Life In Dubai Is Not As Rosy As It May Appear

By Nitin Ningaiah:

(written during my internship program at Dubia, UAE. Published in - http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2014/08/life-dubai-rosy-may-appear-accounts-indians-migrated-will-tell/)

The city of gold, the city of life houses, the world’s tallest building, the largest aquarium, theme park, airport, mall, mosque etc. – all of this portrays the picture of Dubai and life in Middle East as rosy and soothing. But, in reality, things aren’t exactly as is being portrayed. UAE hosts 2.2mn Indians, which is 26% of the total population, of which 40% are Keralites. During my stay, meetings with different people brought out contrasting as well as disappointing realities of life there.

It is indeed quite unfortunate that a 22-year-old young man couldn’t manage to find a decent paying electric job in Delhi, and thus had to move to Dubai for job prospects. This man hails from the suburbs of Delhi, stricken by poverty and other family issues. He managed to join an ITI training program, but failed to complete it. But his passion for electric currents and techniques of wiring helped him to master the art, and he loved the work he did. Unfortunately, a few organizations in Delhi refused to recruit him, in spite of his talent, due to the lack of an ITI degree.

After hearing about possible opportunities in Dubai through his cousins, he finally moved to Dubai and started working with a contractor/middle man who holds charge of his passport but ensure he has enough work, and pays around INR 35,000 per month, which is comparatively good. He knows that if he works for a couple more years, his salary would be doubled, as skilled and talented labour is appreciated and well paid for in Dubai. Also, they don’t really let them go back to their native place. Unfortunately, money wouldn’t bring content to this man, whose heart and soul lies with his family and in the streets of Delhi, and he dreams of joining the Delhi metro family, but is scared that the riches in Dubai might compel him to work and remain here.

Thanks to Indian Elections, IPL moved to UAE and excited all the Indians there. The atmosphere wasn’t much different as compared to Indian stadiums, since it was the same energy and passion. Post-match, there was a ruckus, as roads got jammed around the stadium, and no arrangements from RTA (Road transport Authority) for bus facilities to move to city were made, which left us stranded. As all taxis were already booked, we (2 of us) finally had to ask for help, and fortunately, a taxi driver from Himachal, carrying another customer, agreed, and we occupied the back seats. This well-built taxi driver from HP moved to Dubai assuming he would work here for a few years, and this could get his family out of poverty and afford a better life. Little did he know that the style of business was very different in India and Dubai. Dubai is all about rules, regulations and money. In India, we add compassion to the list. As a taxi driver, it took time to adapt to roads and movements, but there was no warning or exception, as heavy fines were levied on him without even listening to his tribulations. And during accidents, along with life insurance, money would be deducted from drivers’ salaries. In order to fight back, there are no labour laws. This made his life miserable, as his dream might not be fulfilled, nor would he be able to go back home, as being a failure hurts even more.

The other gentleman was average built, very well dressed, milky white shirt with cufflinks on, and a golden-framed spectacles, which made him look rich. He had been working in Dubai for 10 years and had made a lot of wealth. He earned well and had a family. Remember, 10 years! No joke at all. Unfortunately, on this day, he had quit his job and come down to watch the match all alone. This made us very curious. His next statement was that “There is no life in Dubai”. This left us stranded. There were much more important moments of life that he wanted to experience and live; unfortunately, the prospects of riches made him sacrifice his younger days instead of spending time with his kith and kin, but they hold little value for him, as the moments gone could never be re-cherished.

This story indeed is one of many Indian expats residing in the Middle East. Every day, hundreds move to Gulf countries on tourist visas to look for jobs, without knowing the bitter reality. Most bachelors, or married men (who leave their family behind) end up living with 4 to 6 people in a single room (like PGs in India, which are commonly known as bed-spaces in Dubai), with shared bathrooms for 12-15 people. Many would have never lived like this in India. At the same time, strict rules from the municipal administration, like heavy fines in crossing roads other than zebra crossing, or for sitting with folded legs on bus stops (which is difficult for Indians to quickly adapt to) adds to their misery.

The case of the Keralities is a different story altogether, and much more complicated, as many feel that Dubai is an extended Kerala, and are happy and content with work and social life there. Nobody cares for stories of the construction workers from Asian countries here, but the ones exposed by various human rights activists have been a bitter reality. This short snippet is for you to re-think and evaluate your decision before moving to the Middle East.

New Education Policy - recommendations

New Education Policy - recommendations
(prepared for a panel discussion) 

Sole objective of new education policy need to be Building global citizens of India who empowered to put India at the top of the global competitive map.

How do we do this.

1.       Self-oriented/ driven learning :  Currently the students are getting moulded to certain knowledge or skill sets. Emphasis in the primary education need to ensure kids how to learn them selves as information availability is high.

a.       Digitisation of learning experience, so that barriers are open

b.      Reduce the quantum of books and issue digitized tablets. On an average cost of money spent on books is over Rs. 1,20,000.

c.       Up gradation of existing teacher skills to own technology driven methodologies to help children, making it mandatory for the other teachers

2.       In Primary education, language is a critical important factor. Major barrier amongst students who technically strong but fail to communicate or express the same. First 2 years of primary education should be merely emphasized on language learning.  Three language formula emphasized in the 1976. 

3.       India hasn’t been able to make a mark in the Global innovation index.
Collaborative learning experience – Teachers are just facilitators

a.        Bring in critical thinking and creative learning approach and methodologies which include role play, brainstorming sessions, and push rote and text learning back to home.  This would be a step forward in India moving up the innovative index. If India doesn’t move up the innovative index in couple of decades we would still be doing unimportant work.  

4.       Value based and moral education.

a.       It is important for each child to realize that “10 rupees earned is better than 100 rupees found”. But unfortunately our existing moral system of education hasn’t been inculcated and be successful. Only medicine for this is value based teachers. Included a component in the teacher recruitment process to test the ethical quotient of the teachers.  

Also eliminating existing space for moral values would more space for other collaborative learning process.

5.       To reach out to rural segments, and bridging the need for more faculties. In the short term increasing the size of the teachers is difficult; therefore follow Teach for India model and higher students. These students would help the teachers or the school in restructuring the schools, modifying the curriculum locally, engage with students personally and to the families as well.

This would be a major step in building social leaders amongst students,

a.       Adoption of Teach for India model : self-sustainable educational model with alternative revenue sources

b.      Create a program called, “Each one teaches one” – is a part of CBSE curriculum but never followed.

Government and civil society can’t exist in isolation and move towards a change.

6.       Using civil society to monitor the implementation and engaging change.

-          Implementation of the policies at the grass route is extremely critical and tough for the government to monitor. Money has been sanctioned by the government towards infrastructure has to be implemented.
Create CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT CELL / Complaints cell.

-          This would reduce the nexus between school principals and District education officers.

(Background work)

Challenges:
40% of India’s population is illiterate.

 Indian classrooms are understaffed (1 in 4 teachers will be absent on any given day)

Teachers are not engaging ( Only 50% are likely to be teaching at any given time)

Drop-out rate is unusually high (More than 1 in 3 children who begin primary school will drop out before reaching 5th grade)

Education spend is relatively low (India spends only 3.3 percent of its GDP on education, compared to an average 5.8 percent in developed countries) (Source: India’s Educational Crisis, Teach For India)

 Unquantifiable improvements in a child’s mental abilities, lack of immediate results and the sorry state of public schools are the major factors behind the drop-out rate being unusually high in India. 

Though Education spend is relatively low in India in terms of GDP the high rate of teacher absenteeism is not due to low salaries

in India, the ratio of average teacher salary to per-capita income is more than 3.5. The corresponding figure for US and UK are less than 2.0 and those for East Asian countries are less than 2.5.

Kothari Commission (64-66) - - science and SUPW , vocational education, research- modernization, new methods, unversalize education,   - introduce common school system, develop modern indian languages - moral, social and spiritual values, religions of the world, group meditation

42nd constitutional amendment (1976) - Education changed from state to concurrent

,    policy - Union government in    1. Reinforcing national & integrative ,  character
  2. mainitaing quality education ,   3. manpower development research and , advanced study, international aspects

National Policy (NPE) 1986, Child centred approach,  - National system of education - Education for quality, - Promotion of adult education, - Elementary education and operation black

, board, - Pace setting (Navodaya vidyalaya), - Vocationalisation, - Rasising the status of the teacher, - accountability in education , - incentives to backward familiers, , Operation black board, Rural education , 86th constitutional amendment (2002) , - Right to education added to Article 21,

RTE (2009)
- Free and compulsory education (6 to 14  )
- No detention till completion of elementary
education
                - Limit in pupil teacher ratio
        - 25% economically disadvataged in private schools
         - professional qualification for all teachers,
         - minimum infrastructure

Strategic marketing plan to Brand Mysore

Strategic marketing plan to Brand Mysore

(created as a part of course work during b-school training)

Mysore has been graded as the royal heritage city of India. Has been a hot spot tourist destination for millions of tourists across the globe. The famous Dasara festival, numerous palaces, unique dishes, premium products like sandal wood and silk puts it in a unique spot on the map.
Over the years with ongoing tourist experiences and destination it’s important to address a few key issues to pop the image of the city.

1.       Purpose & Goals

a.       To make Mysore as the favorite tourist destination

b.      To grow retail and service business sectors via tourism

c.       To increase visibility and appeal to visitors

With the ongoing competition there are numerous options available to the tourists, and at the same time their preferences have been very selective and need for customization. Therefore, on the verge it is extremely important to have multiple packages keeping tourist interest, passion and preference in mind.

New services or packages:

      

    a. Learning based packages:  Mysore which houses great institutions/structures of learning important to leverage their existence. This would include visit to places like Sandalwood factory, Silk weaving factory, Agarbhatti factory, Visit to Palace and brindavan gardens with a engineering marvel perspective

b.      Activity based packages:  In order to cater to tourists passionate about adventure sports and nature exploration. A trekking on the Chamundi hills, exploration in Bandipur forest and gopalswamy hills, water sports in KRS.

c.       Family bound packages: A soothing comfortable stay for the families with an experience of a lifetime with real taste of Mysore and best shopping experience. This should include visit to the prominent tourist attractions and get to experience the taste of the city.

d.      Bird Watching Tours : Exclusively dedicated to Ornithologists to experience the migratory birds visiting Karanji lake, Kurkkarahalli lake, lingambudi lake and Ranganthittu bird sanctuary.

As ensuring the packages as needed by the tourists it is extremely important for the state to understand their changing taste and preferences. A complete tracking mechanism is required to know the tourist better. This could be done in multiple ways.

a.       Dedicated card: all international tourists would be assigned a travel card (prepaid card) which could be used to make to visits to various spots. Also use them in shopping purchases, tourist hotel transactions. In the end analysis of this information would help us understand what exactly does the consumer require. If this could be used in Taxi’s and other transportation mediums would be phenomenal.

b.      Swipe in swipe out mechanism using magnetic cards or wrist bands could be easily used.

Seasonal Schedule

Dasara ‘naada habba’ of the city keeps the city buzzing between the months September and December. Majority of business for the retailers, hotels and transport service providers making maximum profit in this time period. During the rest of the months it is essential to increase the footfall of the tourists.

a.       Monsoon months (June – September): Unique monsoon experience packages in Coorg could be capitalized as Mysore is the route to coorg for passengers from Bengaluru.  Short or quick visit packages of Mysore attractions would be most appropriate. Monsoon treks to mandalpatti or Kotti betta would be an added experience.

b.      Summer Months ( March – May ) : Leverage on the opportunity of existence of Ooty and Coorg and promote hill station experience amongst residents of hot climatic regions.

c.       Months January – March should be dedicated to hold festivals like yoga fest, harvest festival (in sync with sankranti) to give foreigners local cultural experiences.  

 How to Market ?

a.       With the advent of digital technologies with smart phones on every ones hands, people prefer navigation applications to commute as well as to explore nearby places like restaurants, shopping areas etc. This makes evident for small business to be registered on Google maps to be able to be prospective options for travellers.

b.      Though Print and other display mediums are conventional sources of advertising, the rising trend is the peer review on online travel portals. Foremost, it’s essential to be active on social medium, have a website with all details including booking, facebook, twitter accounts as well be active on travel portals to reach prospective tourists. All visitors should be requested to write reviews and comments and take feedback from them and should be displayed on the social media. Who could be better ambassadors than the tourists themselves?

Other Aspects :

a.       Important business to understand the need for basic necessities of tourists to improve their businesses. A numerous amount of business is lost in Devaraja Urs road just due to lack of parking spaces. Immediate construction of Multi level car parking is need of the hour.

Odisha Sea Beach Expedition with YHAI

Odisha Sea Beach Expedition with YHAI

Youth Hostel association of India (YHAI) has been fore runner in promoting adventure sports has been successful for decades in providing unique experiences to trekkers in unexplored areas across the nation. This time I joined them for a 6 day Odisha sea beach expedition which was spread around Puri district and the islands around Chilika Lake.

YHAI trekker’s group is usually around 25 in number, but due to unforeseen weather conditions and last minute cancellations we ended up with a group of 8 trekkers. The base camp at Youth Hostel, Puri was very well arranged and the simple vegetarian food they served made me nostalgic of home cooked food.

Day 1 being the registration day for the participants, gave me enough time to visit the popular Hertiage village Raghurajpur known for it’s unique artistic skills and dance art form and the very famous lord jagannath temple in the heart of puri.

A typical day in youth hostel trek starts at 5.30 am with bed tea (customary for privileged people), and breakfast at 7am and all get set to start of sharp at 8am. Day 2 the team starts with bustling busy roads of puri and the sea beach flooded with visitors and slowly move towards the deserted beaches and head south towards chilika lake. 

 

The excitement of being in a new place spending your vacation and adventure into an unknown land slowly starts nauseating one. Unlike the other beach expeditions which are usually beach shacks, foreigners, life guards and liquor, Orissa beaches are more or less deserted except for small fisherman settlements. The villages are moved interior into the land in order to protect from unprecedented cyclones. All along the beach trek one is greeted with numerous dead turtles. These turtles are unfortunate targets which get caught in the fisherman nets and since they are prohibited from trading and either killed or left to die in the sea coast. One of the government institutes is carrying out a physical survey to trace the amount of dead turtles but hundreds of the left unturned. 

On the way we meet local fisherman, villagers and interact with them on our destination and brief about their profession village etc. An interesting encounter was this small fisherman settlement which uses a small solar lamp to survive in the evening hours, at this moment you feel proud about the advancement in technologies and penetration to unknown lands.

And finally this trek covers 12 kms on day2 and 14kms on day 3 all along the sea coast. End of day 2 is we rest at a multipurpose cyclone shelter built by the government in each of the villages to protect the villagers from cyclones.

End of day 3 was spent on in tents in a beautiful camp site which is encircled between bay of Bengal and chilika lake. All along we find continuous man made forest built to protect the village from cyclones.

Though the sea as well as the lake is salt water, there is this  small well in between these with fresh sweet ground water, which is the source for a few hundred fishermen around this area.No one is sure the principle behind this phenomena.

Then we proceed in lands of Chilika lake viewing the sea mouth where chilika meets bay of Bengal and the migratory birds flocking into chilika. The small white  building seen in the picture is a mosque around a small islam following people settlement known as Bhagwanpur and also    next to it is a hindu people settlement known as shahjanpur. Classic example of community living in a democratic secular India. 

This led us to the next island Rambhatia which is usually visited by inland visitors to experience chilika, migratory birds and of course enjoy the fresh sea food.

Then spend rest of the day exploring the island which is inhabited by cows and ox  and finally reach SATAPADA Wild life Range.  As shown in the picture this area is popular for the dolphins. We were equally excited to see them.

At 4pm we set off to visit the dolphins while the sun sets and towards   our next destination which is a forest guest house in Brahmapura.

This is the best moment of the whole trek. Cool calm serene environment   surrounded by gustling of the dolphins and other sea animals or the birds returning back to their nests. In the background sun sets quietly.  Moist sea  breeze dust out the tiredness in you make one lose self and hug the wide arms of the splendid nature, it was priceless.

That night was spent in a well laid forest guest house of Brahmapura facing chilika lake. 

After another long 1.5 hours in the boat we reach inlands and catch a bus and return to the base camp at Puri. Rest of the day spent in exploring the Sand art exhibition by Sudharshan Pattnaik sand art institute, the old city puri around the temple and savouring sea food.

 Evening was well spent in sharing our experience with the next group of trekkers and wishing them luck. Next day a local tour was arranged with Odisha tourism, heard stories of Konark, Lingaraj temple, Ashoka  and visited Khandagiri Udaygiri hills, Stupa and of course the Konark temple. In the end bid good bye for my trek friends I made in these days and moved back to my abode.

I must appreciate the splendid hospitality of the camp leaders in various camp sites who fed me more than my capacity. As it’s always said “No one loses weight in YHAI treks” is indeed quite true.  

(nitin29687@gmail.com)

Cultural Insights, Motivation into Positive Action

When we look at the life of a human being it is always bound with a next milestone or next objective. For instance to attain Graduation, post-graduation, job, family but what is the ultimate goal? Is the ultimate goal to earn more money that satisfies pleasurable needs or drives your passion i.e money fame and partner, but our question is; is this sole motive/objective of life? A few great people have realized that ultimate objective is to attain peace and harmony in simple words a peaceful goodnights sleep. 

Bill Gates Spent his entire lifetime in building technology and amassed a vast amount of wealth. He could have purchased an island in Caribbean and been partying there, why would he want to spend his time in Bihar and UP, helping rural people in building toilets, helping woman build skills. Same is the case with Warren Buffet who drives his own car and doesn’t even use a mobile phone and has contributed billions of dollars to Bill and Melinda gates foundation. Why did Arvind Kejriwal quit IRS and fighting against corruption? Why did Ela bhatt started SEWA (Self Employed Women’s association) and helped women with small loans, why did Green warrior Jadab Payeng build a social forest in Assam or Salumaradha Thimakka in the Karnataka planted thousands of trees. Life is Unfair: Some people are more fortunate than the others. The above mentioned people have achieved enlightenment or fit into Self-actualization section of Maslow’s hierarchy theory. They believe that selfless service to mankind brings in inner peace and harmony. This was exactly what Shankaracharya or Buddha or Vivekananda did long ago.

But this does not mean you quit all the worldly pleasures and serve the society. Definitely not. It’s a balance between material and spiritual power. It is important to satisfy the basic needs and then contribute to the betterment of the society.  Harish Hande, Magsasay award winner IIT and MIT, spend dedicated his life to electrify rural homes through a profit venture. Dabbawallahs of Mumbai who have attained perfection in their venture at the same time have helped millions of families in delivery of food.

In the current socio economic situation it is very important to cooperate and coordinate to lead a peaceful life. Why is Jamshedpur called TATA nagar, because TATA has built Jamshedpur through brick and mortars and has built the entire ecosystem. Same is what Toyota did or Infosys Foundation which has connected with people very closely. Why should ICICI and State bank fight amongst themselves to attract more customers? Ultimately their objective is providing financial security and services to the people. So if you provide best service people will definitely come to you. If they fight against themselves and end up in a cold war would it benefit anybody in turn they would lose their inner peace. Classic lesson is what Akbar practiced by respecting all religions and allowed them to coexist whereas other Mughal rulers tried to destroy our temples.

In corporate world, simple things that could make a difference is that respect people, most importantly employees. Keep in mind they are not numbers which most companies think they are and treat them like humans. Don’t try to reduce operating cost or increase EBITDA at the cost of people. In your difficult times the world does not remember how much profits you made for the company but the good relations and people you built in the company will stand by you.

Very interesting vision of Marriott groups of hotels is to always keep their employees happy because they know that if their employees are happy they will keep their customers happy. Simple isn’t it.  Indeed this was exactly what Kautilya said in Arthashastra. 

You have to keep in mind that people when they come into your organization already come motivated with aspirations and the adaptability and adjustment is already embedded in our DNA’s.  Never underestimate them and try to capitalize in each one’s potential on how they could benefit your organization.

Religious Perspective – One of the Buddhist virtues is to serve society through building toilets, and planting trees. Islam practices fasting during Ramzan primarily to feel the hunger of the downtrodden. At Golden Temple Amritsar, people get down from Mercedes and prepare food for the visitors and also manage the whole operations. What these denote is that path of all religious leads to the same objective and service to mankind is service to god.

Our appeal is please do something for 30mins a day just not for you but for others selflessly. For example, what SFC (students Facilities Committee), Placement committee, Peer learning sessions, minds of IIM team, Samarpan are doing. When a person gets placed and thanks the Placement committee members, I’m sure it means a lot to them.

Best things in life can only be felt with eyes closed so don’t price each and every thing. As MasterCard says best moments in life are priceless. 

“If you want happiness for an hour take a nap,

If you want happiness for a day go fishing,

If you want happiness for month get married,

If you want happiness for a year inherit a fortune,

If you want happiness for lifetime help others”