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! :)
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You can read the entire poem on a previous post of mine here
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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.
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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! :)
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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.
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Thanks for a great evening Sarah!
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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!
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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!
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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!
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