wwmdcanada

2010-07-21T10:22:00.004+04:00

Learnings I have had over the past few days (in no particular order):

1. When someone suggest sunblock, it's usually a good idea to put some on, regardless of whether you believe you will need it or not. Really.

2. Contrary to popular belief, brown people burn just as well as any other kind of people. Maybe not as obviously as other races, but we do burn...

3. A possible remedy for the common cold: lots of sun, water-related fun and frolic, hundreds of screaming kids, good food, afternoon naps, and more water-related frolic - can make you forget about your cold!

4. Its important that once in a while we all take a leap of faith. Metaphorical or real. A few months ago, I took a metaphorical leap by quitting my job and starting my own little consulting business. Yesterday, I took a literal Leap of Faith at Aquaventure at Atlantis Dubai (see point #5).

5. Recommended approach to the Leap of Faith slide at Aquaventure: Lie down. Cross your legs. (If you are a water slide afficionado, you will know why this important :). Cross your arms on your chest. (You can also hold your nose if feel like it). Keep your head back, and your eyes closed. Scream like a little girl on the way down. Review your life as it flashes before your eyes. Thank God for His mercy when you reach the bottom alive. Take a deep breath (important to remember this last one!). Pat yourself on the back and REPEAT!

6. I have liked & appreciated the MasterCard commercials that have aired over the past 10 years. They are based on a deep insight - that people don't mind spending money if it increases the quality of their experiences & memories (a vacation in Kenya, XXXX dollars... memories of a lion attack shared by you and your family, PRICELESS). Love it.

7. The prospect of being without electricity in Sharjah in this heat is quite frankly - intimidating. For those of you who will say it keeps you in touch with the realities on the ground in Pakistan, I very politely blow you a raspberry. BTW, in Pakistan, when the power goes, there are back-up options galore - UPS, generators, etc... in Sharjah, if you live on the 43rd floor, and the building generator malfunctions, you are up s*%t creek, and s*%t out of luck.

8. People don't appreciate random price increases, even if there is new management. The gym in our building has hiked their price from AED 2000 a year, to AED 9600 a year. We may switch buildings as a result ;)

9. Talk about taking a "captive" audience for a ride... there seems to be a concerted effort by anyone remotely linked to the real estate sector - developers, landlords, maintenance companies etc. - to totally SCREW the poor bugger who happens to rent there. Seriously guys, try to work out a win-win otherwise everyone just gets deeper into the hole.

10. And lastly, friends are the best and most important support a guy can have. Don't take them for granted.

2010-06-04T10:47:00.003+04:00

So it's been a while since my last update, and I'm sorry. It's been a really busy and tumultuous time for me, personally and professionally. Here's what has happened, in a nutshell:

1. I turned 40 in April. Yes, the Big 4 0. It was a bit of a let down, really, because I felt exactly the same the next morning :)

2. I quit my job. Yes, after 18 years of relatively uninterrupted employment, I quit and decided to start my own brand consulting and training venture. I now have a (very) modest set-up in the Dubai Knowledge Village, and three lovely clients :) in three different countries :( that has me traveling a lot, but loving it :) So far, so good :) it's a bit nerve-wracking as I wean myself off the expectation of a fixed income at the end of every month :( but exciting too :)

3. I am working on book 2 of the Erikk series... it's coming along slowly but surely. I'm also negotiating with a major publisher for Book 1, but they are asking for some potentially major changes, so I'm not sure how that is going to play out...

4. I went from being a person who never imagined that they would be e-literate, to being a person with two websites, a blog and 10 e-mail addresses. This would not have been possible without my 2 blackberries (!!) - so I have finally had to embrace my crackberry addiction. They say that admitting to your addiction is the first step to getting better - so this is me saying - I'm a blackberry addict, and I'm not ashamed. The only problem is: I don't think I want to get better ... I can handle myself, I can control this urge to stay connected, it's not a "problem" :) really.

5. My family was to move back to Canada in the summer, and that's been put off for a year, so that's a huge relief.

So, pretty much everything in my life has changed, and yet, the most important parts of my life remain on solid ground - my family, my faith, my friends. Thank you God. Please allow me to continue practicing good thoughts, good words, good actions moving forward...

2009-10-18T09:26:00.004+04:00

There is a lot of debate these days about testing Western expats' driving when they apply for a UAE driving licence.

There are two reasons given.

1. The traffic accident rate in the UAE is very high, and rising.

2. It is not fair that these (predominantly white) expats should be exempted from driving tests that are torture for the non-white / non-Western expat population.

Let's address point #2 first. I agree - it is not fair that this category of expats is exempted from driving tests. The assumption is that they are coming from "civilized" Western societies, and therefore must possess the necessary driving skills. This assumption is a throwback to the colony era... and reflects many other similar exemptions made for such expats (let's call them WWEs - White Western Expats). WWEs can get a visa on arrival in the UAE. They get their driving licences issued directly upon having their residence permits issued and so on... this preferential treatment is entirely one way BTW. As far as I'm aware, UAE nationals are not eligible for visa on arrival facilities in any Western country that I am aware of, and if they do move there, they have to go through the driving licence application process just like everyone else there...

So why extend this one-way courtesy to WWEs? On the priniciples of equal treatment of all, I agree with the proposal to start some level of education & testing for all arrivals into the UAE.

Coming back to point #1...

The number of WWEs involved in the rising number of accidents (aside from the occasional bout of drunken joy-riding down Sh Zayed Rd) is quite limited, simply because the number of WWEs as a % of the population is quite small. The number of accidents due to rash driving by everyone else seems to be the over-riding factor... a recent Gulf News poll highlighted the actual nationalities involved in accidents, as well as the perceptions of the public, and they were not the same...

Let's face it. Whom among us has not been terrorized by a large SUV flashing headlights, honking the horn, and weaving back and forth between the fast lane and the hard shoulder in an effort to get us to vacate the fast lane IMMEDIATELY - even if we are overtaking someone at the time?

The most appalling example of reckless endangerment that I have seen recently was during the last foggy day in Dubai. There was nearly zero visibility on parts of Sh Zayed Rd, people were driving at 40 kph with hazards on because you could not see the end of your own vehicle. In that pea soup, a huge Merc went zooming down the hard shoulder doing at least 180 kph. I nearly had a heart attack... but more interesting to me was the question that has stayed with me since that day.

What was this person THINKING?

To me this is the very definition of insanity, but then that's just me.

I think the solution lies in education, and raising the value of a human life - perhaps that way we can convince everyone that a road is meant to help us get from point A to point B, and not a race track.

Of course one can argue - the Autobahn performs both functions beautifully. Although the SZR is far superior to the Autobahn in terms of number of lanes, road surface quality, lighting and other technical specifications, the quality of drivers cannot be compared - and therein lies the difference. You can have the most beautiful infrastructure in the world, but the users of that infrastructure need to behave equally beautifully...

The RTA (Roads & Transport Authority) has been doing a commendable job of trying to raise awareness of the consequences of speeding, reckless driving etc., through their Safe Driving Week / Month / For Life campaigns... We need a continued focus on education and communication to raise the value of these values in the driving community in the UAE - of all nationalities, origins and ethnicities.

After all, a road accident does not discriminate!

2009-09-29T12:03:00.002+04:00

Open letter to Ms Gangaramani
Owner & Managing Director
Al Fara'a Properties, Dubai

Sent via e-mail to the "Customer Care" centre of Al Fara'a Properties on Sep 29, '09

Dear Ms Gangaramani

I hope that you and your company are doing well in these turbulent times. My name is Omar Abedin, Canadian citizen, and resident of the UAE.

I am a small investor in one your projects, Image Residences. In May of last year, I invested in apt # A-511, paying a down-payment of 10% (over AED 160,000) for the privelege of investing with your company.

Since then, we all know what has happened, and what has not.

e.g. One of the things that has happened is the lack of available credit, making it virtually impossible for small investors like myself to get a mortgage.

At the same time, however, another of the things that has not happened is any progress on the project (Image Residences) whatsoever, which puts your company in direct contravention of UAE law. I'm sure you are far more aware of this than I am, but my understanding (as confirmed by a lawyer) is that if a company has not started working on a project 12 months after announcing it, then all (ALL) funds paid into that project by investors are to be returned to them without penalties, and without delay. At this point, it has been 18 months since the project has been announced, and your company is sitting on my money, and the money of hundreds of small investors like me.

This is not fair. This is not moral. And this is not legal.

Is this what the Al Fara'a Company stands for? Where is the proud heritage of 30 years of effort put in by your family to create an enterprise that they - and you - could be proud of? Where is the "culture of care" that your campany has been advertising on the billboards of the UAE for the past year?

What I am requesting now is simple. Please arrange for a full refund of my funds. It is a small amount for a huge company like yours, but for a person like myself, it is the equivalent of years of hard work and sacrifice.

I am attaching links to several locations on the web where I am posting this letter. I trust you, and your company, will do the right thing - the fair, moral, legal thing.

Waiting to hear from you,

Omar Abedin

http://business.maktoob.com/20090000376358/Pakistan_announce_schedule_for_UAE_series/Article.htm?utm_campaign=Night-Newsletter&utm_medium=EssentialReading-news1&utm_source=Night-Newsletter&utm_content=

2009-09-27T16:50:00.001+04:00

http://business.maktoob.com/20090000376358/Pakistan_announce_schedule_for_UAE_series/Article.htm?utm_campaign=Night-Newsletter&utm_medium=EssentialReading-news1&utm_source=Night-Newsletter&utm_content=

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2009-09-15T12:57:00.002+04:00

Jonathan Cook, Foreign Correspondent

The extremist group Ateret Cohanim is buying up property in the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City with funds raised in the US.

NAZARETH // Israeli peace activists are planning to ratchet up their campaign against groups in the United States that raise money for settlers by highlighting how tax exemptions are helping to fund the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank. Gush Shalom, a small peace group that advocates Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied territories, is preparing to send details to the US tax authorities questioning the charitable status of several organisations. Adam Keller, a spokesman, said these operations’ tax-exempt status meant that “settlement expansion is effectively being subsidised out of the pockets of the US taxpayer and government”. The campaign is designed to increase pressure on Barack Obama, the US president, to demand action from Israel on his repeated calls – so far largely ignored – to end settlement building. Last week, Israel announced plans to build 455 new homes in West Bank settlements and 500 apartments in East Jerusalem.Mr Obama is expected to unveil a Middle East peace plan this month. In a related move, Gush Shalom is encouraging Palestinians who have suffered from settler violence to file lawsuits in the United States that would redefine the settlers’ fund-raising work as support for “terrorist activity”. The peace group has accelerated the pace of its campaign, according to a “confidential memo” it issued on July 29 that was leaked to the Israeli media, after the Israeli government heavily criticised human rights groups over the summer for receiving funds from foreign donors, particularly European governments.In particular, the foreign ministry lambasted Breaking the Silence, a group of army veterans, for publishing testimonials from 26 Israeli combat soldiers suggesting the army committed war crimes during its assault on Gaza last winter.Mr Keller said: “It’s the height of chutzpah for the foreign ministry to be hounding Breaking the Silence, which is doing something entirely legal and transparent, while keeping quiet about the settler organisations’ dependence on foreign income for their illegal activities.”Gush Shalom said it was not divulging details of the organisations it will target next month to ensure an element of surprise. But Mr Keller said all of the 120 main settlements, which are illegal under international law, have fundraising arms in the United States.Gush Shalom has already accused one organisation, Shuva Israel, which is registered as a charity in Austin, Texas, of channelling funds to the Shomron Liaison Office, located in the West Bank settlement of Revava, south of the Palestinian city of Nablus. According to Shuva Israel’s website, donations are used to support several outposts close to Revava, such as El Matan, Havat Gilad and Havat Yair, which are illegal under Israeli law. The 100 or so outposts, satellites of the main settlements, have been the settlers’ most effective method of extending their control over Palestinian territory in the West Bank. Israel has repeatedly promised the United States it will dismantle the outposts – so far to no effect.Shuva Israel also funds Yitzhar, a settlement that hit the headlines last year when its inhabitants rampaged through the neighbouring Palestinian village of Asira al Kibliyeh in what the prime minister at the time, Ehud Olmert, called a “pogrom”. Referring to Shuva Israel and the Shomron Liaison Office, Mr Keller said: “From our investigations it is unclear whether these are actually two organisations with close links or two faces of the same organisation.” David Halevy, the head of Shuva Israel, told the Jerusalem Post that donations subsidised projects in West Bank settlements and outposts such as schools, libraries, youth centres and empowerment training for women. Mr Keller said most of the organisations were quite open about their fundraising activities, but that donations in support of the settlements almost certainly broke the terms of the US tax-exemption laws. “On the public relations side they say they are involved in humanitarian and non-political work, but to their supporters they play up their assistance for the settlers’ nationalist and expansionist activities. This is the way we hope to catch them out.” A recent report by the International Crisis Group (ICG), a group of academics and former diplomats, identified several other settler organisations fund-raising in the United States. It noted that the settlement of Sussya in the South Hebron Hills raised funds through a tax-exempt US organisation called PEF Israel Endowment Funds, registered in Manhattan. In 2007, Forbes, the business magazine, ranked PEF as one of the 200 largest charities in the US. Other US tax-exempt charities named were the One Israel Fund, which raises money for projects in outposts, and the Hebron Fund, which raises an average of US$1.5 million (Dh5.5bn) a year on behalf of a few hundred extremist Jewish settlers encamped in the middle of Hebron. The One Israel Fund claims on its website to be “the largest North American charity whose efforts are dedicated solely to the citizens and communities of Yesha”, a Hebrew acronym for the West Bank. According to the ICG report, Christian Zionist groups also raise significant sums for the settlements. One website, Christian Friends of Israeli Communities, lists dozens of youth and community projects in the settlements it funds.An investigation last month by the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz revealed that a group called American Friends of Ateret Cohanim had received tax-exempt status by claiming to fund educational institutes in Israel. In reality, however, it had transferred $1.6m to Ateret Cohanim, an extremist settler group, which buys Palestinian land and homes in East Jerusalem, especially in the Muslim quarter of the Old City. Gush Shalom also hopes to increase pressure on the funding of organisations by encouraging civil litigation in the United States from Palestinian victims of settler violence in a bid to characterise the attacks as “terror activity”. Court rulings would then be sought to shut down the settlers’ US fund-raising arms on the grounds that they support terrorism, in an echo of legal action by right-wing Jewish groups in the US against Muslim charities.Two additional campaigns are mentioned in the memo. In the coming months the group plans to highlight the links between the settlements and such large international Zionist organisations as the Jewish National Fund and the World Zionist Organisation. It also suggests exposing the Israeli government’s support for US lobby groups, such as Stand With Us and the Israel Project, that are engaged in what it calls “propaganda” on behalf of the settlements.

jcook@thenational.ae

2009-09-15T12:48:00.000+04:00

I am saddened by the drive on in the UAE to arrest people found eating, drinking or smoking in public during the fast.

There is no compulsion in Islam - of any kind. If Islam does not permit Muslims to force a prisoner of war to convert at the point of a sword, how can you arrest someone for smoking or eating in public?

This is what we would call a "teachable moment". As many have said, Ramadan is a time for introspection & self-improvement (the real Jihad), and fasting is for Allah only. What do you achieve by having your colleagues, co-workers, neighbours & friends arrested because of lack of knowledge or awareness.

I say - engage & educate - don't arrest and harrass.

2009-09-06T15:40:00.003+04:00

Tutu to Haaretz: Arabs paying the price of the Holocaust

By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Palestinians, Desmond Tutu

"The lesson that Israel must learn from the Holocaust is that it can never get security through fences, walls and guns," Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu of South Africa told Haaretz Thursday. Commenting on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement in Germany Thursday that the lesson of the Holocaust is that Israel should always defend itself, Tutu noted that "in South Africa, they tried to get security from the barrel of a gun. They never got it. They got security when the human rights of all were recognized and respected."

The Nobel Prize laureate spoke to Haaretz in Jerusalem as the organization The Elders concluded its tour of Israel and the West Bank. He said the West was consumed with guilt and regret toward Israel because of the Holocaust, "as it should be."

"But who pays the penance? The penance is being paid by the Arabs, by the Palestinians. I once met a German ambassador who said Germany is guilty of two wrongs. One was what they did to the Jews. And now the suffering of the Palestinians."

He also slammed Jewish organizations in the United States, saying they intimidate anyone who criticizes the occupation and rush to accuse these critics of anti-Semitism. Tutu recalled how such organizations pressured U.S. universities to cancel his appearances on their campuses. "That is unfortunate, because my own positions are actually derived from the Torah. You know God created you in God's image. And we have a God who is always biased in favor of the oppressed."

Tutu also commented on the call by Ben-Gurion University professor Neve Gordon to apply selective sanctions on Israel. "I always say to people that sanctions were important in the South African case for several reasons. We had a sports boycott, and since we are a sports-mad country, it hit ordinary people. It was one of the most psychologically powerful instruments. "Secondly, it actually did hit the pocket of the South African government. I mean, when we had the arms embargo and the economic boycott." He said that when F.W. de Klerk became president he telephoned congratulations. "The very first thing he said to me was 'well now will you call off sanctions?' Although they kept saying, oh well, these things don't affect us at all. That was not true. "And another important reason was that it gave hope to our people that the world cared. You know. That this was a form of identification."

Earlier in the day, Tutu and the rest of the delegation visited the village of Bil'in, where protests against the separation fence, built in part on the village's land, take place every week. "We used to take our children in Swaziland and had to go through border checkpoints in South Africa and face almost the same conduct, where you're at the mercy of a police officer. They can decide when they're going to process you and they can turn you back for something inconsequential. But on the other hand, we didn't have collective punishment. We didn't have the demolition of homes because of the suspicion that one of the members of the household might or might not be a terrorist." He said the activists in Bil'in reminded him of Ghandi, who managed to overthrow British rule in India by nonviolent means, and Martin Luther King, Jr., who took up the struggle of a black woman who was too tired to go to the back of a segregated bus.

He stressed his belief that no situation was hopeless, praising the success of the Northern Irish peace process. The process was mediated by Senator George Mitchell, who now serves as the special U.S. envoy to the Middle East. Asked about the controversy in Petah Tikva, where several elementary schools have refused to receive Ethiopian school children, Tutu said that "I hope that your society will evolve."

2009-08-20T19:03:00.002+04:00

It's hard to believe that my vacation is winding down. The 30 days that seemed to stretch out ahead of me are indeed almost at an end. Perhaps it is that I do not wish to believe that the vacation is over... everything within me screams NO! I wish it to continue indefinitely (don't we all, though?). It's so predictable, yet no less true.
So what have the highlights of this best-of-all vacations been? Arriving in the US, seeing the family after a month. Seeing all the children - my own, the new arrivals, and the older versions of those who were before. Going technology shopping. Oh yeah. Definitely a major rush. New computers, new cell phone, new Ipod, new new new. Ah. Shiny sleek technology, I do love you.
Going to Luray caverns. Doing Six Flags Maryland. Having the courage to do all the gut-wrenching, belly-twisting, nausea-inducing roller coasters. Oh yes.
Going clothes shopping. Shoe shopping. And every other kind of shopping. heheheheheh.
Then, flying to LA to be with my cousins at the shaadi. That was a whole different type of fun. Amna & Will, you guys rock. Staying up all night to work, then going to jump in the pool to watch the sunrise, then racing off to the IHOP to have a huge breakfast. Bonding with my cousins - ALL my cousins. Revelling in their talents. Enjoying the company of most of the aunts (so many aunts...). Making new friends - Shaan, really enjoyed the evening at Rouge.
Driving along the PCH. Attending a hiphop / bhangra mehndi, an amazing shaadi at the Disney Resort, and a great reception the following morning at the country club where I was totally overwhelmed by my daughter's performance of a song for the bride and groom. She was so professional, so cool under fire, so not-nervous, just so GREAT overall that I was actually overwhelmed... Renting a Phantom... Go-karting with the cousins (not in the Phantom :)
Leaving the next morning for Toronto. Meeting endless shaadi-goers at the airport and flying with a bunch of cousins back home... yes, Toronto still feels like home.
Renewing old friendships and making new friends. Staying with the Jokhios is so much fun - they are the most amazing hosts. Playing pool. Jumping in the pool. Watching movies. Just chilling... meeting the IBA gang (Saquib, thanks for hosting a great evening). Going out for Tim Horton's - SO GREAT. French vanilla, iced caps... aaaaahhhhh.
Tonight we meet more old friends, and tomorrow we fly out to the US for a day or so... then back home to Sharjah via Dubai. That feels like home too :)
I feel so blessed to have multiple places that feel like home, multiple comfort zones... I also think that I am one of those people that seem destined to lead an "interesting" life, with all that entails ;)
I think I'm up for it. Most days.

2009-07-09T11:14:00.005+04:00

Sanpada is a township in Navi Mumbai, on the Mumbai to Pune Expressway.....Massive construction activity, with hardly any control or checks by the authorities....This is an amazing story...

A Brand New Unoccupied, Fourteen Storey building...FLAT ON ITS BACK...!!!!. There was no real foundation in place. Built on mud, the foundations should have been pile driven into the bedrock...

Building Collapsed In Sanpada (06/30/2009)

At around 5:30am on June 30, an unoccupied building still under construction at Palm Beach Road in the New Mumbai district of Mumbai city toppled over. One worker was killed. According to information, a 70 meter section of the flood prevention wall in nearby Creek Stream which connects with Arabian Sea collapsed that may have something to do with this building collapse.
But, whatever the reason, it's quite mind-blowing.

2009-07-07T11:16:00.001+04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_Lub8LRbLo

What an incredible talent - Arooj Aftab sings Hallelujah... chillingly rendered. Wow.

2009-07-07T10:21:00.000+04:00

A note from Ms Joseph, Customer Service, Pehla...

Dear Mr. Omar,

Kindly be informed that we have process a refund for the difference amount charged on the credit card from April till July 09 amt $76.40 which will reflect on your bank statement within 4 working days.

Please be informed that your subscription is activated with Pehla Basic channels.

Feel free to mail back any further query.

Regards, Marina Joseph Customer Service Advisor

2009-07-07T10:00:00.002+04:00

The UAE isn’t a happy place...
UAE residents are not happy. The Emirates ranks 123rd out of 143 countries worldwide on nef’s Happy Planet Index 2.0. Saudi Arabia ranks 13th.
Jul 6th, 2009.
- Dana El Baltaji

Costa Rica is the world’s happiest place, followed by the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, according to a report by nef (the new economics foundation), an UK-based independent think tank and research group.

The organization’s Happy Planet Index 2.0 (HPI) scores 143 nations based on “what truly matters to us - our well-being in terms of long, happy and meaningful lives - and what matters to the planet - our rate of resource consumption.”

The UAE and Kuwait rank 123rd and 128th respectively, the two lowest placed Arab countries. Meanwhile, Egypt and Saudi Arabia topped the list at 12th and 13th respectively. Other Arab countries featured in the index are Palestine (56) and Syria (38).

As for rich and developed nations, the highest ranked Western nation is the Netherlands (43), followed by Germany (51), Switzerland (52) and Sweden (53). The UK ranks 74th and the United States lags behind at 114th place.

The survey shows that economic growth does not translate into improved HPI rankings; “If anything, there is actually a negative correlation between GDP growth and change in HPI scores,” says the report.

The organization determines happiness based on ‘life satisfaction’. It asks respondents: ”All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?”

Nef explains they have received meaningful answers; respondents based on respondents’ “size and strength of their social networks, relationship status, level of education, presence of disability, as well as with their material conditions, such as income and employment.”
According to nef, 99 percent of the world’s population is represented in its index.

2009-07-02T11:09:00.001+04:00

Feb 24, I had requested one of my pay-TV services, "Pehla" (ironically, that means "first") to downgrade my service from Silver to Basic... on the 25th, I received a written confirmation that the request had been processed. Great.

Last week, when I called for another reason, I found out that I still had a Silver subscription. To say that I was perplexed would be an understatement... I just got off the phone with the most ridiculous Pehla "customer service" rep. I wish I had a recording to play back for you...

After being kept on hold for quite some time, she politely informed me that yes, it was Pehla's fault that they had not downgraded my service, and OVER-CHARGED me for March, April, May and June... HOWEVER, they would not be able to refund the balance - even though it was their fault. Moreover, anticipating my next question, she was "unable" to transfer my call to a supervisor since "they had discussed it at length" and felt unable to offer a refund.

I am outraged at the blase attitude demonstrated by the Pehla team - and the casual attitude towards theft of a customer's money. More than that, I am outraged at the management of the call center - the infamous "supervisor" - that refuses to even talk to a customer. These are signs that the concept of customer service at a company are dead.

Pehla - you have lost a customer for life, you greedy, unethical bums.

2009-06-23T11:36:00.002+04:00

TimeOut Dubai reveals new Metro rates - June 22 09

The cost of travelling on the new Dubai Metro, which launches in September, will range between 80 fils and AED5.80, transport chiefs announced on Monday, according to Arabian Business.

The cost in Dubai compares well to single ticket costs around 1.60 euros (AED8) for the Paris Metro and GBP4 (AED24) for an adult single zone ticket on the London Underground.

The Metro system in Dubai will be split into five zones and park and ride facilities will be available to the stations free of charge, officials added at a press conference on Monday.

The Dubai Metro’s 52km red line, running from Jebel Ali to Rashidiya, is scheduled to open on September 9 while the green line is due to come on line in March 2010.

The 23.9 km track will start in Al Qusais, running around Dubai creek, and stretch to Jedaff.
The RTA will be hoping the Metro fares are more favourably received than the Palm Jumeirah Monorail prices, which were heavily criticised by the public.

In May, Arabian Business was inundated with emails and calls from Dubai residents protesting against the monorail charges. One reader said: “AED25 for a return journey lasting only nine minutes each way? That is daylight robbery.” Others questioned why the price was more than fees for using similar public transport systems elsewhere in the world.

Responding to the criticism, Palm Monorail developer Nakheel insisted its AED25 for a round trip and AED15 single journey tickets were reasonable.

Of course it was... (this last comment added by yours truly :)

2009-06-18T10:13:00.002+04:00

A list of recent quotes from people and companies predicting what Dubai can look forward to in the near future.

By Aarti Nagraj.

1. Dubai house prices will fall another 20 percent this year, because of the economic downturn, according to a Reuters poll. “We may see a further drop in prices as the magnitude of the problem in the sector is still high and the recovery of the sector may take some more time,” Sajeer Babu, an equity analyst at National Bank of Abu Dhabi, said in the poll.

2. Property consultancy Knight Frank said that property prices fell 40 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2009. “It could go a lot worse or it could be that a number of buyers decide that property has dropped by a big amount and it is time to buy. The overriding sentiment is still one of caution,” Nicholas Barnes, head of international business at Knight Frank, told Maktoob Business.

3. According to a recent report by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dubai’s GDP will be adversely affected this year because of the crisis. However, the emirate’s growth is expected to remain strong from a global perspective, it said.
“The Dubai authorities’ repetitive tone that it will use strong fiscal expansion to ensure the economy bounces back especially in the construction sector will mean that the economy will maintain strong growth going forward,” it said.

4. The Dubai International Airport is forecasting an increase of 4 to 5 percent in passenger traffic for the first half of the year, said Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of the Dubai Airports at the Paris Air Show. “Dubai has been a beacon of light during these turbulent times,” he added.

5. “Things [the Dubai stock market] will probably start picking up again ahead of second quarter results in anticipation of good number coming out even from real estate companies,” Haissam Arabi, CEO of GulfMENA Alternative Investments, a regional hedge fund told Gulf News earlier this week. Emaar stocks pushed the Dubai Financial Market to a seven month high on June 14.

6. The annual shopping event, Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) started last week, and Laila Suhail, the CEO of the DSF Office, is confident that it will do well despite the current economic climate. She said that there was a general consensus within all private sector entities that the coming months would rake in higher revenues for businesses.
“There has been a lot of talk on how DSS will influence sectors like retail and hospitality this year and from what we have gauged, the current mood is optimistic,” she said.

2009-06-09T18:42:00.001+04:00

Brit expats earn double that of Indian counterparts (Arabian Business)
Andy Sambidge
Tuesday, 03 March 2009

British expats working in GCC states earn more than double the salary of their Indian expat peers, according to the results of the Arabian Business Salary Survey 2009. Employees from the UK who took part in our poll during January told us they earned an average of nearly $14,500 a month including all bonuses, commission and allowances compared to the Indian average of just over $6,000. But it was the Americans who said they earned the most of the expat communities in the region, taking home an average salary of more than $19,000 a month.

The Australians came second, with an average salary of nearly $17,000, with the South Africans third with a monthly pay packet of $16,152. The Brits came in fourth ($14,478), with the Canadians completing the top five positions with their average salary of $13,726. Workers from the Philippines were the worst paid, according to our data, earning an average of $3,082 a month, almost half that of Syrians who came second from bottom in the salary rankings. Indians, Pakistanis and Egyptians completed the bottom five. Our survey conducted in January attracted more than 3,000 respondents and a large majority of those were expats taking advantage of the tax-free living in the Gulf region. For the purposes of this story, a minimum of 50 responses were required. Across the whole survey, you told us your average monthly salary was $8,857.

2009-06-09T11:36:00.001+04:00

I am struggling to define my state of mind these days.

Am I as positive as I usually am?

Am I as clear about my goals and ambitions as I usually am?

Why am I so ambivalent about the state of things in the world?

Why am I sleeping so late?

Why am I gaining weight - when everything inside me rebels at the idea?

Why is time splitting into two streams for me - one flowing at breakneck speed, where I am struggling to keep abreast of events, the other moving so slowly that I am wondering what forces could be holding its boiling momentum to such a slow pace... and how can I be in both streams simultaneously?

Is it all in my head? It must be, right? I feel like Peter Parker after he was bitten by the spider... only I don't know exactly when I was bitten, or by what.

One thing I do feel - I am in the middle of a metamorphosis.

I feel like things are changing, I am evolving somehow into something / someone else.

Yes. I am becoming a mutant.

If that is true, then what will my new self look like? What powers (if any) will I have? Will I be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound? Stop a bullet by simply raising a hand towards it? Run super fast? Become invisible?

Or will I just become a jelly-like blob (like the Senator from X-Men) and explode in a silent gush of goo?

Time will tell.

2009-05-02T17:16:00.002+04:00

Thanks to a friend for forwarding this timely information...

What is swine flu?
Swine flu is a respiratory disease, caused by influenza type A which infects pigs.
There are many types, and the infection is constantly changing.
Until now it has not normally infected humans, but the latest form clearly does, and can be spread from person to person - probably through coughing and sneezing.

What is new about this type of swine flu?
The World Health Organization has confirmed that at least some of the human cases are a never-before-seen version of the H1N1 strain of influenza type A.
H1N1 is the same strain which causes seasonal outbreaks of flu in humans on a regular basis.
But this latest version of H1N1 is different: it contains genetic material that is typically found in strains of the virus that affect humans, birds and swine.
Flu viruses have the ability to swap genetic components with each other, and it seems likely that the new version of H1N1 resulted from a mixing of different versions of the virus, which may usually affect different species, in the same animal host.
Pigs provide an excellent 'melting pot' for these viruses to mix and match with each other.

How dangerous is it?
Symptoms of swine flu in humans appear to be similar to those produced by standard, seasonal flu.
These include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, chills and fatigue.
Most cases so far reported around the world appear to be mild, but in Mexico lives have been lost.

How worried should people be?
When any new strain of flu emerges that acquires the ability to pass from person to person, it is monitored very closely in case it has the potential to spark a global epidemic, or pandemic.
The World Health Organization has warned that taken together the Mexican and US cases could potentially trigger a global pandemic, and stress that the situation is serious. However, experts say it is still too early to accurately assess the situation fully. Currently, they say the world is closer to a flu pandemic than at any point since 1968 - upgrading the threat from three to four on a six-point scale following an emergency meeting on Monday. Nobody knows the full potential impact of a pandemic, but experts have warned that it could cost millions of lives worldwide. The Spanish flu pandemic, which began in 1918, and was also caused by an H1N1 strain, killed millions of people. The fact that all the cases in the US and elsewhere have so far produced mild symptoms is encouraging. It suggests that the severity of the Mexican outbreak may be due to an unusual geographically-specific factor - possibly a second unrelated virus circulating in the community - which would be unlikely to come into play in the rest of the world. Alternatively, people infected in Mexico may have sought treatment at a much later stage than those in other countries. It may also be the case that the form of the virus circulating in Mexico is subtly different to that elsewhere - although that will only be confirmed by laboratory analysis.

There is also hope that, as humans are often exposed to forms of H1N1 through seasonal flu, our immune systems may have something of a head start in fighting infection. However, the fact that many of the victims are young does point to something unusual. Normal, seasonal flu tends to affect the elderly disproportionately.

Can the virus be contained?
The virus appears already to have started to spread around the world, and most experts believe that containment of the virus in the era of readily available air travel will be extremely difficult.

Can it be treated?
The US authorities say that two drugs commonly used to treat flu, Tamiflu and Relenza, seem to be effective at treating cases that have occurred there so far. However, the drugs must be administered at an early stage to be effective. Use of these drugs may also make it less likely that infected people will pass the virus on to others. The UK Government already has a stockpile of Tamiflu, ordered as a precaution against a pandemic. It is unclear how effective currently available flu vaccines would be at offering protection against the new strain, as it is genetically distinct from other flu strains. US scientists are already developing a bespoke new vaccine, but it may take some time to perfect it, and manufacture enough supplies to meet what could be huge demand. A vaccine was used to protect humans from a version of swine flu in the US in 1976.
However, it caused serious side effects, including an estimated 500 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome. There were more deaths from the vaccine than the outbreak.

What should I do to stay safe?
Anyone with flu-like symptoms who might have been in contact with the swine virus - such as those living or travelling in the areas of Mexico that have been affected - should seek medical advice. But patients are being asked not to go into GP surgeries in order to minimise the risk of spreading the disease to others. Instead, they should stay at home and call their healthcare provider for advice. After the WHO raised its alert level over swine flu, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office began advising against all but essential travel to Mexico.

What measures can I take to prevent infection?
Avoid close contact with people who appear unwell and who have fever and cough.
General infection control practices and good hygiene can help to reduce transmission of all viruses, including the human swine influenza. This includes covering your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, using a tissue when possible and disposing of it promptly. It is also important to wash your hands frequently with soap and water to reduce the spread of the virus from your hands to face or to other people and cleaning hard surfaces like door handles frequently using a normal cleaning product. If caring for someone with a flu-like illness, a mask can be worn to cover the nose and mouth to reduce the risk of transmission. The UK is looking at increasing its stockpile of masks for healthcare workers for this reason. But experts say there is no scientific evidence to support more general wearing of masks to guard against infections.

Is it safe to eat pig meat?
Yes. There is no evidence that swine flu can be transmitted through eating meat from infected animals. However, it is essential to cook meat properly. A temperature of 70C (158F) would be sure to kill the virus.

What about bird flu?
The strain of bird flu which has caused scores of human deaths in South East Asia in recent years is a different strain to that responsible for the current outbreak of swine flu. The latest form of swine flu is a new type of the H1N1 strain, while bird, or avian flu, is H5N1. Experts fear H5N1 hold the potential to trigger a pandemic because of its ability to mutate rapidly. However, up until now it has remained very much a disease of birds. Those humans who have been infected have, without exception, worked closely with birds, and cases of human-to-human transmission are extremely rare - there is no suggestion that H5N1 has gained the ability to pass easily from person to person.

Where can I get further advice?
Further information and advice on swine flu can be found at websites of leading health and research organisations around the world. The World Health Organisation gives background information on the virus. The UK's Health Protection Agency advises the public about what to do if returning from an affected area. NHS Choices outlines how swine flu is different from other flu. The US government's Centre for Disease Control is counting the number of cases in the US.
You can also track the spread of swine flu reports using unofficial sources. Healthmaps maps viruses using news reports. Social media guide Mashable lists some ways to track the virus . Links to useful websites are being shared on Twitter , the micro-blogging service.

2009-04-02T16:06:00.001+04:00

The Guard Who Found Islam
Terry Holdbrooks stood watch over prisoners at Gitmo. What he saw made him adopt their faith.
By Dan Ephron NEWSWEEK
Published Mar 21, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Mar 30, 2009
Visit : http://www.newsweek.com/id/190357/page/1
Army specialist Terry Holdbrooks had been a guard at Guantánamo for about six months the night he had his life-altering conversation with detainee 590, a Moroccan also known as "the General." This was early 2004, about halfway through Holdbrooks's stint at Guantánamo with the 463rd Military Police Company. Until then, he'd spent most of his day shifts just doing his duty. He'd escort prisoners to interrogations or walk up and down the cellblock making sure they weren't passing notes. But the midnight shifts were slow. "The only thing you really had to do was mop the center floor," he says. So Holdbrooks began spending part of the night sitting cross-legged on the ground, talking to detainees through the metal mesh of their cell doors.
He developed a strong relationship with the General, whose real name is Ahmed Errachidi. Their late-night conversations led Holdbrooks to be more skeptical about the prison, he says, and made him think harder about his own life. Soon, Holdbrooks was ordering books on Arabic and Islam. During an evening talk with Errachidi in early 2004, the conversation turned to the shahada, the one-line statement of faith that marks the single requirement for converting to Islam ("There is no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet"). Holdbrooks pushed a pen and an index card through the mesh, and asked Errachidi to write out the shahada in English and transliterated Arabic. He then uttered the words aloud and, there on the floor of Guantánamo's Camp Delta, became a Muslim.
When historians look back on Guantánamo, the harsh treatment of detainees and the trampling of due process will likely dominate the narrative. Holdbrooks, who left the military in 2005, saw his share. In interviews over recent weeks, he and another former guard told NEWSWEEK about degrading and sometimes sadistic acts against prisoners committed by soldiers, medics and interrogators who wanted revenge for the 9/11 attacks on America. But as the fog of secrecy slowly lifts from Guantánamo, other scenes are starting to emerge as well, including surprising interactions between guards and detainees on subjects like politics, religion and even music. The exchanges reveal curiosity on both sides—sometimes even empathy. "The detainees used to have conversations with the guards who showed some common respect toward them," says Errachidi, who spent five years in Guantánamo and was released in 2007. "We talked about everything, normal things, and things [we had] in common," he wrote to NEWSWEEK in an e-mail from his home in Morocco.
Holdbrooks's level of identification with the other side was exceptional. No other guard has volunteered that he embraced Islam at the prison (though Errachidi says others expressed interest). His experience runs counter to academic studies, which show that guards and inmates at ordinary prisons tend to develop mutual hostility. But then, Holdbrooks is a contrarian by nature. He can also be conspiratorial. When his company visited the site of the 9/11 attacks in New York, Holdbrooks remembers thinking there had to be a broader explanation, and that the Bush administration must have colluded somehow in the plot.
But his misgivings about Guantánamo—including doubts that the detainees were the "worst of the worst"—were shared by other guards as early as 2002. A few such guards are coming forward for the first time. Specialist Brandon Neely, who was at Guantánamo when the first detainees arrived that year, says his enthusiasm for the mission soured quickly. "There were a couple of us guards who asked ourselves why these guys are being treated so badly and if they're actually terrorists at all," he told NEWSWEEK. Neely remembers having long conversations with detainee Ruhal Ahmed, who loved Eminem and James Bond and would often rap or sing to the other prisoners. Another former guard, Christopher Arendt, went on a speaking tour with former detainees in Europe earlier this year to talk critically about the prison.
Holdbrooks says growing up hard in Phoenix—his parents were junkies and he himself was a heavy drinker before joining the military in 2002—helps explain what he calls his "anti-everything views." He has holes the size of quarters in both earlobes, stretched-out piercings that he plugs with wooden discs. At his Phoenix apartment, bedecked with horror-film memorabilia, he rolls up both sleeves to reveal wrist-to-shoulder tattoos. He describes the ink work as a narrative of his mistakes and addictions. They include religious symbols and Nazi SS bolts, track marks and, in large letters, the words BY DEMONS BE DRIVEN. He says the line, from a heavy-metal song, reminds him to be a better person.
Holdbrooks—TJ to his friends—says he joined the military to avoid winding up like his parents. He was an impulsive young man searching for stability. On his first home leave, he got engaged to a woman he'd known for just eight days and married her three months later. With little prior exposure to religion, Holdbrooks was struck at Gitmo by the devotion detainees showed to their faith. "A lot of Americans have abandoned God, but even in this place, [the detainees] were determined to pray," he says.
Holdbrooks was also taken by the prisoners' resourcefulness. He says detainees would pluck individual threads from their jumpsuits or prayer mats and spin them into long stretches of twine, which they would use to pass notes from cell to cell. He noticed that one detainee with a bad skin rash would smear peanut butter on his windowsill until the oil separated from the paste, then would use the oil on his rash.
Errachidi's detention seemed particularly suspect to Holdbrooks. The Moroccan detainee had worked as a chef in Britain for almost 18 years and spoke fluent English. He told Holdbrooks he had traveled to Pakistan on a business venture in late September 2001 to help pay for his son's surgery. When he crossed into Afghanistan, he said, he was picked up by the Northern Alliance and sold to American troops for $5,000. At Guantánamo, Errachidi was accused of attending a Qaeda training camp. But a 2007 investigation by the London Times newspaper appears to have corroborated his story; it eventually helped lead to his release.
In prison, Errachidi was an agitator. "Because I spoke English, I was always in the face of the soldiers," he wrote NEWSWEEK in an e-mail. Errachidi said an American colonel at Guantánamo gave him his nickname, and warned him that generals "get hurt" if they don't cooperate. He said his defiance cost him 23 days of abuse, including sleep deprivation, exposure to very cold temperatures and being shackled in stress positions. "I always believed the soldiers were doing illegal stuff and I was not ready to keep quiet." (Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman, said in response: "Detainees have often made claims of abuse that are simply not supported by the facts.") The Moroccan spent four of his five years at Gitmo in the punishment block, where detainees were denied "comfort items" like paper and prayer beads along with access to the recreation yard and the library.
Errachidi says he does not remember details of the night Holdbrooks converted. Over the years, he says, he discussed a range of religious topics with guards: "I spoke to them about subjects like Father Christmas and Ishac and Ibrahim [Isaac and Abraham] and the sacrifice. About Jesus." Holdbrooks recalls that when he announced he wanted to embrace Islam, Errachidi warned him that converting would be a serious undertaking and, at Guantánamo, a messy affair. "He wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting myself into." Holdbrooks later told his two roommates about the conversion, and no one else.
But other guards noticed changes in him. They heard detainees calling him Mustapha, and saw that Holdbrooks was studying Arabic openly. (At his Phoenix apartment, he displays the books he had amassed. They include a leather-bound, six-volume set of Muslim sacred texts and "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam.") One night his squad leader took him to a yard behind his living quarters, where five guards were waiting to stage a kind of intervention. "They started yelling at me," he recalls, "asking if I was a traitor, if I was switching sides." At one point a squad leader pulled back his fist and the two men traded blows, Holdbrooks says.
Holdbrooks spent the rest of his time at Guantánamo mainly keeping to himself, and nobody bothered him further. Another Muslim who served there around the same time had a different experience. Capt. James Yee, a Gitmo chaplain for much of 2003, was arrested in September of that year on suspicion of aiding the enemy and other crimes—charges that were eventually dropped. Yee had become a Muslim years earlier. He says the Muslims on staff at Gitmo—mainly translators—often felt beleaguered. "There was an overall atmosphere by the command to vilify Islam." (Commander Gordon's response: "We strongly disagree with the assertions made by Chaplain Yee").
At Holdbrooks's next station, in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., he says things began to unravel. The only place to kill time within miles of the base was a Wal-Mart and two strip clubs—Big Daddy's and Big Louie's. "I've never been a fan of strip clubs, so I hung out at Wal-Mart," he says. Within months, Holdbrooks was released from the military—two years before the end of his commitment. The Army gave him an honorable discharge with no explanation, but the events at Gitmo seemed to loom over the decision. The Army said it would not comment on the matter.
Back in Phoenix, Holdbrooks returned to drinking, in part to suppress what he describes as the anger that consumed him. (Neely, the other ex-guard who spoke to NEWSWEEK, said Guantánamo had made him so depressed he spent up to $60 a day on alcohol during a monthlong leave from the detention center in 2002.) Holdbrooks divorced his wife and spiraled further. Eventually his addictions landed him in the hospital. He suffered a series of seizures, as well as a fall that resulted in a bad skull fracture and the insertion of a titanium plate in his head.
Recently, Holdbrooks has been back in touch with Errachidi, who has suffered his own ordeal since leaving the detention center. Errachidi told NEWSWEEK he had trouble adjusting to his freedom, "trying to learn how to walk without shackles and trying to sleep at night with the lights off." He signed each of the dozen e-mails he sent to NEWSWEEK with the impersonal ID that his captors had given him: Ahmed 590.
Holdbrooks, now 25, says he quit drinking three months ago and began attending regular prayers at the Tempe Islamic Center, a mosque near the University of Phoenix, where he works as an enrollment counselor. The long scar on his head is now mostly hidden under the lace of his Muslim kufi cap. When the imam at Tempe introduced Holdbrooks to the congregation and explained he'd converted at Guantánamo, a few dozen worshipers rushed over to shake his hand. "I would have thought they had the most savage soldiers serving there," says the imam, Amr Elsamny, an Egyptian. "I never thought it would be someone like TJ."
With Dina Fine Maron in Washington

2009-04-01T17:30:00.001+04:00

10 terms not to use with Muslims

There's a big difference between what we say and what they hear.

By Chris Seiple (Chris Seiple is the president of the Institute for Global Engagement, a "think tank with legs" that promotes sustainable environments for religious freedom worldwide.)

from the March 28, 2009 edition of the Christian Science Monitor.

Arlington, Va. - In the course of my travels – from the Middle East to Central Asia to Southeast Asia – it has been my great privilege to meet and become friends with many devout Muslims. These friendships are defined by frank respect as we listen to each other; understand and agree on the what, why, and how of our disagreements, political and theological; and, most of all, deepen our points of commonality as a result.
I have learned much from my Muslim friends, foremost this: Political disagreements come and go, but genuine respect for each other, rooted in our respective faith traditions, does not. If there is no respect, there is no relationship, merely a transactional encounter that serves no one in the long term.
As President Obama considers his first speech in a Muslim majority country (he visits Turkey April 6-7), and as the US national security establishment reviews its foreign policy and public diplomacy, I want to share the advice given to me from dear Muslim friends worldwide regarding words and concepts that are not useful in building relationships with them. Obviously, we are not going to throw out all of these terms, nor should we. But we do need to be very careful about how we use them, and in what context.
1. "The Clash of Civilizations." Invariably, this kind of discussion ends up with us as the good guy and them as the bad guy. There is no clash of civilizations, only a clash between those who are for civilization, and those who are against it. Civilization has many characteristics but two are foundational: 1) It has no place for those who encourage, invite, and/or commit the murder of innocent civilians; and 2) It is defined by institutions that protect and promote both the minority and the transparent rule of law.
2. "Secular." The Muslim ear tends to hear "godless" with the pronunciation of this word. And a godless society is simply inconceivable to the vast majority of Muslims worldwide. Pluralism – which encourages those with (and those without) a God-based worldview to have a welcomed and equal place in the public square – is a much better word.
3. "Assimilation." This word suggests that the minority Muslim groups in North America and Europe need to look like the majority, Christian culture. Integration, on the other hand, suggests that all views, majority and minority, deserve equal respect as long as each is willing to be civil with one another amid the public square of a shared society.
4. "Reformation." Muslims know quite well, and have an opinion about, the battle taking place within Islam and what it means to be an orthodox and devout Muslim. They don't need to be insulted by suggesting they follow the Christian example of Martin Luther. Instead, ask how Muslims understand ijtihad, or reinterpretation, within their faith traditions and cultural communities.
5. "Jihadi." The jihad is an internal struggle first, a process of improving one's spiritual self-discipline and getting closer to God. The lesser jihad is external, validating "just war" when necessary. By calling the groups we are fighting "jihadis," we confirm their own – and the worldwide Muslim public's – perception that they are religious. They are not. They are terrorists, hirabists, who consistently violate the most fundamental teachings of the Holy Koran and mainstream Islamic scholars and imams.
6. "Moderate." This ubiquitous term is meant politically but can be received theologically. If someone called me a "moderate Christian," I would be deeply offended. I believe in an Absolute who also commands me to love my neighbor. Similarly, it is not an oxymoron to be a mainstream Muslim who believes in an Absolute. A robust and civil pluralism must make room for the devout of all faiths, and none.
7. "Interfaith." This term conjures up images of watered-down, lowest common denominator statements that avoid the tough issues and are consequently irrelevant. "Multifaith" suggests that we name our deep and irreconcilable theological differences in order to work across them for practical effect – according to the very best of our faith traditions, much of which are values we share.
8. "Freedom." Unfortunately, "freedom," as expressed in American foreign policy, does not always seek to engage how the local community and culture understands it. Absent such an understanding, freedom can imply an unbound licentiousness. The balance between the freedom to something (liberty) and the freedom from something (security) is best understood in a conversation with the local context and, in particular, with the Muslims who live there. "Freedom" is best framed in the context of how they understand such things as peace, justice, honor, mercy, and compassion.
9. "Religious Freedom." Sadly, this term too often conveys the perception that American foreign policy is only worried about the freedom of Protestant evangelicals to proselytize and convert, disrupting the local culture and indigenous Christians. Although not true, I have found it better to define religious freedom as the promotion of respect and reconciliation with the other at the intersection of culture and the rule of law – sensitive to the former and consistent with the latter.
10. "Tolerance." Tolerance is not enough. Allowing for someone's existence, or behavior, doesn't build the necessary relationships of trust – across faiths and cultures – needed to tackle the complex and global challenges that our civilization faces. We need to be honest with and respect one another enough to name our differences and commonalities, according to the inherent dignity we each have as fellow creations of God called to walk together in peace and justice, mercy and compassion.
The above words and phrases will differ and change over the years, according to the cultural and ethnic context, and the (mis)perceptions that Muslims and non-Muslims have of one another. While that is to be expected, what counts most is the idea that we are earnestly trying to listen to and understand each other better; demonstrating respect as a result.

2009-04-01T15:44:00.002+04:00

Obama fired the Chairman of GM.

My God. Wonders will never cease. Obama-man has taken a step that a short while ago would have been unthinkable, unimaginable, unbelievable... it still is, but it's also true. I have just finished reading Michael Moore's latest piece on the subject, and while I share his incredulity, I stop short at his overwhelming glee. I mean - I understand why he is chuckling... I am too, to an extent. However, my question is - is this going to be enough?

One sacking at this level does send a message - I'm sure there is a chill among the heads of state (oops, I meant to say 'business') that fall into the elite category impacted. However, I think Obama-man needs to go further... there are MANY equally culpable people in the auto industry, and they should all be brought to book. But as Mr. Moore does point out, it's the financial sector that needs to dealt with first. Those guys took massive handouts - with no strings attached - and NO oversight. Wall Street, the insurance giant, and so many more, need to be made accountable... and they are currently NOT.

Don't stop now Obama-man - we (i.e. the rest of the planet) are solidly behind you. Go, Obama-man, go - the fate of modern civilization rests in your hands.

Don't fail us.

2009-02-26T18:11:00.000+04:00

Driving from Sharjah to Dubai has turned from a nightmare to a dream... a surreal yet lovely dream.

I have been driving to Dubai every day to attend an exhibition, and frankly, absolutely dreading it.

Yesterday morning, before I set out, I received an SMS telling me that there was NO traffic at all on the road. Putting it down to a hoax (after all, there is so much nonsense floating around right now!), I drove off, and much to my shock, amazement & delight, found myself in Dubai within 15 minutes. Now, this was right in the middle of the normal rush hour, so it was all the more amazing... and it happened again today...

I keep telling my students that when customers are "WOW"-ed by companies, those companies always generate tremendous good will and positive Word-of-Mouth (WOM).

Well, all you good folks at the RTA - my hat is off to you! Whatever magic you have done, I LOVE IT! And in fact, everyone I know who commutes between Sharjah & Dubai has been buzzing with this development. Well done RTA!

2009-02-24T11:43:00.002+04:00

Open letter to the WW Vice President of Customer Service for Nissan
And
The CEO of Arabian Automobiles, Nissan’s partner in the UAE.

Ref: The newly launched “Campaign for Real Service”

Dear Sir / Madam

My wife and I had long admired the Murano. Its styling, grace and power, along with its trademark Burnt Orange color were reasons we felt this was the perfect car for us. Without ever owning one, we spoke highly of it to friends and family, and in fact were ambassadors for the brand for many years before ever owning one.

At long last, after moving to Dubai in 2007, we decided to indulge ourselves a little, and finally went to the Arabian Automobiles showroom in Sharjah to purchase the vehicle. However, this was not to be so easy. After waiting for over an hour to be served the first time we went, we left disappointed without having spoken to a single “customer service” representative in the place. My wife was disappointed, but I was determined not to let her down, so I went back a few days later to try again. This time, after multiple attempts to actually buy a car, I left, resigned to never owning a Nissan, let alone a Murano.

As fate would have it, a friend of mine was leaving the country and sold me his – that’s right – Murano – before he left. His was a US-specification car, and I was soon to realize that not all Muranos are created equal. Clearly, the US model is inferior in all respects to the edition available in the GCC… after all, the leather seats, the GPS system, the sunroof, and all the other options that are not available in the GCC as standard, make this US car some kind of strange creature that Nissan & Arabian Automobiles in the UAE are unable to fathom…

The reason I say all this is because – wonder of wonders – when I took the car for a service to Arabian Automobiles in for a service at the Sharjah service centre, they refused to “accept” the car for a service. I was absolutely floored. For a moment, I thought I had purchased a ‘counterfeit’ Murano (just my luck!). But no, it was “real”, but not “real enough” for it to be serviced at the dealership. I left, scratching my head, wondering what I would do next.

As it turned out, I was able to pull some strings and get the car “accepted” for a service at the Dubai service centre of Arabian Automobiles. I was ecstatic – it was like my daughter had been accepted into Harvard! I was delighted to go in to the centre, I reveled at the sight of my car going off to get service, in fact, I was happy all around – until I got the bill for the service. My 65K service cost me AED 5500 – around $1500. I was again – floored. After I picked myself up off the floor, I paid the bill, telling myself it was worth it – this was real service, I was going to reap the benefits in the long term, etc.

I kept telling myself this until yesterday, when I – with some trepidation, mind you – took my car for its 70K service. When I received the dreaded phone call with the “estimate”, I actually pulled over my rental car, so that I could pay full attention to the words coming from my “customer service” representative’s lips. And it’s a good thing I did that, because I would almost certainly have had an accident upon hearing the amount of the estimate – AED 15000 (approx $4100!).

Now I realize that times are tough, gentlemen; new car sales are down, customers are just not jumping into the next new thing as quickly as they did before because consumer credit has dried up, and it must be difficult for huge corporation like Nissan & Arabian Automobiles with your huge overheads & fixed costs, to make ends meet… but I must tell you that expecting me – Omar Abedin – to resolve your financial woes is a little unfair.

Really, I can’t realistically say that I can help you guys – by myself – to go from the red to the black…

But here is what I plan to do. I would love your thoughts on this at some point, if you ever have the time, but I must say - I am not holding my breath.

1. This morning, I withdrew my car from your Arabian Automobiles Dubai “service” centre, without any “services” being discharged. I will NEVER go back. Instead, I intend to take the Murano to my local oil change shop, where I will pay a FRACTION (maybe 5%?) of the “estimate” I received from you, and will do it happily. Thank you for helping me to get out of the trap that so many of us find ourselves in (as though “dealer-maintained” means anything in today’s economy!).

2. I am a member of the Adjunct Faculty at the University of Wollongong in Dubai, where I teach – yes, that’s right – Service Quality Management (TBS 953). You can see the irony, I imagine. Well, I have already spoken several times on Nissan & Arabian Automobiles as an example of how NOT to do “customer service”, and this just gets better and better. This is a clear case of Marketing building a certain image of a brand, and then – that brand image being systematically torn apart by incredibly bad service. It’s a classic case study. After all, particularly in times of recession, what differentiates a leader from a loser is only – that’s right – consistently great service.

3. I am today setting up a FaceBook group called “A Campaign for Real Service” where I will invite all my contacts to share their personal horror stories on the site. You know the stats – a happy customer tells 10 people, an unhappy customer tells a 100. Well, with access to today’s technology, and our worldwide contact lists, we can easily reach thousands, potentially hundreds of thousands…

Everyone I talk to these days has a terrible customer story that they are happy to share. Well, I plan to give them that forum.

4. I am an active blogger, and have been one since 2004. My readership is primarily North American and Middle Eastern – and you can see this letter posted there as of this morning. www.wwmdcanada.blogspot.com

Gentlemen, I’m just getting started. I intend to campaign for “real” customer service everywhere. Why should consumers, who often appear powerless against faceless corporations, face the indignity of bad treatment from companies that just WANT their money?

I say – enough is enough.

2009-01-31T12:19:00.003+04:00

Egypt, as always, was a blast.

Alexandria airport continues to be a tiny, congested place with no evident process or structure. However, the attitude of the staff was quite warm and pleasant, and that goes a long way in my book.

The concept of "Egyptian standard time" needs some clarification, though. Our morning meeting, scheduled for 12 noon, started with the arrival of our hosts at 6pm... we then went out for "lunch" at 7 pm, which was a massive meal consisting of around 15 types of fish (!). After that, we went to visit the market, which included a hair-raising run across the Alexandria corniche road, dodging traffic like crazy people...

The drive to Cairo was a leisurely one, with only 10-15 close calls. My boss and colleagues sang old Indian songs, and we stopped along the way for tea and snacks. It was quite a picnic-like atmosphere.

Cairo itself is exactly like Karachi. The people, the traffic, the attitude overall, is pretty much the same. We stayed at the Intercontinental at Citystars, a massive mall where we plan to open an outlet. The mall itself is almost as nice as any in the UAE... multiple levels, all the usual designer stores, and many, many food outlets. The most noticeable thing is the HUGE number of teenagers (25% of the population?)... they are everywhere and they dominate the landscape of Egypt in a big way. As a result, if your company/product/brand does not appeal to this group, you may as well give up and go home.

Shisha, of course, is the highlight of any trip to Cairo, with ready availability at every corner, nook and cranny, at prices you cannot believe... it's quite amazing!

And this time around, there was Soraya, the queen of belly dancers. Apparently of Brazilian / Egyptian / Lebanese descent, she is poetry in motion. She can jiggle places that most people don't even know they have places. As my boss remarked, you don't know whether to watch the dance or the dancer... We invited our Egyptian colleagues to dinner the following night, and they were amazed that we introduced them to this act, which they were (remarkably!) unaware of. Suffice to say, if you are in Cairo, make your way to the Fayruz restaurant at the Intercontinental around 10-ish, and prepare to be amazed.

Cairo airport on the way out was as disorganized as an airport can possibly be. Trying to get through the metal detectors is hugely challenging, and then actually checking in is a test of patience, but once through, you just want to leave. I'm sure it is designed to produce exactly that effect!

Overall, Egypt is unforgettable experience, and this trip was no different. I'm looking forward to going back again!

2009-01-18T15:37:00.002+04:00

The word "guru" is a much-abused, often-misused term. When applied to Daniel Adams, however, it is absolutely appropriate.

Dan Adams (www.daniel-adams.com) is in my humble opinion, the greatest living authority on brand positioning, identity & equity in the world today. This is a big claim, I know. But the man himself is a giant... a jedi knight in the world of brand equity.

Dan started his career with a 5 year stint in a New York agency (I believe it was Benton-Bowles), then spent 10 years with Cheeseborough Ponds on the client side. Since then - 29 years to be exact - he has been training. He has also developed his own ideas & tools (e.g. the Brand Funnel (c)). The strength of his tools lies not in that they explain something that is notoriously hard to understand - brand equity; it lies in the fact that they explain it in such simple terms that even an idiot (barring someone I know) can 'get' them at a gut level.

On a personal level, Dan is a true gentleman. His deadpan humour, his even-keeled approach, his sense of honour & friendship, his joie de vivre... He has has found true love again, and plans to marry his lovely fiancee in June. Truly, an inspiration to us all to live life to the fullest, and may the devil take the hindmost.

But coming back to the earlier topic, to me, the smart guy who uses multi-syllabic words and incomprehensible phrases to explain a complicated subject is exactly that - a smart guy. But when he can break that subject down for the average layman to grasp, then he is a true genius. Dan's grasp of the so-called intangibles of brand equity & identity is at a DNA level - and as such, he can explain these concepts so simply and elegantly that most are startled at the ease of the explanation.

I, for one, was entranced during the nearly 5 days I got to spend with the great man in training recently. As co-trainer, I was priveleged to understand things at a much different level, and I realized, even after 17 years of working all over the world, how much I still have to learn about the subject.

It was a humbling experience, and one that is likely to stay with me for a very, VERY, long time.

2009-01-04T09:48:00.002+04:00

2008 was a mofo of a year, wasn't it?

A rollercoaster ride of adrenalin, fear, panic, hysteria, corruption, greed, despair, worry, and yes, blood in the streets. Emotions ran high in the second half of the year, as economies ground to a halt, banking systems reached collapse, and Americans elected Obama. Bi-polar disorder with a generous dollop of schizophrenia thrown in for good measure. One day people were excited, the next, frantic. Truly, all extreme emotions are two sides of the same coin...

It is puzzling that a year of such momentous events went somewhat quietly at the end, with Israel's siege of Gaza providing literal bloodshed to the metaphorical bloodletting of the past months... the last weeks of December rushed by as though trying to fill a vacuum left by one giant inhalation of breath from billions of people around the world, simultaneously sucker-punched in the gut...

I'm really glad 2008 is over. It was, as years go, a below-average year. However, one can learn from anything in any situation, and I find that in difficult times lie the greatest learning opportunity. SO, here's what I learnt in 2008 (in no particular order of importance):

1. It is possible to lose weight if you set your mind to it.

2. It is much harder to keep the weight off unless you change your lifestyle. (I understood this at an academic level earlier, now I think I may have internalized it...).

3. There is great joy to be found in how your child introduces you to their friends. It doesn't take much for them to be proud of you, they want to be proud of you, and their pride in you is just beyond words...

4. The friends who support you in your efforts to better yourself are your real friends. Value them. They are irreplaceable!

5. Embrace happiness - treasure every moment - create & cherish memories. They will last you a lifetime.

6. Work harder AND smarter. BUT - plan and take time off - it's worth it.

7. Try everything. At least once. (OK, maybe not everything :)

8. Remember God. Fear only God.

9. Arrogance is the refuge of the unaware, the uneducated, and the mentally unsound.

10. Make yourself uncomfortable at least once a day - you will grow.

11. Hug your wife and children hard and often. Hug your parents whenever you possibly can. Hug your siblings. Hug your in-laws (you heard me!). Hugging is fantastic.

12. Persevere. Never give up. Never say die. Never accept no for an answer. Keep going, no matter what anyone says. Your dreams can some true - with God's grace and your attitude.

13. Be grateful for what you have. An attitude of gratitude is a highly under-rated happiness generating mechanism. Try it some time...

14. Stand up against injustice and oppression in all forms (salute to flying shoes everywhere!). If you are unable to stop it physically, speak out against it. If you cannot speak, then condemn it in your heart & mind! But never - NEVER - allow yourself to NOT CARE. You are better than that.

15. Work out more. Even if you don't lose weight, you will feel better about yourself, and let's face it - it's better for you than pigging out on ice cream.

16. Pig out on ice cream - at least ONCE in a while :)

17. Save for a rainy day, but don't forget to live. Live within your means...

18. Build people up, don't tear them down. Critique their behaviour if you must, but do not criticize THEM. It doesn't help.

19. Nintendo Wii is more fun than I ever imagined possible, play as often as time allows.

20. Share knowledge. Teach, don't preach. Teach with compassion, and understanding of the human condition.

21. If you don't love your work, change what you do. Life is too short to spend it doing something you are not PASSIONATE about!

22. Never go to sleep angry with a person you love. Fix it before you sleep, otherwise it is 10 times harder to fix the next day.

23. Bite your tongue when someone provokes you. By not responding, you gain the moral high ground, sow seeds of doubt in the other person's mind, and do not have to eat your own angry words later. It works wonders for me - when I can practice it!

To end this list (which is way longer than I thought it would be!), I will paraphrase from the inimitable Mr Amitabh Bachan:

"Some people spend their entire life doing just one thing... others do everything in just one life..."

I have learnt that I wish to be among the latter, and there is much I wish to achieve in 2009 to start moving in that direction (that's right, here is another list, a much shorter one though):

1. I want to learn a new skill. I don't know what yet, but something cool. Maybe get a motorcycle? Something to think about.

2. I want to teach & share more. My kids. My marketing team. Business school students. Whatever.

3. I want to write more - maybe finish Book 2 of Erikk the Giant? Yes.

4. I want to be a better Muslim, a better husband, a better father, a better colleague, a better boss, a better uncle, a better son-in-law... well, just better. It is going to be a long haul :) I will try.

5. I WILL lose weight this year. I absolutely will.

I think that's enough, don't you? 2009 has already kicked off with a rush, and it promises to be a really difficult year. There are projections of 1 million job losses in the next 6 months in the UAE, of which 20% will be white collar. The massacre in Gaza is escalating... The economy is collapsing... If you thought 2008 would be a hard act to follow on the shittiness scale, I can tell you that 2009 will be close. In fact, the first half of the year will be much WORSE than what we have seen so far in this "economic downturn".

My advice - keep your head down, be conservative in your finances, work REALLY hard, spend time with friends & family, and pray a hell of a lot. Once you are in the back half, things will get better. As a friend of mine said recently, you just have to stay at the crease long enough to see the back half of 09... it's good advice.

For those people who have lost their jobs, and hence are forced to leave the UAE, I say - look to the bright side. It's different for everyone, but look for it, and embrace it. Remember, an attitude of gratitude, right? Easier said than done, I know...

To everyone else, I say...

THIS TOO SHALL PASS.

Here's to an outstanding 2009!

2008-12-15T19:06:00.002+04:00

I had sent through a copy of the book to Dark Wolf fantasy reviews, and the gentleman was nice enough to put it on his reading list... can't wait! It's nerve-wracking, I tell you...

http://darkwolfsfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/2008/11/in-mailbox.html

Holding my breath...

2008-12-14T12:20:00.002+04:00

Seeing Erikk the Giant on Amazon is surreal. I have to pinch myself.

Ouch.

OK, it's still on there.

:)

2008-12-14T12:03:00.002+04:00

Karachi was fun, despite the tense environment and safety & security concerns. Things I managed to do (not in order of importance):

- Eat out at a few of the many fantastic eateries in the city.
- Catch (and successfully get over) a stomach bug.
- Spend quality time with my family, especially my adorable nieces. Also meet up with extended family members over Eid.
- Learn the difference between an athiest & an agnostic (one denies the existence of God, the other simply does not know).
- Spend quality time with my in-laws, especially given that both my wife's niece & nephew were very busy with exams.
- Get to know my wife's niece's fiance (he seems like a very nice young man, good head on his shoulders, and a life plan...)
- Attend a final thesis presentation at Indus Valley school of art & architecture. Some interesting ideas indeed, and it was great to see that the young creatives of Pakistan were focusing on many social issues as well as commercial ones.
- Visit a park with the kids that was so fun they did not want to leave.
- Buy a bunch of DVDs including Heroes Season 3 episodes 1-11. Absolutely mind-blowing!
- Sacrifice a goat at the auspicious occasion of Eid to commemorate the trials of Abraham (pbuh), alongwith millions of other Muslims around the world.
- Visit the Northern parts of the city to see relatives and friends. I was impressed by the network of roads, flyovers & underpasses that constitute the "signal-less corridor", a great development that significantly reduces the daily travel times & stress levels of the common man.
- Walk the streets of my neighbourhood and marvel at how some things change, and still stay the same. Met some old neighbours too.
- Ate home-cooked food... at both my homes (my parents & my in-laws). Yum.

All in all, an above average trip. Looking forward to doing it again soon!

2008-12-01T13:04:00.002+04:00

It's hard to believe that November is over, and we are coasting (or crashing!) our way to another year end... It's been a crazy rollercoaster for the last few months, watching the banks, stock exchanges & global markets brought to their knees. It is only now that the people toll is becoming clear, with massive job losses piling up, and misery spreading like urine on the floor of a flooded public toilet.

In a tiny place like the UAE, there are 50,000 job losses expected in the coming quarter, primarily from the bursting (read "bubble") real estate sector, as well as banking, financial services and other related sectors of the economy. This is a HUGE number, especially since most of these jobs were AED 20K or more (US$ 5K+). These people are now facing the danger of eviction from their homes and the country as well, since you cannot stay here indefinitely without a job. Most employers are letting the affected employees retain their visas, but it is a very difficult time. My heart goes out to everyone affected by this tidal wave of woe, and I say a silent prayer that things right themselves soon.

To help build a more optimistic mood for the future, I am taking my wife to a concert in Abu Dhabi tonight. Alicia Keyes & George Michael are performing live, and this may be George's last public appearance. It should be a blast.

Tomorrow, we fly to Karachi to celebrate Eid with the family. Things are terrible in Karachi also, although the conditions in Mumbai continue to dominate the headlines. Random shootings, killings, kidnappings etc... not a great back drop for a vacation. But we Karachi walas are a tough breed - we have nothing to fear but fear itself (not really, but we must keep up the bravado right?).

We won't be going out much, but it will be fun still. I wish all my friends a very happy Eid Mubarak, and pray that everyone stays safe, well and happy during this time.

2008-11-22T18:43:00.003+04:00

The recently concluded Leader in Dubai conference was an eye-opener. The speaker list was long and illustrious, including the likes of the former head of the World Bank, the current chairman of Citibank, leading management gurus, sitting monetary agency heads from around the region, telecom CEOs, and many others... truly a star-studded cast, well-moderated by CNN anchors who facilitated the many discussions and Q&A sessions.

The opinions of the august body varied widely - from doom & gloom from the Western speakers, to sunshine & roses from the local speakers. One argument was that the GCC is reasonably cushioned from the impact of this crisis... the flip side of that was that the GCC speakers have their heads in the sand and are in denial (or toeing the official line). Either way, the perspectives were as varied as the backgrounds of the speakers, and left many in the audience wondering what exactly the consensus was (there wasn't one).

One of the guests was Rudy Guiliani, "America's mayor". He had the nerve to state that the financial institutions in the US did not need more regulation - they could manage just fine on their own. I summoned up the nerve to ask the question pounding through my head - ARE YOU SERIOUS????

These morons have run the world into the ground through their irresponsible and predatory lending practices. I mentioned the leadership of AIG, who the week after they received an $85 BILLION BAILOUT went off on a $400,000 "retreat" to celebrate the stupidity of the American taxpayer, and the naivete of the sitting Congress...

Add to that the shenanigans of the CEOs of the Big 3 car manufacturers who showed up in Washington begging for a similar bailout - in their corporate jets. They did not even bother to share a jet... why should they, after all? The outrage shown by a few of the members of Congress at their lavish ways was noble, but designed more for the cameras than anything else... The same CEOs were asked about their compensation - one said he had reduced his pay to $1, another said he had cut his pay in half, and the 3rd ass*&^% said he was fine where he was (at around $15 MILLION annual comp).

YEAH RIGHT!!!

The American taxpayer is facing an amazing level of misery right now, and these guys were sitting there with straight faces... they make crap products that no one wants to buy, and they blame the rest of the world for their problems. Typical.

Take some ownership. Be accountable. Try to justify your bloated salaries. Try to justify the misery you are putting your employees through. I wanted to take a huge bucket of water and throw it at them (not the water, the bucket!).

BE ACCOUNTABLE.

2008-11-10T16:05:00.003+04:00

Below is a letter I recently wrote to the management of the Qanat al Qasba area in Sharjah (www.qaq.ae). It's an amazing place, and in my viedw, a jewel of Sharjah. It has many cafes, restaurants, kids play areas, and a medium-sized masjid that we all go to on Fridays because the sermon is in English. I consider it my weekly admonition on how to be a better Muslim and stay closer to my faith...

My requests were:

1. The Masjid is becoming very crowded, especially on Fridays because the khutba is delivered in English. Is it possible to consider expanding the masjid so that more people may pray inside? This is even more true for the ladies section, which becomes very crowded. I understand that expanding the masjid will be expensive, so may I request the addition of awnings / covers around the masjid that would protect the worshippers from the hot sun. I am sure this effort will be highly appreciated and result in many prayers of thanks being offered by those who will benefit from this protection.

2. While the Qanat itself is kept spotless around the clock, the wonderful Corniches on either side (Buhairah & Mamzar) are both spoiled by considerable amounts of garbage floating in the water and on the beach. It is such a beautiful area, and to see it being violated by careless picnickers in this manner is really frustrating. Can there be some effort to educate these careless people, and barring this, can these people receive hefty fines (AED 500/-) for littering? I have found that some people in the West can be equally inconsiderate, but the thought of a fine for littering keeps most of them on the straight and narrow.

Let's see what response I get; I am not holding my breath!

2008-11-10T10:18:00.002+04:00

Quick update on the book... a few friends are wondering why it's gone quiet. It hasn't...

First piece of good news: I have found a distributor here in the UAE, which is great, because going to individual bookstores appears to be a waste of time. I have been fortunate enough to speak to three of the buyers at major bookstores in the UAE (Booksplus, Magrudy's, Jashanmal's) and they have been widely differing in their responses... from "yes, we might buy a few copies from the distributor on consignment" to "this book is going to do very well!". So now I alternate between optismism and pessimism on a daily basis.

The second piece of good news is I have also found a local printing option which is significantly cheaper than Canada so I can actually go for a more reasonable retail price while providing the essential margins for both retailer & distributor.

I have also decided to change the format of the book slightly, from 6 x9, to 5 x 8. I am doing this at the same time as incorporating certain grammatical corrections in the book as pointed out by my erstwhile friend Tabs... the only downside is that Trafford is taking AGES to make the changes, and so I am sitting here twiddling my thumbs. Well, not exactly... but you know what I mean.

I am working on the marketing plan, which has a robust promotional support section... I will provide more details as they become reality, but it's juicy :)

At the same time, there are a couple of really EXCITING things happening that I can't share with you at this time, but if they come through, HOLY CRAP... sorry to be a tease, but I can't help it at this point.

And one thing this has taught me is to really value my friends... it's been amazing how my true friends have rallied around and supported my efforts... they have been forthcoming with ideas, contacts and more ideas. Thank guys - I owe you.

2008-11-09T15:51:00.002+04:00

Obama won. It's hard to believe but he actually won, and by a landslide. His victory is remarkable for many reasons, here are the ones that have been bouncing around in my head since last week:

1. He's black. I honestly thought that the Bradley effect would have had a greater impact, but as Obama himself cracked to Jon Stewart "I don't think they (white voters) got the memo"...

2. He's intelligent. However, he was able to get past that unlike John Kerry who couldn't stop tripping over his own nuances...

3. He kept the moral high ground. This is not a much-used strategy in politics, but he stayed true to it even when Palin went totally below the belt... and then of course McCain wasted huge energy in keeping up with him in this area.

4. A message of hope. His message was consistent, and he uplifted those around him with a simple yet compelling vision. I am an optimist by nature, but even the pessimists I know found themselves nodding along with his (let's face it) rhetoric.

5. His smile. This is his biggest non-verbal asset - a grin that stretches from ear-to-ear - and says without guile "Hey, wassup?"

6. His youthful energy. It spoke volumes... the subtext was, I will make it through this election, and my term in office, in one piece. Reassuring.

7. His competition. Let's face it, between McCain's infamous statement "The foundations of the economy are strong!" and his selection of the "Disasta from Alaska", and then her painful gaffes, the election was his to lose.

8. His endorsement by key Republicans, the most powerful of which was Mr Powell's. That remains to my mind the highlight of the entire campaign, where the venerable general clarified a point that has sorely vexed millions of Muslims around the world. When asked what he thought of McCain's answer to a crazy question by an old bat who asked "I'm afraid of Obama, he's Muslim" to which McCain had responded "No ma'am, he not a Muslim. He's a good family man."
(meaning ofcourse, you can't be both...), Powell sternly admonished all by saying that while McCain's response was factually correct, it did not go far enough. He said that there was nothing wrong with being a Muslim in the US, that there was no reason a 6-yr old Muslim American child could not aspire to be President of the US some day...

Hat's off to you Sir - you said what needed to be said, and what was long over due. You made us proud.

All in all, I am very proud of my brothers from the south... prouder than I have had reason to be for a long time. Well done you guys. Still-President Bush has left a steaming pile of crud on the desk for Obama to deal with - I am confident he will handle all challenges with confidence, optimism, a united Congress & Senate, and the support of a world that is glad to have an American in the White house that we can actually look up to.

2008-11-03T10:35:00.003+04:00

"Evolution of Security" is such an Orwellian phrase that it sends chills down my spine. The official blog of the TSA (Transportation Security Administation, which is responsible for security at all America's airports, bus stations, train terminals etc.) http://www.tsa.gov/blog/ bears the following tagline...

"Terrorists Evolve. Threats Evolve. Security Must Stay Ahead. You Play A Part."

I think it is the blase statement of fact that scares me most...

The officers of this department are tasked with protecting the travelling public, ensuring that they reach their destinations safe and sound. It is a tough, and for the most part, thankless job. I have been to the US sixty times in a year for work and pleasure, and I have interacted with all sorts of Homeland Security personnel... from the CBP agents (Customs & Border Protection) who screen you and your ID, to the ICE agents (Immigration & Customs Enforcement) who actually enforce the edicts of the law. I have been fingerprinted (both manually & electronically), photographed, patted down, frog-marched, shouted at, surrounded, kept waiting for hours, missed countless flights, given up incredible amounts of personal information for recording in the NSEERS database (National Security Exit & Entry Registration System)... without complaint (complaining is a sure way to add HOURS to your wait time)... For the most part, TSA officers are simply tough as nails, curt but polite, and don't smile much. The odd one or two are completely unreasonable, either by design/strategy, or because he/she / they are just unreasonable people with an unreasonable amount of unilateral & discretionary power.

In almost all interactions with DHS personnel, however, there is one common thread for me.

A feeling of complete & utter loss of control.

Even the best / shortest / fastest / most courteous interactions have left me feeling disoriented and a little dizzy. The worst / longest / slowest / rudest interactions have left me wishing I had never gotten out of bed that day. In one or two extreme cases out of a hundred, I actually feared for my physical safety & mental health. Even thinking about them today causes my blood pressure to rise, my pulse to escalate, and my perspiration to increase. Time to take a deep breath...

Now, I have been hearing about the TSA's "testing" of full body scanning in many airports and other terminals around the US.

http://current.newsweek.com/budgettravel/2008/10/is_the_tsa_violating_your_priv.html?wpisrc=newsletter

This prospect is freaking me out. I mean, just the idea that my family & I are to be subjected to a virtual strip search of this nature is really freaking me out. My major concern stems from the fact that, as Muslims, modesty is a paramount part of our faith. To think that unknown men / women could be staring at our semi(?) nude bodies is, well, unacceptable.

The TSA claims that while the machines have even greater intensity of scanning features, they will not be used, and neither will those scans be saved for later viewing. Excuse me while I snort derisvely and cough to cover my disbelief. The TSA agents I have come across do not give me confidence in their ability to abstain from such activities. Since I am "randomly" selected for extra screening 100% of the time, I should expect this treatment 100% of the time. This is enough to make me drive rather than fly... even if it takes three days instead of six hours.

How much of our privacy are we willing to give up to ensure our security? And why does it have to be a trade-off? Many countries manage to ensure safety without making travellers wish they had stayed home...

As a famous man once said (and I'm quoting loosely)... "A nation that is willing to give up its freedoms in return for security, deserves neither freedom nor security"...

2008-10-11T11:01:00.002+04:00

It's time for a rant. It's been building for a while, and I have been tamping it down, telling myself to deal with it, but I cannot ignore this outrage any longer...

HOW IS IT THAT THE CEO OF LEHMAN BROS TAKES A GOLDEN PARACHUTE WORTH $350 MILLION A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE BANK DECLARES BANKRUPTCY... and there is no lynch mob baying for his blood outside his home with pitchforks and a thick rope?

HOW IS IT THAT THESE A-LIST A-HOLES WHO ARE QUIETLY CHUCKLING IN THEIR HOLES, KEPT SNUG BY THE PILES OF ILL-GOTTEN LOOT... and there is no lynch mob?

Is the American public so bored with their own lives, so used to looking at their own navels for inspiration, so blase about everything, that they do not care about this? WHY is there no lynch mob on Wall Street? These greedy bastards, these so-called captains of capitalism, how DARE they ask for hand-outs - and with a straight face at that?

I wonder how those discussions between these modern-day robber barons and the morons who pass for leadership in our countries go? Possibly something like this...

President/PM: So what's up Doc?

Bank CEO: Hey, how's the wife?

Pres/PM: Good thanks, we had a nice BBQ Sunday... what's up with you?

Bank CEO: Oh you know, can't complain really... the board at the Bank is forcing me to take a $250 million extraordinary bonus, for my hard work and effort in the last year...

Pres/PM: Well done, I'm glad your hard work is being recognized!

Bank CEO: On a completely unrelated topic, we are going to need around $100 billion as an emergency fund... you know, to head off any rush on the bank given the current economic uncertainty! We can't risk that kind of turbulence with the elections around the corner... it might affect our ability to contribute in our usual generous manner to your campaign... of course we probably won't need to use the fund, and if we do, we will certainly do our best to repay it as soon as circumstances change... we can't promise of course, but we will try!

Pres/PM: Of course, of course, I totally understand! We can't have consumer confidence shaken at this critical juncture... shall we say $700 bilion instead, just to be on the safe side?

Bank CEO: I think that is a very wise decision indeed... your vision is what keeps us all going in these dark days. Oh, by the way, if you know of anyone looking for a senior consultant to advise governments or sovereign funds on investment strategies, do let me know... I will be leaving the bank shortly, and it will help.

Pres/PM: I will call a few client states right away, I'm sure they could use a person of your pre-eminence! Give me a couple days...

Bank CEO: Appreciate it... let's get together for a round of golf on the Vineyard next week, shall we?

Pres/PM: Yes, let's. It'll be fun.

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE? WHERE IS THE PUBLIC SOUL-SEARCHING? MORE IMPORTANTLY - WHERE ARE THE PROSECUTIONS?

These people have brought the global economy to it's knees, the Western economies to collapse... they have single-handedly boosted socialism, proving that unbridled capitalism is a danger to the world... they bear responsibility for a financial meltdown of unprecedented scope and scale... and they are getting away with it!?!!

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE?

2008-10-05T09:48:00.002+04:00

Eventful. Action-packed. Exciting. These are some of the words one could use to describe the last week or two. Why? you ask politely, hiding a yawn ever so well... Why indeed!

1. Oct 26 - I had an interview published in the Gulf News - Friday magazine (My World section). Here's a link to the article, penned by a young freelancer by the name of Mehmudah Rehman, in case you are curious...

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/09/24/10247595.html

Overall, the article was great. It talked about my blog, my writing, the book (and www.erikkthegiant.com) and a lot more ...

2. The same morning, www.erikkthegiant.com went live also. The site is pretty neat, and some of the suggestions by strategist Salman Abedin (such as having the 1st chapter available for free download etc.) have gotten good feedback.

3. That same evening, Erikk the Giant (the actual book) also went live on the Trafford site, several days ahead of schedule! Here's the link in case you want to buy the book directly from here...

http://www.trafford.com/08-0366

These events, which have been in the works for months, all actually came to fruition on the same day, which I credit to both luck and planning. It is frankly incredible that this day - Sep 26 - also saw the 27th night of Ramadan here in the UAE, which if you read my earlier post on the subject of the Holy Month, is quite auspicious :)

4. A few days later, we celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr, the festival that celebrates the ending of fasting during the month of Ramadan. A big event for Muslims all over the world... I really enjoyed the time off, visiting friends, having friends over, going to the water park in Umm al Qawain, and so on. A great time indeed.

After all this, I am back at work, the kids are back to school, and it's life as usual - with one noticeable difference. I am now an author with a book in print, and I'm working on a marketing plan for that book. There are many ideas on the table, from friends and relatives all over the world. Let's see what we can do to build this brand from scratch!

Now, THAT'S exciting!!!

2008-09-22T14:14:00.002+04:00

The term "fire-fighting" is often bandied about in managment terminology. It is used to define the activities that a reactive culture in an organization can breed - things that are urgent simply take over the day-to-day job until there is no time for anything else. Whether those tasks are actually important or not is secondary - they need to be addressed or something bad will happen. I have met many people - solid, experienced people - who are unable to get out of this mode of existence. Everything is immediate and handled in a rough-and-ready manner because there is no time to do it better - and oops, there is another fire over there that needs attention now...

Therefore, everything else gets put off until it too becomes urgent. So nothing is done proactively... the quality of work deteriorates... the time available for any particular task shortens even more... there are more fires... and the cycle perpetuates itself.

For the last couple of nights, I have been involved in fighting a real fire. Last Friday night, a fire erupted in the warehouses at our ice cream factory, and threatened to engulf the entire operation. After nearly ten hours of effort by the fire brigade, the fire came under control. Massive damage was sustained to our warehouses... it was a scene from hell.

Giant billowing clouds of black smoke, pulsing and changing with the breeze as though alive. The flames, licking hungrily skywards, casting an reddish-orange glow over everything, lending a surreal look to the industrial landscape. The yells of the fire-fighters, full of urgency.

It was a scene from hell. The roofs of the warehouses were burned right off, the steel racking systems melted into indescribable shapes. The metal girders that had supported the roof bent and twisted in the intense heat of the flames that had reached fifty feet into the sky, consuming everything, everything... small flare-ups in various parts of the gutted structure... smoke everywhere... darkness blanketing all.

The factory itself escaped unscathed. We were lucky that night.

The following day, the fire flared up again, and this time, we were only a handful of company personnel fighting to control the flames which had reared up to the roof again. As we learned, simply dousing a fire does not mean that you have put it out... as the word spread, more and more employees jumped in, forming chains to fill buckets with water to pass them on to those brave souls who ventured into the maw of the flames with hoses and buckets to put out the flames. By the time the fire-fighters came, it was largely under control, but the entire night was spent in vigilance, looking out for the next outbreak, the next flare-up... then immediately directing resources to that area with hoses & buckets to make sure that did not spread... ensuring those people were adequately protected to be able to the job. Some succumbed to smoke inhalation, some reached the point of exhaustion (they had been fasting all day), while others displayed super-human endurance and went on fighting until the morning came...

It was a long night. It gave me an entirely new perspective on a term in daily use - fire-fighting - and reminded me that a lot of management jargon is rooted in war, adversity and hardship... I will comment on that separately another time.

More importantly, it formed a bond between those who struggled to save their company and their livelihood that night that will endure, regardless of age, position or place. That night we were all brothers.

2008-09-01T12:28:00.003+04:00

The Holy month of Ramadan has started. Millions of Muslims around the world are abstaining from food, water, smoking and sex from sun-up to sundown.

Why?

For the uninitated, Ramadan is one of the months of the Islamic calendar. (The Islamic year runs on the lunar model, so there are only 355 days, and hence the months move backwards through the Gregorian calendar. To illustrate, last year Ramadan started around September 11th, this year it is September 1.)

One of the five pillars of Islam is fasting - and it is mandatory on all Muslims, provided their health allows. The fast begins an hour or so before sun-up, with the morning prayer (Fajr). Most Muslims will wake earlier to have a good breakfast, tea and a cigarette (for smokers, fasting is a fine torture, although many smokers claim to actually quit during Ramadan in totality). I had a glass of milk and a couple of Maalox chewables... the first few days of your body clock adjusting to strange eating times can cause heartburn!

During the day, you will see far more people than normal in the mosques for the noon, afternoon, sunset and night prayers. People are generally politer, and there are fewer disagreements than the norm, as people swallow their anger and choose to walk away rather than risk spoiling their fast by fighting...

Ramadan is an intensely spiritual experience. It is a time for reflection, prayer, remembrance of God, charitable giving, sharing of food (especially the meal at the opening of the fast, called Iftar), and abstinence. It's about controlling the id, reining in your animal urges, controlling your desires... it makes a better person out of you, and that is the intention.

The objective of abstaining from all food and water for up to 14 hours in the heat of the summer is simple - if you know the pain of hunger pangs, if you appreciate the torture of thirst firsthand, then you are far less likely to turn away a beggar who claims he is hungry, or the poor woman who says her kids are hungry at home... you cannot, because you know what they are going through.

Muslims believe that Satan is locked up for the duration of the month, so if you do a bad deed in Ramadan, it's all on you :) But if you do good deeds, then the rewards are multiplied! Muslims also believe that one of the nights of Ramadan, generally believed to be one of the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th or 29th nights of the month, is the Night of Power - Lailat ul Qadr. This is the night when all prayers are guaranteed to be answered, forgiveness sought and granted, and spiritual cleansing takes place... many Muslims will spend these nights in prayer and worship.

Fasting is the only form of prayer that you do only for your Lord. After all, noone else knows if you are fasting or not... and this is why Muslims are told that this form of prayer is the most preferred by God.

It is traditional to greet your Muslim friends, neighbours, co-workers with "Ramadan Kareem" - so enjoy the month!

I plan to...

2008-08-31T16:50:00.003+04:00

I sometimes wish I had a large genie to do my bidding.

This is never truer than when I am driving in Sharjah, or more specifically, between Sharjah and Dubai. This journey has a transformational effect on some people, and not in a good way. While Sharjah drivers for the most part tend to be an unruly, indisciplined, irrational lot (apologies to the exceptions!), this trek seems to bring out the absolute WORST in too many drivers.

Here is a list of character and their common infractions, rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being minor and 5 being worthy of capital punishment. Some are large, some petty, some dangerous, some irritating, but all worthy of mention. If you can add to this list, please do! And if you see yourself or someone you know on this list... well...

1. The Lane Changer: This person will change lanes, seemingly at random and without warning. This can happen at any time, and for no apparent rational reason. This is really dangerous because if you are not on your toes, you will suffer the consequences.
Annoyance rating: 2

2. The Kerb Runner: The enthusiasm that these people display in cutting in in front of you, having driven past you on the shoulder a second earlier, is incredible. It's like they have found a short cut (rather like the guy who tells people he can run 100m in 4 seconds because he knows a shortcut!)...
Annoyance rating: 4

3. The Off-Roader: This 4x4 freak insists on going all the way offroad to come back onto the road right next to you - and it immediately becomes his right of way (of course...).
Annoyance rating: 3

4. The Off-Road Wannabe (also called the Off-Road DumbAss): This guy is an off-roader without an SUV, a hero without a cause, a patriot without a country... I saw one of them today, walking around his Camry with a puzzled expression on his face, wondering why his car was stuck in the soft desert sand 200 metres off the road. Please wave politely as you pass by, but it's not good form to laugh openly at their "misfortune" (read "stupidity").
Annoyance rating: 1

5. The Slip Road Eel: This guy will duck into a slip road in order to race down it, and re-join the traffic approximately 10 cars ahead of where he was a minute ago. And he will rejoin traffic with a bold air of bravado, a metaphorical defiant stab of the chin, that dares you to block his entry...
Annoyance rating: 5

6. The Phone Monkey: This person insists on using the phone will steering with one hand, braking late and often, the veering slightly to left and right. Stay alert, because if they light a cigarette, or sip a coffee, they may well forget where they are altogether...
Annoyance rating: 4

7. The Good Samaritan: This person is possibly the most annoying to drive behind, but he's not dangerous. However, he lets everyone and his dog in to traffic, waving regally to let in all of the above-mentioned characters and more. He is probably of the view that by acting in this manner, he is encouraging others to be more forbearing in traffic... and perhaps he's right. But it might be that he is in fact encouraging those same people to continue to throw their weight around... I don't know.
Annoyance rating: 3

And there are so many more... but WHY do often nice people behave in this OBNOXIOUS manner? Why is it OK?

I think it is the anonymity of being in a car, removed from direct contact with those who's rights you are trampling, that allows these people to behave in this way. There is no eye contact made - the person they are cutting off is not really a person at all, and therefore has no rights. This attitude is seen far too often in all aspects of life in the Middle East... but that's another discussion for another day.

2008-08-24T14:31:00.004+04:00

Performance appraisals are a tricky thing.

In the old days, it was a top-down process, with the boss sitting down with the employee and telling him or her where they "screwed up", or "did good". It was usually unscientific and marred by what HR specialists refer to as "the recency effect". This refers to the phenomenon where things that have happened recently take over the entire appraisal, which is usually meant to cover and accurately reflect the performance of the employee for the whole year under review. Using personal likes and dislikes as a yardstick for success and achievement were the norm. As a result, the employee was either unfairly penalized or praised, and justice was rarely if ever done.

Sadly, even today, one runs across stories that just make you shake your head and tut tut gently. A case that was recently brought to my attention goes as follows:

1. An employee has agreed Key Responsibility Areas (KRAs) at the start of the year.

2. The employee achieved the following results against his KRAs:

a. His assigned topline target has been exceeded. [This means his brands sold more $ than the company had actually asked for.]

b. His assigned bottom line target has been exceeded. [This means he delivered more than his committed profits to the company.]

c. Market shares in markets (as per ACNielsen audits) have increased - in the mature and established category in which this person operates as a marketing manager, each market has shown a share increase of between 3 & 4 share points.

[A point to note: As a marketing professional, we strive to increase share by as little as 1%, and sometimes, with the high levels of competition and changing dynamics in the marketplace, we fail. But the effort is always to grow share. So this person's achievements are significant in any situation, but particularly so in a mature market demonstrating little growth.]

It's important to understand that this person's company has also achieved it's goals, and has been rated an 'A'. So, he has performed extraordinarily well in a company that has also done well.

Logically, one could assume that this person's achievements would result in his being recognized as a strong performer, and awarded an 'A' with the thanks of his management, and a pat on the back to "keep up the good work!"

However, as this employee has learned the hard way, every time you ASSUME, you make an Ass Of U and Me.

I was therefore not particularly surprised to learn that he was actually awarded a 'B' and the "logic" provided was that his manager did not "like" how one of the creative projects he had worked on during the year had turned out. He was additionally informed that he should not be demotivated, but simply work harder next time.

And there you have the classic appraisal dilemma. A person who has met and exceeded every specific, measurable, actionable, rational and time-bound objective, has been appraised by someone who in all likelihood has not really taken the time to understand his employee's contributions and definitely does not understand the impact of such decisions on the motivation & morale of the employee and his team.

You know, I have had the pleasure and the privelege of working for companies that really do a great job at performance appraisals, so I have been trained to take this aspect of management VERY seriously. This is the time of the year that you can use to motivate and reward your key people, OR you can destroy that very motivation and morale. That's why I am actually taking this individual's plight personally enough to actually write about it.

This type of bad management practice has caused incredible losses to companies as talented people leave in resentment.

The same manager would be shocked to realize that his prized employee has started contacting headhunters and recruiters. He might be shocked to receive his employee's resignation - "What are you doing to me? Have you thought about how this will affect you?" etc. and the shock might actually increase as the employee smiles, having found a much better paying job in the same field, and says "Thank you for shaking me into looking for another position, I would never have taken this step without your encouragement!"

The war for talent is a critical one - many management gurus believe that the only thing that separates a good company from a great one is talent.

2008-08-24T10:57:00.002+04:00

Mrs Henderson was my English Language & English Literature teacher in the two years running up to my 'O' levels. This was back in the day of the 'Cambridge' Os, when that really meant something, and at the risk of dating myself, was in Karachi in 1985.

That was a very long time ago, so why am I writing this?

Last night, inexplicably, I found myself thinking about Mrs Henderson. She was an amazing teacher, a true embodiment of what a teacher is supposed to be - kind, selfless, expecting excellence and not settling for less. She served a mean glass of sharbat (some kind of lemonade I think), treated us with respect, treated us as young adults... She taught me to love Shakespeare and the classics, I mean not just read and enjoy, but really dive into and become passionate about.

I revelled in the worlds of Julius Caesar, the Merchant of Venice, and that strangest of tales, Far from the Madding Crowd. I read them so many times that I knew entire passages that I could quote verbatim, and often did, much to the annoyance of my friends.

It was no hardship at all - I love books, they are my oldest and most enduring passion - but under Mrs H's guidance, the books came to life for me in a way that I cannot forget. As a result, I received a 1-point in Eng Lit, the first student to do so in St.Patrick's High School after nearly 20 years... I don't know who was the prouder, she or I.

So last night I sat up and thought about Mrs H. I lost touch with her and her family many years ago when I left Pakistan, but she is with me still. I cherish her memory, and I'm sure hundreds of her students do the same. Wherever she is, I mightily wish her all the best, and say a silent prayer for her.

Thank you Mrs H.

2008-08-19T18:34:00.002+04:00

My primary feeling about the whole Mush episode (if you can call 9 years an episode!) is one of numbness. Oh sure, there are some other emotions as well - a pinch of hope early on, a slide into depression, the occasional slap of anger & dismay - but mostly the slug of hopelessness has been swelling in me.

I was among those who celebrated the departure of the incredibly corrupt BB/Sharif duo that plagued our country for a decade, taking turns at the till to lie, steal, plunder and loot Pakistan's already depleted resources. The sad thing is that the plant of democracy in Pakistan is never allowed to grow for more than a few years before our army feels it necessary to "protect the nation's (read: the army's) interest" by taking over. History continues to repeat itself in Pakistan, and the people stand around, gaping one minute, dancing for joy the next, setting themselves ablaze one minute, and handing out sweets the next.

It is absolutely true that every nation gets the leadership it deserves.

It's certainly true for the US - look at who they got (ouch - 8 years of dubya!). They have no one to blame for the state of their nation but themselves.

Pakistanis are in exactly the same boat.

For the most part, we are an illiterate bunch. Worse, we are ignorant, and proud of it. We see no reason to educate ourselves or even, god forbid, our children.

We are corrupt and proud of our ability to find shortcuts... even when none are needed. We create situations where we cannot survive without shortcuts.

We have no electricity, no water, no sanitation (sewerage, garbage removal), no personal safety or security - and for the most part - WE ARE OK WITH IT.

We are narrow-minded (witness our treatment of women and minorities).

We sell our votes for a plate of biryani, and a bus ride to the polling station.

We elect politicians, make them demi-gods, then celebrate at their downfall. Two years later, we re-elect them amidst great celebration.

I could go on but I am numb. The pain I feel is twice-removed and I am glad, because I do not think I can handle the pain if it was at full force.

I am numb, and I am glad.

2008-08-19T18:11:00.002+04:00

My brother is a creative spark and a patriot...

He has made a fantastic short film to mark the occasion of Pakistan's Independence Day - August 14th. As a non-resident Canadian with roots in Pakistan, it touched a chord with me that I felt deeply... and yet, strangely, as though it were happening to someone else.

How sad. I will write about that separately another time, but if you get the chance, go to

www.14august.org

and check out the film. It is read by the well-known Pakistani singer and personality Fakhr-e-Alam and is worth a watch.

2008-08-16T15:19:00.002+04:00

Man, I love pool.

It has been my most enduring passion over the years, right up there with reading, and I think if given the choice between a great read and a game of pool on a good table against a superior player, I would choose the game - because the book will still be there when I'm done, right?

Pool is a great game... not too cerebral (like snooker, although that is a game of a higher order altogether)... not too challenging (beginners can have as much fun hacking around as pros can)... quick (unlike snooker!)... instant reinforcement & reward (also punishment if you miss)...

I don't know what it is exactly that I enjoy so much. Is it the green baize, so carefully maintained especially before a tournament match? Is it the player's stance, which once adopted, is nothing less than a sniper's, the moment before the hit? Is it the quiet clicking of the balls, the satisfying crack of a shot well hit, ended in the resounding smack of the ball hitting the leather of the pocket? Or perhaps, the quiet scraping of chalk against cue tip, as a player contemplates the right shot to play? Or the fact that there are few games that reward solo practice quite as dramatically as pool does (at least for me)...

Whatever it is, I love it. I can play pool for hours, retiring only when my aching joints, back and neck force me to leave the table. Thanks to our parents, my brother and I grew up with a pool table in the room that we shared... I can't wait for the time when I can do the same for my kids. My dream retirement involves a pool hall, where I own, manage and play pool for 12 hours a day.

Man, I love pool.

2008-08-10T15:19:00.002+04:00

Did man land on the moon?

I've generally thought so, although I always had a few niggling doubts that would surface in discussions on the subject, but were quickly set aside because - let's face it - to believe otherwise would lead to extraordinary changes in perception that might be best left alone...

Unfortunately, that comfortable space no longer exists for me, and I mourn for the lost naivete that will never return... I watched a documentary on FOX the other day that has raised my general level of discomfort to a peak of pain - a spike - that I cannot ignore.

Man's landing on the moon - that seminal event - was faked.

Even then, the folks that made these decisions realized that managing perceptions was critical - there was NO WAY the US could afford to lose the space race... there was too much at risk. So the lunar landing was faked and millions watched in awe... a real case of the tail wagging the dog, which I am sure inspired many future events and non-events...

So, what reasons do I have to believe (or not believe, actually) in the veracity of this event? It's nothing new, but I am putting down a list in no particular order of importance:

1. The "waving" flag... with no wind, how exactly did the flag wave?

2. The lack of a blast crater under the Lunar Module. How the hell did this device manage a landing without a huge blast crater under the landing site? And on a related note, how did the module take off without any visible emissions from the "engine area"?

3. The quality of pictures. The documentary included comments by the man who designed, built and installed the chest-mounted cameras on the astronaut's suits... the men inside the suits had no viewfinders, and in fact, could not actually see the cameras at all, yet every picture has come out crystal clear, in sharp focus... impossible.

4. Where are all the stars? There are no stars visible in the backdrop, although there should have been hundreds or thousands...

5. Lighting & shadows: According to the experts, there are multiple light points - not one. This is evidenced by differing shadow directions in the same pictures... also, there are places where the astronauts are descending the steps deep in the darkest shadow of the module, and yet they themselves are brightly lit and clearly visible (almost as though there were spotlights on them...)

6. The Lunar Module itself - a week before the mission, the LEM was barely able to fly, and in fact crashed and exploded in a fireball within minutes of take-off as Neil Armstrong ejected to safety. It's incredibly smooth landing on the moon a week later is hard to explain...

There are many other things - a crater on the "moon" that looks exactly like one in Area 51, the top secret military installation in the US desert where, many theorists believe, this charade was actually carried out... wires that appear to be snaking across the "moon" surface... the soft, dreamy, slow-motion running of the astronauts, which when the film is played at a faster speed, actually transforms into a regular running motion... and so on.

But what all this means - for me - is that one of the many things that we take for granted - that define who we are as humankind - did not happen.

Oh my GOD.

What else did NOT happen???

2008-08-04T11:20:00.003+04:00

Summer in Sharjah is not like summer anywhere else.

First there's the HEAT. It averages between 45 and 50 degrees every day... and the humidity leaves you feeling wrung out and dehydrated.

Then, there's everything else...

The dust and haze that hangs over everything, obscuring your vision, making driving even more hazardous than usual... compounded by the glare of the midday sun, the atmosphere becomes surreal, with everything seeming to slow down... except for the traffic, as people seem to drive even more recklessly than normally in their rush to get out of the sun.

The kids, who are going to bed at 12 and 1 am every night, and have lost track of what day of the week it is :) ah, what I wouldn't give to have that sensation once more... they wake up at 11 or 12 the next morning, stretching and yawning like big cats, stumbling to the TV to find the remote so that they can start the process of vegging out before they have even fully opened their eyes...

The long drives to Dubai in the late evening or night, the roads far less congested with traffic than normal because everyone is out on vacation...

The quiet nights on the Qasba, sitting at Dunkin' Donuts, nursing a good strong cup of java, the kids munching on colourful donuts, holding hands with the wife (read, love of my life)... the slow walk back to the car (although we live barely 200 yards from the Qasba, we always drive, primarily because it's too damn HOT to walk, but also because crossing roads in Sharjah with kids is no fun at all... people drive like whackjobs and you need to skip pretty smartly across with kids in tow... like I said, not fun at all).

Going out with the visitors we have (yes, we are really lucky, we have had visitors from Pakistan and Canada so far this season), and enjoying their reactions to everything - the HEAT, the architecture, the gardens and parks with the ridiculously green grass, the beaches.

A few friends have asked me whether I enjoyed summers in Canada more or less than Sharjah. To which I reply that you might as well ask whether I like zebras more or horses. Whle they do look somewhat alike, they are not really comparable... the nature of summer in both countries is completely different.

In Canada, at least for us, summer was the time to go out and enjoy everything - cycling, parks, picnics, beaches and so much more. We would hibernate in winter.

Here it is the opposite... you do what you can during the summer, but winter is when you do all the fun stuff that you might do in a Canadian summer... Winters in Sharjah are FANTASTIC...

And summer in Sharjah is not bad at all...

2008-07-17T13:33:00.003+04:00

So the ads that we had done for both brands are on air. Copy testing has revealed that both perform exceptionally well on the usual battery of image and performance parameters, but as the old adage says, "the proof of the pudding...".

Here is a link to the spots on youtube, check them out and let me know what you think of:

1. the clarity of message
2. who the audience is
3. whether they are likely to like the ads or not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxY68oFiEmo London Dairy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZpey6ipVbc Igloo

Word to the wise - the most experienced evaluators of advertising creative will check things at a gut level first, and then start analyzing the ad in technical terms... let me know what YOU think...

2008-06-25T15:38:00.003+04:00

Brickbreaker has to be one of the most addictive games I have ever played. For the uninitiated, it's one of the main features of the Blackberry, and according to RIM, they (alongwith everyone else) have been caught off-guard by the runaway success of this little game...

The game is simple - keep a ball pingponging around to destroy bricks, collecting points and capsules along the way. Collect lives, guns, lasers and more to keep things lively.

I think one of the main reasons for the game's success is the fact that it can be played while waiting at an airport, in a queue at the bank, even at traffic lights (not recommended!). It can be easily paused and re-accessed at will. It also has a fixed number of levels (34) and some very challenging levels keep things interesting (and frustrating!) for many players for great lengths of time.

The downside is - once you get addicted, it's hard to stop...

I have beaten the game. After ignoring my family for months, and playing frantically every chance I got (sometimes for hours on end), I finally crossed level 34 for the first time feeling like Lance Armstrong or Mohammed Ali - the champion of the world. Then I continued on to cross 1.3 million, with over 400 lives - at which point the game died (as has happened to countless others before me).

It left me with a vague feeling of malcontent, but I still play. So do my kids...

I hope they iron the kinks out of this game - it's really awesome.

2008-06-25T12:16:00.003+04:00

The view from the swimming pool area in my building is quite amazing. Standing in one place, I count no less than 20 (that's right, twenty!) construction cranes. It is as though the entire city has suddenly sprouted concrete mushrooms, and they are heading skywards at an incredible rate. A friend of mine recently visited Sharjah after a couple of years, and his comment was enlightening...

"People talk about construction in Dubai... what construction? It is a paltry amount when compared to the number of buildings going up in Sharjah!"

This caused me to stop and think. Dubai is heralded as the construction capital of the world... 40 buildings going up in the Marina, another 30 odd on the other side of the road (Sh Zayed Road, that is) and another 30 or so around the Burj Dubai.

However, there are probably 200 buildings going up in Sharjah - the Buheirah corniche, the Mamzar lagoon, Nahda and Qusais, and the Taawun Mall area to mention a few of the areas experiencing this rapid growth...

While that is a remarkable fact in and of itself, what's really remarkable is that communication is key here - building perceptions is the key (no pun intended) - that Dubai has figured out years ago, while sleepy Sharjah seems to be unable to understand the importance of communication...

2008-06-15T12:24:00.002+04:00

The el Jadida moroccan restaurant on via Carlo Bazzi in Milano offers zabiha halal food, a couple of great belly dancers and a decent shisha (albeit with the "automatic" coal, not the wooden coal). It is a fun place to hang out in the evening after a long day of slogging it out at the production studio.

One discordant note that I came across in the public restrooms of the city - once in a cafe in the Piazza Duomo, and once again yesterday at the restaurant - was the type of toilets available. They were both floor-shift models.

For the uninitiated, there are two types of "facilities" that are generally found across the world. The regular seated version, which we are more used to seeing in the developed world, and the squatting variety, that until yesterday I had associated with the backwards parts of India, Pakistan, most of Africa and Saudi Arabia. Apparently they are common in Milano too... I was shocked, shocked I tell you...

Anyway, yesterday was a looong day, and I had to delay my flight because we encountered some unexpected (and somewhat surprising) delays that were the result of miscommunication and crossed wires. Silly things from voiceovers delivered in a cockney accent to bigger strategic brand direction issues that took a long and intensive conference call with the team in Jeddah to resolve.

Hopefully we are past those issues now, and should be going to DVD with all the copy starting in twenty minutes. As soon as the DVDs are burned, which should take a couple of hours, we head back to the hotel and then to the airport.

It's been an incredible trip, and I'm going to miss the heck out of Milano...

2008-06-13T20:46:00.002+04:00

Man, I love Milano.

The people. The fashion. The old cobbled streets. The well-preserved buildings. The fabulous Duomo, the centre of downtown Milano. The grand Piazza Duomo where crowds gather to celebrate major events, like watching the critical Euro Cup soccer qualifier taking place right now between Italia and Romania on a massive screen (critical because if Italy loses, they are out of the tournament - I can only imagine what the crowds will do then). The siesta from 3pm to 7pm - you can't even buy lunch during this time (OK, that's not cool but everything else is).

But most of all - the shopping.

I know, I know, guys are not supposed to talk about shopping in this adulatory fashion (no pun intended) but seriously, this place has amazing goodies.

I went to the Ferrari store (again). This one was even bigger than the one in Modena, and I actually got to sit in a F1 car driven by Schumacher. No kidding. Bought some Ferrari swag, just brilliant. Then, went to Zara's which is way cooler than any other Zara's I have come across... bought a suit, casual pants, a shirt, ties... nice stuff.

OK, enough of the raving. My feet are KILLING me... I need to lie down. We are going to go out for dinner at a Moroccan restaurant tonight to celebrate the finalization of the second TV commercial. I am leaving tomorrow, and I really really don't want to leave this city. It's SO much cooler (in every way) than Sharjah that it's not even funny.

Maybe I can get a job in Milano - that would rock. Let's see... :)

2008-06-11T13:49:00.002+04:00

Modena is a sleepy little town a quick 2-hour train ride outside Milano. I'm visiting a friend here while waiting for final changes to be made to the animation sequences of the second TV commercial we shot in Lebanon. (I would say we are 85% there, with a little tweaking we will be 100% there.)

In the meantime, I'm in Modena. Wow. In 4 days, I have travelled from Karachi (where we had gone to attend my wife's niece's engagement party), to Sharjah (where I spent a hectic day at the office), to Milano to Modena. The flight to Milano was uneventful - I slept from takeoff to landing - 6 straight hours. In Milano, my hotel was overrun with size zero models (there was a call-back and there must have been 30 of them draped all over the common areas of the hotel). The hotel is in Milan's Chinatown (yes, there is a large and thriving Chinatown in Milano!), and as such there are 5 Chinese for each Italian you see in that area :) The train ride to Modena through the Italian countryside was equally uneventful.

I had an amazing pizza yesterday - tomatoes, mozzarella, caviar and salmon. Fantastic. The pizza was huge - approx. 18 inches in diameter, but paper-thin, and I ate the whole thing. Couldn't believe it, but it was one of the best pizzas I have ever experienced.

The weather here is so nice - it's around 25 deg, and no sign of the rain and thunderstorms that I had seen on the extended forecast. I hope it stays that way.

2008-06-08T17:55:00.002+04:00

Ahh, Pakistan. The land of my birth, a land where daily contradictions and new oxymorons serve only to befuddle and amaze the visitor. As a friend of mine put it, it is a land of work-arounds, which is both a compliment and an insult. A compliment, because it speaks to the ingenuity, creativity, and never-say-die spirit of the populace. An insult, because in many ways the populace is resigned to their fate...

A case in point. The power goes several times a day. So the elite upper class has installed automatic generators that actually require no human intervention, and the only way those people know that the power has gone is a temporary absence of light which flickers on within seconds...

Another case. Large parts of Karachi are without water. So the elite upper class brings in tankers that deliver fresh water daily to their doorsteps. While many in the city are forced to hunt around for even a bucket of drinkable (barely!) water, many are watering their lawns daily. Even in the scorching heat and humidity...

It's quite amazing. If you're in the elite bracket of society, you have no reason to EVER leave. And if you're not, then you have no way to EVER leave. We are all in it together - until the masses revolt and start throwing rocks at the big cars as they drive by, or start jumping over the walls of the ostentatious houses inhabited by the rich and politically connected.

It is only a matter of time because the disparity in incomes, standard of living, and hopes for the future is so great that crime - random street crime - is on the increase. Everyone I know - every single person - has been the victim of at least one such "event" or another. It's so commonplace that people actually shrug it off as a cost of living in Karachi. They are truly experts in Building A Bridge And Getting Over It (or BABAGOI as I call it...).

It is only a matter of time before these random events coalesce into a burning hatred that brings all the walls down, as famously happened during the French Revolution. I don't know when it will happen, but I'm sure that it will.

It is only a matter of time.

2008-06-01T10:41:00.004+04:00

Day 2 of Phase 4: Still 83.8 kg. I can actually feel that crappy burger still sitting in my stomach somewhere spewing out calories. Dammit. Never mind. I can also feel the inches continuing to drop ever so slowly off my waist - the workouts are working out. I think I will hold at this weight as my body adjusts to the new calorie needs, and then I will lose a few more pounds in a few days.

We will see.

Day 1 of Phase 4: Worked out twice - walk in the morning, gym in the evening. Ate only watermelon the whole day until we went to a birthday party for the son of a good friend of mine - and everything went to HELL in a handbasket. I ate a Hardees chicken burger - which BTW I would normally never eat because I much prefer their Roast Beef with cheese or the Super Star or even the Big Deluxe - as well as two small slices of pathetic chicken pizza from Pizza Hut.

Even as I was stuffing my face, I was thinking - it's all going to hell, hell, hell. And I ate it anyway. Why??? Well, it's true I was starving after two workouts, but still...

I think it boils down to the ancient urge to eat when food is put before you, in case it vanishes, and then you may not get another chance to eat for a long time... or it could just be that I love fast food, and when it's free, it's paricularly irresistable. As the old Pakistani saying goes, muft may to zeher be khila do...

Roughly translated: If it's free, I won't say no to even poison...

Weight: 83.8 kg (-5.6 kg vs 22 days ago.)

2008-05-26T14:41:00.003+04:00

The art and science of motivation is exactly that - part empirical, part gut. But where do you even start to motivate a dejected, demoralized and defeated team?

You listen.

The first step I took with the team that I inherited was to set up an informal and completely anonymous session that was designed to give me access to the cultural and environmental issues that the team was facing - internal and external - and what I as a new leader could do to help. We put up large flipchart paper on the walls of the conference room, and wrote around 20 questions on them. Here are the questions:

•What do you already know about my background?
•What additional things do you want to know e.g. leadership style, hot buttons, information sharing, etc.
•If I was the perfect leader for you, I would …..?
•What do I need to know about this team? E.g. operating style, pet peeves, meeting preferences etc.
•What accomplishments is the team most proud of?
•What is the team most effective and least effective at doing?
•What is really important or really counts at our company?
•What are the key issues / challenges that I needs to address in the next 30-60 days?
•What are the recommendations for dealing with those issues and meeting the challenges?
•What myths, attitudes or beliefs are helpful or unhelpful at our company?
•What are the major roadblocks our team faces in achieving its goals?
•What concerns are there about the transition?
•What kind of support do you need from me?
•What did the previous leader do that helped the team perform well?
•If you could change one thing about the team, what would it be?
•What would you like to see done that is different or creative?
•If you could offer me one piece of advice in the early stages of my new assignment, what would it be?

After posting these questions on the wall, I left the room for two hours. The team was supposed to put post-its with comments that truthfully answered the questions, yet left things anonymous if they were more comfortable with that. I wondered how much truth I would get...

As it turned out, the team told the unvarnished truth. Here are a few verbatims that will stay with me for a very long time:

"Ours not to question why, ours but to do or die..."
"We are children of a lesser god."

And much more in that vein. I very quickly understood the nature of the challenges facing the team. They felt powerless, executing at the beck and call of the sales team, thankless jobs where creativity was punished, and leadership non-existent. The morale was as low as I have ever seen in a group of people (I realized that in calling them a "team", I was actually mis-judging badly). Every single person was on the hunt for a better job, and some were actually walking around with resignations in their pockets.

I could hardly blame them. But I did understand them, as well as the issues they were up against. Now I could start formulating a plan to turn things around; we could actually start doing something to improve the situation.

We succeeded beyonded my most aggressive aspirations. More later.

2008-05-25T14:04:00.007+04:00

Day 5,6,7 of Phase 3: At the end of week 3, my weight is at 83.9 kg (-5.5 kg vs. 21 days ago) and my one overwhelming emotion is one of relief - not because the diet is over (it's not!), but because the abuse I have put my stomach through in the last couple of days has not completely erased the gains (or rather, losses) of the previous weeks...

To recap, I have eaten full scoops of ice cream, naan and rice in healthy helpings... my god, yesterday, I ate biryani (!), naan and an ice cream sundae (we had company over for dinner). All I can say is - my god.

This coming week, its back to the diet with a vengeance - but this week, I will workout twice a day - 30 minutes of walking and/or cycling in the morning, and 30 minutes of resistance training in the gym in the evening. Let's see how it goes.

Day 4 of Phase 3: 83.3 kg (-6.1 kg since I started 18 days ago). Gym and diet slightly offset by a scoop of low fat, strawberry-flavoured, yoghurt ice cream... delicious!

'Nuff said.

Day 3 of Phase 3: I am at 84.1 kg this morning; stuck pretty closely to the diet and the needle is moving in the right direction. I went to the gym as well, and played a lot of tennis on the wii. I am not sure how far this will go - but I aim to keep going till the day we fly to pakiland. That's 8 days away. Can I stick it out till then, and if yes, what will my weig ht be then?

I have now lost 5.3 kg (11.7 lbs) and the difference in my body shape, energy levels, the fit of my clothes etc. is really great. I have not reached the point where I need new clothes, but my current wardrobe is fitting really well. Loose. Yay.

Day 2 of Phase 3: I had a whole cup of Biscottino flavour yesterday... man it's unbelievable (both the taste of the ice cream, and the fact that I had a whole cup!). I didn't eat much else though, and went to the gym in the evening, so this morning I ACHIEVED my phase 2 target of 84.4 kg (-5 kg vs. 16 days ago).

I see a trend here - I hit my phase 1 target a day late, phase 2 target two days late... any takers on whether I hit my phase 3 target, and by when?

It tells me that consistency is key, and more importantly, minor deviations from the target can be absorbed provided I am living the rest of the deal properly. Hmm.

Day 1 of Phase 3: Watermelons etc. Weight is at 84.6kg (-4.8kg since I started 15 days ago). This despite having a few (ok, maybe a few more than a few) nachos off a friend's plate while we were watching the new Indiana pic. Not bad. Onwards and upwards.

2008-05-24T17:34:00.002+04:00

If I needed any further confirmation that I am a blackberry addict, I got it just now.

Upon reaching my desk, I couldn't find the BB. I had the holster, but no device. What good is a holster without a device, I ask you??? Not bloody much. I retraced my steps to the IT department where I had just been... the IT dept is 2 floors down and in the next building across. I ran down the stairs and banged on the door until someone let me in.

No BB.

I started to panic. Where could it be? I ran back to my office, searching frantically, opening drawers, looking under papers, even checking the trash... no BB. I called my number, hoping against hope that I would hear the sweet ring tones of the device as I got through. I got through, but I couldn't hear the ring tones!

That meant - I was too far away to actually hear my device. This was a first for me. The sensation was most unpleasant. I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, my head was spinning, and I had to sit down. My BB, all alone out there, without me...

Then a worse thought caused my head to spin faster... what if someone had "taken" my BB? I was having nightmarish visions of someone placing long-distance calls on the phone, downloading data from the device, and much worse...

The panic threatened to overwhelm me as I practically hurtled down the stairs to IT yet again, stopping in the parking lot to check my car in case, in a moment of madness, I had left it there. It was in neither place... I called the device again, no response. AARGH!

Finally, I had a sane moment, and called my wife. She calmly informed me that the BB was at home - where I had left it at lunch.

I slumped into my seat, trembling with relief. I was oblivious to the fact that I was drenched in sweat, that my trousers were dusty and dirty from running in the parking lot... I didn't care. My BB was safe... our parting was temporary. We would be reunited when I went home this evening.

This evening? Who am I kidding... I'm already in the car heading home to pick up the device. I'm sure the reunion will be a tearful one.

2008-05-18T12:19:00.008+04:00

Day 6 & 7 of Phase 2: Unmitigated disaster. I had ice cream (!) and naan. My god, I really let myself go the last couple of days.

As a result, I did not achieve my targeted weight loss...

Weight at the end of day 7: 85.1 kg (+0.5 kg vs. 2 days ago, & -4.3 kg vs 2 wks ago).

That's 9.5 lbs I've lost in 2 weeks. It's not bad at all, and I honestly don't think I could have done much better (oh OK, I could have if I hadn't given in to my nachos, ice cream and naan urges!!!).

On to Phase 3 - targeting 83 kg this week (-2.1 kg in the wk, and -6.4 kg since the start of the program). I plan to continue working out, and resisting temptation as far as possible. I feel the ice cream is really hurting me, so I will try to make it zero this week... I will try.

Day 4 & 5 of Phase 2: I fell completely off the wagon yesterday. We had all gone out to watch Iron Man, and I had a whole batch of nachos with salsa AND cheese. If something can be absolutely heavenly and utterly sinful at the same time, this definitely qualifies. I can taste it right now... mmmm. I hit the gym both nights, so I guess I was able to curtail most of the damage, but it looks like I won't cross my 5 kg target for these 2 weeks...

Weight at the end of Day 5: 84.6 kg (+0.1 kg vs. 2 days ago, & -4.8 kg vs. 10 days ago).

Day 3 of Phase 2: Fruits and veggies day. I had ZERO veggies - lots of watermelon, and an apple. I couldn't resist a handful of baked chips, and - here's the worst part - also had some ice cream - just a couple of bites of a sinful new flavour we just launched - Bravo Biscottino. Fantastic.

I did get into the gym and did some cardio, abs and resistance training. Around 40 mins. Broke a slight sweat, nothing too taxing.

The results: This morning, my friend the weighing machine practically sang to me... I weighed 84.5 kg (-0.6 kg vs. yesterday, & -4.9 kg vs. 10 days ago).

My weight loss target for the week (-2.3kg) may look soft now, but it seemed stretching at the time...

Day 2 of Phase 2: Had a horrible day with the veggies - ugh. This is truly the most difficult day for me and I ended up having some fruit in the evening, along with some baked chips (very bad I know!). I did get to the gym though, and even participated in an abs workout.

The best part of this experience is rolling out of bed in the morning, and jumping on the weighing machine. Formerly my nemesis, the machine has become my ally. At the same time, when you see the pounds rolling off, it perks you right up!

This morning my weight was 85.1 kg (-0.8 kg vs. yesterday, & -4.3 kg vs. 9 days ago).

Day 1 of Phase 2: Stuck to watermelons for breakfast, with watermelon juice for lunch (!), an apple for a snack and mixed fruit salad in the evening... I also hit the gym for around 30 minutes, did some light weights, some abs, and so on. Nothing major.

The results are very encouraging...

This morning my weight was 85.9 kg (-0.7 kg vs yesterday, and - 3.5 kg vs 8 days ago...).

I met my "week 1" target a day late - I can live with that.

2008-05-17T10:36:00.005+04:00

Upon completion of my 7 days, my weight on the morning of Day 8 is 86.7 kg. The previous day, I had dropped as low as 86.1 kg, but then came Friday (Day 7). On Day 7, you are allowed some brown rice with your beef - instead I had quite a large helping of white rice with my protein, and that did it...

But, the results after 7 days are not bad - while I did not achieve my weight reduction target of 3.5 kg, I did lose 2.7 kg (5.9 lbs) which is very encouraging.

It's encouraging enough for me to start the diet again, with today (Day 8) as Day 1 of phase 2. This time, my wife is on it with me, so it should be easier :)

One key difference - I plan to work out everyday for the next 7 days, even if only for 30 minutes. I think it might make a significant difference, but I might just end up eating more and defeating the purpose... time will tell.

My target is a further 2.3 kg (5 lbs).

Size 32 jeans, here I come!!!

2008-05-14T10:50:00.004+04:00

Before commenting on Day 4, I'd like to correct a couple of small omissions in yesterday's post regarding this program I have embarked on.

When I said "watermelons only" for day 1, that was by choice. I could have had any fruit (except for mangoes or bananas, or other extremely sweet and calorie-intensive fruit). On Day 2, I could have started the day with a healthy helping of complex carbs - e.g. a baked potato with a dab of butter. I chose not to... going hardcore I guess.

Let's move on shall we?

Day 4: Ate bananas and milk all day - milkshake for breakfast, and separately for lunch. Not bad. Had a great vegetable soup for dinner - surprisingly tasty and delicious. Today's intake of six (6!) tomatoes with proteins in the shape of beef or fish was also pretty easy.

There has been a further slight drop in weight, and a noticeable improvement in girth. Weight: 86.7 kg (-0.2 vs yesterday, -2.7 vs 4 days ago.)

I'm feeling like I could achieve (or even exceed) my week's weight loss goal of 3.5 kg (7.7 lbs).

2008-05-13T11:29:00.003+04:00

2.5 kg. For my friends in North America, that's 5.5 lbs. That is also how much weight I have dropped in 3 days...

Three days ago, I started on a week-long detox program that is supposed to have a fringe benefit of weight loss. I was inspired by my wife who dropped 5 lbs in her week.

When I started, I weighed in at 89.4 kg. (OK, stop with the wise-cracks already. For those of you who have forgotten, I work in an ice cream factory - need I say more as to why I am at the weight that I am...?)

Day 1: Watermelon-only day. I love watermelon, but by the end of the day, it looked very uninviting, I have to tell you. Weight: 88.7 kg (-0.7 kg).

Day 2: Raw veggies only. This day is as disgusting as it sounds. Carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, baby corn. Absolutely horrible day. Hard to get through. Massive headache because you are not supposed to have tea or coffee either... just a PAIN. Weight: 87.9 kg (-0.8 kg).

Day 3: Raw veggies & fruits only. A little better, I had grapes, apples, plums during the day, and cucumbers, carrots and broccoli at night. Weight: 86.9 kg (-1.0 kg).

Today is day 4: Bananas and milk only. Since morning, I have had around half a litre of banana milk shake - no sugar added etc. Let's see how this progresses.

My wife says - if I lose around 8 lbs, I should go on the diet again right away to maximize the gains. Apparently, some people have lost 20-30 lbs this way.

Any thoughts out there?

2008-05-11T13:07:00.007+04:00

The Flame of the Forest is absolutely my favourite member of the plant kingdom.

It is aptly named - in the hot middle eastern sun, framed by the haze that seems to surround everything in the middle of a searingly torrid afternoon, it truly seems as though the tree is on fire. The gorgeous crimson flowers come and go all too soon though - but while they are present, you can see nothing else.

These pics are taken in Dubai's gorgeous Za'abeel Park. Truly beautiful. Thank you to the park keepers and maintenance folks who work so hard to keep this park stunning.

A green oasis in the middle of the desert - praise the Lord, hallelujah!

2008-05-07T12:24:00.002+04:00

Motivation is a strange thing...

It's value cannot be denied. People try their damndest to build it... They take courses on how to motivate people... But they will be hard pushed to define it.

According to an article on Wikipedia:

"... motivation refers to the initiation, direction, intensity and persistence of [[human behavior]]."

Interesting. What the heck does that mean?? More precisely, how does that help us to understand motivation in the context of our work lives. (Let's leave aside personal motivation for now...)

My view of motivation is as follows: If you are able to get your employee(s)/team(s)/staff to perform their designated jobs in a way that they regularly go above and beyond "their designated jobs", and feel good about it (empowered?), you have a motivated team.

Or, if you prefer trying to fit it into the above theoretical framework:

1. Initiation: When your team members start to take the lead on things and in areas that you would normally not expect them to (in terms of meeting business objectives of course), that's generally a good sign.

2. Direction: When all members of a team are pulling in the same direction - because they understand the vision and buy into it - the chances of having higher motivation levels improve dramatically. We all need to feel part of something bigger than us, and being a part of a high-performing team can be a heady experience.

3. Intensity: Focus - in our jobs, in the tasks we perform everyday - plays a significant role in increasing individual and team motivation levels. I ask my team members to screen everything they do every day through the following criteria:

a. Would a consumer pay you to do what you are doing right now?

Obviously, not every task falls into this bucket, but if you find that 80% of your time is spent on activities that fall into this area, then you need to seriously question what you are up to.

b. Does this add value to your resume?

At any given time, you should have 1, 2 or more projects that you work on simply because they would make excellent bullet points on your CV. For those of you who say that a CV should be a function of what you do in a job and not the other way around as I am suggesting, I say - think about it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking this approach, because the chances are that if it is not valuable from a job perspective, it won't make its way onto your CV anyway.

Also, telling your team that you want them to have a strong resume engenders huge amounts of trust... since you are not trying to tie them down to their current roles for the rest of their natural lives.

4. Persistence: You need to be able to deliver results consistently... nothing succeeds like success as the old saying goes. Your team needs focused motivational effort on an on-going basis. Anyone who does not recognize this need is kidding themselves - "management by burying one's head in the sand" is also a tried and tested management style.

My next post will be about how I have implemented the above approach in the last year to dramatically change the motivation levels of the team that I am currently working with... it's been an interesting ride, and I'm learning a lot. Stay tuned.

2008-05-05T11:51:00.005+04:00

My whirlwind trip to Canada was exactly that - a whirlwind. It was also about friendship - and what it means in our lives.

In 4 days, I managed to meet everyone I wanted to, and take care of all the business I had to. This was due in large part to the generosity of the folks I was staying with - the Jokhios - who absolutely embody the true meaning and spirit of friendship. Not only did they pick and drop us from the airport, they placed a car at my disposal, and baby-sat Ibby while I was out running errands. I didn't have to worry about him getting bored because the entire family basically spent the entire time entertaining, feeding, playing with and loving him... no wonder he didn't want to leave at the end of the trip!

In large part due to all this, Ibby's appointments were super smooth - love the folks over at Toronto SickKids - you guys rock. We will be back again next year for sure.

I also met up with the IBA 91 gang - it's always fun to sit down with old friends. Thanks to Saira and Naseer for organizing, and for Saquib, Shoa and Tabinda (and families) for coming out... And, not to mention other old friends - Najia, Jawad and family, Asmara et al - it was great to sit and do sheesha on the balcony in five degree weather... just like old times :)

So, what did I learn from all this? Hmm, let's see (in no particular order, BTW).

1. Friends are amazing. To have them, you have to be one yourself (I saw that on a plaque at a friend's house so it must be true).
2. The economic situation in North America is starting to slow down. Two of my very BEST friends were recently laid off by their companies. It *&^%ing sucks. And its going to get worse before it gets better...
3. I enjoy long-haul flights. Etihad is not a bad carrier at all - their movies on demand section is pretty extensive (74 movies!). I watched around 10 movies coming and going - August Rush and Juno are both highly recommended.
4. I love Canada. Just being able to walk around a mall and have sales people talk to you politely was a dream. "Hey, how are ya?" followed by a big smile is a great way to greet a complete stranger.
5. I don't like personal travel without the entire family. Although Afshan and Iman had a great time in Pakistan, we missed each other - a LOT. Next year, we travel together.
6. Friends are amazing (I know, I said that already, but they truly are). If you are fortunate enough to have them - treasure them.

That's all for now - it's my first day back and I'm still jet-lagged. What time is it?

2008-04-30T23:57:00.003+04:00

So the shoot in Beirut was phenomenal... not only was there a beach, there were 2 separate beaches :) not that the production was about beaches per se, I'm just saying...
The PPM (pre-production meeting) is the most important part of a shoot. It's where all and any issues pertaining to the shoot are discussed in detail - locations, casting, wardrobe, schedules and so much more. Most importantly, the director shares his vision for the boards... exciting stuff.
You also get to meet your production company, and I'll tell you, as important as the director's vision and talent is to the process, a good production company is worth its weight in gold.
Our production company (http://www.bigkahunafilms.com/) in the shape of the incomparable Eddy Rizk was quite amazing... every detail was looked after, and the shoot was smooth as silk as a result. There were no corners cut in the process - really great. Our Director, the urbane Pedro Avilla of Mexico, did a great job and I'm really excited to see the final films. The crew was multinational - we had a DOP (Fabrizio) from Italy, an animation director (Simone) from Italy also, a food stylist from France, and so on. In the case of a TVC, the better the talent, the better the result. It's a direct correlation...
Day 1: we reached Beirut at around 10, and were ushered through customs after having to open only 1 of the 5 boxes of ice cream we were carying with us for the shoot... they were shocked that we had to bring ice cream with us... in the afternoon, we had the PPM which ended late evening. At the end of the day, we had dinner and hit the hay exhausted.
Day 2: we had an off day, so our CD, a great guy who goes by Walid kindly took us to Harissa where we paid our respects to the Virgin Mary... what a peaceful place. Then we went to Byblos, and were duly impressed by the ancient ruins and the character of the place... I bought an "aqeeq" ring, something I have wanted for a long time. It's nice.
Day 3: Shooting commenced with Igloo, and we had various scenes shot including the beach scene. Clouds and winds gave our producer serious stomach cramps, but in the end it all came through...
Day 4: London Dairy day. We shot from 7 am to 10 pm, with around 80 extras. The set was beautiful and surreal, the models incredibly patient and ate tons of ice cream, and I got a birthday surprise, with 3 cakes and lots of singing. Great day, except for missing the family a LOT...
Day 5: Igloo 2nd day, including an accident scene with a couple of Saudis getting into a fight, and being slapped around the head by imaginary penguins who will be added in during post-production in Milan. We headed back to Sharjah, fully satisfied with the process we had witnessed, and determined to launch ice cream in Lebanon :)
Great, great experience, with the final films certain to exceed expectations. What more can you ask for?

2008-04-22T19:51:00.005+04:00

A friend just forwarded an article about an 8 year old Yemeni girl who created headlines because she actually went to a judge to get her marriage annuled...

This is so sick on so many levels that I hardly know where to begin.

1. Her parents sold her off to a 30-year old man (this is common practice in Yemen apparently) whi would chase her around the house to have sex with her. Technically, he was not supposed to consumate the marriage until the time she hit puberty, but what's a few years, right?

2. The parents ignored her please for help, and said so in court.

3. The girl had to find a judge and appeal to him in person... luckily, he was not a pedophile!

4. The girl's parents were told to pay a fine of $250 because their daughter broke the "contract".

Seriously, that is so wrong - it makes me furious. My daughter is 8 - the thought of this happening to a child her age is enough to make me break out a can of whupass. Crazy people. CRAZY.

2008-04-15T10:22:00.003+04:00

Producing a TV commercial is often seen as the most glamorous part of a marketer's job. Indeed, it is the most "visible" aspect of the job, something that many young brand managers strive to put on their resumes. After all, it is a measure of your success that you managed to convince the powers-that-be to put your brand message on television. Mass media makes it much easier to achieve your targeted awareness, trial and equity measures - and your sales numbers usually follow if you have identified a true consumer insight and your concepts reflect that. Besides, let's face it - it is very cool to go on a shoot to an exotic location, where the perception is that you hang out with models while sipping pina coladas on a beach somewhere... yeah, right.

I've been on several shoots for brands that I have had the privelege to be associated with, in Pakistan, the Middle East and North America. There has NEVER been a beach... not for lack of trying on my part, mind you, but it was just never required. Every shoot has been comprised of some or all of the following elements:

1. Long days (and sometimes nights) of shooting. This is not as exciting as it sounds, BTW. It is rather like war, actually (I'm paraphrasing here) - long periods of inactivity, punctuated by shorts bursts of frenetic activity.

2. Amazing directors, and surprizingly supportive producers. These are the folks who make it all happen, and on the client side, you are surrounded by folks who really know what they are doing. I have had the privelege of working with some incredibly talented people - and wow.

3. Decent food and beverage. I've heard many people complain about the F&B on a shoot - I'm not one of them. Maybe I'm just not that picky, but I am constantly amazed at the folks who serve piping hot coffee and (almost) fresh doughnuts at 2 am.

4. Characters. Everybody on set seems to be a character - you will see more body piercings, tattoos, t-shirts with messages, really funky hair, jewellery, shoes, and other accessories than most other places other then New York. I don't know why this is, but this is my observation.

5. Professional models. Whether male ot female, regardless of length of time on camera, I have found the talent on a shoot to be highly professional - very willing to listen to the director, stay alert and focused upto the time the director calls a wrap, and punctual. The image of Gaby (aka the Prima Donna) on the set of an ad shoot in the show "Desperate Housewives" rarely happens unless you are dealing with celebs. I haven't had that particular pleasure, so I will not comment, except to say that I have heard some horror stories about celebs large (and not-so-large) that would curl your toes in embarrasment...

We are on our way to Beirut (the Paris of the Middle East!) for a 3-day shoot that includes one night as well. We will be shooting two separate ice cream commercials - and this time, there may actually be a beach.

We'll see :)

2008-04-06T11:47:00.003+04:00

So I wrote a book. It's called "Erikk the Giant" and as you probably figured out, it's the story of a rather large person named Erikk. He embarks on a quest at the behest of the Queen of the Elves to rescue (you guessed it) a Princess. However, all is not as it seems in the Middle Kingdoms, and soon Erikk, the Princess, and his new companion Jalwa (a golden dragon) are plunged into a series of adventures as they try to find out what exactly is going on...

I came up with the character years ago when I would tell stories of his exploits to my kids. Finally, the story took place in my mind, and I started to put it down on paper. I finished the first draft early last year, and had it professionally edited. Then I spent a YEAR looking for a publisher, and was turned down by at least 30, if not more. Finally, I decided to self-publish using a company called Trafford Publishing, and they have been awesome. The first draft of the printed manuscript is on it's way to me now, and I'm quite excited.

I've also started work on Book 2 already... (did I mention that I envisioned this as a series of 5?). It's going to be fun!

2008-04-05T18:07:00.002+04:00

The month of March has flown by. Ice cream season is upon us (yes, there is indeed an ice cream season, just like hunting season but without the dead animals). We are introducing some amazing innovation in the world of ice cream :) I love my job! To watch people's faces light up as they try your newest introductions, savouring the taste of the delicious ice cream... its really amazing.

Dubai continues to amaze me, sometimes in a good way, other times not so much. The region is experiencing paroxysms of growth - there is no other way to put it. The construction - roads, buildings, bridges, and the ever-lovin' mass transit - is proceeding at an amazing pace, with no let up in sight. Sharjah on the other hand remains a largely sleepy town with a very slow pace - I quite like it. The only thing I really don't like is the ridiculous commute to Dubai. A trip that should not take more than 7-10 minutes can take 2-3 hours (no exaggerations here)... and people do it every day. Personally, I would not be able to handle sitting in a car for 4-5 hours a day...

The UAE truly is a weird and wonderful world - a parallel universe where many of the everyday realities of life in North America are meaningless, and other things we take for granted simply don't exist. Surprises abound at every corner.

2008-03-10T20:24:00.002+04:00

So its been a while since my last post, nearly 16 months in fact, and you know what? Life has CHANGED. If I look back at what my life was and where I was in Nov 06, I can scarcely recognize myself. Seriously. Let's see if I'm exaggerating, shall we.

1. Nov 06 - left my cushy job with a pharma company in Mississauga with a decent package. Took December off to decide what to do. Spent time with the family. Worked on my book.

2. Jan 07 - started looking for work. Interviewed all over the place. Things are moving along slowly.

3. Feb 07 - my ever-lovin' wife suggests that I visit Dubai before getting "back into the saddle" as she puts it. Little does she know :) Anyway, I'm in Dubai before the end of the month, looking around.

4. Mar 07 - get a job offer from an ice cream company (that's right, how frickin' cool is that!!) as Head of Marketing. Come back to Mississauga and get the family's blessing to proceed. The conversation with the kids goes like this:

"We're moving to Sharjah!"
"We don't want to go!"
"I'm going to work for an ice cream company - you know what that means!"
"OK then!"

That was it.

5. May 07 - join the company in Sharjah.

6. Jun 07 - I buy a Mustang - my Black Beastie. She's a beaut.

7. Aug 07 - family joins me (finally). Then starts the long settling in process. We hear "I miss Canada" and "when are we going back" every day... yes, really.

8. Sep 07 - kids start school, and the settling in process continues.

We are all settled in now, and the kids talk about Canada a lot less (thank God). We have been making some new memories with them, which helps. We went dune bashing one day, which was great. The grandparents have been over a couple of times, which the kids love. And my book is ready for publication... yay. More on that later.

2006-11-01T22:40:00.000+04:00

I was quite disappointed to read Mr Steyn's article entitled the Future belongs to Islam in the Oct edition of Macleans.

www.macleans.ca/culture/books/article.jsp?content=20061023_134898_134898

While I agree with much if not most of the content, and found the statistics particularly interesting, I was taken aback at the passive-aggressive tone of the piece that talks only about effect - not cause. A discussion of causality might be - well, uncomfortable. When Mr Steyn mentions that the average age of a Gaza strip inhabitant is approximately 15 years, and then makes disparaging remarks such as

"If you were a "moderate Palestinian" leader, would you want to try to persuade a nation -- or pseudo-nation -- of unemployed poorly educated teenage boys raised in a UN-supervised European-funded death cult to see sense?"

what is he really saying? Dismissing all other discussion as irrelevant is not useful...

Demographics are a guide to the truth - they are not the truth. The more useful discussion happens when you ask "Why?". Is there truly a disconnect between being Belgian and Muslim? Or Canadian and Muslim? I think not. Being a Canadian Muslim of Pakistani origin, I juggle this complexity every day. I see no disconnect - in fact, being a "good" Muslim and being a good citizen go hand in hand.

The key to the discontented "youth" that Mr Steyn refers to again and again lies in the roots of their discontent. Europe has for decades found it useful to bring in "guest workers" who while being milked for every iota of "work" they could deliver (in jobs and at wages that no European would deign to do!) were denied integration into society. Every convenient contract of this nature has consequences in the long-term - Europe is facing it today.

The Middle East is living with the consequences of an arbitrary decision to establish a state where none existed before. South Asia is in the middle of an arms race amid decades of instability thanks to arbitrary decisions made by the lords and master of greater India at the time. All these decisions have consequences, which Mr Steyn chooses not to acknowledg.
I have tremendous respect for Mr Steyn - he is an author with a tremendous amount of resources at his disposal. Using this space to spread fear and a vague sense of discontent is again not the best use of his time, and (Macleans) magazine's pages. Searching for solutions - ah, now, that is hard work.

2006-07-11T17:38:00.000+04:00

I'm glad Marco got head-butted - as I mentioned in my previous post, I wish Zizou had broken his nose. If you are going to get red-carded, do the maximum damage...

http://www.wldcup.com/news/2006Jul/20060711_37428_world_soccer.html

Unbelievable that Marco is going to probably not even receive a reprimand...

2006-07-11T17:28:00.000+04:00

My predominant emotion is one of sadness - it was the saddest possible way for Zizou to leave the world of soccer... because of the red card, he could not even participate in the festivities...

Interesting tidbits:

1. His team mates remained loyal to him throughout - no parting shots.
2. The French president was effusive in his mentions of him after the match - gauging the esteem that his countrymen hold Zizou.
3. Zizou has been red carded 14 times previous to this occasion
4. He grew up in a really tough neighbourhood where a perceived slight was met with instant retaliation. It's a pity he was not able to get past that... as someone said, you can take the man out of the rough neigbourhood, but you cannot take the rough neighbourhood out of the man. Having said that, he has done something that will likely never be forgotten.
5. Marco played the role of provacateur throughout the game - the penalty that the French converted was caused by him, he scored the Italian equalizer, and he was pushing Zizou verbally throughout.
6. I also heard the "dirty terrorist" comment floated around - if that turns out to be true, I wish that Zizou had butted him in the nose...

I'm glad he won the Golden Ball - he deserved it.

2006-06-21T06:41:00.000+04:00

Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth" is an eye-opener.

I consider myself moderately aware of the environment, and try to be as respectful of it as possible. I was already pre-disposed to the idea of Global Warming, some of the signs of which I believe can be seen around us. However, the movie - which is only in limited release, by the way - breaks new ground.

As we were watching, there were constant exclamations of surprise and wonder tinged with hysteria (fear?) from the audience. There was plenty there to exclaim over.

Charts showing the steady increase in CO2 levels and the direct correlation with temperatures.

Satellite imaging of melting ice, glaciers that today appear shrunken compared to 10 and 20 years ago.

Giant chunks of ice melting and collapsing into the ocean.

The North and South Poles (no, this you have to watch for yourself!).

Polar bears found drowned because they couldn't find ice to climb onto...

The statistic that if Greenland - or a piece of Antarctica the equivalent size - were to melt into the ocean ... the seas would rise by 20 feet, flooding Holland, Florida, parts of Manhattan, huge chunks of Bangladesh and India. About a 100 million people would be displaced.

And so much more...

I was very impressed by Al Gore's passion and commitment to this issue, and to finding solutions to this truly global problem. I read a factoid somwehere that this movie has done better on a per screen basis than any other recently released movie in the US. Not bad for what is essentially a really long slideshow with some footage edited in.

An Inconvenient Truth deserves to be in every theatre. Hell, I don't think we can afford for it not to be.

Americans need to see this movie; perhaps more importantly, the world needs Americans to watch this movie.

2006-06-20T00:56:00.000+04:00

Mangoes.

The word alone is so evocative for me. It procures images of summer in Pakistan where I spent my childhood. The hot sun baking everything and everyone. Family dinners with biryani, chicken, mutton &/or beef, fresh naan - followed by a mountain of mangoes, chilled in a large bucket of ice.... wow.

The mango is known as the "king of fruits" back home. There are many varieties - the large, succulent Sindhri with it's flat seed and copius amount of pulp (my personal favourite); the smaller, but no less distinguished Chaunsa, preferred by some afficionados above all others; the Langra, fragrant and sweet; the Anweratol, smallest of all, so soft that you actually bite the end off and suck on it while squeezing vigorously to maximize the incredible sweetness coursing it's way into your mouth; the Dassehri, huge but not quite to the same standard as some of the others named here... the list is long, and rolls off the tongue like a litany of enchantment.

My favourite ways to eat a mango include slices, and cubes. However, IMHO, the most fun and simple way to eat a mango is as follows:

1. Make a knife cut around the "equator" of the mango, going as deep as possible.

2. Grab each half with one hand, and turn in opposite directions. Both halves should come off cleanly, with not a drop spilled. Note: if they don't, you either didn't cut deep enough, or the mango is still not fully ripe.

3. Take the half with the seed in it; hold the seed firmly between your teeth, and rotate the mango gently. The seed will come out, place it to one side for attention later (you want to suck that seed clean so you don't waste any of that precious pulp!).

4. Now you have 2 mango bowls (the 2 halves of the mango). Fill each one to the brim with the ice cream flavour of choice. My personal recommendation is to keep it simple; vanilla works well to complement the taste of the mango, without taking over this wondrous dessert.

5. Serve to one (or more) lucky individual(s), who will melt at your feet and be your willing slave(s) for the rest of the evening.

Enough said - I'm going to have a mango (or maybe 2?) right NOW. You should too.

2006-06-16T21:05:00.000+04:00

Forgive me father for I have sinned... it's been over 3 months since my last trip to the US.

Since my earlier post on the subject of travel to the US, nothing has changed. I have sent three detailed letters (more like submissions) to the Director of the CBP at Toronto's Pearson Airport with nary a response - not even an acknowledgment. Telephone follow-ups have been equally fruitless.

What a crock.

Actually, being the optimist that I am, I consider myself extremely lucky that I am in the employ of a company that understands my situation, and the predicament that I am in. In fact they even put me in touch with US & Canadian lawyers who were extremely knowledgeable and helpful. The Canadian lawyer suggested that since my visa was not cancelled, I simply try to travel again. If stopped, I should simply ask the CBP Officer to cancel my visa so that I can re-apply... Sounds reasonable.

Well, I asked, what happens if I am "detained for further questioning"? After all, I am attenpting to re-enter the US with an unresolved immigration issue. For the uninitiated, while you are in limbo land (aka the back room where your application to enter the US is being reviewed), you have no rights - NONE. I could find myself deported to Gitmo or Pakistan... The response was heartening. "Oh, don't worry about that Mr. Abedin. The likelihood of that happening is very low."

Very low? You're kidding right?!?!

If there is one chance in a billion of that happening (and the odds are considerably better than that, I am told) - I am not risking it.

No, it appears the only hope I have lies in getting my Canadian citizenship... to that end, I have contacted Citizenship Canada several times over the past few weeks. They have been quite responsive and helpful(no, really!). I have also spoken to my MP's office, and they in turn have reached out to CIC Mississauga on my behalf also. My wife and I have given our citizenship tests, and are now waiting for the invitation to the oath ceremony. Ah, now that will be a big day in the lives of the Canadian chapter of the Karachi Abedins & Qureshis...

The wait continues. Please remember us in your prayers - I will keep you posted.

2006-06-16T19:43:00.000+04:00

Like most folks in Toronto, I have been watching in morbid fascination as the saga of the 17 alleged terrorists unfolds. To paraphrase something I recently heard, it's like watching a train wreck in terrible slo-mo.

The day the news broke, I was as shocked as anyone. What were these people thinking??? Despite the large number of profiles, and the details of the individuals concerned, I am no further in my quest to undertsanding these people. Canadians for the most part, young for the most part, and as stupid as the Scandinavian summer day is long... I am not trying to be rude, but I do believe that even if the charges against them are eventually unproven, they should be indicted for stupidity.

In the meantime, I found out I go to the same masjid as some of these guys... I nearly fell off my chair. I go to this masjid for Friday prayers (it's 5 minutes from my workplace), and I've never heard anything even remotely resembling extreme speech. The sermon has always been about peace, love and understanding - how Muslim beliefs dovetail with Canadian beliefs etc. etc. I even took a couple of friends to a Pakistani restaurant in the same strip mall and showed them the masjid... wow.

I happen to agree with this BTW - the values that Islam espouses include tolerance, moderation, respect, societal commitment, the importance of being a good neighbour and much more. In today's westernized societies, I do not believe there is even one that comes within an arm's length of Canada in terms of it's openness to new cultures and people, and it's warmth and positive attitudes towards immigrant people, ideas, cultures and religions.

My response to these 17 guys would be:

a. Focus on becoming a better Muslim and all that means - be a better person, look after your friends, neighbours and relatives, be a good citizen, respect the rights of others (Muslim and non-Muslim alike), develop a deeper understanding of the Quran and Hadith...

b. Focus on being a better Canadian - get involved with society. Change things you disagree with through engagement - not through planning acts of terror or destruction. Who benefits from such acts? Certainly not Muslims or Islam. In fact the only people truly negatively affected are Muslims - particularly those of us trying to make a home here. We continue to be stereotyped, harassed and in some cases, discriminated against.

Who are you helping???

2006-04-28T23:56:00.000+04:00

A play about the life of Rachel Corrie has been playing for months in London's west end without incidence, and to favourable reviews. The same play, about to hit New York, gets pulled amid concerns around the "sensitivities" that might be offended. When it is announced that the script is to be read in Toronto (not performed, just read), the venue has to be kept secret, and the guest list is by invitation only.

The Toronto Star publishes a little piece that confesses to puzzlement, and an inability to understand why this self-censorship is being practiced. How naive.

Here's my simple attempt to explain. The "sensibilities" at risk of being offended are Israeli. Please note - not Jewish. And not all Israelis either. As those notable US professors who wrote the serious report "The Israel Lobby and its impact on US foreign policy" have set out so clearly, criticism of Israel has become synonymous with anti-semitism. This is as much a result of on-going "management" of a process as is the generally prevalent perception that US and Israeli foreign policy objectives are synonymous. Both assumptions are bogus in the extreme - for more details, please see the above-mentioned report, which can be found at:

http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/Research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP06-011

In fact, they had to go to Europe to get this report published, since no North American publisher would risk the wrath of the Lobby. Anyway...

The Rachel Corrie episode is a highlight of an often brutal aspect of the occupation that many would rather gloss over. In fact, when she died, the press coverage died away within 48 hours. It was astonishing. The fact that this person - who was in no way related to Palestine or its many problems - was willing to die for what she believed in is amazing to me. She stood in the path of a bulldozer on its way to destroy a home - and she died. The fact that there was no outcry in the US speaks volumes about the Lobby's capacity for "damage control." Truly awe-inspiring.

To read a script about her life and the manner of her death would risk opening those wounds again, start a debate about Israeli policies that really should not be discussed. It's risking being labelled an "anti-Semite". Why, it could even force a reasoned discussion around the unflinching support of Israel at all costs that has pushed the US to the brink of disaster, with Canada following closely behind... God forbid.

2006-04-19T20:40:00.000+04:00

Sunnis dying at the hands of Shiites, Shiites killing Sunnis, Muslims killing Muslims.

All in the name of Islam. What CRAP.

So - WWMD? What Would Muhammad (PBUH) do?

Islam - the word itself means Peace in Arabic. It is a way of life more than a religion, and one that mandates peaceful coexistence with all other faiths. In a truly Islamic society, non-Muslims are actually accorded more rights and protections than you would perhaps credit, so I am not going to go into them here. Suffice to say that they are allowed to maintain their status with no compulsion, direct or indirect, to the contrary.

The sad thing is that there are no truly Islamic societies in the world today. This is what allows the rabid televangelists of today to make statements like "If you think Islam is so great, try living in Saudi Arabia." Unfortunately, they are right. I tried living in Saudi for a year and couldn't stand it. The hypocrisy is breath-taking, the human rights abuses appalling, the bias and prejudice against your fellow man threatens to overwhelm the senses.

IMHO - Muhammad would tell Muslims to get their house in order.

It is too easy to blame others for your problems. First, strive to become true Muslims, and then look around you to what others are saying and doing. I say that in today's world, that struggle - to become a true Muslim - is the true Jihad. An internal struggle to be a better person, a better Muslim, and a better citizen. Never forget the importance of good citizenship in Islam, which is supposed to be 50% about the rights of God, and 50% about the rights of the citizenry. That's right - the dichotomy is that being a better Muslim, and signing on to the social & societal responsibility that comes with that, actually makes you a better citizen in every sense of the word.

What stops this from happening? Why are Muslims in such a sad state around the world? I have a hypothesis - it's about culture vs. religion. Remember Islam has been around for 1400 years; many cultures have been around much longer than that.... More on that another day.

2006-04-19T20:37:00.000+04:00

Talking about the Pentagon a little more, since a friend of mine brought it up a while ago.

There is only one known (stress "known") object that can plow through 3 rings of the Pentagon (each ring is 14-20 feet of reinforced concrete, incapable of being destroyed to this degree by ANY plane on the planet).

That object is a USAF Bunkerbuster bomb designed for that purpose.

As for what happened to the plane that those 100-odd people were on - the most likely theory is that they were shot down like the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. (I hope nobody is buying the weak theory that that particular plane was taken over internally, and crashed as a result...it's very hard to explain the engine that fell off the plane 8 miles before the plane crashed, and the corresponding trail of debris leading to the crash site). The only difference is that one crash was on the news and the other was not...

2006-04-19T20:26:00.000+04:00

Do I believe that the US caused or had a hand in the events of 9/11? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

However, I do believe that there was some prior knowledge - to what extent it is hard to say.

As always, there is another (and another and another) way to look at the events that unfolded that day. For example, if you remove the assumption that the Pentagon was hit by a hijacked plane - and there is little or no evidence to support the theory that it was indeed a plane - then all of a sudden the paradigms within which you view this aspect of reality changes.

Then, what happened to that plane? It has never been seen since that day. If, however, you assume that plane #1 was in fact shot down with all hands on-deck, after which some bright spark came up with the idea of targeting the pentagon as a way to make that plane "go away" from the public's consciousness. It is a well known phenomenon - once people know how to categorize or store information, they find it easier to forget and harder to challenge. Plant a couple of people at the scene - a hysterical woman who appeared only on that day's coverage shouting "It went right over my head - oh my god - that plane crashed right into the building omygod omygod" (or words to that effect) but was calm enough moments later when asked "How far away was the plane from you?" to respond "I'm spatially-challenged so its hard to say." Fair response, I'd say. I've never seen her interviewed again - and I have looked for her. It was eerily reminiscent of a scene from the classic move "Wag the dog" which by the way is a Must-See. I cannot recommend it enough.

Hence today, you will find people who will swear under oath that they saw a plane flying overhead / into the side of the building etc. In their mind's eye, that is a real image. I had a case in point in the office last week - I challenged that individual to show me the plane at the Pentagon in any image of that day - even one. He came back after a weekend of googling with a stunned expression on his face. His world had changed.

2006-03-06T22:58:00.000+04:00

"When was the last time you were in Pakistan?"

The innocent-sounding question sent a chill through my heart. I knew my response - last December - would raise eye-brows. And it did. The follow-up question was totally expected: "How long were you there for?". Again, the answer was not the "right" one. Four weeks. The eyebrows went up another notch.

Next question. "So explain to me why you need to travel to the US so often?".

Background: I have been to the US - mostly for work - about 55 times in the last 2-3 years since such things started being tracked. For those unaware, there is a database called NSEERS - National Security Exit & Entry Registration System - that collects and holds data on people like me who fit a certain profile: male, age 16-60, Muslim, non-Canadian citizen (I still have a Pakistani passport). This means that I am fingerprinted and photographed every single time I enter and exit the US. This is how I know approximately how many times I have been to the US - the system keeps a running tally.

So now I have sent in a detailed letter explaining my situation, and my needs to travel to the US, alongwith letters from my company here and the US, to the powers that be, and I am praying hard for a resolution. I have been told that it takes between a week and two months to resolve this type of issue, so who knows.

In the meantime, I am not travelling to the US every so often, and my family life has improved as a result :) The silver lining in this case is quite substantial!

When life throws lemons at you - make lemonade!

2006-03-03T21:01:00.000+04:00

I get a lot of people walking into my office to ask me about the cartoons. You know the ones, right? I get the whole spectrum from "Why can't you guys ("you" referring to all Muslims) stop trying to shove your taboos down the throats of the rest of the world?" to "What about "Freedom of Speech" do you not understand???" to "How stupid to kill yourself over a bunch of cartoons?" to "What the hell is the big deal ???" to "Please help me to understand what is going on in the Muslim world?" to "What do YOU think of these cartoons?".

Yeah. Well. By the way, that's what it's like to be a Muslim in North America these days :) Actually, that's the good part (where the discussion is cerebral, and there is actual information exchange)...

My response is generally 4 letters: WWMD.

This is met by blank stares, and faint attempts to link in WMDs (the ones not found). So I explain: It's a question - What Would Mohammed Do?

Mohammed, for those unaware, is revered in Islam as the Last Prophet. There are two main sources of teachings in Islam - the Quran which Muslims believe to be the literal word of God, and the Hadith, which are the teachings of the Prophet that explain how to interpret those words, and indeed how to live your life. For example, the Quran tells Muslims to pray, but not how to offer prayers. That was explained by the Prophet. So you see how intrinsically linked the two are.

However, the Prophet was the first to point out that he was a man, not divine in any way. Despite that, he is considered special because of what he taught, and how he lived his life.

I am not a scholar, so what follows is my interpretation of the answer to the question: WWMD if confronted by these cartoons? Please do not attach any more significance to it than one opinion of a Muslim with feet in the East and the West.

So here goes: I think he would walk away. He would pray for God to grant guidance and enlightenment to those who were foolish enough to waste their time trying to create greater strife in a world being torn apart by serious issues that need our attention. He would view them as a distraction, a red herring that should have been ignored from the get-go and consigned to the rubbish heap of oblivion like so much other nonsense.

So then the question becomes: Why are some (most?) Muslims around the world reacting in this way? Protest is one thing, but the reaction has been quite extreme. Indeed, Muslim reactions seem to be quite extreme over most things. Remember the Quran flushing incidents that made headlines? Yup. Extreme. Why?

IMHO, it is not a difficult question to answer, although I am almost certainly oversimplifying. By and large, the so-called Muslim nations of the world (and the "so-called" qualifier will probably need to be the subject of another post) are among the poorest, the most disenfranchised, the least in control of their destinies, the least literate, with the least amount of hope - in the world. But they have TV. They can see - and want - the same things that they see on those programs. The big house, the fancy car, the extravagant lifestyle... they may as well be on another planet. They are always on the outside, looking in, literally and metaphorically. They have nothing and they have no hope of ever having anything. That disparity is growing greater by the day.

So when they see insult (cartoons, Qurans in toilets etc.) added to injury (my life is crap) - it's almost too much to take. They take to the streets and for a brief moment, their lives take on meaning, they forget that tomorrow they still have to face a situation of no hope, and they feel like they are determining their own destiny. This is what makes them so easy to manipulate. Add to this volatile mix a political leadership that almost without exception has a vested interest in keeping the masses focused on other issues, and a religious leadership that is largely uneducated beyond the basics, and you have a powder keg that regularly goes off with predictable fireworks and much noise.

It's sad really. At the end, its about respect. Seeking respect, needing to get respect - that is a poor man's only way to maintain honour and dignity. What else does he have?