Heightened Sense of Being!

People resist the unusual..*I* included.

I have people asking me why I use '*' instead of " in my written communication. Here is why: " was used when only hand written communication was possible, whereas we guys, the *Millennials* are more of a keyboard generation than hand written. Don't get me started on how many times the fountain pen created fountains on my school uniform and in the semi-automatic washing machine(besides my mom's temper). She is on her way to Bangalore right now to be with her elder son. Aaah..the word *Bangalore* does not score a home run with my American friends..because it is unusual for them, I love them for their business acumen though. *Strategy* does not score a six with my Indian friends, because it is unusual for them, I love them for their compassion though. *Jack Welch* is a grumpy old man for incompetent people world over because the name is unusual for them. Umm...Do I love them at all?

*Heightened sense of being* is the state; when I see it all....see it so clearly, give me excess of it. Guess what, my friends call me drunk because it is unusual for them to see a control freak loosing control!

Unwired

Fringe benefits of having your friend working as a Bar Manager in a five star hotel.

• Different types of beer from different parts of the world.
• Endless tasting sessions of fine wines, single malts and scotch whiskey.
• Bartender doing pyrotechnics exclusively for you even when there are 150 other people in the bar.
  

Among other things, I was able to use the Wi-Fi network and it rocks. Think about it, no clumsy LAN cables, no broken clips, endless mobility.

I am so tempted to imagine a world where even electricity can be supplied without any wires. No dug up roads, no damage after natural disasters(cyclones, earthquake etc.), no transmission costs/wastage, no power thefts.

Yielding Enough?

Not in the high rollers club yet so I travel economy class. On my way to Bangalore there were twelve business class seats that were vacant. And on my way back from Chennai, business class was doing no-business..again. Interestingly none of the 180 economy class seats were vacant. I think the airlines can spend some thought and make these vacant seats earn some revenue, customer loyalty and the like for them.

What if, when the airline staff is issuing boarding passes to economy travelers, they pitch for upgrading them to business class at a nominal charge. If there are frequent flyers in economy class they should be given preference. They just need to hit a fairly easy success rate of 6.6% to fill up all the business class seats.(12/180*100). Once business class is taken care of, offer the 12 now-vacant economy class seats to last minute travelers at a premium. Of course, there can be million other combinations that airlines can work upon to ensure that all the seats in a plane does and means business.

These days when all the airlines are crying about high fuel prices, low margins etc. they need to first understand that a little bit of homework on their part will go a long way in helping their cause.

Opportunity missed is opportunity lost...right?

Starry Eeared

I run into this question often, I hate answering it and Burj al-Arab is responsible for my hatred. Yes, the luxury hotel in United Arab Emirates(we get to see its photographs in the newspaper often). When the construction of the hotel was completed, it was an architectural wonder(it still is) and it was a white elephant in many respects. To make the hotel a profitable business proposition, stakeholders needed an aggressive, never-heard-in-the-industry marketing plan. In order to deliver that, they marketed it as "the world's first seven-star hotel".

Cut right to the chase: I meet people in personal and professional life & I love talking about my days spent in the hotel. I have learnt so much in my stint there that I simply can write an EPIC(read Evolving Personal Information Construct). Once we converse about the luxe lifestyle and the like, *they* pop the burning question. "Did you work in a seven star hotel?". Hell 'No', I did not, it was just a marketing gimmick which worked way better than it was expected to work. Sometime ago The Grand Maratha Sheraton in Mumbai ran a ripped-off version of the same marketing gimmick to launch the hotel.

As far as I know, there are no hotel rating governing body, nowhere in the world which gives a seven-star rating to any hotel, anywhere. But these days with *we* blaming aliens for even our pet's digestive problems, the truth might just be 'out there' - tongue firmly in cheek!

P.S : (1) I did not work with Burj al-Arab (2) Aliens did not abduct and sodomize me. Ha ha ha...