My apartment pictures, during recent floods. . .

The pictures were taken by my bro Ashok during the amazing floods in Chennai this December due to heavy rains, forcing the reservoirs to open gates and discharge water. The one nearer to my house is Chembarambakkam and the pictures are really amazing. I missed the floods coz I reached Chennai late by 3 days.

My family, as well as many other residents had to move into hotels nearby, as the water in the well got contaminated, moreover no electricity and no home delivery of grocery from shops in the vicinity.

I am very glad that Ashokettan was there in Chennai, otherwise dad would have had a tough time.

This (Above and below) are pictures of Regency Park. Residential complex, being my block

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The building on the right is Where i have my house. Its the A block in Bhatia Gardens, Chennai. The building on the left is F block

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View from the terrace of Block C & E.

Anandettan at work

Anandettan, at his ITS office, Mumbai.

I was really amazed at the office and factory setup at ITS Mumbai, I mean 'this was a real surprise as I had some other picture in mind and when I got to C it, I was at awe'.

I missed out on the full workforce at the company, as it was Friday and most of them had already left after work. Tagged along Anandettan, Krishnettan and Prem for lunch at the canteen.

I was sitting at is office for about 2 hours and believe me (not exaggerating) he just could not get himself away from the phone, and if not that then paperwork, signatures etc. Hands off to him.

Wishing u all the best, health and luck in all Ur endeavours.

Culture & Discipline

A fundamental problem affecting the quality of public services in India is indiscipline amongst both providers and users. The culture of indiscipline begins at the top when important people feel they are above the rules, says Arun Maira.

THE King of Sweden inaugurated the annual Tallberg Forum in July 2005 and decided to stay on to attend some of the sessions. I was lucky to find one of the last remaining chairs in a popular session the next day. A little later, I felt someone, who could not find a chair, standing beside me. Looking up, I found it was the King himself! Someone else noticed him and pointed him to a vacant chair in another part of the room. In Sweden it did not seem unusual to find the King waiting behind others.

Before the start of another session in Tallberg, I was in animated conversation with a Swedish executive. A distinguished looking older man came up and asked if he could sit in the vacant chair next to us. The Swede turned to him and said that we were all assigned to groups and he would find his name in the lists posted at the door. So the gentleman walked back to the door, but reappeared a few minutes later and sat down with us. When the conversation was over, he introduced himself to me. He was Peter Wallenberg. The Wallenbergs are perhaps the richest and most powerful Swedish industrial family. It did not seem unusual in Sweden that a Wallenberg should be treated, and expect to be treated, like everyone else.

Last June, I was sitting in a plane boarding passengers from Delhi to Mumbai. Union minister for agriculture Sharad Pawar came on board carrying his hand-bag which he himself put into the overhead locker and then sat down waiting for other passengers to board. This was unusual; because in India it is customary for VIPs to be escorted into the plane at the very last minute with airline staff carrying their bags for them. The airline coach into which the passengers disembarked in Mumbai got held up on the tarmac due to 'VIP' movements in the airport. Soon a jeep with red light flashing came to take Mr Pawar off the coach to the terminal. He refused, saying that everyone on the coach was in a hurry. Very soon, an alternative route was cleared and all the coaches that had been stranded reached the terminal.

Running to check in at the Mumbai airport a few weeks back, I turned and found Ratan Tata behind me, pulling along his carry-on. The airline staff also saw him and rushed to grab his bag and offered to get him a boarding pass. He would have none of it. He was in queue behind me and the others, he said. This is rare in India, where some 'important' businessmen only show up at the last minute, their staff having already checked their bags and obtained their boarding passes for them.

The Swedes are disciplined and have the best run public services in the world which work for all, rich and poor. A fundamental problem affecting the quality of public services in India, whether they are provided by the public or private sectors, is indiscipline amongst both providers and users. We must change our basic Indian culture of indiscipline, people say. There are two requirements to change cultures. The first is to begin with simple things that affect everybody and the results of which can be made visible very soon, like house-keeping as the first step to create a culture of high quality. The second requirement is to begin at the top, with the people who should lead and show the way. For example, the CEO should stoop to pick up the trash paper on the shop floor rather than asking his aide to do it.

HOWEVER, it is not easy for people at the top to forego their privileges. In the 1970s, when some executives determined to create a new culture in Telco's new factories in Pune that would be more egalitarian and less status oriented than the culture in any other Indian factory at the time (including factories of MNCs), they proposed eliminating separate canteens for managers and asking managers to queue with workers in the same canteens; also that the security staff would stop managers' cars in their sample checks of vehicles at the factory exits. Some managers resisted the changes with two arguments. One was that symbols of difference are necessary to strengthen the authority of people in charge — which is the age-old argument for providing the King with a crown and dazzling clothes to improve the authority of the King's government!

The other argument was that senior managers' time is more precious than time of workers and hence they should not have to wait in queues in the canteen or at the security gates. This same argument would justify CEOs and ministers arriving at the last minute to board planes with their bags having been checked in before hand. But imagine the embarrassment of a senior Tata executive who self-importantly rushed onto a plane in Mumbai that had been held up a few minutes to wait for him. The first person he saw sitting amongst the fuming passengers was none other than J R D Tata! JRD had checked in punctually with the other passengers with no pretensions about the greater importance of his time.

Another reason why top people must use the same facilities as the masses is to know what the real state of affairs is. Sumant Moolgaokar, chairman of Telco, would occasionally stop on his tours of the Pune factories to use the workers' toilets. And if they were not clean, God help the resident director! So the resident director got into the habit of using the toilets himself, just to be sure. Some years ago, the India Brand Equity Foundation, presenting foreign investors' impressions to Indian CEOs and government officials, pointed out the delays visitors faced in the immigration and customs' queues at our airports. Some Indian CEOs were surprised. They did not know how bad it felt because they were whisked through by special escorts! Fortunately, this was looked into and now, I am glad to say one can clear out of our airports even faster than in America and Europe, even though the infrastructure in our airports is poorer. Culture is not about hardware: it is about software — the attitudes and behaviour of people. Money is not required to change culture: leadership is.

(The author is chairman, Boston Consulting Group, India)

CrossWinds test. . .

Just watched this and it's quite interesting to see just how much power 2 engines of a Boeing 747 can produce!!!

These were conducted by the UK auto show "TopGear" a lasy year with a 'Virgin Atlantic' aircraft at Pittzberg Airport, Germany.

Click on this link to view the video : http://www.wimp.com/crosswinds/

courtesy: http://www.airliners.net

Interview with God. . .

Click on the link and get directed to the slides;

A man interviews GOD, and then the reply also is very thought provoking.

When I think, everything said there is TRUE enough and we are just drifting in that, without even thinking what we are supposed to be doing, "Living to the fullest".

Thanks Kannumama and Malu, for forwarding this link to me:

Click on the link http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com/ to experience it...

GlObAl WaRmInG. . .

My previous work place....

Pic's are in random sequence...

pic The Resort, Mumbai - Front Office staff party at Marve (2002)
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My room pal's at Dubai (L-R: Santosh, Me and Unny). We three were a good real freaks, speaking about everything under the sun and also were good at gaping through the window on to the girls at the bus stop. The group is incomplete without Emelynne (2003)

Imtiaz and Andrew, were a great deal of support.

Kooteri

This is the house where my Amma grew up. My grandma stays there along with my aunt and family.

I have a lot of fond memories from this house. Ok, a couple of them are like this..
- Every summer holidays, Most of my uncles and their kids come over for about a month or two. We kids (roughly between 12-15 people) sleep in one room. We chit chat for long hours into the night and then when some elders scream, then we sleep.
- We all play badminton and cricket, both girls and boys play together. We also have regular tournaments and competetion between family members.
- Locally made cakes, halva and Chakka (jack fruit). Tapioca, greens, Banana, Pepper, Coconut's, Cashew's,Mangoes, mustard all grown in the family garden. It tasted much better, than what we have at Chennai.
- Siting in the stream near the rice fields and goin for walk in the Cashew plantations.

- Playing BUS-BUS, running all around the fields.
- Having Kanghi water, at the fields with the workers.
- Theyyam at tharavadu, every year January.

Can carry on with many. Its where I have learnt and experienced a lot of things.

good pic's. . .

These pictures were taken by Sashi, Anu's BIL. It was during the visit to Singapore by Anandettan and Ashokettan , Edathi's and kid's.

These pic's were taken while at the Carlsberg Bar at Sentosa Islands.

3 brothers having fun with beer, on a very hot day. The beer was very refreshing after the long walk we had on that day.

I was and am really glad that they could make that trip to Singapore and it was great time we had here, although it was only for about 4- 5 days.

Thanks people, I really love u all.

Try these blogs...

Hey all, try this link http://justjool.blogspot.com/2005/11/life-in-new-millennium.html
and i am sure, u will really like it.

also try out my other blogs:

http://readthrough.blogspot.com
http://paintingsnpictures.blogspot.com
http://jcu-s.blogspot.com

Kuala Lumpur ...

I was at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for 6days and 5 nights. I baically went there along with my friend Pradeep , for meeting job agents and also to explore the local labor market.

As I have got used to the life at Singapore for the past 17months, KL was way different, chaotic traffic, pollution, the people, cars and filth along the roads etc... I was immediatly reminded of Chennai and Mumbai where the life is somewhat similar, except for the cars and aircon buses.

I had a very good time there and especially getting to know Pradeep better and also strengthening our friendship. Apart from the hectic schedule of meeting the agents, we did find time to go around a couple of places, near Bukit Bintang.

One of the highlights of our trip was the trip to the Petronas Twin Towers (locally known as KLCC -Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre). Its a very majestic building and I was feeling so week and timid, against this great twin structure. The experience cannot be that easily expressed, it has to be felt to understand.

(Above) at the 41st level at the Sky bridge, connecting the two towers. The view is great from here.
(below) joining the towers is a shopping arcade and at the backside there is also a nicely laid out garden with fountain, with a wonderful view of the tower.

Mercy and brother had joined us on late Friday evening to spend the weekend at KL. On Saturday we all went to Sunway Lagoon Theme park and enjoyed it thoroughly. They have lovely water slides and also I enjoyed the roller coaster ride. It was a great experience.

On our return to SIN, we took the Intercity Express train and as usual with the train journey, back at India, it got delayed for more than 1 1/2 hour. The train ride was convenient, as it had TV, playing a movie as well as some documentaries; the train had a pantry coach with good and comfortable seats. One thing is for sure, next time, the train is out of question for travel to Singapore.

Over all we had good fun also the agents meeting were to a large extend positive. I now really want to settle down in KL or other parts of Malaysia for many reasons, close similarity with India, good food and inexpensive, normal cars (unlike the middle east, where all cars are big and bulky) and close proximity to Singapore.
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I am not able to get the right words for this particular posting, so kindly excuse the broken sentences and grammatical errors. Will try to do a better job.

Me in full size

Had to undergo a lot of pain to take a full size picture. I would have gone to atleast 20 studios, before I found this place, below an esclator shaft, in Lucky Plaza, Orchard Road.

I have added this new blog to my collection

http://paintingsnpictures.blogspot.com/

My Other blogs:

http://arungv.blogspot.com/
http://readthrough.blogspot.com/
http://jcu-s.blogspot.com/
http://gva-resume.blogspot.com/

Reminiscence !

True to the blog title "Reminiscence". When I was looking at these pictures, I was really transported back to those good days.

My friends at Bhatia Gardens, Chennai. on my left is Lalit and Anand (Cousins). We used to have great fun and enjoyed the vacations to the fullest.

We generally played cricket in the evening and during the day we played either tennis, badminton, foot ball or even hide and seek. Forgot, we used to also go cycling into the Manapakkam village and also sit on the compound walls of Chennai Airport.

Me with Anandettan's BSA SLR cycle. We were staying at house # 7, 4th Cross Street, Indira Nagar, Adayar.

It was an independant house with lots of plants and trees. When I was in 3rd standard, Achan bought for me a 'Hamilton' cycle. I cried for 2 full days and then Anandettan had brought in the cycle to the house.

I had a great deal of fun in that, as I used to go for cycling in that with school friends. My friends and me used to sit near actor Sharath's house in Adayar. He had a travel agency by the name of FlySun travels, next to Achan's hardware shop 'Allied Distributors'.

This picture was taken, during Achan's 60th birthday celebrations. Apart from my immediate family members, Vasanthi chittamma, Ammini velliamma (in front of Anandettan, she is the only elder person to Achan in his family), Kannan chetta, Baby chittamma, Kizhikode velliamma and Shantha chittamma.

We had been on a pilgrimage to many historical temples in Tamil nadu and this ceremony was held at the most famous temple, renouned for 60th birthday celebrations. (I do not know the name of temple, will post it after I get em)

At the Bhatia Garden house, Think I was still studying in school, when the picture was taken.

Picture, taken from Adayar house. The curtain behind us, leads to the bedroom where I used to sleep and it also had the Swamy photo's.

My brothers and me were all studying in school then.

My Amma looks very beautiful in this picture and believe me, even now she looks really beautiful.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, is a very interesting and spell binding book about the life of a boy who is in search of hidden treasures in the Egyptian pyramids.

Santiago, a shepherd boy, who dreams of seeing the world, is compelling in its own right, but gains resonance through the many lessons he learns during his adventures. The story is told in the form of a fairy tale and really makes one wonder, if it can be true. The story has in it some drama, tension, wisdom, decision making, convictions, hard work, dedication, self-empowerment and over coming of depressions and main theme of the whole story ‘Believing in dreams and making that a reality’.

When I started to read the book, I forget the world I was in and could only rest after finishing the book.

I definitely vouch for this book and thank Aditya and Mercy for suggesting me about the book and making me buy it.

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The Alchemist presents a simple fable, based on simple truths and places it in a highly unique situation. And though we may sniff a bestselling formula, it is certainly not a new one: even the ancient tribal storytellers knew that this is the most successful method of entertaining an audience while slipping in a lesson or two. Brazilian storyteller Paulo Coehlo introduces Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who one night dreams of a distant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. And so he's off: leaving Spain to literally follow his dream.

Along the way he meets many spiritual messengers, who come in unassuming forms such as a camel driver and a well-read Englishman. In one of the Englishman's books, Santiago first learns about the alchemists--men who believed that if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the "Soul of the World." Of course he does eventually meet an alchemist, and the ensuing student-teacher relationship clarifies much of the boy's misguided agenda, while also emboldening him to stay true to his dreams. "My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy confides to the alchemist one night as they look up at a moonless night.

"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself," the alchemist replies. "And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity." --Gail Hudson

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Some more review: http://silverydaze.blogspot.com/2005/05/whats-worlds-greatest-lie-boy-asked.html

My current state of mind !!!

I am really wondering what I am doin and what I am supposed to be doin? Quite confused and what not!

So many things running in my mind which I am not able to express in words, but when I’m trying to, things go the opposite way. I wanted to be amongst my friends and then some how, it ended up in teams being formed and that infuriated me and I went nuts.

I know that I have to act to my age, but really, I do not know now!!!

I wanted to do something and then immediately there crops up the interruptions. Why is it happening this way and I’m not allowed to take decisions of my own and even if I take Y the people around me do not seem to approve of it???

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This represents my mind:
http://arkhiveblog.blogspot.com/2005/10/excuses.html

Hiding from my emotions, I do not want to feel
Get off my cloud and join the human race
Can't hide forever behind my depression
I try to be a good person and maybe too hard
This results in me being used and abused
People walk all over me and I let it happen
Giving me an out, an excuse to feel sorry for myself
I need to get off my ass and become responsible
How do I get there, how do I start over again
I do not know how to change; I just know I have to
Respect is the answer, for others and for me

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I think I am adjusting a lot and also taking up a lot from others, coz I want to be good and mannered, but is this what others think of me, I doubt…

Either I refuse to stand up by my mind else I do not want to hurt others emotions/feelings, but at the end of the day I’m affected to no limits and that is causing a great deal of damage to my mental and mind stability. I have started to get headaches very regularly and to top it up “Emotional Swings”

What kind of a life am I trying to lead and what am I getting to…

I’m still very confused and to all people directly or indirectly affected by me, my apologies for what ever I have caused or yet to cause.

CoInCiDeNcE !!!

I was just going thru the net and found this:

Please do not be jealous….

Visit this link: http://www.arun.gov.uk/

Arun District is situated in the middle of the West Sussex coastal plain. To the north, the South Downs rise from 200 feet to a maximum of about 700 feet beyond the district boundary, before falling steeply to the broad Sussex Weald.

Arun covers an area of 22,811 hectares (85 square miles), has 23.3 kilometers (14.5 miles) of coastline in the south and almost half the district is included within the South Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Running through the District is the River Arun, which reaches the sea at Little Hampton and divides the area into two roughly equal parts. Between the foot of the Downs and the sea lies a flat coastal plain, where most of the District\’s urban development has taken place.

CoNcOrDe !!!

I have always been amazed by the Concorde and its ability to break the sound barrier, during its flight. I have gathered some facts on this beautiful bird.

I remember the last time, watching this aircraft in awe, at Chennai Airport, during a chartered flight around the globe. If I'm not mistaken Suji was with me. Before this 2 times. I can still remember the vibrations it created and the scare it gave us the first time (we were getting ready for bed while staying at Adayar) and the other time during a drama rehersal (Ashokettan was stage in a beggers costume, I suppose)

Some facts about the Concorde:

Manufactured by: Aérospatiale - British Aerospace (major stake holders of Airbus)

Cruise speed: Mach 2.04

Cruise altitude of 60,000 feet (17,700 meters)

Only 20 Concordes were built, six for development and 14 for commercial service.

These were:

• two prototypes
• two pre-production aircraft
• 16 production aircraft
• The first two of these did not enter commercial service
• Of the 14 which flew commercially, 12 were still in service in April 2003

Click on this link to watch a Concorde landing, and the link also has the history:
http://www.flightlevel350.com/viewer.php?id=3310

For the list of destination the Concorde has visited,
http://www.concordesst.com/history/destinations.html

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde

A380 in Frankfurt, Germany

This is it!!! The first landing of the A380 at an international airport.

From the South, were the large parking area of the (former) Air Base is, thousands were watching it behind fences too high to look over. Somewhat contradicting their own spectator-event and thus somewhat ignoring this massive interest Fraport directed the A380 to land on the northern runway which made it worse. Fortunately I went there pretty late, shortly past 8, so I didn’t waist my time waiting in the dark as a friend I met there did, who was freezing since hours. I don’t regret having gone there for this historical moment, but it certainly left something to be desired. What was really positively surprising is how quiet the A380 is Amazing. Even the A320s landing made more noise, and that are hardly noisy aircraft. The noise-level of the beloved 744 is certainly of an older generation. All those egoistic anti-airport-expansion protestors (motto: creating new jobs is great, but god-damn not near my house! In Germany called the St.Florian-principle) here around FRA should keep their mouths shut, the A380 makes the general noise level certainly lower.

More information can b viewed at: http://www.airliners.net

My transformation to what I am now in S'pore, from what I was before.

Many r responsible for this transition,...

Me !!!

Got this from Shanti, my SIS and I kind of lked it so, I thought of posting la...
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1. What time is it? 1400 hrs

2. NAME: Arun G V

3. Piercing: No Way

4. What is the most recent movie that you seen in a theatre : Aviator

6. Place of birth: Cannanore, Kerala

7. Favorite New Food : Pasta with White Sause, Chicken Lasagne

8. Ever been to Africa: no, but hopin to!

9. Ever been toilet papering rolling: huh???

10. Love someone so much it made you cry: Confidential la

11. Been in a car accident: Once, while on the way to Bangalore

12. Croutons or bacon bits: Bacon

13. Favorite day of the week: Depends

14. Favorite Restaurant: Food Court in Anchor Point, Queensway. (Went there yesterday)

15. Favourite Flower: Love Everything, I suppose !!!

16. Favourite sport to watch: F1, and prefer to play than watching on TV/Video

17. Favourite Drink: Passion fruit bubble tea with pearls

18. Favourite ice cream: Butterscotch, Rum & Raisin and Vanilla

19. Disney or Warner Brothers: 1 - Disney, 2 - Both

20. Favourite fast food restaurant: Komalas, found it good

21. What color is your bedroom carpet: No carpets

22. How many times you failed your driver's test? Applied in India...how could anyone fail???

23. Before this one, from whom did you get your last e-mail; Flat mate.

24. What do you do most often when you are bored: browse, read, watch tv or play comp games

25. Bedtime: Anytime after 2230hrs.

26. Who will respond to this e-mail the quickest: Depends !!!

27. Favourite TV shows: Plenty, (Channel 5, S'pore)

28. Last person you went to dinner with: Pradeep. Madhu & Mercy

29. Ford or Chevy: Chevy

30. What are you listening to right now: Tracy Chapman

31. What is your Favourite color: Some light colors

32. How many tattoos do you have: i'm not that wild...tho i'd like to be...if not for the PAIN!!!

33. How many pets do you have: None in 4 legs, but someone knows who that is.... I like that a lot, quite unique

34. Which came first the chicken or the egg? As long as there is chicken and egg, it does not matter...

SIA - A380

It is speculated that SIA (Singapore Airlines) will start commercial service of the Airbus A380, sometime mid Dec'06Click on the msg above, to get directed to the discussion page in : http://www.airliners.net

hand of Hope !!!

This was forwarded to me by my sis. Shanti, from India. Thanks da...

Please read before viewing picture - it's worth it.

A picture began circulating in November. It should be "The Picture of the Year," or perhaps, "Picture of the Decade." It won't be. In fact, unless you obtained a copy of the US paper which published it, you probably would never have seen it.

The picture is that of a 21-week-old unborn baby named Samuel Alexander Armas, who is being operated on by surgeon named Joseph Bruner.

The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and would not survive If removed from his mother's womb. Little Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta. She knew of Dr. Bruner's remarkable surgical procedure. Practicing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in
Nashville, he performs these special operations while the baby is still in the womb. During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and makes a small incision to operate on the baby. As Dr. Bruner completed the surgery on Samuel, the little guy reached his tiny, but
fully developed hand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger. Dr. Bruner was reported as saying that when his finger was grasped, it was the most emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during the procedure he was just frozen, totally immobile.

The photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity. The editors titled the picture, "Hand of Hope." The text explaining the picture begins, "The tiny hand of 21-week-old fetus Samuel Alexander Armas emerges from the mother's uterus to grasp the finger of Dr.Joseph Bruner as if thanking the doctor for the gift of life." Little Samuel's mother said they "wept for days" when they saw the picture. She said,"The photo reminds us pregnancy isn't about disability or an illness, it's about a little person."

Samuel was born in perfect health, the operation 100 percent successful.

Now see the actual picture, and it is awesome...incredible....and hey, pass it on. The world needs to see this one!

Hand of hope !!!

Happy B'day Bonny !!!

Mercy Abhi & Me, had surprised Bonny by arranging for his birthday.

On the 21st evening, the three of us had dinner outside and that gave me an opportunity to sneak in a cake to the house, and later in the night Mercy and Me had gone to our respective beds to sleep, (to give it a normal feel), later on Abhi joined us.
Bonny had also gone to bed by then and that gave us the right opportunity to wish him. It was fun and am sure he also had a good time.

For the B'day night, We had bought a pastry made with Dark Chocolate, liqueur, white chocolate and some cherries dipped in the same liqueur from Bakerzin. It was the first time for others and me, tasting a cake like this. It was all worth for the effort put in.

Mercy, presented Bonny an Creative Neeon MP3 player, which he had been wanting for a long time.

HaPpY BiRtHdAy BoNnY. !!!

I found the discussion below very interesting, as it shows the question that has been bothering e for quite a while now and the position I am in…

Dear Keith:

I spent a lot of time and money in my hospitality education including a master degree. I have found that employers in this industry do not take this into consideration when hiring someone for employment. I have the right age; education, experience and personality yet do not receive a positive response to my resume. I am able to work in several countries, specifically in Europe and find companies do not consider your for employment regardless of your age, education and experience unless you live locally. Is the hospitality industry an empirical industry? Is networking more important than education and experience?

Keith's answer

I am of the opinion that education is always beneficial and that you have not spent your money in vain getting your MBA. Historically, the hospitality industry has not paid a premium or acknowledged the importance of an MBA as much as practical experience. But - that is beginning to change. The hotel industry has become more real estate intensive and as such financial acumen is a skill that is highly prized. I would recommend you contact major chains and public companies that value the MBA experience. I would also focus on finance, real estate and consulting. Other segments of the hospitality industry such as chain restaurants, casinos and travel related services may value your MBA more than day-to-day operations. In response to your question about the important of networking, I would suggest that networking is extremely important and the best way to insure job security. Good networking skills in conjunction with a good education and strong practical work experience and you will have all the tools you need to find your next assignment. Keep the faith…

link: http://www.hospitalitycareernet.com/askkeith/

My blog's

As of date, I have 3 blog’s, up and running;

This one: http://arungv.blogspot.com
Some interesting stuff http://readthrough.blogspot.com
My experience @ JCUS http://jcu-s.blogspot.com

Happy B'day Sree

Sreevatsava turned 25 on Saturday, and trust me, we all actually forgot about this until I was on my bed on Friday night. We did not want to go there to his place with the cake, coz he stays in a house with about 9 other people.Anyway Mercy, Madhu, Pradeep and me met Sree at Cityhall in the evening and then it was fun for the next 2 hours or so.

The most notable thing here, was cutting of the cake, was on a road side bench, under the clear open sky opposite Cityhall Mall.
Pradeep as usual managed to get some of the pastry on his face, but we failed to do it on Pradeep, his reflex was faster than Sree and mine combined.

The dinner was at Pastamania and we had a wonderful dinner. It was closing time by the time we reached there and we had food without ac. Anyway, doesn’t matter without ac, as we had good fun.

Sree, at his house in Chennai

Sree – Happy Birthday and wishes for many more to come.