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We often search for reasons to be grateful in the big things -career milestones, financial stability, wealth, a perfect relationship, or life-changing moments. But what if gratitude lies in something far more ordinary… something we barely think about or something we are ashamed of talking about? Something as simple as… using the toilet. Think about it. If you’re able to wake up, walk into a clean, private restroom, and go about your day with a healthy digestive system, you’re already more fortunate than millions. Some struggle with  chronic constipation , spending time, money, and energy just to feel “normal.” Others deal with  frequent discomfort , where urgency replaces control and have to make multiple visit to a toilet or live with the scare of not finding one while travelling, working or just stepping out of the home. Many live with  mobility challenges , needing assistance for even the most basic bodily functions. And there are those who are  bedridden , relyin...

Disclaimer :  read before proceeding >>>  If you are from the hospitality industry, have worked as a Butler or have Butlers as your work mates, there's gonna be nothing new in this post for you. Perhaps, you can add your views to this post.   Who are Butlers and where do they work? Butlers are not cooks as how it is commonly known in some societies and they are more than the impeccably groomed people we see in luxury hotels in their black suits.Their tasks are far more complex and they have a multi-faceted personality with immense professional training. Butlers are not just seen in luxury hotels but in palaces, private residences of Ultra High Net worth Individuals (UHNWI), official residences of the heads of state, private yachts     corporate offices that host visitors, business luncheons and high teas and so on. Not all hotels will have or require Butlers to serve their guests. Some hotels will have butler services available in all its rooms while i...

We remember many words and in most cases, their meanings, usage, pronunciations as well. But how often we remember those who introduced a particular word to us? Not that often, unless either the word or the person is so remarkable or in rare cases, when both are. 1. The word : pc: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/    - Ms. Sumathy ( in pic below) introduced me the word "Etiquette" almost 3 decades ago when I was her student learning communicative English as a part of my graduate studies in hospitality management.When she first explained the meaning of the word, it was hard for me to comprehend and later with examples, she engraved the word deep in to my thoughts that every time I come across the word, I am able to relive that moment when I heard it for the first time.    - As a trainer, professional in the hospitality industry, whenever I explain, train my colleagues on lobby etiquette, telephone etiquette, service etiquette, business etiquette and so on, I remembe...

     Growing up in a small town in south India, I used to walk past street vendors selling different items on the footpath (read as roadside as there wasn't a footpath).Among them, the one who always attracted my attention was the middle aged man who sold rings embeded with colourful stones which he claims as semi-precious lucky stones but were actually glass pieces.     Unlike other vendors who were selling essential commodities, the luck vendor was never busy with many buyers. However, occasionally he had customers who are to be first convinced about the 'quality' of the product and then about the 'positive' impact of the product.      I always pondered, "if wearing those rings, stones are sure to bring luck and prosperity, why was he not wearing them and becoming rich to live a better life away from this roadside?" and " what's so compelling for him to make others rich?"      As years passed, my visit to the place lessened...

WOULD YOU COMFORTABLY TAKE VACCINES MANUFACTURED IN CHINA? I am coming across this question too often on social media by the “patriotic” Indians. *Chinese vaccines(Sinopharm, Sinovac and others) are approved by WHO and being used in more than 50 countries including UAE, Bahrain, Vietnam, The Philippines, Hungary, Indonesia with the approval of their local health authorities. *Millions of people in those countries are already vaccinated with the Chinese vaccines and that includes hundreds of thousands of Indian expatriate workers, permanent residents living in those countries. *India manufactures only 1 brand of Covid vaccine - Covaxin by Bharat Biotech and until now, Covaxin’s WHO Emergency Use Listing approval is pending – meaning, those vaccinated with Covaxin may be considered as non-vaccinated during international travel until WHO approves it. *Remember, Covishield is not an Indian vaccine. It’s a vaccine developed by Astra Zeneca (Oxford Univ., UK) and produced at an Indian pharma...

I have always been fascinated by the entertainments of this God   man, Nithyananda aka HDH Nithyananda Paramashivam ( HDH refers to His Divine Holiness). Despite being a rape accused fugitive, he has been making rounds on the media for building his own nation, KAILASA and more recently for unveiling Kailasa currency through the Reserve bank of Kailasa😮 Let us see some interesting, funny facts about Kailasa and its de facto head of the state. 1. Nitthi (as how he is fondly called by people who love him) is a smart man who calls his nation as an E-nation to avoid his followers and potential citizens of Kailasa asking him where it is located. There are speculations that Kailasa has been set up on a privately owned island off the coast of Ecuador or in the Turks & Caicos islands, Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean.However, these governments have been denying the entry and purchase of any island in their territory by Nitthi. 2. Buying a private island is not any thing new as m...

As I am writing this blog post, the world, especially India will be gearing up to celebrate the International Day of Yoga over this weekend - 21st June 2020.Yoga is an ancient practice of exercise both for the physical and mental well being like any other health regimen.But it has been packaged and promoted in such a way that it is a panacea for all health issues right from impotency to infertility to cardio vascular illness to COVID 19. I keep coming across photos, videos on social media with people of different age groups performing various Yoga postures and projected that flexibility of the body is equal to 100% fitness.Being a hotel employee over 2 decades, I have seen loads of drunk people at Bars and clubs who, under the influence of alcohol can twist their bodies in many unimaginable way without having an iota of knowledge about yoga😆 Mathematics, an interesting or the most hated course in schools can be compared to Yoga.Back in the school days, our minds have ...

If we were asked this question, "Who is your role model?" How many of us can think of a person instantly? It is always a very difficult to get an answer from the top of one's mind.Whenever I have come across this question before, I always create my imaginary figure by selecting various traits of different personalities from people I personally know to those who are globally famous. Further, when I tried to enumerate the traits that I am inspired by or wanted to follow, the most on the list is came from a popular person - Tun Dr.Mahathir Mohamad, the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Though I have visited a few times and lived for short periods in Mahathir's Malaysia, I have officially  nothing to do with that country.A couple of times, I've got the opportunity to see Dr.M in public events.However, never got a chance to shake hand or get a selfie with him.I remember having in my wallet, a photo of him cut off from a news paper in the early 2000s when I used to...

Privacy and Confidentiality is no doubt losing its meaning as we are technologically advancing.We all know that our personal data are being captured by various methods whenever we shop, we open a new email account, buy stuffs online, enroll for a lucky draw and by many other ways and such data are stored by someone who we do not know and could be transferred to stranger who surely does not require to have access to such data. Leave aside the data security and breaches happening due to technology and see these scenes where personal data are shared, sought for unintentionally due to human behaviour. Scene 1 : At a Doctor's office: I was at a Doctor's office along with my wife where he is giving me consultation on my medical examination and suddenly from nowhere a nurse barged in with some papers (perhaps, results of another patient for which the Doctor was waiting for), the Doctor gone through those repots and asked the nurse to call an elderly lady waiting at the corri...

During my recent visit to Sri Lanka, I was surprised with 2 simple things that is being followed throughout the island. Though I have observed this a few times when I visited Colombo, the capital of the the island nation, I was of the impression that these things are being followed only in the capital but to my surprise this time, I have observed these at places away from the capital- tier 2 cities like Kandy, Galle and Negombo and smaller towns like Moratuwa, Kaluthara, Chillaw, Nuwara Eliya and so on. 1. Respect to pedestrians on roads: Whenever I wanted to cross any road with traffic flowing on that, all I needed to do is to reach the nearest pedestrian crossing point ( Zebra crossing) and walk across the road. The drivers of vehicles are so considerate for the pedestrians and stop their vehicles to let people cross the road.Having been used to wait (im)patiently to avoid putting my life at risk to cross roads anywhere in India, I usually wait for the road to be clear with...

Just in 2 weeks from now, no fizzy drinks from Coca-cola and Pepsico corp will be sold all over Tamilnadu & Pondicherry, the southern state and its adjoining union territory in India. This has been decided by the Trader's association and all shops and businesses have been  instructed to stop stocking and selling the frizzy drinks. There has been allegations against the soft drink giants for exploiting the underground water resources in their manufacturing plants thereby leaving the cultivable lands arid which has badly impacted agriculture.It's so sad- no doubt.Besides this, the fizzy drinks were always targeted by many for  being unhealthy , causing obesity among youth and for being unethical foreign players crushing the indigenous manufacturers. I have to confess here for being a Coke lover ( note - not an addict!) for many years but drastically reduced consuming in the recent past .Now, thinking of getting used to a situation where even the occasional sipping ...

It was a Friday sermon at a Mosque near my home and unusually the topic of the day's sermon was focussing on the current affairs of the region on protests happening for banning alcohol and correlated the news with the Islamic teaching on strict ban on alcohol. I was enjoying the speech as the speaker (Imam) was giving random examples from  incidents happening in the state on how, people professing different faiths have united to fight against the socio-economical impacts of alcohol and made us feel proud that Islam has made alcohol Haram (prohibited)several hundred years ago knowing its ill effects.Everything was going fine until the Imam's speech drifted slightly and hit me indirectly ( he does not know who I am) when he said that it's becoming a trend these days that young Muslim boys & girls are joining hotel & catering studies and after finishing their studies they start working for hotels where their main jobs include arranging/assigning rooms for couples...