Gulf Today

Short Take – GULF TODAY Dt. 04.09.2010 – New Vigour

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Short Take – GULF TODAY Dt. 04.09.2010 – New Vigour

New vigour

The Holy Month of Ramadan is almost getting over. Children and families have started arriving back to the UAE after their summer holidays. Many of them have had an extended stay this year due to additional holidays declared by educational ministry for children. The intensity of summer has also reduced. It is a new vigour and enthusiasm for all those who have taken this break. It should now be utilised to the year ahead.

Those memories, those beautiful scenes, interactions and travelogues should all be shared as positively as one can with friends and well wishers. Constructive methods and schemes observed should be tried to blend in to our society as far as possible. Readers should start transforming themselves from mere observers to active participants.

After all, the UAE is our home away from home, which gives us the opportunity to buy our daily bread and supplement ourselves for a future ahead. Let us be part of a contributing community that reacts to the needs of the hour as and when a necessity arises. Be active and interact with all the new energy you have gained during your summer break.

Ramesh Menon

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Gulf Today, Letters to the editor, Opinion 2010, Short Take.

Short Take – GULF TODAY Dt. 28.08.2010 – Surprise gift

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Short Take – GULF TODAY Dt. 28.08.2010 – A surprise gift

Surprise gift

The other day, I was having dinner with an Indonesian friend of mine. He seemed to be very happy during our meeting. Conversing with him, I realised, he had just finished scheduling a Haj visit for him and his parents the next month. They were aged, and so he will go to Indonesia and from there fly to Saudi Arabia for Umra.

His parents have had a very normal life all throughout and they took care that their children did have good school and life, even forgetting about their own hardships.

Now, the son, who is here and well employed, is comfortable and thankful to hand over a surprise gift of their life to them this year.

I could see his joy as well as theirs while he conveyed this happy move from his side.

It brought out memories for me of many such parents who work all their life for the benefit of their children.

It was not a one-off instance, but it did create an impact in all our minds about what such actions can bring out in the life of those who get to receive it.

Ramesh Menon

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Gulf Today, Letters to the editor, Opinion 2010, Short Take.

Short Take – GULF TODAY – Dt. 21.08.2010 – Elephant walk policy

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Short Take – GULF TODAY – Dt. 21.08.2010 – Elephant walk policy

Elephants – Temple elephants are an integral part in the life of Keralites. Especially, if you are from the Trichur area. The attachment towards the animal are so emotional and sensitive that people even address them by names and from ancient times there are several stories propagating the love and affection between man and elephant. An elephant’s walk is a beauty to watch.

However, imagine a situation if it gets wild. You just have to do a search on YouTube, you will see several videos of attacks by wild elephants killing their mahout or others who come across.

Out of love and passion for the animal, I have developed an important management principle based on elephants, closely following its gentle and beautiful walking style which is a beauty to watch and its actions scaring all when it is wild. I have termed it as Elephant Walk Policy. It is somewhat related to some of the age-old philosophies and principles we normally follow.

The first part of this principle follows non-violence. Be mild – as mild as you can till you cannot tolerate any more when you may change over and follow the other part and be wild and aggressive – as aggressive as you can. Create a wild impact and then let this impact force the results.

Ramesh Menon

To read it in original, please visit GULF TODAY Online.

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Gulf Today, Letters to the editor, Opinion 2010, Short Take.

Short Take – GULF TODAY – Dt. 14.08.2010 – New Age Pets

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Short Take – GULF TODAY – Dt. 14.08.2010 – New Age Pets

New age pets
If someone asks what is the most inseparable electronic gadget one loves to carry, you will easily be told by one and all that it is a mobile phone. Many times, we get to see people go crazy over this gadget and disobeying instructions and carrying out their conversations irrespective of the danger it could bring out to him or others near.

During my recent visit to India, I witnessed such an incident when a gentleman inside the flight kept on talking on his phone even after the pilot’s instructions came on for take off. He chose not to listen to the instructions of the staff and kept on talking of some silly business transactions he was able to carry out during the recent times. Co-passengers had to literally force him to switch off his mobile. Probably, every one had in their mind the recent air traffic tragedy at Mangalore.

In another incident, I was visiting a relative. As we were received and led inside the sitting room and started conversation, the host sat in front of us in his sofa.

Next to him lay, two phones, and as he talked to us, he was checking the phones one after another. It went on to an extent that we felt his mind was not there with us as he just tried casually to get in and out of the conversation happening without actually involving himself. Curious to know what was that urgent thing that kept him distracted continuously, I came to know that he was responding to his emails on one and on the other, he was doing online queries and trading. I was thinking of the earlier days, when pets used to sit near and the owner patted them and as they expressed their affectionate emotions enjoyed by all around.

Now, the new age pets converse with the owner only as others watch helplessly.

Ramesh Menon

To read it in original, please visit GULF TODAY Online.

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Gulf Today, Letters to the editor, Opinion 2010, Short Take.

Short Take – Gulf Today Dt. 31.07.2010 – Quest for knowledge

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Short Take – Gulf Today Dt. 31.07.2010 – Quest for knowledge

Our knowledge and experience are the only things that, if passed on, will remain with the generations. All the other things, money, property, etc, will have a natural, timely or untimely death.

Knowledge passed on, by any means, will become immortal. It will be all the more, if it is through a creative medium. I was surprised recently to learn this when I happened to notice a painting, which I had created in 1999 and posted on a webpage created that time, now being used in a German site, where they explain in detail the thoughts and principles underlying that drawing. I was amazed and swept off.

I am writing this to all those who hold their reservations, either due to shortage of time or other reasons for not utilising a wonderful opportunity thrown in front.

This is not the old age situation that happened to Ekalavya, who learned the secrets of archery techniques from the legendary guru Dronacharya, by hiding behind the bushes. When he came to know that Ekalavya had learned more than what he had taught to his favourite student Arjuna, Dronacharya, asked for his thumb finger as the Guru Dakshina (fees) from Ekalavya.

Don’t worry, our science and technology is far and well advanced now. Give your thumb finger out to your gurus or mentors if they are asking for it, and share your knowledge, as we have many a new technology already ready to replace it better than the original one. Have no fear, and have no holds.

This is also a tribute to all those who work hard and do continuous education through various Distant Learning Programmes. They deserve a special applause for hard work and dedication put in to continue their quest for gaining knowledge, without forgetting commitments towards profession and family.

Thanks to all those professors and support staff who work hard to present and create a classroom atmosphere and provide quality materials at par with other universities worldwide for these knowledge seekers, who in normal case could not have done it without their efforts.

Ramesh Menon

To read this in orginal, please visit GULF TODAY online.

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Gulf Today, Letters to the editor, Opinion 2010, Short Take.

Short Take – GULF TODAY – Dt. 24.07.2010 – Keep Communicating

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Keep communicating

The heat is on. CVs are coming in volume from job hunters. Thanks to the global recession, many companies still reduce staff.

The banking sector is also in greater caution and this is another major area for many of us who have an attitude to be there when in need.

In the coming days/months we may get to hear many sad stories/tragedies of job loss/life etc directly or indirectly due to the economic scenario.

It is, therefore, important to be in touch with your regular friends/loved ones/contacts. Make sure you get to create a communication and feel their pulse. I am sure you will definitely be able to get the feelings across, even if it is a silence or pause in the communication. But to be there at the time in need is the most important gift you can give to a friend or a well-wisher of yours.

The reason for writing this here is an interview of Indian actor Dileep shown on TV some time ago about a movie where he did a stunt scene by jumping into the sea. In it, he explained what was his feeling before jumping and once in motion down.

No control, and life and death were seconds away.

Luckily for him there were people to rescue him, who were on standby. But a repeat shot had to be taken and he continued, there were no one around and it was really touch and go.

Two years ago, a friend committed suicide due to a financial fraud by one of his customers. Almost similar time, another friend’s wife committed suicide due to prolonged arthritis ailment. Both took the same aerial route of jumping from the balcony and the narration by Dileep was really touchy and brought back memories several times.

If, someone was there to hold them/restrain them back from that decision, life would have been an altogether different thing for their children.

Let the party continue, enjoy life as it happens, let the rejoicing progress if you are on the lucky side. But keep an eye and ear open for that precious silence somewhere around.

You never know, a chance hello or a short email will make you realise the reason for that precious silence and may give you an opportunity to be the important person for someone whom you care.

Ramesh Menon

To read it in original, please visit GULF TODAY online.

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Gulf Today, Letters to the editor, Opinion 2010, Short Take.

Short Take – GULF TODAY – Dt. 17.07.2010 – Stick to values

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Short Take – GULF TODAY – Dt. 17.07.2010 – Stick to values

We all come from different walks of life, and walk past different routes and directions of it each day. During the same course, we come across several people and some remains within our mind for a longer time and some are easily forgotten. Certain actions by certain individuals will easily capture our admiration and then we follow them and certain others, they might have a slow start and we tend to ignore them totally.

It is time we think about how we could transform ourselves to a society that responds at the right time.

Each day brings out a joy of learning a thing new, irrespective of which side I get up, who double parks in front of my car, and who speeds and misses hitting my car while travelling between work and home. The world is growing in pace and volume and along with it the diverse culture and style. Even during the last holy month of Ramadan, I witnessed women dressing scantly, people smoking discreetly, which a few years before I could have never even imagined or seen. Several times I did ask myself, why public has a tendency to violate rules and values when they clearly know that these are not to be violated during this period to give respect to the religion and numerous people who follow it. May be I will be labelled crazy, if I discuss such things frequently. But, how can I resist expressing myself. No, never, I will never keep my thoughts within.

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Gulf Today, Letters to the editor, Opinion 2010, Short Take.

Short Take – GULF TODAY Dt. 10.07.2010 – Role reversal

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Short Take – GULF TODAY Dt. 10.07.2010 – Role reversal

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Gulf Today, Letters to the editor, Opinion 2010, Short Take.

Short Take – GULF TODAY Dt. 03.07.2010 – Age Of The Web

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Short Take – GULF TODAY Dt. 03.07.2010 – Age Of The Web

During my childhood days, we used to have regular sessions at schools and at gatherings to read out poetry and also slokas from ancient Sanskrit literatures. We used to memorize them and then taking turn complete entire series giving a good feeling to the participants as well as the audience. However, these days, I feel, whether our children get to participate in such activities with the same fervor and interest. Even if they learn the scriptures, do they get to read aloud? Imagine, walking into a room, where were a session of poetry reading in English, or other Indian languages or even Arabic happening. You will get to enjoy the seamless flow of poems covering themes such as love, alienation, sensuality and even light-hearted poems. It will generate a creative awareness, will bring out the poets ideas with ease. I feel we should have more poetry reading sessions here in the UAE. It should be a part of our culture. Schools and organizations should arrange regular poetry reading sessions and encourage children as well as adults to take part in it. Television media should also support and initiate poetry reading session as one item in their schedule. We are slowly moving to a generation who are becoming non-expressive and non-reactive towards day-to-day happenings. The over dependence on electronic gadgets and communication systems are dangerously spreading “Short Message Syndromes” in their world. We must alert them about the dangers of it and bring them back to the world we enjoyed. To a small extent, I am trying my own part, by organizing a Young Readers Club through my Talent Share blogging activity. Children and parents are welcome to showcase their oratory/poem reading skills.

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Gulf Today, Letters to the editor, Opinion 2010, Short Take.

Short Take – GULF TODAY – 26.06.2010 – Safe Approach

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Short Take – GULF TODAY – 26.06.2010 – Safe Approach

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Gulf Today, Letters to the editor, Opinion 2010, Short Take.