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.

Travelling with your pet dog via train(IRCTC) in India...(Intercity travel with Chetak, the German Shepherd.) Part 1/n-Ticket & Coupe booking

If your pet is very young i.e a puppy/kitten etc, who can travel with you in a small basket & you take proper care of your pet, then you & your pet can travel together in a train however, there is some constraint about the maximum permissible weight of your pet. You will need to inquire about it with the authorities...

If I begin by saying traveling from one city to another in India with your medium-sized or giant breed dogs like the German Shepherd whom you love as a family member is an arduous task thanks to the senseless rules of IRCTC, it will be an understatement.

Let's start with the ticket & coupe booking. I am only talking about how difficult it is or how unfriendly the rules are for the pet & the owner who wants to travel with his pet with him in the same coach & not siphon off the poor soul in the dark, stinking, unhygienic luggage van. How difficult & stressful it can get for your dear pet is something that's totally beyond words. The English language is deprived of words/adjectives to express the sentiments & trauma of the poor creatures.

I will give an account of a 2 seater coupe booking at Bombay Central I did while traveling from Bombay to Delhi. It was a harrowing experience.

I had gathered this info that if you book the travel of your pet in the luggage van which is a closed, dark, non-ventilated, dirty, ill-kept coach your pet may not even reach its destination in a fine state. In some cases, pets get robbed or they suffocate & don't even reach their destination alive. Hence it's much better to travel with your pet by your side in the same coach which is only possible when you book a coupe(cabin) in the 1st class AC compartment. You can get a coupe when you book at least 2 or 4 seats as there are only 2 seater or 4 seater coupes

I started enquiring & running around more than a week before the travel date to confirm a coupe booking in my name against the 2 seats I booked in the First AC of Rajdhani Express. Harrowing is a soft word to explain the experience. 

The procedure is that you have to submit an application with your PNR number & photo id proof at the main station, Churchgate-in my case. In this application, you need to explain why do you need a coupe- a separate doored personal cabin? You can address it to the Chief Station Officer, submit it from 2-3 days before journey date up to 2 hours before the seating chart of your train is out on the date of the journey. You will get a ticket for your pet dog at Bombay Central only, that too couple of hours before your journey begins. You cannot board the train at Borivali which could be nearer to your home & easily accessible compared to Bombay Central- I was told this explicitly by the person who would issue my German Shepherd, Chetak's ticket, at a later date. The staff will first check if you have been allotted a coupe & then give you your pet's ticket. This makes your pet eligible to enter the train(Rajdhani Express train no. 12951 in my case), with you.

The farcical content of this scene is even after you have submitted an application, you are NOT guaranteed a coupe. The logic which the IRCTC authorities gave me was if any MLC, MLA, MP(politicians) etc are traveling on the same day, they will be given a preferential allotment of the coupe. The preposterousness does not stop here. You will only get to know whether you have been allotted a coupe or not once the seating chart is out i.e 3-4 hours before the start of the journey. Once the chart is out, you can cancel your journey, but you are not entitled for a refund if you cancel your tickets. You could be on your way from home to the boarding station with your pet dog as you need to reach there 2 hours before the departure time to complete some formalities. Thus your trip from home to the station with your pet could be totally futile courtesy some foolish rules being followed by IRCTC- the Indian Railways system.

Let me add, the vet whom Chetak, my German Shepherd has been visiting since more than 3 years, told me I would need a fitness certificate to travel. He said he will charge INR 400 to 500 to issue a fitness certificate!!! What the hell? He was talking about the same fitness certificate which we used to present in school/college when we used to stay at home to watch a cricket match, go to attend wedding ceremonies, receive a friend/relative from airport/station etc. It used to be given free of cost by our family doctor, isn't it? The vet was treating Chetak(for vaccination, deworming, supplements etc) since I got him home when he was a 30-day old puppy, should he be charging me just to scribble 3-4 lines on a piece of paper? Was it ethical?

The anxiety caused by the uncertainty in getting a coupe was killing. Imagine, you could be traveling alone with your pet dog from one city to another. But to get a coupe you have booked another seat(which will remain vacant) just to be eligible for a 2 seater coupe booking as in my case & because of some idiotic rule implemented by IRCTC you are never sure whether you will be able to even start the journey with your furry friend...

Ultimately with repeated follow-ups, some pyrotechnics & dramatics, we got a coupe booked, a ticket for Chetak, my German Shepherd was issued & we started our journey. 

I have attached the ticket issued for my pet & a video link when we just entered the Rajdhani Express train. More about the journey after the journey started, I will possibly write later...

I believe the IRCTC should not be so myopic when dealing with people traveling with their pets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS3eQHYVTY0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7vZemGA-Y8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBIbcH1rq2o

India vs Hong Kong Cricket match & it's impact on India vs Pakistan in 2018 Asia Cup

Indian cricketers were given a real run for their money, or that's what it at-least seemed like in last night's encounter with Hong Kong.

First about India's batting:- Indian batsmen never got going. This, one would believe is a full strength side in the batting department. Virat Kohli has been rested, but then India is not just Virat Kohli. 11 players or rather 5-7 top order batsmen make your batting line up. In IndvHK(India vs Hong Kong), either all the batsmen were in the mindset of slowly accumulating runs, getting match practise OR pitch was not conducive to batting when India batted. Astonishingly the same pitch became impeccable for stroke play when Hong Kong batsmen like Anshuman Rath etc were batting.

Indians could not accelerate. One would never really get to know the reason why Indians could not switch gears & slog when less than 50 runs were scored in the last 10 overs. Were the Hong Kong bowlers so disciplined? We are talking about Dinesh Karthik, Ambathi Rayudu, Shikhar Dhawan, M.S.Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav. These batsmen were batting in the middle & final stages. These same batsmen were smoking boundaries at will in the IPL 4 months ago... It looks weird that none of them could accelerate & the inexperienced Hong Kong batsmen skimmed the Indian bowling with ease, on the same pitch.

India's bowling:- We had Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal. These bowlers keep international hard hitters tied down & quiet in IPL. But they were made to look absolutely stingless & ordinary. It was a pathetic display in front of batsmen with no experience of facing quality attack, who were batting under pressure of chasing almost 300 against India, the Cricketing Giants, a side that's been amongst the top 3 cricket playing sides in the world since quite a while.

Even the tail end Hong Kong batsmen smoked sixes. As India won the match only by 26 runs, with just a little bit of luck Hong Kong could have easily caused the biggest upset of the Asia Cup 2018 tournament.

Only inclusion of Jaspreet Bumrah will be the discipline enforcing factor in today's India vs Pakistan match. Either Ravinder Jadeja or Hardik Pandya could get a look in depending on the contemporary match/pitch scenario. India's batting line will mostly be the same as yesterday.

One big factor, probably the most decisive & impactful factor would be the disciplined, left arm pace & swing bowling attack of the Pakistanis in IndvsPak game. Couple it with Pakistanis treating UAE, Dubai, Sharjah as their home grounds, the crowd support. The mental & physical exhaustion due to back to back matches of Indian players.

It will be a real test of stamina, physical endurance, mental strength of the team & leadership skills of Rohit Sharma to motivate his team & get the optimal performance out from every individual to compete fiercely & win this match...

Boss = owner of organization

This is a part of the MNC culture. The corporate world. I have heard it zillion times either when my colleagues would discuss it among themselves or talk to me on same lines..."What did your Boss say?", "My Boss is late", "It's difficult to get Boss on the same page", "My Boss won't agree", "His Boss was being unreasonable" ... etc.

I cannot get myself to address my reporting manager as "Boss", I also found it difficult to comprehend the reason as to why do my friends, colleagues address their reporting managers as Boss? Factually, it's unfathomable for me & I personally believe it's absolutely ludicrous of them to do so.

Boss, by definition, is the owner of an organization. Boss could be the owner(sole proprietor), or one of the partners with the majority stakeholding in the firm. Boss is someone who does not take orders from anyone.

I just don't understand why do people address an ordinary salaried employee(just like themselves) as Boss?

The intent is not to disrespect someone. We do give the immediate senior or those above us in the hierarchy his/her share of respect by addressing him/her as Sir/Ma'am.

But unless you are talking to the Owner, Founder, Co-Founder of an organization, I believe, it would not be appropriate to address the individual as BOSS !!!