A memorable and adventurous trip

Recently I visited Dubai to attend a company training. It was a 3-day training program, however since my relatives and friends are living in Dubai, I left 2 days in advance and stayed over at their place. I visited various places like the Emirates mall, Hyper Panda mall, The Global village, Sharjah, Burj Dubai, dined at some good restaurants in Dubai. It was real good fun and the best part of it all...it was a weekend in Dubai and the crowd was simply fantastic and to add to the fun, the weather was pleasant!!!

After all the fun and frolic with family, I had to get a little serious since I had my training scheduled for the next few days.....however must say the workshop was real good fun as well.

It was a working day and a friend in Dubai arranged a four hour Dubai bus tour for me. A big hug from me to her for this wonderful arrangement. The tour bus and the amazing tour guide (she talked about the history of Dubai and also of the many wives the King had...hehehehehhe) showed us places such as the Meena Bazar (I will tell you why this is first in my list...), Burj Al Arab, Jumeriah Mosque, Dubai Creek, Dubai Museum.

Must say that we toured quite a few places in that span of 4hrs. I bought a nice looking stuffed camel from the Dubai museum which sat and stood as required....I bought it for DHS 40. I kept this sweet looking stuffed camel who I named "Sahraa" (Urdu term which means Desert ) on the rack in the tour bus and sat comfortably in the bus until our next site seeing point "The Meena Bazar".....a place for cheap gold (here gold is sold at cost of gold minus the labour cost). We were given 30 mins at this spot.

Myself and my bus partner (a lady from Australia) went around Meena Bazar. We reached back to the meeting point (suggested by our tour guide) in 20mins. Since we had 10mins more, this lady from Australia asked me to accompany her to a restaurant since she was hungry and wanted to pick a chicken sandwich. The chicken sandwich took so much time to get ready...until then we missed our bus. The worst of it all.....I lost my sweet little camel in that bus. '

Both myself and my partner were first time visitors in Dubai and we were real scared. Without giving our relatives, friends or colleagues any trouble, we got into a cab and reached back to our respective hotels. Thank god for that!!!!

As soon as I reached the hotel, the first thing I did was contacted the tour bus services and blasted at them for not waiting.....agreed it was my fault, but what a big deal......and then I patiently inquired about Sahraa (remember my camel)......only to realise that Sahraa was stolen away....

Finally my training was over and on the last day each participant and our trainer was treated at the Desert Safari which was a wonderful experience. The Dune bashing was amazing....yeah but I must mention here that I was holding a plastic bag in my hand when the dune bashing was happening.....but thank my stars I didn't throw up. At the camp in the desert, we had the belly dancer take on the stage and call people up to accompany her....I must mention my colleague who was also our Trainer was one of the best dancers at that camp.

Anyway I have another trip to Dubai scheduled mid Jun this year and I will search pillar to post to find my Sahraa, if not her then atleat someone who looks like her...

I must end by saying that these twists and turns are required in life, otherwise life gets very monotonous.....what say!!!

Thank you for reading....I hope I did not bore you with my bakhwas (Hindi term which means Stupidity)....hehehahahahha LOL. If you want to write to me, you could send me an email at mearl_colaco@hotmail.com or simply insert your comment.

Until my next article, take very good care of yourself and God Bless!

Reading a book has changed my life... I don't think so!!!!

It was just recently, when I met a friend of mine after a long span of 3 yrs. During an interesting conversation between the two of us, she mentioned about the difficulties that she faced in her life and how her personal problem was resolved after reading an inspirational/ motivational book.

Although I was happy that her problem got resolved in whichever way, my question to her was "Can a book actually change one's life?.

My personal belief on this....I don't think so!!! If you think about it practically, there is no way an author can actually solve your problems.

Yeah agreed...reading an inspirational/ motivational book may change the perspective of how you look at things, reading may change your attitude towards life, reading may change your approach of handling things differently, but READING having the ability to transform your very existence is a big question mark?????

Some of great reading books that I recommend are The Secret - Rhonda Byrne; The Monk who sold his Ferrari - Robin Sharma; The Leadership Mantra - Robin Sharma; Marketing Warfare - Trout & Ries; The Alchemist -- Paulo Coelho

Lastly, I would like to end this article with the wonderful and inspirational HINDI dialogue that Shahrukh Khan articulates in his movie Om Shanti Om, he says, “Kehte hain agar kisi cheez ko agar dil se chaho to saari kainath tumhe usse milane ki koshish me lag jaati hai..”
[English Translation; "It is said that if you want something from the bottom of your heart, then the whole universe will try to get you closer to that something that you desire.]

Truly inspirational!!!

Until my next article, as I always say, take very good care of yourself and God Bless! Would appreciate your comments and feedback and please don’t forget to leave your email address.

MY FIRST DAY ON RADIO

It was a great feeling to go live on air as a Radio Jockey for Community Radio, Radio MUST on 107.8 FM. I had butterflies in my stomach at the beginning because believe me being an RJ is not as easy as it appears to be.

I have anchored events in the past, but even after being exposed to this kind of anchoring, I feel that RJing was real tough and certainly this is not a cakewalk.

You need to be impromptu, You need to have a strong content, You need to speak within a time limit alloted, You need to be a good presenter. These are a few qualities that one needs to own/ possess to be a successful RJ. But believe me....I have none of these qualities but certainly trying to attain all of these traits some day. I am certain that Rjing a show on Commercial Radio is more challenging as compared to Community Radio.

There are loads of people who take up anchoring/ hosting as a profession BUT for me it is simply giving a chance to my hobby and I certainly do not intend to make this a career. Its only a leisure pursuit!

So all you Mumbaikars, if you want to listen to me, you would have to tune in to MUST Radio only on 107.8FM. So lets meet up there....

Until my next article, take good care of yourself and God Bless!

It's time to rejoice again…..Easter is here!!!!

A maniquine depicting the "Passion of Jesus Christ (Image Courtesy: St. Anthony's Church, Vakola, Mumbai)

Easter is the greatest feast in the Christian calendar. On this Sunday, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. For Catholics, Easter Sunday comes at the end of 40 days of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving known as Lent. Through spiritual struggle and self-denial, Christians prepare to die spiritually with Christ on Good Friday, the day of his Crucifixion, because they believe they can rise again with him in new life on Easter.

Christians all over the World celebrate Easter
Christians believe according to Scripture, that Jesus came back to life, or was raised from the dead, three days after his death on the cross. As part of the Easter season, the death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion, is commemorated on Good Friday, always the Friday just before Easter. Through his death, burial and resurrection, Jesus paid the penalty for sin, thus purchasing for all who believe in him, eternal life in Christ Jesus.

Passion of Christ Jesus
Many would say it is the period of intense suffering in the life of Jesus from the Garden of Gethsemane to the Crucifixion. To others the passion of Christ evokes images of gruesome punishment as depicted in movies such as Mel Gibson’s "The Passion of The Christ".

As we have it today, the Passion of Jesus would never have been transmitted through the centuries unless Jesus himself had not made it part of his Easter revelation. Historians of his time never mention it since Jesus was far too insignificant for their attention.

And even if he were significant, a story of crucifixion was not likely to be told. Only scattered references to crucifixion are found in the writings of Jesus’ contemporaries, who were repulsed by grisly tales of that barbaric act.

Easter celebrations
Christians make elaborate preparations to celebrate Easter which is the oldest of all Christian festivals. The Easter egg is associated as a symbol of Easter Sunday. The Easter eggs are specially decorated eggs given to freinds and relatives to celebrate the Easter holiday.

HAPPY EASTER to all!!!, or as the Norwegian’s say GOD PÅSKE!!!

KONVICTED – Akon’s brand new album

I always enjoyed traditional and conventional music that most people enjoy, like the songs by Meat Loaf (love songs), Bryan Adams (love songs), Britney Spears (Pop), Backstreet Boys (Love songs), Dire Straits (Country music), Elton John (love songs), Lionel Richie (Love songs), Lobo (a blast from the past), Santana (for his string work)...to name a few and I will continue to enjoy this kind of music for the excellent lyrics and rhythm/beats.

I never really liked Hip-hop and rock music, until I listened to Akon's Konvicted album, an R&B album with a lot of urban Hip-Hop appeal. His album goes all over the place (sad to happy and every emotion in between) and seems 'real', not a formula type album. There are 11 songs in this album which are written, arranged and produced by Akon himself. I must say, a superb album and a must listen to!!

Once in a while, we come across a true artist in this business that can excel in more than one field. Some performers may have the ability to rap, but not sing; or they might be able to sing, but not necessarily make you dance. That's a special talent that so few possesss and yes Akon is gifted with this talent.

For the lyrics of his Album, click Lyrics. Remember, you need to be an adult to listen to this album!

Spotty - My Pest...sorry I mean by Pet!!!!

Spotty as you can see in the pics is a cat. She is living with me since she was 2 months old. Today she is____yrs old....Uh...I just remembered..they say..Never let out a females age....and yeah Spotty is a female cat!!! All I can say is, she is evergreen and everyoung!!!

I am in process of creating her portfolio. The ones you find in my blog are just a few of them. You see, it takes time, patience and one got to do a lot of talking with Spotty to get her in the right camera frame.

As soon as her portfolio is ready, I will make it available in my online photo album for public screening. So stay tuned with my blog...I will make an announcement as soon as her portfolio is ready.

These are a FEW goodie goodie things I had to say about Soptty....but believe me most of the times she gets to my nerves!!! She does all the things that we tell her not to do....I wonder when she plans to grow-up. I can go on and on with all the wrong things she does but I will be kind enough with her this time...

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more! As I always say..take good care of yourself!

They say, all good things come in small packages ……How True!

I just listened to Kailash Kher’s 2nd album Jhoomo Re and I thought of having an article on Kailash, the maestro of sufi singing in my blog.

This guy is one person who sings from his heart, ekdum dil se. His songs actually touch your heart. Believe me, if it doesn’t touch your heart…just send me an email and I will fix an appointment for you with the heart specialist…hehheheheh

There is also so much of humbleness in his songs. You see that in the lyrics of each and every song.

His new album Jhoomo Re is a "must listen to" album with each song better than the other. This album is completely recommended and I give it a rating of ***** to infinity.

Who is Khailash Kher?

Kailash Kher is an Indian singer of popular sufi music. He has recently risen to fame with a series of hits. He has released music with his band, named Kailasa. Kailash Kher is currently a sensation in the playback world of Bollywood. He hit the limelight with the smashhit Allah Ke Bande. Kailash Kher provides a uniquely soulful, raw, high-pitched voice.

For more on Kailash Kher, click http://www.kailashkher.com/