Beej's Blog

Farewell, Hilton...

2012-01-30T23:23:00.000-08:00

For the past four years, I have served as a senior member of the Hilton Worldwide team in India; today is my last day in that role and marks an important professional and personal milestone for me. When I moved to India in late 2006, it was for a two year stint as a hotel advisor. Back then, I was a bored American lawyer looking for the thrill and challenge of working in India.

When I joined Hilton in 2008 the company had no hotels operating in India and was coming off a largely failed joint venture. Today, the Hilton flag flies proudly over seven hotels in India, with nearly that number opening this year and dozens of hotels under construction and in the pipeline. I am proud of the time I've spent at Hilton, my fellow Hilton team members, and the wonderful people I've met and done business with along the way. It has been a ride I could not have imagined six years ago. Tomorrow, we officially launch Boston East India Hotels LLC, an American hotel ownership, development and management company of boutique and branded mid-scale and lifestyle hotels that will operate in India and the United States. Today, I celebrate and salute Hilton Worldwide.

Thanks for the amazing opportunity.

Turbulence in the skies over Kingfisher Airlines

2011-11-16T21:23:00.000-08:00

One of my first posts on this blog was my review of Kingfisher Airlines. At the time, I suggested that the airline was more talk than substance. This week's earnings shortfall, reported by my friend Vikas Bajaj in the New York Times, suggests that the clouds over KF have grown darker.

Kingfisher, in my opinion, has been long on promise but short on delivery for years. I don't need a model helping me to my seat, I need someone who can manage the process efficiently (though the fact she isn't a tank may be preferable). The government should let the market rationalize supply by letting this poorly executed venture fail. Fly away Kingfisher, far away.

Without Crossing Oceans

2011-10-13T06:41:00.000-07:00

‎"I have dreamt of returning home... Then again, this is my home."

I wanted to share a beautiful new film created for my cousin Arun Paul's company, Priya Living, by Tanuj Chopra, a rising South Asian filmmaker whose first feature film was an official selection at Sundance. Camera work was by Bradford Young, winner of Best Cinematography at Sundance this year. I encourage you to check it out by clicking here.

Congrats and much love Arun!

Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011

2011-10-05T23:01:00.000-07:00

RIP Steve. You lived a truly inspired and inspirational life. Reading the account of your life -- and its healthy dose of both adversity and triumph -- gave me and I'm quite sure millions of others, motivation to think and do as if this day is our last.

Click here for the NY Times article on the passing of Steve Jobs.

Remembering 9/11...

2011-09-11T03:21:00.000-07:00

Remembering my dear friend and fellow Middlebury Symposium editor Jeffrey D. Bittner, who fell on September 11th ten years ago today.

You, along with all the other victims of that awful day, paid the ultimate price simply living the lives we all cherish. We have not forgotten you.

Neither snow nor rain... nor default? The Postal Service faces a new hurdle

2011-09-05T00:35:00.000-07:00

As if we haven't received enough bad news from the U.S. over the past few years, the United States Postal Service, in many ways the most approachable and frequent access point for most Americans to their federal government, is in dire condition. As reported by the New York Times (Postal Service Is Nearing Default as Losses Mount), the USPS is near default. Saddled by a bloated employee base, federally mandated service standards that may not be relevant in today's electronic world, and declining revenues, the USPS appears to be another once proud part of the federal machinery that is simply broken.

It is hard to suggest there are easy answers. For one, postal employees and their unions will need to be flexible if there is to be a credible plan to rescue the USPS. Congress should also look at creative ways to allowing the USPS to enter fields that it has by statute been barred from in the past. That is not to suggest that we should allow the postal service to become a competitor to private businesses in a large sphere of commerce (though, based on their competitiveness vs. FedEx and UPS, other businesses in other fields have little to fear). Creative ways to cut costs, as proposed, such as co-locating smaller post offices in supermarkets, are important, but won't create a lasting solution. Slightly lower costs with significantly lower revenues still creates a deficit.

Today's trends suggest that fewer and fewer pieces will be mailed every year going into the future. That trajectory seems clear. Clearly, there are times of the year like Christmas when the mail service sees a spike in volume. Unlike at the Christmas Tree Shops, it isn't Christmas yearlong in the real world. With the electronic age, paper communication is a dying format. The newspaper business in the Americas faces the same decline, as do paperback books (NYT: The Dog-Eared Paperback, Newly Endangered in an E-Book Age). As the most visible outpost of the federal government, the USPS could fashion itself as a complete portal to government affairs and communications, which it does not do very well today. Yet, even with increased purpose and renewed efficiency (assuming that is possible in such a bloated system), the postal service delivers mail and services to the vast outer reaches of the Union and many of the routes and tasks carried out by the USPS are inherently unprofitable and unlikely to ever be otherwise.

Providing a federally subsidized mail service to Tin City, Alaska (from where former Alaska Gov. Palin might actually have been able to see Russia - see Slate's article) may simply not be of enough strategic importance to us anymore. At the heart of the matter, therefore, we need to come to a consensus on whether a federal mail service is important in this day; the electronic age -- and competition from private goods carriers -- have cast considerable doubt upon the answer. Unlike the proverbial check, the solution may just not be in the mail.

Debt Ceiling Irresponsibility

2011-07-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

The looming crisis over the United States federal debt ceiling, which involves the amount of borrowing the United States government is allowed to undertake under the Public Debt Acts and subsequent legislation, is a crisis being perpetrated by the House of Representatives that has the potential to destabilize the global economy and permanently disfigure the credibility of the United States of America. The Congress should immediately back away from this standoff by passing a resolution immediately raising the debt ceiling to a number that is reasonable for the next several months of federal operation until a final budget can be negotiated that sets the debt ceiling for the next year ahead.

I take further note of the incredibly irresponsible and un-statesmanlike conduct by House Speaker John A. Boehner, whose refusal to answer President Obama's phone calls yesterday is not only unbelievable but irresponsible given how constitutionally close the Speaker is to the President. It is the duty of every elected federal official to treat the office of the President with respect, regardless of policy disputes that may legitimately remain. Boehner's actions should not be condoned and are reminiscent of the breach in protocol by Rep. Joe Wilson who yelled "you lie" while President Obama was addressing a joint session of Congress in 2009.

NY Times: Debt Ceiling Talks Collapse as Boehner Walks Out, July 22, 2011

Thoughts on the Awful Carnage in Norway

2011-07-22T23:01:00.000-07:00

The people of Norway have just experienced unbelievable carnage. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their relatives and friends at this time of great loss. It now appears that the acts of terrorism are those of a lone right-wing lunatic with anti-Islamic beliefs and domestic in nature, not the work of Islamic terrorist as first believed. That said, violence is violence; terror has no nationality or ideology. An awful day for Norway and peace loving people everywhere.

NY Times: At Least 80 Are Dead in Norway Shooting, July 23, 2011

Another heavily guarded Karzai aide killed in Afghanistan

2011-07-17T15:12:00.000-07:00

J. M. Khan in 2002

A question all politically aware thinking people must ask themselves is what our plan for Afghanistan will and should be going forward. Last month, we saw the brazen attack on the Intercontinental hotel, one of Kabul's nicest and most fortified. Earlier this week, President Hamid Karzai's brother was gunned down at home by his own guard. Today, we get news that one of Karzai's closest aides, Jan Mohammed Khan, was killed a few hours ago. As outsiders, we cannot know if the money, effort, and blood that the international community has committed to "fixing" or "containing" Afghanistan is actually doing anything close to what we hope or need. However, if we are to use these events as proxies for what is happening in the country, the story may indeed be bleaker than any of us fear to imagine. If Karzai's own brother and top aides are not safe, who in the country is and what has all our investment in creating order out of lawlessness actually done?

NY Times: Karzai Adviser Is Killed at Kabul Home, July 17, 2011

The United States, China and the Dalai Lama

2011-07-16T14:39:00.000-07:00

The risks of running up huge foreign debt as a nation is that your moral compass as a people gets unduly influenced by the magnetic field of money.

NY Times: Dalai Lama and Obama Meet to Talk About Tibet, July 16, 2011

Thoughts on yet another Mumbai terrorist attack

2011-07-13T13:45:00.000-07:00

The citizens of Mumbai have seen this before. Bombs, Bombay, and terrorism against this big bustling city that just takes it and moves on has become a recurrent theme. While the year 2003 was an especially bad year for explosions in the city, terrorism has hit with alarming frequency and with little or no opposition from India's military or intelligence operation. Just over five years ago to the day, on July 11, more than 1,000 people were killed or injured from seven coordinated bombs in the city. Who can forget the terrorist attacks of the 26th of November, 2008? Surely not Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of the 2008 attack, who celebrated his birthday today. Did anyone in the intelligence apparatus of India know it was Kasab's birthday today? Did anyone have even one conversation about whether someone might use the date to plan attack? Did anyone care? Probably not.

So what do we do about all this terror, death and destruction? What can we do? While there is no one answer to solving terrorism, one thing is quite clear: India's government, politicians and public institutions have failed their people. Government is instituted by people to ensure, at a minimum, the common peace. India's government, with rather striking universality across its many states and cities, has failed to deliver clean water, roads, and air. But those are relative luxuries, it would appear. India has also failed in its basic duty to protect its citizens against attacks, both foreign and domestic. Whether it is a completely failed response to terrorism that happens nearly weekly in the northeast states, or the internationally publicized attacks in Mumbai like those of earlier today, India's politicians are more interested in pointing their many fingers at Pakistan than in trying to make their people safer.

Zaveri Bazar, which has been hit before by terrorist blasts, had no improved infrastructure, no CCTV monitoring, no bomb detection or prevention methods. In fact, with the exception of the haphazard approach taken by hotels in Mumbai, nowhere in the city will you find any coordinated approach implemented by the government to prevent, deter, monitor, or detect the type of terrorism that the city regularly now faces.

The politicians will make bold and impassioned speeches tomorrow. They will point fingers. They will appeal for the public's strength, unity and determination. The next day, they will return to business as usual, as will the amazingly forgiving and tolerant public that elevates these politicians to power every year. Bribes will be paid, favors will be handed out. Scams will be hatched, public tax revenue will be squandered. Yet, sadly, nobody will do anything to make it even a touch less likely that today's attacks won't be the same as tomorrow's ones.

The brave citizens behind the Public Concern for Governance Trust have long advocated for better governance in India. It is time to head their calls. It is indeed time for the people to stand up, not just to the debased humans that perpetrate these acts of violence, but also to the politicians that allow them to continue to feast on an unfettered buffet of terrorist opportunity.

What do Ron Paul, Jimmy Carter and Barney Frank have in common? Drugs!

2011-06-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

In the days of divided American politics in which we find ourselves living, it is a rare issue that brings politicians on opposite ends of the political spectrum together to co-sponsor legislation. Somewhat surprisingly, federal control over marijuana happens to be just such an issue.

Last week, former President Jimmy Carter wrote a insightful Op-Ed piece in the New York Times urging the administration to call off the American led war on drugs launched under the the Nixon administration and reaffirmed by President Reagan. President Carter made reference to the "courageous and profoundly important recommendations" made by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which includes as its members former Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, former US Secretary of State George P. Shultz, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, entrepreneur and Virgin founder Richard Branson, and former Presidents Ernesto Zedillo (Mexico), César Gaviria (Colombia), and Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Brazil). At its core, the Commission concluded that the "global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world." While the finding is harsh, it is indeed hard to conclude otherwise.

The principal recommendation made by the Commission is that governments "end the criminalization, marginalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs but who do no harm to others." This is a sensible recommendation that should be adopted. The escalation in rates of incarceration for non violent drug offenders is absurd. When President Carter left office in 1980, about a half million prisoners inhabited American jails. Today, nearly five times as many people are incarcerated and according to President Carter, the number of people incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses has increasing more than twelvefold since he left office.

I recall a conversation I had with my judge, the Hon. Benson Everett Legg, United States District Judge for the District of Maryland, about a few policy issues related to drug sentencing. Judge Legg, who had seen many federal drug cases by the time I clerked with him in 2000 and has undoubtedly seen many more, shared his frustrations regarding the effectiveness of federal drug prosecutions. According to the judge, as soon as federal or state prosecutors cleared one Baltimore street corner of a drug dealer, another would surely pop up nearby. The inner city simply lacked opportunities for the young (and predominantly African American) men who were being convicted of selling drugs to the suburban (and predominantly white) consumers of those drugs. Supply and Demand 101: where there is demand, a supply will be available. These were not the musings of a liberal Democrat but rather a moderate to conservative jurist who had once been prominent in the Maryland Republican party. Judge Legg's views are hardly unique, however. Many federal judges are frustrated with drug policy and sentencing in the United States. (See generally articles in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Sentencing Project and salon.com)

Judge Legg's observations about Federal drug prosecutions on the streets of Baltimore back in 2000 are mirrored in the Commission's findings that "apparent victories in eliminating one source or trafficking organization are negated almost instantly by the emergence of other sources and traffickers." The futility of the war on drugs on the streets of the US and the amazing surge in the number of people in U.S. prisons and the phenomenal incarceration costs thereof represent the tip of the drug policy iceberg. As President Carter and the Commission note, a growing number of Latin American countries have witnessed an appalling surge in drug-related violence, corruption and gross violations of human rights as a result of the US led and funded war on drugs.

Against this backdrop, Reps. Barney Frank (D), a Massachusetts liberal, and Ron Paul (R), a Texas libertarian, who are often not on the same page on policy matters, will introduce a bill in the House today that would effectively end most federal control over marijuana by deferring to individual states on such matters and only invoking federal authority in cases involving cross-border or inter-state smuggling. If passed, the bill would allow individuals to grow, use or sell marijuana in states where it is legal. While the bill is not a legalization measure, it represents a solid and wise first step in the rationalization of federal drug policy.

I have long endorsed liberalization of drug policy, especially with regard to cannabis, and I welcome this most recent, even if long-shot attempt to do just that. To sign a petition to your member of Congress urging his or her support for the Frank/Paul legislation, please click here.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian, 1928 - 2011

2011-06-04T00:40:00.000-07:00

Dr. Jack Kevorkian Dies at 83; A Doctor Who Helped End Lives
(NY Times)

I met Dr. Kevorkian through one of my closest friends at Michigan Law School, Nick Holmes, who along with his mother and sister were close friends of Dr. Kevorkian. Nick's mother and sister were integral parts of Dr. Kevorkian's legal team and were important in his several acquittals. I only met Dr. Kevorkian twice, once on the campus of the University of Michigan and once for Thanksgiving dinner at the Holmes residence. He was a brilliant man whose compassion and love for human dignity are made even more ironic by the "Dr. Death" title that the media gave him. I weeped for him the day of his conviction (though we all agreed that he had made several strategic and tactical errors in the positioning and defense of the Youk case) and felt such joy the day he was finally released.

Until I met Jack, I was unsure of how I felt about medically assisted suicide. My professor in law school, Yale Kamisar, is a leading advocate against the right to die. And while I think there are compelling arguments on both sides, I have come to conclude that the right to die with dignity is as fundamental as the right to live. If my difficulties with doctors and the medical system, as an able bodied middle-age man is any example, I can't imagine being afflicted with a terminal disease and in constant pain and at the mercy of an uncaring doctor and medical system. Dr. Kevorkian, was right.

Jack, the world never understood you but is better as a result of your brave and tireless work on behalf of those who were too weak to advocate for dignity, even in death. May you live in eternal peace.

For the NY Times obituary, please click here.

Loyalty Programs for Small and Boutique Properties (NYT)

2011-06-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

Loyalty programs are the drugs that keep frequent travelers addicted to large hotel companies and brand systems. Whether for points or recognition, frequent travelers as a class have repeatedly demonstrated that they will pay more and be more loyal to a company if it belongs to a program that offers them benefits and/or points that become more valuable or accrue more rapidly as frequency of use increases. Best depicted in the recent George Clooney movie Up in the Air, loyalty programs have become an end, not merely a means, for the frequent hotel consumer

Big hotel companies such as Marriott, Hilton, and Starwood have built and are able to maintain a critical mass of hotels in their systems and therefore gain nearly automatic distribution for their rooms. With the exception of Starwood's W (which may not really be an exception), there has not been much in the way of loyalty programs for lifestyle and independent hotels. For the most part, having a loyalty program and running a boutique hotel have been mutually exclusive activities. With the growth in the importance of loyalty programs and the continued interest in the boutique or lifestyle segment, a new trend has emerged: the creation of consortium of independent assets tied to a common rewards system (see NY Times article). That development will most certainly aid in the development of innovative and independent properties, something we should all note.

As the larger hotel brands soften their sometimes stodgy images and products and open their own lifestyle and luxury hotels, it is important to note that loyalty and rewards programs, once viewed as a feature reserved for big chains, are fast becoming quite ubiquitous. Such programs, if available to boutique and independent properties, may no longer shield poorer branded products and services, like they have in years past. Branded products have long offered the promise of consistency and rewards. Creativity, passion, and excitement -- things we associate with lifestyle products -- have not been features we expect from the bigger brands. The availability of rewards and loyalty programs to consumers of those products may very well change the landscape of the industry by (a) further leveling the playing field between the independents and the brands and (b) altering the hotels that the large brand companies decide to build as a result. Stay tuned.

Click here for an article from the New York Times on loyalty programs being launched by small and independent hotel,.

Kelli Schaefer - Better Idea (Live at Ripcord)

2011-06-01T14:50:00.000-07:00

This video is a great example of the transformative power of YouTube: upstart artist, strong video performance, ability to bypass the traditional recording studios/labels. Has changed the music business and its revenue model forever.

To watch the video on YouTube, click here.

It's time for sensible drug legislation

2011-05-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

The movement in the Netherlands to reverse its leadership in the area of sensible drug laws compels me to again support drug legislation reform in the United States. I hope some of you will join me on the Founders Wall at the CCPR.

To contribute to the Coalition for Cannabis Policy Reform, please click here.
For news updates on the Coalition for Cannabis Policy Reform, please click here.

For an NY times article on the most recent movement in the Netherlands, click here.

The Observer and the Observed

2011-05-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

In his interesting blog post, The Producers: Are Pictures Detaching Us From Life?, UC Berkeley Prof. Alva Noë writes of the creeping wedding-ization of experience. The proliferation of technology, especially digital imaging technology, is making us all detached producers rather than active participants in everyday life, he suggests. While the point is well taken, I wonder if we can't make a broader point about observation and the observer. In quantum physics, the observer and the observed are linked; the observed is affected by the observer. The video of Osama watching himself on TV, remote in hand, offers a stark recursive example of this phenomenon. The technology that is available today has no doubt democratized the producer function and with that created a new need for composers and editors as well as a realization that participatory detachment from the activity has its own impact. Yet, with or without technology, observation has the power to alter the observed. Our awareness of this law of nature and our knowledge thereof offers us our only real method to control how and to what extent we observer-participants impact that which we seek to merely observe.

India Calling (Little India Magazine)

2011-04-05T00:53:00.000-07:00

Click here for Naomi Abraham's article on Indian Americans moving to India for opportunities, which has a mention of my own experience here.

Hangla's, the taste of Kolkata

2011-03-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

Linking Road, Opposite Amarson's
Linking Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai 400 050
www.hanglas.in (non-operational when posted, but is the site they publicize)
Bandra: +91 7738-364225 and 91 7738-3364235

B
Located inside a newspaper stand-like street front stand alone structure on a corner of Linking Road in Bandra, Hangla's most recent outlet is a welcome addition to the Bandra culinary almanac. Nobody I spoke to when ordering could speak Bengali (odd for a restaurant which produces the "taste of Kolkata"). That, combined with the quality of my Hindi (and the quality of his English) made for a bit of a challenging ordering process. The food was Bengali enough to satisfy this Bengali's cravings, despite the initial language barrier.

I ordered three items to test Hangla's capabilities: a chicken kathi roll with egg, a mutton biryani and mutton kasha (essentially a Bengali mutton curry with a thick, relatively dry gravy). The chicken kathi roll with egg was delicious, as many online reviewers had suggested. The Kolkata style biryani was quite good as well, though chicken would have been less oily than the mutton, which couldn't quite free itself from a touch of red meat grease (though much less than most Hyderabadi style biryanis I've had in Mumbai). The kosha mutton was acceptable, though a touch sweet. The mutton, while tender and flavorful, did not fully satisfy me from an aromatic perspective.

The serving sizes were generous and the service quite fast. This was the first Bengali food I've been able to purchase in Bandra in my four years here. While the place is a street corner dive, and the quality wasn't stellar, it was Bengali enough, tasty enough, and clean enough to garner a return visit someday soon.

Just Another Victim of 9-11...

2010-07-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

My mom's long time colleague and fellow Sociology Professor, Shirley Kolack, was married to Sol Kolack, the New England Director of the Anti-Defamation League. Sol, who passed away a few years ago at age 80 but whose image and principles are still vivid in my memory, stood for everything this inexplicable decision by the ADL does not: equality in law and culture for all religions and faiths. (Debate Heating Up on Plans for Mosque Near Ground Zero, New York Times, July 30, 2010)

While I can understand and appreciate a desire to be sensitive to the families of the nearly 3,000 victims forever lost at the site, we have to remember that the attack itself was committed by radical Muslim extremists against us and our way of life, which includes at its core religious pluralism and diversity. The hundred or so Muslims who also died in the attacks, who make up about a percent of the victims, and the families who loved them should not be forgotten.

Abraham H. Foxman's decision to endorse the Palin/Gingrich position opposing a Islamic Center near ground zero goes far beyond the professed goal of being sensitive to the majority of the victims and approaches the realm of religious intolerance that the ADL was formed to fight. Kudos to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican, for standing up for the principle of religious freedom, which may have just become another sad victim of that horrible day in 2001.

My Own Private Indian Joke?

2010-07-08T13:28:00.000-07:00

Funny or Racist?

I had been hearing about Joel Stein's article in Time Magazine, My Own Private India, for a few days but until just a few moments ago, hadn't read it. Why read about a dust up involving Indians in Jersey when I feel that I'm living in one dust up or another involving a whole lot more Indians in India itself? For whatever reason, sitting here in Bangladesh inside a substandard hotel, I decided to read Stein's piece; perhaps the bad Indian food in Chittagong that has me throwing up stirred me to it.

There is a lot of outrage about what Stein wrote. While I understand that feelings were hurt within the Indian community, I can't necessarily understand the outrage. Many have said that Time should never have published the piece. I disagree. It has its moments of humor, partially reflects the jokes Indians tell about themselves, and doesn't shed the most positive light on the natives the immigrant Indians have replaced (i.e. "There is an entire generation of white children in Edison who have nowhere to learn crime.")

Sure, Stein's references to Arizona, and understanding how people there could support a draconian and racist new law can be viewed as hurtful. His message can be viewed as unfunny, his viewpoint misguided. Or, we can hear the guy out and laugh as much as we can about life and the people who live alongside us.

I am a North Andover, MA native, and must admit that the town has changed a lot over the more than 30 years I've lived there. I can't stand many of the new people who have moved there. They bring traffic, higher property taxes (because they have kids who actually require good public schools as opposed to just relying on the good ole Pike Schools of the world), and tons of new traffic lights to the sleepy little town I once knew and could speed through. Now, I could have said that I don't like the new white people who have moved into town (most of the new folks are, after all, white). Most of you who know me would have laughed because you know that I often interject race into humor to force people to laugh about the topic. It is the only way that I believe we will ever be able to tackle the much more complicated issues of race and religion in America and around the world.

Stein could also have left race out of his piece, and many would argue he should have. But then it would have just been a dry piece about his hometown growing up and evolving. Who reads stuff like that? His humor is overdone, for sure. But underlying a lot of his perhaps poorly executed humor are real facts: Indians who came here in the 60s and 70s were far more accomplished, on average, than the relatives who followed them more recently. That's not a necessarily important phenomenon to explain; after all, there are plenty of dumb white folks in Jersey too and they didn't need to move there, they've been there for a while. Did he need to explain that fact in this particular Time magazine column? No, but comedy routines, whether delivered in an article or as part of a stand up gig, never really need to do much, except make people laugh -- sometimes uncomfortably.

What I guess I don't get is that Russell Peters, the Canadian comedian of Indian origin that pokes fun at almost all races, does similar stuff. Perhaps his comedy is a touch different, perhaps a touch better executed. But underneath the humor is a lot of racial stuff. We laugh because he's a comedic looking Indian guy that pokes fun of every possible race including his own. Doing so may be funny, but it is also is eerily similar to Stein's humor.

I'm not defending Joel Stein. I'm just suggesting that perhaps we can all learn a thing or two by sometimes attempting to laugh and in the process see a different perspective and not assuming that everyone that brushes up against our racial sensitivities is a racist. I don't give a shit that Stein lost his town to a whole mass of Indian immigrants. They have as much right to be in Edison as he does. What I do care about is the ability for society to continue to laugh at itself and others in an effort to notch down the rhetoric that we see around us. Surely, there is racial humor that crosses the line into racist territory. While I don't think Stein does that, I also don't think that we should stop trying to poke fun at things that might be a touch thorny.

The great thing about America is that our freedoms allow us to speak openly and candidly and debate issues of significance (or even insignificance). During my recent travels in Bangladesh, I spoke to the owner of a TV channel that has been shut down for broadcasting, on live TV, views the current government finds offensive. Better we allow Stein to speak, and then respond -- either using humor, or when appropriate, otherwise -- than to censor and disallow because sensitivities may be affected.

Vie Deck & Lounge

2010-01-05T09:58:00.000-08:00

102 Juhu Tara Road,
Vile Parle West
Mumbai, Maharastra 400 056 India
Tel: +91 22 26604884

D+

Mistakes and Mosquitoes. That summarizes our recent meal at Vie Deck & Lounge, which in my opinion has become nearly unbearable for anyone seeking decent food and passable service. While I can't entirely blame Vie for the mosquitoes, I can certainly hold them accountable for the mistakes. We were seated at perhaps the worst outdoor table in the house. I asked repeatedly about better tables that appeared to be available. All taken, I was told. More than two hours later, when we left Vie, most of the tables I had inquired about were still empty. The one table that was no longer empty was taken by a couple that apparently was given a different answer by the restaurant; they hadn't reserved that table either. Let's set aside seating issues. After all, had the restaurant been packed -- and not nearly empty -- we might have justifiably been seated where we were.

Unfortunately, the food and service were unacceptable as well. The humus plate came with six mini pita wedges. Yes, mini wedges (think pita chips from a bag). Having ordered the humus in the past, I had ordered extra pita wedges. The ten additional mini wedges that came for Rs. 150 (US $3) were equally inadequate. The baked mushroom appetizer was tasteless, while my kebabs/skewers were woefully undercooked (evidenced by the pool of blood and the fact that the kebabs refused any attempt at cohesion). Raw and unacceptable. I asked that the kebabs be cooked some more. They were taken back to the kitchen and never returned.

Besides the food quality, the service left me feeling cheated for leaving the house. My drink order came without the vodka that I had asked be repeated and a pasta dish with shrimp came without the shrimp. When I asked Glen, our server, about the missing crustaceans, he advised me that he had heard and confirmed that the dish was to be presented with mushrooms. While all four of us at the table had heard shrimp be ordered, there was a bigger problem with Glen's claim: the pasta lacked even the mushrooms he had based his defense on.

I spoke briefly with the manager, Dilip, who offered little in the way of consolation. When the bill finally arrived, the bloody kababs had been taken off, but a service charge had already been added to the check. Given how bad our experience was -- and we were multiple-time repeat clients -- I would have expected some additional gesture from the restaurant to help palliate our concerns.

On my way out, manager Dilip walked me to my car and said, "hope to see you again, sir." No, Dilip, I don't think you will. I wasted an evening at Vie. I won't let that happen again.

Goodbye my dear Sammy Dog...

2009-08-17T04:58:00.000-07:00

Samantha "Sammy Dog" Das

August 2000 - August 16, 2009

A prayer for my beloved greyhound, Sammy

Oh dear lord, you have been so kind to me and everyone close to me. You have protected me from harm, helped provide me with abundant love, health, education and sustenance. You have provided me a lovely family, a loving home, and all of the possessions anyone could ever hope for. For a majority of the past decade, you have blessed me, my family, and my friends with the love and affection of one of your servants. Our dear Sammy Dog, who you lent us for nine years, has gone back home to you. Please care for her in her new home as you did in her old one. Please pass along the following few words to her:

Goodbye, my sweetheart Sammy Dog. You picked me at the animal shelter all those years ago. I knew so little about greyhounds back then. You walked right over to me, and instantly but silently asked me to look no further. And I never did. You have constantly been by my side, patiently waiting for me to come home, and expressing the kind of unconditional love only you could provide. Through professional turbulence and personal turmoil, you always gave me your kind and compassionate support. You never complained, never doubted, never acted in anger. You just loved.

Your grandma, grandpa, all your friends around the world and I will miss you. I am forever grateful to you for making me a kinder, better person. I love you. Goodbye.

Om Shanti. Shanti. Shanti.

A bedtime thought for May 12th...

2009-05-12T13:19:00.000-07:00

A little perspective...
Mumbai, India

Most of you who know me and have been in touch recently are aware of why today was not one of my better days.

I spent the day at work -- thinking a lot about the direction in which my life appears to be going. On the one hand, I have a job I really enjoy for a company I like, my family is generally happy and healthy (knock on wood), and I have yet to really go in want of something I really desire in life (let's leave out, for a moment, the over the top fanciful items like the Gulfstream). On the other hand, the past few years have seen enough stress (the economic downturn of '01, the crazy exit from my previous employer, etc.) to cause me to lose more hair than has unmercifully already fallen, the long term performance of my overall investment portfolio remains anemic and pathetic, and I have yet to find success in relationships. The analysis that I ran through my head all had me feeling much worse for myself than perhaps would be warranted by a rational review. Yet, I left work and headed home this evening feeling like I had been defeated. I felt that my most recent life failures had left me an unfortunate and unusually unlucky man. A sad soul, lost, even if temporarily.

This evening, as I entered by bedroom to prepare for bed, I remembered a thought I wanted to share with all of you . Only a few hours before, I had returned home through the dusty streets of Mumbai in my comfortable German car. Yes, this was the car that I recently purchased because the late model Japanese car it replaced had "no soul," in my oft repeated opinion. This was the car I had purchased to help myself enjoy my life more.

My housekeeper was waiting for me to arrive home before leaving for the evening. As I took my blazer off, she asked rather meekly, "Sir, is it OK if I take the pillow you had thrown away home with me tonight." I remembered back to yesterday, when I had thrown away a spare pillow that had gathered a touch of mold. "This isn't safe at all," I had wondered while promptly discarding the pillow. As I wondered why would she could possibly want a moldy pillow, she told me about an old woman without any pillows that she was going to see. "She would really appreciate it, sir," my housekeeper continued. Lest she upset me for re-using something I had thrown out without my permission, she had asked. While suddenly feeling guilty for having thrown out something that perhaps many view as a luxury here, I quickly added another pillow to my housekeeper's bag to take over to this old pillow-less woman I would likely never meet.

The story I have just recounted has no real purpose, plot, or punchline. However, it did give me enough pause to ponder the fact that during a day when all the fancy material goods that surround me could not buy me a simple smile, a moldy pillow I had discarded would provide someone much less fortunate than me exactly the smile that had eluded me all day.

It is perhaps important, in these lives we lead, to take a step back and place our lives in perspective on occasion. It is with the perspective gained from a moldy pillow that I sign off tonight. And yes, I go off to bed finally with that simple smile on my face.

Good night everyone.

- Beej

Bev & Barry from Shooters Bar, Calangute, Goa

2009-01-19T21:20:00.000-08:00

Bev & Barry from Shooters Bar, Calangute, Goa

I have finally located traces of Bev and Barry from Shooters Bar in Calangute. After stopping at Shooters over a period of several months asking for Bev and Barry, the owners, and being told that they were still not back from their travels, I began to suspect the worst... Had the pair left Goa for new adventures? Alas, after a bit of internet research (ok, fine, a quick google effort), I have located the pair's blog. For all of you who have accompanied me to Shooters for a shot of something strong and tasty, here's a link to the pages of the couple, who are apparently back to traveling for a bit. Stop in to their blog and say hello!