamir Sohail at Sharjah during an ODI(in which india had scored beyond 300 & he himself had scored a century) & scaring the daylights out from him, his self professed meditation routine & his seemingly unique oratory skills, Siddhu has a large fan following. He might have lost some followers or left a lot of them bemused by his switch from BJP to Congress. His magnanimously criticized, (in)famous visit to Pakistan to witness Imran Khan's swearing-in as the Prime Minister has conveyed the message that he will do what he feels is justified. Whatever was the reason which made him visit Pakistan, though he was snubbed by Imran Khan & not given importance, he has created an impact on the minds of people back home. Congress might increase his workload in the coming elections.

But he could be having something really big in his mind. If he sustains the uniqueness in his speeches which was displayed during his TV stints on commentary & comedy shows, he would easily be a big crowd pulling factor for Congress. Easier for him to shine amongst the allegedly tainted & corrupt, scam weary leaders. He could be shooting for something huge & he wants to reach there in double quick time? CM seat from Punjab, is that what you are eyeing Mr. Navjot Singh Siddhu? Maybe...

What do you mean by Good Communication Skills? How to speak well?

We have all heard this a lot of times - "xyz has good communication skills", "you need to be good in communication skills to be successful", "communication skills xyz..." etc. Lot of people move around with misconceptions regarding communication skills.

It is imperative to first understand what exactly is the meaning of Communication Skills? Good or Bad, we can decide later. 

Communication Skills means, the person should be able to express his ideas clearly providing cogent arguments. It does not really matter what language he uses. He could be using a mix of 2 languages for eg English & Hindi, while speaking. But if he is able to establish a connection with the listener & can address the concerns/points of skepticism/disagreement raised in the conversation he can be considered good. If the speaker gets the listener on-board or the listener completely or even partially agrees to him, though he might be having a diametrically opposite view to that of the speaker, you can conclude that the speaker has good communication skills. 

A person who has good communication skills will be able to get people to endorse his views though he may be speaking in Hindi or Marathi or Gujarati... He can make people make a paradigm shift in their ideologies because he conveys the message clearly & pinpoints the incorrectness in their thoughts, beliefs or analysis. We have all seen the most polished speaker being a spectator while the one who was not as polished being hailed as a good communicator. Empathy plays an important role in communication.

For good communication skills, the ideas need to be relayed clearly by the speaker & at the same time he needs to be a good listener so that he is always connected to the responses and addresses them in a lucid fashion.

A lot of people live under the delusion that if someone is able to speak English well without using any fillers(using 'umm', 'a' etc sounds when getting stuck) he/she has exceptional communication skills. People do use fillers while speaking. The use of fillers could be to either buy time to streamline the thoughts that need to be expressed or simply because they have an underdeveloped vocabulary which does not equip them to speak in a flow though they could be equipped with a smooth flow of thoughts. They could be searching for words, mentally, to express themselves lucidly.

Of course use of fillers may not be appreciated by most of the listeners as fillers prove to be a distraction to most people & they need to focus more to comprehend in totality the excerpts of the conversation. It is possible to eliminate the use of fillers by practice. But even people who use fillers while speaking are sometimes found to be exceptional communicators. The yardstick being they easily get people to support their views or in their endeavors.  

So, coming back, if someone speaks impeccable English & sounds polished, it would not be appropriate to label that individual as someone who has exceptional communication skills just because of his speaking skills. Indians, specially those from the rural areas do seem to get captivated by anyone who can express himself in English. We can conclude that a person who is good in English can be termed as a polished speaker or a good orator. A good communicator will express himself clearly & be empathetic. A lot of people will introspect & change their thought process or their respective stands after introspection after listening to him. 

I would strongly recommend that one must not get obsessed by someone's mastery over a foreign language.