A Slice of Art and Design

How do you impress a traveler who has seen it all and had it all? Being pampered every morning is routine—it no longer excites him. To delight such a guest, you need to offer something beyond the predictable. Something more than the run-of-the-mill. In 2008, I stepped away from my routine life in Kuwait and moved to the bustling city of Dubai. The brief was both exciting and unfamiliar—to be part of a team managing the design of a themed development. At the heart of that project was a boutique hotel—an equestrian-themed property envisioned as a destination for horse lovers and an experience for the adventurous. It was then that I was confronted with a simple but fundamental question: What exactly is a boutique hotel? This question led me to explore what was then a relatively new concept—the “Boutique Hotel,” which first emerged in the early 1980s. The first boutique hotel in the world opened its doors to guests in 1981: The Blakes Hotel in South Kensington, London. This was the creatio...

One should not use oneself as a yardstick, as it may lead to biased inferences. But in this instance, I am referring to something that is already part of history. Fifteen years back, if someone had time-travelled and told me that in the year 2010 we would be shopping directly from our computers, I would have categorised them as yet another science fiction writer. Today, standing in the middle of 2010, I have no hesitation in admitting that I would have been grossly mistaken. I will also be mistaken again if I assume that within the next 15 years commerce will completely migrate to the electronic format. But definitely, a major portion of it will shift, while computers and smartphones will enjoy a significant share of that pie. The new era of shopping will look something like what is shown in a video from Cisco , conducted from the comfort of one’s home or workplace. This is the future of shopping. I enjoy strolling through malls—doing what is popularly known as window shopping—appr...

The most significant chapter in the Dubai story is the Burj. After writing about Dubai for so long, I felt compelled to say a few words about this landmark. Those “few words” have turned out to be quite lengthy—perhaps justified, considering the subject is the tallest structure in the world. Before I go further, a small personal detour. When I was in Kuwait, the Burj—then still known as Burj Dubai—was rising at an incredible pace. One of our seniors from college was part of the team working on the project. Our curiosity, however, was less about the height and more about the logistics. How were they staging the project? How were the tower cranes connected and managed at such scale? That, perhaps, is a story for another day. Coming back to the Burj. This is perhaps the only claim about Dubai that few will dispute—the tallest man-made structure in the world. Other claims—the largest mall, the longest this, the biggest that—are often debated over conversations and cocktail tables. But this...

Doodhsagar waterfall I received these images by email, and unfortunately, the mail did not carry any credit to the photographer. I believe—and I am sure you will agree—that due recognition must always be given, both to the person behind the lens and to the Creator who made such beauty possible.  As I look through these landscapes of India, rich in colour, scale, and emotion, one phrase naturally comes to mind… Incredible India! Doodhsagar waterfall, Goa A fishing Village in Konkan Amboli Ghat Back Water in Ratnagiri Beetle nuts drying on roofs Bhimashankar cliffs in karjat Caves in Ladghar Ganpatiphule beach Jog falls Kashedi ghat Khumbarli Ghat Malvan Marleshwar waterfall in Sangameshwar Mumbai - Goa Paddy fields in konkan Paddy fields Pune to Shrivardhan bus Rice fields in Chiplun Road to Konkan from Satara Tamhini ghat Typical village in Konkan Varandha ghat Varandha ghat Varandha ghat View from Kashedi ghat Water falls on the way to Mahableshwar on Konkan side Yana rocks S...