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The Urban Etiquette Connundrum

Posted November 11th, 2010 in Me, World by Bentley V

Today’s reading material introduced me to a piece titled ‘Urban Etiquette: Thanks for not sharing’. The article talks about three types of violators to an apparent ‘unspoken urban code’.

  • ‘The Literalist Lifers’ – the ones that enjoy their music by tapping their feet thus distracting those who read Eat, Pray and Love
  • The Accompanists – the ones who can’t hold a note but sing to Poker Face
  • The Surround-Sounder – the ones who think loud speaker is a gift to mankind and should be shared with everyone (lets call them the musical socialists shall we?)

Now the Surround-Sounder are a real pain in the behind I’ll give you that but as for the others, where to these people get off? After a crazy day of your boss yelling at you for getting something really inconsequential wrong, maybe I want to let go and listen to my music and nod my head while doing it. And maybe I don’t have my freaking Grammy Award yet but perhaps I would like to sing “Pa pa pa poker face pa pa poker faaace!!’. The last thing we need in these hard times is another wing of the society police trying to dictate how we should all behave according to their uptight ideals. Sure why don’t we all just become like you (the society police), all dressed in boring clothes, stand upright and uptight and extend our pinkies while drinking diet coke (or coke whatever beverage that suits your fancy. Oh wait maybe there is a police for that too).

What was even more fascinating was one of the comments. It complained about how a Starbuck’s barrista didn’t allow her to be angry (by asking her “a pretty girl like you shouldn’t look so angry” – before anyone jumps to point out that the barrista was being sexist allow me to explain that it appears to be a compliment to cheer someone’s day up and nothing more). Seriously, you are going to sit here and complain when a total stranger tries to brighten your day? Wake up people, life is hard enough as it is and the little things are the VERY THINGS that make life bearable (be it jiving to music in public and perhaps a stranger trying to brighten your day etc etc). So get off your high horses and live life a little.

Rule#32: Enjoy the little things!

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Hult Week#3 – Part II – DNA

Posted September 18th, 2010 in Business, Dubai, Education, Me by Bentley V

Hult routinely brings in external speakers to augment the MBA experience and one of the speakers we had last week was Reg Athwal who speaks on ‘Unleashing Your DNA’. The whole concept is about finding what kind of personality type you are and subsequently surrounding yourself with others who fit other aspects where you might not be strong at to create a sort of ‘Dream Team’ if you will. The whole concept while cliched seemed to have a positive effect on the student body which is probably a very good thing.

Check out Rawltd.com for further information on the speaker, who knows maybe this is what you are looking for. If it looks a little ‘markety’ thats probably cause he does his job really well.

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The Habit Barrier

Posted August 31st, 2010 in Me, Misc. by Bentley V
Most of us have something or the other we routinely struggle with – something that we always wanted to do but either haven’t gotten around to doing or maybe we start but never get around to stick long enough for it to make any visible difference. Creating a habit takes a whole lotta work. For example, I find waking up early really hard (almost impossible). You see I’m more of a night owl that an early bird so trying to switch preferences is going to take a lot of work.

For the past 3 days I have been waking up at 6:00 am (Those of you who know me can close your mouths right now. I know this is shocking. Trust me, no ones more shocked at this than I am). Joking with a friend on the sustainability of this new phenomenon, I believe I have stumbled on a phrase.

The Habit Barrier
They say when you change dietary habits, day#3 is most hard and after than pangs and cravings are significantly more bearable. The same is the case for those trying to quit smoking for example (I suppose this depends on person to person, but there must be a day where the cravings are most strong followed by a continuing drop).

The Habit Barrier is therefore the threshold day after when your routine activity starts becoming a habit.

A quick Googling has yielded no conflicts for credit sharing.
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Hult – End of Orientation

Posted August 31st, 2010 in Education, Me by Bentley V

Getting back to school after working for a while is a very interesting and exciting experience. The first time you walk through the doors  and you see a whole bunch of new students there is the flood of memories (both good and bad), reminiscing moments from the previous attempt at academic education – the friendships, the relationships, the times of old.

Orientation at Hult International Business School [Dubai Campus] just got over. Two days of intense information overload, paperwork, formalities on top of all the scramble to fit in. After all this IS the biggest worry of any student? Am I going to get along with everyone, heck at least a handful of these new folks or am I going to be left standing on the sidelines. These are all worries that most of us have had at one point in time or the other when dropped into such a group dynamic. At Hult, these feelings can be amplified because the student body is just diverse as the city streets of New York (I assure you, this is not an attempt at a cliched joke). The 65 odd students that we have are from all sorts of geographies, demographics and backgrounds. Personally, I dislike orientations but this time it was quite bearable – the staff is quite friendly and they try really hard to make us feel at home and comfortable, granted they understand the difficulties faced by such a diverse body (Having done this for a while helps out quite a bit).
For those not staying at the Hult residences and far away from the campus, lack of personal transportation will be a big challenge. While I haven’t checked the entire DIAC campus out yet, but I hear its pretty alright (more on the DIAC campus another post).
IT at Hult is cause for a little concern, since its been 2 days and I still haven’t gotten access to my emails and cant seem to get the same level of access as the other students in the portal (nothing better to make you feel right at home than an access denied “sorry you cant enroll to this course now” error message). Makes you wonder what the underlying problem really is, if two days isn’t enough time for a resolution. But I understand its the beginning of the year, so IT probably has a gizzilion things to do. However, my only concern is that I miss out on some important stuff that gets broadcasted.
All in all its been a pretty good start to what can only be hyped as the most intense one year most of us are going to be in.

Hmm I wonder if I can find a tee shirt with this inscription to sport to college.

“The only thing interfering with my learning, is education – Albert Einstein”
Wouldn’t the Dean be excited to see that!
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Dubai

Posted August 28th, 2010 in Me, World by Bentley V

Me: Yeah, I’m heading to the U.A.E
Teller: How nice! That stands for United Arab Empire right?
Me: (stare)

Dubai is truly the most outrageous place in the Middle East – in addition to over-the-top projects it also boasts the most liberal environment of the region. One of the ever changing real estates is the Dubai Airport. Routinely winning some award or the other, the terminal I arrived at (Terminal 3 – solely at the disposal of the carrier Emirates) was just huge – so huge it actually felt ‘lonely’ with vast indoor spaces and sparse and sporadic people movement.

Apparently Dubai weather is much better now and will continue to cool down in the coming months. Having been spoilt by California, I find that hard to understand. I was even quizzed as to why I was sweating profusely after never having stepped outside a completely air conditioned building or involved in any activate that might be considered rigorous. Nonetheless stepping outside in the morn (into 104F or 40C) feels like walking into your own personal heat wave. On the bright side at least its not heat with humidity thrown in.

I saw the strangest of sights today. A blackberry wielding gentleman, who walks into this store, hands over a USB drive and requests the services of converting whats in there into an Mp3. I couldn’t help but wonder, what the circumstances were that led to this person actually paying for services that has all but become routine for most others. While I speculate, the variables of Blackberry vs. not having a computer/laptop to convert it into the desired format(s) just didn’t make sense.

Contrary to popular belief, Facebook, Twitter and blogs are accessible in Dubai (At least for now so Thank you God!). Whats missing though is Pandora, Hulu and Netflix (all due to streaming restrictions as opposed to access rights). All in all with a whole lot to explore, friends to hang out with and family to reach out when need of support, this actually might not be half as bad a gig.

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The United States of Bentley

Posted August 20th, 2010 in Me, USA, World by Bentley V

The US of A has given me 3 glorious years and now with just under a week left to depart, these are the things I will miss the most

  1. Weather – California is blessed with what is undoubtedly the best weather in the world – neither too hot, nor too cold its always ‘just perfect’. Dubai on the other hand, on an average, is warmer by 20F – and after being acclimatized its going to be painful to adapt.
  2. People – A major contributor towards one’s sentiment of a place is the people. I have fortunately had great friends, roomies and colleagues giving me a great stash of memorable times. Heck, even most strangers are just awesome with the way they smile and greet you when they walk past. And then there are the people who welcome you into their lives and become familia. Yeah, you know who you are. I love you and will miss you more than you will ever know!
  3. Food – Thanks to good ‘ol capitalism, I know I’m gonna find my favorite junk food joint no matter where I go.But somehow I get the feeling its just not gonna be the same. There is one listed Vietnamese restaurant (looks very upscale indeed) in Dubai. So what am I going to do when I get repeated cravings for Pho and Bo Luc Lac? The only consolation is the presence of a few Mexican joints for Tuesday Tacos.
  4. Technology - Certain countries have dibs of technology and electronic equipment. Take the case of Japan who gets the latest mobile stuff while the rest of world drools and waits. The American consumer certainly seems to have dips on everything else and often at more ‘wallet-friendly’ rates. For example – the iPad (Wi-Fi only model). Released in the US on April 3, 2010 it cost $542.66 (including tax). In India? Officially still not released though you can get it on eBay and the likes and for price of Rs.40K (~$858). See what I mean? And for the record, nothing like playing Halo on a 40+” LCD that you snagged up on Black Friday. Source(s): [http://www.pluggd.in/ipad-price-in-india-297/ ; http://ipadarena.com/tag/ipad-india-release/ ; http://apple.co.in/store]
  5. Personal Transportation – Back in the day, with easy credit one could own/lease a vehicle and there were a gazillion options to choose from. While I do miss my Mustang, hopefully when I end up owning that Sapphire Blue, Cream Linen interior, Burnt Oak veneered Bentley Continental GT, this pain will go away.
Life in general is just much easier here in the States – people are much nicer and open minded. Even if they are judgmental they are open and frank about it and are for the most part just less nosy.  While one could definitely point out what they perceive as inherent flaws, I for one, loved being here.
God Bless the USA
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