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Saturday, August 7, 2010

TERRORISM AND THE TAJ



When I was working in Avery India Ltd. as Area Sales Manager, Kochi I have conducted several annual Area sales meetings in TAJ Malabar,Wellingdon Island. The atmosphere was excellent, the hospitality was top class, the food was delicious and the staff were very cordial and helpful. Every one looked forward to having these meetings every year at the TAJ.

Again, when I was in Goa as Branch Manager, I organized a weekend party on behalf of the company for the Top Ten Sales Executives and Managers in the country at the Taj Fort Aguada Beach Resort. The party started at 7.30 in the evening and went on till 3 am. in the morning. Every one thoroughly enjoyed the party and the co operation of the TAJ staff was excellent although the party went beyond their normal working time(12 midnight).


Recently when I went to TAJ MALABAR,WELLINGDON ISLAND, KOCHI I found it was looking like a highly guarded fortress.The main gate was kept closed and I came upon two security guards in front of the gate. One man had a gun and stared at me and the other man scanned my car thouroughly . After parking the car, I walked to the main entrance to the hotel with my hand luggage. My hand luggage was collected from my hand by one guard and put through a scanning machine and I myself had to walk through a scanner. Only after that I could reach the reception.


After the terrorist attack on the Bombay TAJ the security has been tightened up in all TAJ hotels and now the initial reaction of a guest is something like entering a high security zone like the airport. The TAJ management has tightened the security in all their hotels all over the country to prevent another terrorist attack and also to make their guests feel safe and secure in their premises without compromising on their world class hospitality.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

HUMANS AND INHUMANS-A COMMENT




This is a comment written by me in Sana's blog Musings under her post-THE DARKNESS NEVER ENDS.Please visit her blog to check up her interesting and thought provoking post.
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A thought provoking post and you have beautifully portrayed how humans become inhumans by choosing evil.

A human being has a conscience where as wild animals which kill other animals for food don't have.Animals don't have conscience or common sense. This is why we are masters over them. We can use our conscience to select evil or good.We can choose to starve for a day or steal. We can chose to live in penury or rob people and become rich. We can choose to love peace or react in anger and destroy other people. We can have religious tolerance or can kill people,innocent children,destroy landmark buildings and terrorize to make them submissive and follow what we believe.

Jesus clearly said that those who take the sword will perish by the sword.There is no escape for evil men and women.They will get double punishment both in this world and in the next.They can't perpetrate evil and get away with it. As far as I know all evil men have been punished in this world itself. The perpetrators of evil will be brought to justice some day or the other.The reason is that vast majority of people are good,love peace and as you said human.They are against evil and perpetrators of evil in any form.

In the Bible, the fist perpetrator of evil,Cain who killed his brother Abel, thought that God did not see his evil act.But God called out to him and said Abel's blood is crying to HIM.And God punished Cain.

You will find evil people punished every where in the world.There is no escape for them.The terrorists hijacked planes,killed innocent people and children,destroyed the famous Buddhist statues in Afghanistan, trained and funded terrorists etc. but these terrorists only increased the resolve of the civilized world to fight terrorists on all fronts.The terrorists will be hounded out of their hiding place and severely punished.Nations that encourage,fund,train and equip terrorists to serve their political ends will soon have to face the wrath of nations which want to live in peace and harmony.

If you read Dr.Faustus by Christopher Marlowe you will find that Dr.Marlowe is a highly accomplished man and yet he wants to control the world with the assistance of the devil. While the good angel constantly tells him not to follow these evil thoughts the devil persuades him to sell his soul for becoming the master of the world.The end is disastrous and the devil completely grips Dr.Marlowe in his tight hold and finally drags him to hell.
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This is the burning subject of the day and is in the minds of every one all over the world. I am sure you will have plenty to say about this.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

SUNSETS DURING MONSOON

Monsoon is in full swing and it pours for days together. And yet the sun brightens our lives when the rain takes rest. Here are some photos taken at different places during this season. Click the photos for a larger view.

Sunset over the entrance of the harbour(between Fort Kochi on the left and Vypeen Island on the right).


Sunset over the Arabian sea.



Sunset over Vypeen Island.


Sunset over Bolghaty Island.


Sunsets as seen from Kochi marine drive.





Sunday, July 18, 2010

Magarpatta City,Poona

When I was in Poona a few months back I stayed with my family in an apartment in a building called Cosmos in Magarpatta City. This is a new township with well maintained roads, excellent security system,neat foot paths, benches to sit,specific places for shops, a lovely garden, excellent waste disposal system and no beggars.

When I took the photo of the main gate I had a problem with the security. You will see a security guard in the photo below. He walked briskly to me and told me to remove the photo. I pretended to remove the photo and told him that the photo has been deleted. He was satisfied and walked back. But I actually did not delete the photo.













I live in a congested town in terms of buildings,shops,vehicles and people and people all over the place. In the rainy season the roads get damaged and there are pot holes in all the main roads.The bus drivers and motor cycle riders are reckless and scarcely obey traffic rules. Police will look the other way instead of disciplining the erring drivers.The noise pollution and smoke pollution is quite high. The waste disposal arrangement are not good. The foot paths are not fit for people to walk and it would be better to walk on the road and of course one has to be careful. Public conveniences and bus shelters are few.There is no gap between towns and villages. There are houses and people everywhere. But the city throbs with life. We have a wonderful natural harbor and back waters, lovely parks and music walk ways.many places of tourist interest.We grow pepper, ginger, cardamom and other spices apart from tea in our hilly regions.The entire state remains green all through the year on account of the heavy down pour during the monsoon.

I wonder how your place compares with my town.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

CHOICES,CHOICES AND CHOICES-A COMMENT

This is a comment written by me in Ellen's blog IN RETROSPECT-A JOURNEY.






Your post contains a powerful message for successful living. Choices,choices and choices. Yes, we are always confronted with a multiplicity of choices and what we chose ultimately is going to lead us to success or failure.

Many people take the easy way out where no effort or energy is involved, no risk or adventure is involved, no pains or sweat in involved and they find themselves reaching no where. Most of us including me shudder to take the road less traveled and we don't reap the rich rewards such as adventure, thrill, excitement, and a sense of satisfaction or fulfillment of achieving something against all odds. To speak about myself, I never liked to take risks, never like to get out of my comfort zone. Perhaps everything depends of early life when a person who is provided with all comforts by parents and therefore he or she grows up without having the necessity of taking up challenges.

A person who wants to become a great runner can either skip practice and go to movies or get to the stadium to run and run till he is exhausted. The first choice will lead the person to a dream unfulfilled whereas the second choice will help the man succeed.

Well, take the case of Eve. She had a choice to eat or not to eat the forbidden fruit. But she chose to eat the fruit against God's command and brought damnation on her and all of us.

God has given us a common sense to chose and if we exercise it carefully we find favor with God and HE will shower his blessing on us. He also gave us something called conscience and if we follow our conscience most of the time we will make the right choices.





This is a subject on which we all have our own thoughts and opinions. I hope you will share the same generously with me.

Monday, July 5, 2010

I'M AN EAGLE IN THE SKY

I had a window seat in the plane and I sat waiting anxiously for the take off. I always like to watch the land disappearing under me gradually and scenes I will see below me.As the plane took off and went higher and higher I did have a lovely view of the fast vanishing land, buildings,bridges,rivers, trees, hills and mountains and I happily clicked off some photos as a remembrance. Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure. As I watched the plane go higher and higher ABBA's song EAGLE came to my mind. I am reproducing the lyrics. If you want to listen to this wonderful song, you can always get in You tube.

Lyrics of ABBA's song EAGLE.

They came flying from far away, now I'm under their spell
I love hearing the stories that they tell
They've seen places beyond my land and they've found new horizons
They speak strangely but I understand
And I dream I'm an eagle
And I dream I can spread my wings

Flying high, high, I'm a bird in the sky
I'm an eagle that rides on the breeze
High, high, what a feeling to fly
Over mountains and forests and seas
And to go anywhere that I please

As all good friends we talk all night, and we fly wing to wing
I have questions and they know everything
There's no limit to what I feel, we climb higher and higher
Am I dreaming or is it all real?
Is it true I'm an eagle?
Is it true I can spread my wings?

Flying high, high, I'm a bird in the sky (I'm an eagle)
I'm an eagle that rides on the breeze
High, high, what a feeling to fly (what a feeling)
Over mountains and forests and seas
And to go anywhere that I please

And I dream I'm an eagle
And I dream I can spread my wings

Flying high, high, I'm a bird in the sky (I'm an eagle)
I'm an eagle that rides on the breeze
High, high, what a feeling to fly (what a feeling)
Over mountains and forests and seas
High, high, I'm a bird in the sky (I'm an eagle)
I'm an eagle that rides on the breeze
High, high, what a feeling to fly (what a feeling)
Over mountains and forests and seas
And to go anywhere that I please