Obssessed

I never thought I would say this... But i actually like this place and i m seriously considering to get back to this place to work after my MBA. There is just too much potential out here and there is a serious crunch of expertise in various industries.

If i can still consider me as a chemical engineer then i can very much get in to some of the petroleum industries in here. I wish i had made some local contacts around here.. i only a few guyz..and they are just amazing.

I believe most of the fellows in middle east are expected to be arrogant and rude..but the people out here are very warm and friendly. Exactly a month back i was dying to get out of this place...and now i just dont feel like going....

It's exactly the same as living in india and above that... u dont have to hear the dirty politics that happen around everyday... peaceful life... King's rule... awesome beaches...wonderful foood... and dont even get me started about the salaries they get for the kind of jobs they do..

Here we get paid for 14 months...for just 10 months of work. They get bonus..no matter what..!! thats insane..and even a normal software guy of my age..roams around in a carvette... other guy drives a BMW 5 series...

I can quite clearly say now...i m obsessed with this place...and it ll become a little difficult for me to let go of this wonderful memories..

PS: Hookah with a coffee on a beach side ..watching football on giant screen.... with phirangi chicks..!! Its just tooooo brilliant..!!

End of my sabbatical

Few Reasons why I took a break from blogs

1. Major reason was that i got bored of it.

2. I didn't get proper time out of my life to write about the stuff that has been happening around.

3. After few days , so much happened and i didn't know what to write about.

4. Finally i have decided to write how happy i am in muscat.

please visit soon.. i ll update you all.

I am Legend.

Yes...Muscat daily, a daily newspaper here have published my photo .... oh yeah...you all thought they wouldn't...didn't ya .!! ... In fact, I never expected them to do it either.... but they did... and I saw myself for the first time on an international news paper... I only wish i had given him a better pose than this :(

yeah yeah....I know.... I ain't that photogenic..!! :(

Photo Shoot

Yeah...finally made some plan to go around and click some pictures... ..but ended up taking pictures from the balcony window... I m too lazy to go around and take pictures.... in fact there is nothing much to click here..

I wanted to test the camera in a broad day light...and I felt real good after looking at the clarity of the pics and the amazing 10x optical

zoom it has...

check out this picture...

well this one was taken from my balcony with the maximum zoom...quality got decreased because i crammed a 3.6 MB file to a 700 KB one .. upload speed is damn slow here.

check out the actual pic with the normal zoom ..

Yes you are right....you cant even see the cars from the 1st pic here in this picture....The 1st picture is the zoomed version of the traffic signal at the base of the clock tower u see here...the clarity of the zooom is damn good... If u want to take pictures of the people from a far far away place without getting caught...and u want that piece to come at a cheaper price and in a compact shape... trust me...blindly go for fujifilm F70 EXR.

Celebrity ... Me..??

It happened....It happened finally.....I have been interviewed by a reporter .. and my picture might come in the next day newspaper... I have to go grab that paper tom to see my face in it..!! :)

I know... u are all wondering ..who that idiot is that took my interview... Before u blame the poor guy let me tell you what happenend.

There was a blackout.... no.. not just in our area .. but in the whole country the power went done. It was for a little more than 2 hours... I am working in a bank here and all those people are busy taking backups and stuff.. and being so jobless, i came out for a cup of coffee...with a fren..no need to say he was more or less jobless too :p

Then a dude came... like the one in those English movies...fat, curly hair, phirangi types.... here is our conversation..

" hey there mate... can i have a minute of urs... I am from muscat daily and i want to take ur feedback on the black out that happened here..."

I could have gone for that happy dent advertisement... I was smiling..smiling..and kept smiling... i cudnt digest the fact that i am getting interviewed...he then asked few more qns... and then ..pooo pops out of a camera...and took my pic..!

Like a celebrity..!! i waved...hey..no cameras man..no ..pics..!! noo.... noo...shooo get lost..

He told me... Dont worry we are not gonna put you on front page..!! :( Big blast... I just smiled he took the pics...and he was gone..!!

Funny feeling.... waiting for tom news paper...to see my dirty face..!

PS : I should have shaved my face..... I was looking like a loafer today..!! :( ...god knows how my pic comes tom, If at all they take the Brave decision of publishing it.. But i dont think they would risk taking their paper sales to a record fall..!!. any case, waiting for tom paper..!!

Muscat Musings

" Hi .. Vivek .. How are you.. " .

This is one statement i hear atleast 5 times a day. Omani's are extra friendly. They greet you every session without fail...

I am working here with a bunch of omani's and few jordanians. Atleast i m getting a tad bit accustomed to multi cultural practises these days...and I donno whether i should be glad or not for this.

I cant wish every guy good morning...good afternoon ...and a goodbye every day ... Every time u meet phew..! This is a complete contradiction to the practises that take place in India. In My office back home no one gives a shit...and there is this flair of flamboyance in our colleagues back there... that gives us the sense of closeness... Yeh shaane ye dekh server down hey..!! abey saaleh ye code kaam karta kyu nehe... sounds much better than .. "Ah ..Hello theeere seeeeems too beee a litttttle probleeemmmm withhh ur Kode.. can u see that." ....

Yeah I feel like i m talking to a kid when i m speaking with few people here. U have to talk real slow. U ll feel much better when u see some one who has problem with the firangi language more than u have. :) . well I do.!!

My work is to deal with two jordanians every day. Nice guys they are.. wont trouble me with too much work. Here is my first conversation with one of the Jordanian.

" Hi.. what is your name .."

I am Vivek..i m from infosys.....

" Nice name...vivek... *Big Smile*

I was Silent for some time but courtesy kicked in....so I asked "what is ur name ..." . I was prepared to say "Nice name" right after he says his name no matter how it sounds. I just want to sound courteous ... I donno why whenever we go to some foreign place, we get extra courteous to the localites.. until they kick our butt some day .

The Jordanian responded... Zihaad. I fell silent.

PS: He is a very nice guy...zihaad. I was dumb stuck after the incident , i just got back to work.

Arya 2 Songs

Songs are Awesome... do listen to them here.