Monthly Archives: December 2006

Smart Marketing

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One world. One family. One festival. This is the tagline of the famous Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) currently underway in Dubai. DSF has come up with a colourful website in English, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu and –– hold your breath –– Malayalam! The smart thinking marketing execs in DSF must be congratulated for their brave effort. Leave it or take it, you just cannot ignore your core customers. Dubai knows it better.

May Your Soul Rest In Peace

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From the day I landed in Oman, I have interacted with Adil Mansur for a host of issues – from visa to resident card to admin issues to HR issues. He is the Admin Manager of our company, and I had a very good rapport with him. Whenever we bumped into each other in the corridor, he would say, “kief halak” (which means, ‘how are you’, in Arabic), and enquire how much of Arabic skills I had mastered in my two years of stay in Oman. Whenever I pounced on him for some serious issues, he would cool it down with his clean wit and cheeky smiles. For me, he was one Omani in office, who would speak very good English, and had solution at hand for anything and everything.
Today morning, I was glancing through the newspaper and was dumbstruck looking at a condolence message. A couple of calls later, my fears came true. Adil had died of a heart attack yesterday night. I am going to miss him.

Wish Lists For 2007

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Personal wish list for 2007

Read more books

Browse less

Eat less junk stuff

Exercise more

Visit more places of tourist interest in Oman

Spend more, earn more

General wish list for 2007

Sombre George Bush

Less coverage for Paris Hilton

World peace (makes lives easy for journos)

Solution to Kashmir issue

Faster net connectivity in Oman

India becoming Asia’s THE fastest growing economy

Reduced air fares on India-Oman sector

Resurrection of Indian hockey

Less of Himesh Reshammiya

Tendulkar to announce retirement

More competitors to Google

Cheap international telephone call rates from Oman

Indian Hockey: Down In The Dumps

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Is Indian hockey dying a slow death? According to me, yes. Gone are the days of mastery and splendour the game was known for in the whole of Asia. With people like KPS Gill and Jyothikumaran at the helm, players and coaches are given raw deal every other day. A quality player like Viren Rasquinha is dropped on the eve of Asian Games citing injury concerns. Coaches are not given free hand for selection nor the confidence to choose the team they prefer.

Gill and Jyothikumaran make sure their egos are pampered in terms of team selection, pre-match comments, post-match excuses, etc. Having spoken to guys like Dhanraj Pillay and Dileep Tirkey in the past, I strongly feel that if you are willing to take the nonsense of these IHF bosses, you have a chance of representing India. If you rebel, then it’s anybody’s guess!

If Sachin Tendulkar gets dropped from the team, it will make headlines enough to make our MPs voice their concern in Parliament. If a Dhanraj Pillay gets dropped, it will not find space in our national mainstream media. Sadly, some of the credit for sad state of hockey today must go to cricketisation of Indian sports.

From the last World Cup, I’ve decided not to write reviews anymore on team’s performance as long as Gill and Jyothikumaran rule the roost. It’s a tough call, but I’ am willing to wait.

Read my earlier hockey reviews in Rediff.com, here and here.

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Brrrrrrrr…Winter Is Here

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Muscat is pretty cold these days, thanks to some rains in the early part of the week. The current weather is akin to my native place – Kodagu – except for the greenery around. Here in Muscat, its time for weekend barbeque parties. Last week, we had one in our friend’s place, and I just loved it. Muscat gets lively during winter with a host of events from December till February, including the famous Muscat Festival.