When we were kids, we liked to play in the sand-at least, I did. I also built a lot of sand castles whenever we went to a beach. When I went to Dubai last week, I saw the biggest quantities of sand in one place that I had ever seen. But my feelings this time were mixed. What makes people settle down in vast oceans of sand, when there are several "greener" options still available? Of course, the economic answers to this are obvious, but yet, the thought lingers....
Anyway, made the most of my visit with the usual tourist circuit of a few malls and Palm Jumeirah trip, followed by the Burj, an apparition that dwarfs all other tall buildings like the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, and the Sears Tower in Chicago, and the champion of our childhood, The Empire State Building. Somehow, I am no longer impressed by tall buildings. Carlton Towers in Bangalore was a recent disaster which killed a few people, but in general, I am not convinced that these structures are really safe. If you can stay more grounded by being close to earth, I am all for it.
I again met an ex-student (Siddhartha Agarwal) unexpectedly at Delhi airport, whom I had taught at Kirloskar institute in 2000-2002. He runs his own business in Kolkata now. As I mentioned in my autobiography, this happens with greater frequency these days, and can lead to faculty delight, a close cousin of the customer delight that we marketing profs keep talking about.
Anyway, made the most of my visit with the usual tourist circuit of a few malls and Palm Jumeirah trip, followed by the Burj, an apparition that dwarfs all other tall buildings like the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, and the Sears Tower in Chicago, and the champion of our childhood, The Empire State Building. Somehow, I am no longer impressed by tall buildings. Carlton Towers in Bangalore was a recent disaster which killed a few people, but in general, I am not convinced that these structures are really safe. If you can stay more grounded by being close to earth, I am all for it.
I again met an ex-student (Siddhartha Agarwal) unexpectedly at Delhi airport, whom I had taught at Kirloskar institute in 2000-2002. He runs his own business in Kolkata now. As I mentioned in my autobiography, this happens with greater frequency these days, and can lead to faculty delight, a close cousin of the customer delight that we marketing profs keep talking about.
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