PFW and Chloe!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was in Paris for the Paris Fashion Week in the second week of March. I'd been in New York over the summer many times during the Fashion Week there but had never managed to make it to any of the shows and so really, my only exposure to any Fashion Weeks was the difficulty I faced in getting dinner reservations! Naturally, when my sister asked if I'd like to accompany her to Paris during PFW with the chance of maybe attending some shows there, I jumped at the opportunity! 

In my previous post I talk about me being like a kid in Disneyland for the first time, and it's true.. If Disneyland was a giant fashion obsessed bubble! I'd come down to my hotel lobby (I stayed at the Ritz Paris this time) and would have Anna Wintour, Andre Leon Tally and Hamish Bowles chatting only 3 feet away from me and I'd try very hard to keep my composure while breathlessly BBM'ing my friend Ceebo Shah, the fashion obsessed blogger from lastniteindubai  as I just had to obsess to SOMEONE so I could look completely unfazed externally. If you follow me on Twitter, you'll maybe remember my excitement! Everywhere I went I'd see the faces I only saw and read about on blogs and in fashion glossies and I think seeing Marc Jacobs wandering entourage-less at the Hermes store on Rue de Fauborg will count, hands down, as one of the best moments of my life!

At the end of it, we got to see the Chloe and Chanel shows.. Chloe was Ab Fab and was electrifying as it was my first Fashion Week show ever. Here are some pics from the show, taken on my new fave gadget, my Sony NEX-7 and the fantastic zoom lens that I "borrowed" from my store for the trip :) Since you can go onto style.com and pretty much look at the pics of the clothes, here are some of my personal pics and some of the "people watching" that I did!

My sister Komal outside the show

Komal and I, waiting for the show to start

My sister and brother in law

Anna Dello Russo

The Sartorialist, Scott Schuman

The original Streetstyle King, Bill Cunningham

The Queen and High Priestess of Fashion, Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington

Vogue FR Editor, Emmanuelle Alt

Chloe Designer, Clare Waight Keller

Familiar faces from Dubai, Tala Samman with gorgeous Mom, Lina

Non-blogging and Life!

I was speaking to a friend a few days back and she was telling me about what she thought the year 2012 was all about. Some people consider it to be the end of the world, some people think it's going to be a shift of energies in a positive way and some, merely a year of change. My friend, having sadly, recently lost her Father a few weeks prior, was sharing about how 2012 according to her, was a year which gave clarity to a lot of people on their lives going forward. Strangely, she believed that a lot of people would experience a lot of change in their lives which would dictate what their lives would be like henceforth, and she said she noticed an increase in deaths, births, marriages and surprise divorces taking place. While I think that any finality in life is only the doorway to a new beginning and hence don't agree with her understanding of "how things are supposed to be," I do think 2012 has been a year of change for me and for a lot of people around me. For some, it's been a great year, and for a lot, it's been their worst year yet. Both can obviously change as we're still in the early stages of the year (or so it seems, thanks to the surprisingly lovely Dubai weather) but I think it definitely has been a year of "happenings". Or maybe because I've had a lot "happening" in my life which is why I see the same in others, just as my friend sees "finality" in the lives of those she looks around? Who knows.

I've been very busy traveling since the start of the year and my two major trips consisted of my month in the US (which I blogged about) and a very exciting trip to Paris during the Paris Fashion Week in March (which I shall be posting about very soon!) I had gone to Paris with one of my sisters and her husband, so it was great to get that bonding time with them, and had another very dear friend visit for the weekend whom I was seeing after 4 or 5 years! She is like family to us so it was lovely to spend time with her.. all this taking place during PFW which I had never experienced before! My sister got us invitations to go for the Chloe and Chanel shows which literally was a DREAM COME TRUE for me and I was as excited as a child at Disney World for the first time! More on that stuff later! And on my travel schedule, I leave to go to Beirut in a few days and it's my first ever trip there, and I come back and soon leave for Japan, so have lots of traveling coming up in May. On the work front, I'm working on a whole bunch of exciting projects and 2012 has been really, really good there with a lot of ideas that I'm hoping will take fruition soon. Personally I've met tons of new people recently which is strange since I'm not very social... but I've been enjoying going out and meeting some fabulously interesting folk. Let's just say I've been really enjoying myself which a perfect mix of random fun nights out partying and serene evenings spent with loved ones. Life has been good... Which is probably why a lot of blogging hasn't been taking place! As much as I love to share all my thoughts and happenings in my life (which is why I'm a blogger in the first place!) there are some journeys in life that one needs to go through alone, and keep them private. Part of my journey has been that, and the other part... well I've just been too busy living life to be bothered blogging about it :) Either way, I'm hopefully back and will attempt to get back into the swing of things. For all those who have asked me either face to face or over emails/Facebook/Twitter why I haven't been writing anymore, Thank You.. It's been very heartening to know Kiran's Corner has been missed and hopefully is now back for good! :)
-

Gulf News Article: Digital Technology boosts Education

This is the article from my column that appeared in Gulf News yesterday that talks a bit more about my week at HBS. Hope you guys enjoy it!

I am currently in New York as I write this, having returned from a brilliant week spent at the Harvard Business School (HBS) in Boston. Having been there for a similar course three years ago, I was familiar with the set-up of the place, the astounding level of its faculty and the immense amount of work required in preparation for the course. Known for its case-study methodology, a week at Harvard means about a month's worth of spare time of a phone book-sized reading material that I had printed, highlighted, made notes on and digested. I headed there with my spiral-bound case book and thought I knew exactly what to expect till the opening session made me realise a subtle change in my surroundings — in three short years, education had gone digital.
As the days went by, it was easy to see the subtle changes the executive education arm at HBS had made to keep up with technology and to promote a paperless learning space. While paper had been relied upon to previously rate the faculty and class discussions at the end of each day, these were now emailed to us. A huge file with the bios of other course attendees had welcomed me to the course three years back. These were now replaced with a USB flash drive that was given to us at the end of the course, that in addition to the bios, had vCards of each of the attendees.
The drive also contained all slides from the presentations made by the professors in class so that instead of taking notes, we could focus on the intense discussion being held, because CEOs or not, HBS professors do cold calling upon students, and paying attention is not optional!
While all of this is standard upgradation you'd expect from a tech-friendly school, what really hit home is the level of tech sophistication shown by my fellow course attendees. Notepads and pens had been almost eradicated and replaced almost exclusively with iPads and in some cases, styluses for those who wanted to still "write" notes instead of typing them out. Pen-shaped devices like the Pogo stick or the Bamboo stylus by Wacom are popular choices for those favouring this method of input, whereas a whole host of note-taking apps on the iPad are available, the most impressive being one called "Noteshelf".
The app has the ability to write text in a larger space and then shrink it down to a size more comfortable while reading, which is a great way to solve the problem one has with printing the material handwritten on any other app only to have your writing unnaturally large on paper. Also while I'd stuck to wasting trees and highlighter ink in an effort to read the course material, a surprisingly large number of fellow classmates had stuck to their iPads to read their cases too.
While I'm fine with reading entire books on my Kindle with ease and even moving to online subscriptions of my favourite magazines on Zinio, I do so only for books that aren't available in the bookstores or publications that are either too expensive or too outdated on the newsstands in Dubai. When it came down to reading hundreds of pages worth of study material on which I'd want to scribble and make notes on, the thought of using an iPad had honestly never occurred to me!
Ahead of the curve
With all this move towards technology in class, it was only fit then that one of our cases was based on the popular magazine, The Economist, its popular iPad app, and how it's handling the shift of edited news going towards the online space. The magazine is a great example of how traditional media will move going forward, and the publication already seems ahead of the curve in terms of merging technology with quality edited news content.
Also fittingly Apple announced its iBooks Author app and plans to revolutionize the textbook industry during the week I was at HBS. A fortnight back I would have been one of the naysayers who would have said technology is fantastic, but I doubt digital form of studying will ever replace the interaction one requires with a textbook to really absorb the written word. Now, given that most of my classmates were all probably in their 40s and early 50s and not exactly in the age bracket of what you'd call early adopters, I realize that I would have had to eat my words.
-
You can check it out on the Gulf News website here
-

My week at HBS!

Those who follow me on Twitter will know I am currently in NYC after spending an INCREDIBLE week at the Harvard Business School in Boston. This is actually my second visit there, the first being three years ago which is actually where these pictures are from. I've forgotten to carry my card reader and hence had to rely on a few old pictures on Facebook to give you guys a feel for the place. My week long course is part of a tie up that exists between HBS and YPO (the Young Presidents Organization) and hence is open to YPO members only. HBS however have a whole bunch of executive education courses that can be found here that may be of interest to you guys, ranging from different time periods to various subjects at all different levels of business folk.
My Late Father had done a popular exec education course called OPM which stands for the Owners/Presidents Management Program. He has been wrongly accredited in the Press very often for being a Harvard graduate which sounds like he was there for his undergraduate education or for an MBA, but he really is an alumni from the school as graduating from this program. OPM lasts for 3 weeks each year for 3 years and is a phenomenal program that my Father absolutely loved when he attended, and always hoped one of us would make it to our MBA at HBS. Seriously, his fanatical love for the school showed in his HBS notebooks that he used at home to take notes on with his HBS pens that he picked up each time he visited Boston. While I never made it there for my MBA, I understood his love for the school when I went 3 years ago, and got a similar reminder again last week.
So you're probably wondering how beneficial a one week course could possibly be right? I'd probably get a few lectures in and maybe a couple of pointers to take home, and the hefty price tags listed next to the courses are for the suckers who want to feel smart and say they went to Harvard right? WRONG! It takes about a good months' worth of reading during free time to be able to prepare for the course as the exec education follows the famous HBS case study methodology of teaching. All the cases printed out account for approximately a phone book sized worth of reading material that you need to get through before you get there. Oh and don't even think about leaving anything till when you actually do get there as the days are LONG and I don't think we ever wrapped up group meetings a single night before 1 AM!
The teaching faculty there will probably exceed your expectation of what you think Professors could be like. Having done my Undergrad at Boston College which too is an amazing school and one of the best in the country, I didn't think I'd be as blown away by the HBS faculty as I was. They are simply brilliant, and while professors at lesser known Universities may be brilliant and able to effectively teach concepts, you quickly realize in under 24 hours why the HBS professors are the ones writing out and forming those key concepts. To give you an idea, Michael Porter, one of the Gurus of Marketing is a professor at the Harvard Business School. And before you picture boring stuffy geeks droning on in the classroom while you pinch yourself to stay awake, most of the lecture is discussion based, the Professors usually electrifying and you better be paying attention lest you want to look like an idiot when cold called upon. Yes, they will pick on you and you better not even think of coming to class late!
The kind of people you meet as well are an amazingly diverse group of individuals and I know friends who have recently been for the OPM in particular, and have met some extremely intelligent people and made some very close friends. If by any chance you are a YPO member reading this and have never taken advantage of the course, you are seriously missing out! The level of discourse in the classroom given the fact that you are probably sitting amongst people who are leaders of their industries, and quite possibly game changers in the economy of their respective countries, is what makes this a program you MUST experience at least once.
The take home from these courses are incredible and they are incredibly hard work. While it may not be possible for everyone to head to HBS to do  one of their exec education courses, if you are able to take out some time and head there, I can't recommend it enough. It really remains one of the best experiences I've ever had and one of the best investments I've made!

The stunning HBS campus, covered in snow in 2009

-

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!!! It's currently 3 AM in the Big Apple (I am jet lagged having just arrived yesterday) and I decided it was time to write my New Years post. I've been meaning to share these videos for a while, but I figured this post would be the perfect time to do it. If you haven't seen them and have never heard of Ben Breedlove, can I please urge you to be patient and watch these! They will change your life!!





Ben passed away on Christmas day 2011 and this video was found a few days after his demise. I'd actually heard of him before and was amazed when I realized that this young boy was actually the same one who had an advice channel on YouTube with 2 of his other friends, giving advice to other teenagers about random life stuff and relationships. What a way to spend your life knowing full well that your own could be cut short any minute! A lot of attention has been poured on Ben and these videos with Kim Kardashian tweeting about him and Kid Cudi talking about Ben's vision and I dare say most people will be moved to tears after watching it. I know I was.

I hope I'm not sounding too morose to you guys as that is not my intention at all! I'm hopeful for a fabulous year ahead and have all my resolutions planned out in my head (and mostly broken already) and had a supercrazyfun New Years Eve spent with great friends in Dubai before I jumped on a plane and came to my favourite city in the world. If that isn't a fabulous start to the new year, I don't know what is!

When I watched these videos, as I said earlier I knew I wanted them to be part of my New Year's post. Instead of putting up my resolutions as I did last year, I just wanted to leave you guys with a thought- to celebrate your life. 2011 wasn't a particularly great year for me and while I'm hoping for a better 2012, I have no regrets about the year gone and am reminded of a verse from my favourite poem, A Psalm of Life-

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
        Is our destined end or way ;
    But to act, that each to-morrow
        Find us farther than to-day.

Our life is made up of losses and successes and both are just as important as each other. I believe that when we finally reflect back on our lives, our not-so-good years will be as important as our fabulous ones as those will be the ones to have shaped our character. So while I know the past year hasn't been a great one for a lot of people, let's hope for a better 2012 while ourselves participating in the script of our lives and being the best that we can be. As the poem says-

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant !
        Let the dead Past bury its dead !
    Act,— act in the living Present !
        Heart within, and God o'erhead !

Something to think about? Happy New Year All! :)
-
You can read the entire poem on a previous post of mine here
- 

Creative Christmas Cards!

Since I don't celebrate Christmas, I don't really get any Christmas gifts and probably not too many Christmas cards either. While I know it is customary in other parts of the world to send pictures of the family on Christmas cards, I bet you very few are actually as innovative, creative and cute as the Hardman ones! Funny man Mike Hardman and his lovely wife Georgina put together these fabulous cards every year that make me chuckle without fail. I don't really see either of them to often, but I SO look forward to their creations that one year when I didn't receive one, I actually took it up with Mike when I bumped into him... in June! I'm guessing that was a dead giveaway that I felt its absence during Christmas season gone by, and when they contacted me this year for my mailing address, I requested if I could get copies of the prior ones to blog about.
They have a knack of picking up something popular during the year gone by and incorporating it into the card, and I believe Mike does the cartoons while Georgina does the writing. Isn't it a fabulous idea?? Here are my favourites for your enjoyment... Do click on them to be able to zoom and read the writing better.

2006-

2007-

 2008-

2011-

 

Thanks Mike and Georgy for always remembering me on Christmas (even if I don't give you too much of a say in the matter!)... Happy Holidays!!:)

Not to Miss- Jaideep Mehrotra exhbition in Bombay!

I'm constantly amazed by the variety and intelligence level of people that read my blog and recently I received an email that came as a reminder of that. For lovers of Indian art, the name Jaideep Mehrotra is certainly not a new one. Mr Mehrotra is an absolute brilliant artist, and is one that my family members have been a huge fan of his work for ages. About a week back his wife, Seema Mehrotra wrote to me and told me she is a frequent reader of Kiran's Corner and asked if I was visiting Mumbai anytime soon as her husband was having an exhibition of his new work there through the month. While I'd have loved being able to go, I unfortunately have no plans of visiting soon but didn't want to miss the opportunity of pointing my blog readers in India, or those planning to visit Mumbai for the holidays, in the direction of the exhibit.
Instead of showing you guys works from the exhibit (that you can have a look at on his website- www.jaideepmehrotra.com) I thought I'd show you a very special piece of his work that takes up prime position at my home in Dubai. My parents, being huge fans of Mr Mehrotra's work, had this painting commissioned by him years back (and by that I really mean decades), when we were in the process of building the current house we live in. The painting's central theme was my Father obviously, and it was supposed to be a representation of him and our home. I was at college when this was done so never had the pleasure of interacting with the artist, but I remember coming home one holiday from boarding school and being blown away by the results. The colour palette was chosen using the colours from our home, while the painting itself conveyed so much power and depth. Instead of going for a complete portrait, Mr Mehrotra did a representation of my Father that wasn't as "in-your-face" and I think the elephant is much more of a giveaway of it being a commissioned piece than anything else (Jumbo.. elephant.. get it?).  Here's the complete piece-

(Click on the painting to have a detailed look)

I love the subtle touches like the man's wrinkly old hands which were again to represent power (my Father's hands never actually did look that old!) and the Alsatian dog, which was probably a lot more appropriate than my white furry Spitz called Pucci that I had back then!

As you guys know, I'm a HUGE art buff and used to frequent art classes and learn to paint myself. You don't have to know anything about art however, to appreciate the kind of detailing that went into parts of this painting, and I have to say the dog is really my favorite bit for this very reason. Even this close, it's pretty hard to believe this is a painting and not a photograph!

Ok, I'll stop gushing now and give you guys a chance to head on over and see Jaideep Mehrotra's stunning art works for yourself. Go on his website and have a look and if you're a fan of his work (it has definitely evolved a lot from the time he did this piece) you MUST go have a look. It's taken him 4 years to put together this body of work so it will be very interesting to see what he's come up with him and how the work looks up close.
The exhibition is at Tao gallery in Worli till the 15th and then at the Jehangir art gallery from the 19th to the 25th of December.
-
PS: And if you're a recent reader of my blog and happen to be a lover of art, just wanted to point you into the direction of the GORGEOUS painting my art teacher created for me which is a collage of my Late Father and I through the years. You can have a look at it here. Hope you love it as much as I do! :)
-

I Love Fashion!!

A few days back I was at my sister's house when she was getting ready to go to the "I Love Fashion" boutique opening at Dubai Mall and invited me to go along with her. I'd received an invitation from a PR agency but hadn't realized it was another one of Sarah Belhasa's ventures. I was sure it would be a fabulous evening out and decided to tag along.
The store is right across from Bloomingdales and is the Fashion TV store with all FTV clothing and merchandise. The store itself is very funky and fabulous and has mannequins wearing different outfits going around in a ceiling train through the store. I only realized this by the way while watching the fashion show taking place down the makeshift ramp when I kept getting hit by the mannequins. I turned to see a mannequin wearing black when I almost got knocked over again to see it wearing gray! "How did she change?!"I stupidly asked my friend Gayatri which is when she pointed the train and moving mannequins out. With all the people watching I'd busied myself in, I hadn't even noticed but instead kept wondering why I kept getting bumped by mannequins!
I hadn't unfortunately carried my camera but managed to snap a few blurry images of the clothes on my iPhone. They're not couture pieces for sure, but are more funky, slinky dresses that would look glam on a much younger dresser. Think Fashion TV and you've got an idea of their stuff!

The gorgeous Jessica struts her stuff!

The models

Sarah Belhasa and Michel Adam

Gayathrie Zaveri (right) and I at the Fishfayce booth!

Do head on over and check out their stuff especially if you're a fan of leather.. they have a lot of fun, going out wear especially for the younger lot.
-
Thanks for a great evening Sarah!
-
 

Test Driving the Ferrari California!

 Over the past weekend I was SO happy to be in possession of an absolutely FABULOUS ride.. the Ferrari California!! Being a huge fan of sports cars I've toyed with the idea of owning a Ferrari for a while now, but always stuck to Porsches. I currently own a zippy little Turbo Cabriolet as well as a Cayeanne Turbo if that gives you any indication of exactly how much of a Porsche girl I am! I guess the guys at Al Tayer motors got wind of my wanting to test drive a California and before I knew it I had someone coming over to my house and handing me the keys to a gorgeous white one.. talk about service! I had the car for a little over 4 days and decided to do a review of it for my blog as almost all my friends wanted to know what I thought and whether I was going to get one. Car lovers reading this blog, here is my disclaimer- do not expect any figures over here or any statistics on how fast it does 0 to 60.. I am a girl reviewing a sports car. Enough said? :)

So let me get straight into it- Turning on the engine is like listening to a perfect symphony only sports car lovers will quite understand. You really have got to love the "vroom vroom" as I call it to quite appreciate the sound this car makes. I probably looked a bit nutty while driving the car as I'd go really slow and then step on the gas just so I could hear the car growl as it ate up the road. Let's just put it this way- it made my Porsche sound like it was singing a silent nursery rhyme in comparison. A friend of mine sat in the car and asked me why the car was so noisy and whether it would eventually begin to irritate me over time. If I could have recorded the sound just to have it playback in my car, I would!!

To drive, this car reminds me of a thoroughbred racehorse. It is happiest when it is racing forward at high speeds (or the highest I could go in between radars on Sheikh Zayed road) and for that, it is a dream come true. Ever seen a racehorse trying to be contained into a walk though? It is agitated and jerky and difficult to control, and the same held true for the Cali. I had heard the California was an every day car and was much easier to control and maintain than the other Ferrari's before it. While I've only driven one once (raced it on the track in fact, so that doesn't count) and never owned one, I don't quite know how the others handle, but at slow speeds this car was positively jerky. It usually takes me a few minutes to get to Sheikh Zayed road from my house, and it pretty much jerked all the way till I got there- the kind of jerking that cars make when you're learning how to drive a stick shift and the car begins to jerk right before it shuts down? That, without the shutting down part. While I use my Turbo to run errands, go to the gym, pick up groceries and everything, I cannot dream of having to use this car to do any of those things. Of course you kind of KNOW that nobody uses a Ferrari to pick up groceries, but I'd at least like the option of being ABLE to if you're stuck in one. Any one of the Porsche sports models would very easily be able to be driven as a single persons only car, and as I mentioned I use mine almost daily. With the Ferrari, that wouldn't even be an option.

If I am making comparisons to my Porsche however, it is only fair for me to highlight the positive differences between the two as well. Going over 120 in my Porsche makes it feel a little jumpy and I have to be very careful with there being no or slight bumps in the road while driving it. Going past any construction site or any place that's being dug up also makes me feel like the vibration of the car is going through to my brain- it is an extremely rough drive. Surprisingly enough, the Ferrari glides through the roads and feels like a luxury sedan even over gravelly bits in the road. Speed bumps weren't as bad and I noticed that the usual spots on Sh Zayed that make my car feel like it's jumping off the ground, made no difference to the ride of the Cali. This car was super smooth and was a dream to drive, especially on turns.

As you can see in the pictures, there was no gear box in the car and the gears had to be controlled by the paddles on the side of the steering wheel. I can't imagine the kind of heart attacks I'd have while even thinking of handing the car over to a valet if I owned it. Think it would just not happen. The car can be driven in automatic mode as well as manual, but since I pretty much drove it on Auto the entire time, I really can't elaborate too much on that (again.. remember the disclaimer!).

Ok so here is when I go a bit girly on you and give you the more practical aspects that I felt were missing about the car. Most guys wouldn't care and would be like, "but it's a Ferrari!!" well yes, but not having a mirror on the sun shade flap REALLY inconveniences my life! Of course, it's not a deal breaker, but it would be SO nice if they'd decided to include one!! Same for parking sensors.. not a deal breaker, but it would have been nice if they had given me some visual parking aids than just a beeping sound (keep re-reading my disclaimer if you must!!) The stereo included in the car was just TERRIBLE but the guy dropping the car off said most people like listening to the sound of the car rather than the radio.. but that an upgrade was available while custom ordering the car. Considering I like bopping my head to music while driving, I'd definitely take the upgrade.. but the stereo system was just shockingly bad. I also didn't like that your car had to be parked to operate the roof and I'm so used to just going really slow while driving while doing and undoing my Turbo's roof that this again just seemed so inconvenient! Same for having to turn off the engine to be able to get the little gas door on the side to open while at the gas station. Fine for a few days in November.. I would NOT be wanting to fill gas in the car over the summer!

I finally found the cup holder for my daily Starbucks run

Overall, the car was an absolute beauty and I miss it so now that it's gone. My Porsche just isn't as smooth, as fast or as ubercool! And to answer the million dollar question- would I think of getting one? Not just yet. While most importantly I need to figure out the situation with my college next year (will I? Won't I?) I also would need to seriously consider that I will be having to use my Cayeanne or some other car as my primary car and would be able to take the California out only on times when I know I'm going to be driving mostly on the highway. But really.. what a drive it is!
-

Sony Tablet- Video and Review!!

On Diwali I went over to my sister's house when my nephew came running out with a slick Sony Tablet that made my jaw drop. The device was shiny, utterly gorgeous and totally Sony- which in my language means, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I begged for him to let me keep it for a few days so I could review it and hand it back. Unfortunately I have been swamped for a few weeks now, and only when he called me requesting that I send back his device, did I remember to finally do a short video and get my act together and review it.
First of all let me talk about it's shape. It looks very different in comparison to all the other tablets out there, and resembles a magazine that's been folded over. You may think that's strange till you start to use it. It's a joy to type on and view content on as it sits the device at a slight angle that avoids a lot of glare. It's also much easier to hold with one hand, which makes it perfect for watching movies or reading books.
The device itself has a 9.4 inch 1280x800 screen that's great and not as reflective as the shiny device might suggest. It has a 5 megapixel camera that's actually quite good, as well as a front facing camera for video chats or self portraits.
While the outside of the tablet is gorgeous, it's insides are also quite impressive with a dual-core Tegra 2 processor that works very well on the screen (check my video review to see the smoothness of the interface for yourself).
I'm also so happy that Sony decided to not get caught up in trying to re-create an Operating System for themselves, but used the existing Android OS to run on the device. While I couldn't fidget around on the device too much and download too many apps (it wasn't my tablet after all) I did check out the Android Market and was quite surprised to see a lot of my favorite apps for my iPad had been ported over into the Android store too. I couldn't resist and downloaded Pulse, one of my favorite and most used apps and was quite amazed that it worked as smoothly as it would on my iPad. Cheekily, I added my blog and left it on there, so hopefully my nephew will get curious and start reading Kiran's Corner soon too... Hey, here's hoping!

Of course, a Sony device wouldn't be a Sony device without a bit of PlayStation action thrown in, and the device has access to a whole bunch of exclusive titles, with Crash Bandicoot pre-installed (again, a demo of which is in my video review below). There are also a whole bunch of Sony proprietary apps, including a Universal Remote that can be used to access all Sony devices.

Here's a quick video review I did on the device before I had to hand it back over-


Overall I think it's an absolutely amazing device and for me would be a no-brainer, especially after seeing it and holding it in person.
I can't wait now till the Sony P series tablet gets launched so I can get my hands on that and decide which one to get!
-

About a Dog...

I was returning home from the gym yesterday when I saw a strange sight on the main road of Al Wasl... a little Yorkie running helter skelter, about to run out onto the road towards oncoming traffic. Being a dog lover, I slammed on the brakes, jumped out of my car and ran after the dog. Luckily she seemed to understand "come here" and ran towards me. I waited for 15 minutes for the owners to show up, or to try to figure out if any of the houses close by accidentally had left their gates open and had this poor little creature run out onto the roads. Nobody came. I called my friend Pinky who is an absolute dog lover and asked her what I should do. "Take her home," she suggested, "and after I get done in an hour we'll figure out what to do." Being Eid, most of the vets, K9 and the muncipality would be shut, but luckily the cute munchkin had her dogtag which meant that she might even be micro-chipped. I brought her home but had to be careful since I already have a Yorkshire Terrier at home (the famous Chintu who's with me in my logo above) who is quite a ferocious thing and so I had a bit of trouble putting the two of them together. My mother suggested I walk around the block and hope that the owners are out looking for the dog, and since my maid thought she knew whose dog it was, both of us set out to find the dog's home.
I went over to the compound next to my villa that has Vivel and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf when a girl looked so excited to see the little furball, I almost thought it was hers! Her name is Cynthia and I told her that the dog was lost and she offered to help me to find the owners and to help in whatever way she could. Turns out she's a huge dog lover too and even volunteers at K9, so really this dog was extremely lucky to have 3 crazed dog lovers looking after her. After we had no luck in the neighborhood, Pinky came over and the both of us went over to the Al Barsha veterinary clinic to find out the microchip number of the dog, which they gave us in 2 minutes. The vet was kind enough to examine her as well and confirmed that while she was not ill and had not been hurt, she wasn't kept in the best of conditions either- her hair was matted and she was way too thin and seemed to have some sort of a bruise on her head. We hoped she'd been kept well and that her owner hadn't abandoned her on purpose. Since she had her tag on, we assumed that wasn't the case, but I'd have to wait till the next day (today) to be able to call other vets to find the parents of the beautiful pup, which the vet estimated to be under 2 years old. I kept her during the day but since I didn't want her and Chintu fighting during the night, requested my good Samaritan neighbor Cynthia to take her, which she did gladly.

I woke up this morning to a call from Cynthia saying she'd started calling vets but hadn't taken the number of the microchip from me, so was requesting me to call them and try to locate the owner. I told her I'd walk over and meet her and take the dog from her and continue to call the vets all over. The little pooch was SO happy to see me this morning and Cynthia looked like she was about to cry while handing her over. She had to go to work so couldn't babysit anymore, and was super apologetic about not being able to help more (really, this girl was incredibly sweet!) I told her I was going to go next door and have a coffee myself and that we'd be in touch. 5 minutes later she came running over excited saying she'd found the dog's owner (they were matched with the microchip) and that while the owner was at work, she'd be sending a friend over to collect the dog. Over this one evening that the dog was with us mind you, Cynthia had bought dog food and milk and fed our new furry friend this morning, and had put up posters in Choithrams. Pinky has yesterday evening put up pictures all over Facebook reporting that a little Yorkie has been found, while I was trying to get people to retweet the news in the hope that the owner or owners friend would read it and be able to bring the dog home and had left my name and number with the coffee shops nearby hoping the owner would come in and ask about the lost animal.
Anyhow, after about 20 minutes the owner's maid came up to me to get the dog- the dog didn't seem happy to see her at all, and there was not the hint of a tail wag that came from the pooch. I asked the woman what had happened, and she said that the driver had let the gate open and the dog must have run out. I asked if the Owners had tried looking for the dog, and she said she'd suggested they put flyers but that they hadn't yet because they had a party that night that they were busy attending to. I asked her what on earth they had done all day to recover the dog and she said, "no he only ran out at around 6 'O Clock".. Mind you, I'd found the dog at NOON. They had gone 6 HOURS without even noticing the dog had run away, and how they didn't notice that the dog hadn't eaten any lunch is absolutely beyond me!! She also goes on to say that the dog often ran out of the house and this wasn't the first time.. I shudder to imagine what the dog's fate will be the next time!! Anyhow, I took it upon myself to call the owner, and at this point you can imagine how furious I was! I introduced myself as the girl who had found her dog, and asked her if she didn't even take care of her pet... she sternly replied that I should not be questioning her about how she runs "her household" and that I was overstepping boundaries. I tried to calmly myself and ask her if she tried to look for the dog at all, and what steps she took to do the same (again to remind you, no vets had reported any missing dog report to us and we had to find her) and she yelled at me saying she didn't have to justify her actions to me and hung up on me.

So first and foremost, Eileen, Owner to Chikoo the Yorkie who lives behind Union Coop/Choithrams, you are not fit to be a dog owner. Your dog is neglected, too frail and obviously gets no care or attention from you or your 16 year old daughter who apparently is Mother to this poor creature. Secondly, if you were in the US or some place that allowed me to call and complain about animal cruelty, their number would be on my speed dial to make sure your home was pet-free and that this dog got a new, deserving home. How you went for SIX HOURS before even realizing your dog was missing is beyond me, considering that her whereabouts were not unknown to us strangers for 6 MINUTES while she was away from you. SHAME ON YOU. And while we were going from place to place trying to figure out where a concerned owner might look for their beloved pet, you seemingly searched a total of zero places, or else you would have found us, and not the other way around. Again, SHAME ON YOU.
I realize animal cruelty is rampant in Dubai and most dogs fare much worse fate as they've been abandoned on purpose and often have to be put to sleep, but this little dog has really tugged at my heart strings. I requested Cynthia to call this Eileen person again to see if she was willing to sell her dog to me, but she hasn't since taken her call or responded to her messages. I will going to bed tonight only praying that the wonderfully sweet dog that I've so fallen in love with is being taken care of, or that by some miracle the Owner decides to give or sell her to me, Cynthia or make sure she goes to a more deserving home.

Also not to state the obvious, but if you are thinking of adopting a pet PLEASE make sure that the pet will not be abandoned or that you are fully capable of taking care of one. Pets, especially dogs, are like little children and need constant love and attention, and often people forget that they are in a transient city like Dubai and that they might have to leave and go home and won't have space for their pets in their new life. Sometimes they buy one during the summer to entertain their kids, but when they realize their kids have no time and no discipline to take care of an animal, they abandon it and kick it out on the roads. Again for all the stupid people who leave their animals in a parked car over the summer with the windows shut, YOUR PET WILL DIE.
In the absence of any proper authorized body against animal cruelty, please lets just use common sense when it comes to animal care, and hopefully if you guys see a dog or a housed cat running on the road, you'll stop and help it out and not keep on driving!
Oh and if you know Eileen, please do forward her this link or "like" it or "retweet" it or whatever, so that someone can look at it and tell her to take better care of that darling dog that she has!! Thank you!!! And for all the people at K9 shelter and other animal rescue places that are dealing with these dogs and see the cruelty of humans taken out on their dogs and deal with that without crying every single day, I salute you!!!

 Thanks Cynthia for all your help! I don't think we're getting her back, but let's hope she's happy wherever she is!
-

The Guide to customized Gizmos and Gadgets!

Did you guys happen to check out my article in Gulf News yesterday?? My column has been finally christened with a picture!

So my latest article for Gulf News was about customizations. Most of you have seen pictures of the products I've customized, but for those that haven't, I'm going to stick in pictures of some of the stuff mentioned so you get a better idea of what they look like. Do check out the companies I've talked about.. they do some fantastic stuff!!


Recently a friend of mine took a look at a personalised toiletry bag I had with my name custom-embroidered on it and joked that I should make a collage of all the things in my life I had personalised. I didn't realise how bad my obsession for customised items was until she pointed it out! I had the (what I consider) basics, like my towels at home and custom letterheads, to the bit more extravagant, like my zippy sports car having my name engraved on its side step that can only be seen when the door is ajar. I've always liked to have things that stand out and are different, and my love for gadgets obviously means that almost every product I have is customised in some way to make it unique and "mine".

It all started off with one of the first computers I ever bought— The Apple Power PC laptop that came with what I consider an ingenious USP — changeable covers. The laptop itself came with probably half a dozen designs that you could swap out, but I chose to customise it further with cut-out pictures, and christen it "Gianni" after my then favourite designer. Embarrassing in hindsight, but forgivable since I was probably 15 then! A lot of people, especially women, like to differentiate their products by buying a particular laptop over the other because of the colour, or having special cases and or trinkets tied to their mobile phones to make them stand out. Recent years have seen high end fashion houses make special accessories targeted towards these fashionistas with Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs et al, all making covers for the iPad and cases for several smartphones.

There are other companies that I've used over the years to customise my products further, depending on the look that I'm going for and the amount I'm willing to spend to make that particular item stand out.

When JLo became a chart sensation and bling was "in" I'd found a company called Crystal Icing (www.crystalicing.com) online that I'd used to add some sparkle to my phone. I was using a windows-based phone back then, and had sent in the physical device to be covered up with rhinestones with a face of Marilyn Monroe on it. Since BlackBerry and iPhones seem to be the most popular device of choice these days, the company no longer requires you to send in your phone to be crystallised, but has the option for you to purchase covers for the devices. I recently purchased an iPhone 4 cover from them and am pleased with their quality of work, as they have the option to use the tiniest of crystals on the device.

Colour and glitter
Another company that successfully transforms your gadgets (among other things) into stunning jewellery-like objects is the UAE-based Jake and Gigi (www.jakeandgigi.com). Michelle Roberts, the owner of the brand, has a knack of putting together Swarovski crystals along with larger vintage embellishments to create items that are a smorgasbord of colour and glitter. With styles ranging from the Audrey Hepburn-inspired to the more muted angelic theme to dozens more, Michelle designs to suit almost every palette. If however you don't find what you're looking for, she is able to work with you or use items that you may already have to custom create an item that suits your mood. I had sent in a Tarina Tarantino "pink head" pendant to her some time back, which Michelle pulled apart and incorporated into a Blackberry cover she did for me. 

Sorry about the picture quality.. is a very old photograph!

A few years ago a friend of mine gifted me a BlackBerry Curve in a bright orange, as was customised by another company based out of America called Colorware (www.colorwarepc.com). Not only did the phone look suitably funky, it looked like it was a limited edition piece and I used to literally have strangers coming up to me to ask me where I got it from. While Colorware isn't cheap (my friend was very generous) they are to gadgets what the company Fab Design is to cars. I recently used them to customize a Macbook Air for myself that I knew I would use for a few years to come. While ordering from them, you have the ability to either send in the item (for US customers only), have them ship you the parts (available for certain products) or buying a new item custom done. With a computer, you're able to colourise each part of the computer separately and have a rainbow of colours on the item if you so choose. Since they are, in essence, pulling apart the machine and replacing its outer facade, I was quite nervous to see how my laptop would turn out, but I was absolutely thrilled with the end result, especially the colours used which are as bright and vibrant as promised.

 Ever since I started my blog and had a custom Avatar created for it, I've had an obsession of trying to get that image on absolutely everything I possibly can. It was only natural then that I'd try to get it onto all the gadgets that I surround myself with every day, and since I change them so often, needed to find a cost effective way to do it. After a bit of researching I found the company GelaSkins online (www.gelaskins.com), which allows you to buy gorgeous skins for a host of devices, or even customize your own. They allowed me to make custom decals very inexpensively for all my gadgets, and I can honestly say I've been blown away by the results! They're very easy to apply without any bubbles coming in during the application process, they don't leave a sticky film behind upon removal, and neither do they start to peel off after time. I even customised a skin for my Macbook Air that I'd bought from Colorware, to be able to customise it one step further. The skins can be even personalised with a photograph or a whole collage of them, or you can choose one from the literally hundreds of designs available.

 I feel that just like clothes, the gadgets I use are a reflection of who I am and I absolutely abhor the idea of being just like every one else. If you like to stand out from the crowd too, hopefully this will give you some ideas to make the every day things you use stand out- just like your personality.
-
You can check out the article on the Gulf News website here
-

Book Review- Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Given my obsession with Steve Jobs, I think it would be shocking for any frequent reader of this blog if I didn't put my life on hold and rush out to go buy and subsequently read this biography. While I downloaded this book and read it on my Kindle (yes I know... but my eyes hurt after reading on the iPad too long), my life had virtually come to a standstill while I devoured every page of this book and read about one of the most revered men in business (in case you're wondering, I finished the book in 4 days flat!). Not big into technology and wondering whether you will enjoy this book as much as I did? A friend tweeted me the exact same question earlier today and my answer to her was that to enjoy any book, especially a biography, one needs to have an interest in the subject matter being written about. Having said that, any business student, entrepreneur or person interested in reading about businesses MUST read this book. Any person interested in technology, the history of technology or in the media business MUST read this book. Any creative person wanting to learn more about the business aspect of creativity, any artist wanting to get their creative juices flowing, any person interested in the dichotomy of spirituality and making money MUST read this book. And of course, people interested remotely interested in understanding about the world we live in today with even a faint curiosity on technological advances and how they came about to be, MUST read this book.
While it is at it's core definitely a business book and is a book about a businessman, I believe it's also a great insight into the minds of one of the most influential people of our times and a lot of people will enjoy reading it, as long as they do remember that it is a book about a businessman.  One that may have changed the world and left a mark on it forever, but this isn't a book about spirituality or values or an extended version of his Stanford commencement speech. It's not a feel-good book and I think a lot of people who don't know much about him might think that's exactly what it is- a guide to how to be inspiring and creative and successful and world-altering just like him. Again, this is a book about a businessman and a ruthless one that too and it's a true picture about the story of his life.. so definitely keep that in mind before picking it up.

While I'd followed Jobs' career and believed I'd read almost every article on him ever published, a lot in the book came as a complete surprise. While his temper was legendary, I didn't realize that he was cold and distant even with his family, and had very few scruples even when dealing with close friends. Also the amount of times they refer to Jobs' crying in the book really makes me believe he was bipolar or had some sort of personality disorder- Isaacson touches on him having a narcissist disorder, but that thought is never really explored. While I absolutely love Jobs' and love his contribution to the world, I was shocked while reading the first half of the book as to how little I actually liked the man I was reading about. I do believe his failures in his life may have humbled him a tiny bit which is why the reader goes from thinking he's an asshole to being fascinated with finding out where he got his ideas from about the various products he launched, and the thought process and meticulous attention to detail he gave. While you may finish the book still not loving him, you put down the book having a lot of respect for him and really, really loving his company, Apple.

Overall the book was quite fast paced, is PACKED with anecdotes- ever wondered why he switched to wearing his standard uniform of mock-turtlenecks with Levi's jeans? Wonder which was conceived first- the chicken or the egg (the iPhone or the iPad)? What the series of events were that brought him back into Apple? What his relationship with Woz was like? How Apple will survive after he's gone? What new products he may have conceived of that have still not been launched? The answers to all that and more are in the book, and are absolutely fascinating to read. You get to read about a note he wrote to his wife on their 20th anniversary, or what Bill Gates and Jobs' spoke about when Gates visited him out of the blue one evening a few months before he passed away. You read about his relationship with each of his children and how he went about finding his biological parents and his relationship with his daughter that he abandoned in his younger days. It's all there, and it all makes for a riveting tale.
 The book also managed to do something few non-fiction books are ever able to do- make me laugh out loud, and make me cry. There were a few moments of tears, and there were few outright sobs, but then again I absolutely love Jobs so maybe someone with less of an attachment to him might not go through that.. but for sure, there will be quite a few misty eyed moments. Overall, I cannot recommend this book enough and think a lot of people who begin to read it will, like me, not be able to put it down!
-