Dinshaw Avari- Trying my Hand at Blogging!

 October 6, 2020   Hotels [rooms] marketing used to be so much easier- you put an advert in the newspaper or magazine to promote your product or facility or promotion.   That’s IT!   TV was around but one of the most expensive mediums to market a hotel- and only the large Hiltons, Hyatts and Sheratons of the world used it.   Then came the ‘90s email usage on a commercial basis, so we started emailing clients and guests.   Close on its heels came the WWW … followed by our “friend”, SOCIAL MEDIA in the last decade!   Very very confusing … not only to customers – with the JUNK being posted daily - but also to hotels.   Where & who do we market to?   When will our customer be “online”? Who will see our advert in the clutter & junk of the information available on the Web & Social?   Newspapers officially have a shelf life of 24 hours … in practice, it’s a few hours – the moment the paper is put back...

(Author Unknown)   September 23, 2020     I am a Parsi (“bawa”) – and I love the eccentricities & quirks, we, as a community, display…and I love poking fun at ourselves (as do most of us bawas )!  Those Parsis who disagree, my humble apologies in advance.   I received this by email and it was too funny not to post.  Read on for a ‘deep-belly’ laugh and if you know us Parsis, you too will tend to agree with our idiosyncrasies, accept them and take them in stride 😊 .   (I don’t claim credit for this masterpiece- and I give full marks to the unknown author!  “Mumbai” based and minimal gujrati language knowledge may be required 😊 )   QUOTE   This is hilarious stuff, especially for people who have exposure to it's Parsi culture.   Whoever wrote it, thanks bawa....   I, Tehmuras Tehmpton Tarkariwalla (alias T3), being of sound mind [one and only time] and solid body [Dara singh no baap], do not wish to be ke...

  Sept 16, 2020   (9 of 12)   REPLY ADDRESS BY MR. DINSHAW B AVARI ON THE OCCASION TO COMMEMORATE HIS 85 th  BIRTHDAY on NOV 5, 1987-     “ God has been kind to me.   I made money from Beach Luxury Hotel and eventually bought a Hotel in Lahore (Nedous Hotel) on Public auction which I converted from Nedous Hotel to Park Luxury - and I was about to convert it to build the Lahore Hilton.   By this time, my son Byram & I had discussed whether we were content in running the Beach Luxury or wanted to grow (and naturally we chose the latter).     This then propelled me to say that success does not come without pains or losses...    The Beach Luxury in the 50s and early 60s (when we spoke), made its money through cash sales which were not recorded because of the high taxation- and actually became our capital.  We agreed that firstly we have to bring all our businesses on the books because without a strong bal...

July 9, 2020 (Photo credit- shutterstock.com) On a recent online course, I was made to read one of the most POWERFUL essays (by Amy Gutmann) “The Lure & Dangers of Extremist Rhetoric”, a topic so so prevalent worldwide.   The speech is so profound that it actually made me sit up and take notice of my very own actions and reactions in arguements; and while these principals apply in politics, they are prevalent in family, work and society in general!   Excerpts - “ Going as far back as Aristotle, he maintained that –   The proper task of rhetoric is to drive home the logic, the truth and the evidence of an argument.   Reason should frame a good politician’s goal to persuade.   The opposite of a sound democratic argument is demagogy: manipulation and deception in order to divide, demean, deceive and conquer [citizens].   Extremist rhetoric blatantly disregards and devalues truth-seeking understandings upon which citizens [ … ] may ...

May 20, 2020 Yawn … Yawwn … YAWWNNNN 😴😴😴 It’s almost two months for our lockdown in Pakistan and working from home. The first month went well, working from home I mean. Started waking up at 7am, instead of 6 You find the time to exercise more                               Lounge in your shorts and socks                                              No shirt, just your vest (in my case, Sadrah)                                    ...

February 14, 2020 I surprised my future wife with a romantic(?) Valentine’s dinner the year we were dating; and then for the next few years after our marriage... …and just as suddenly those romantic dinners stopped J , not for want of trying   … I just “forgot”! There is no religious significance of Valentines Day to the general public in Pakistan.   However, we all like to celebrate it as a means of entertainment. Valentine’s occasion brings activity to Pakistan’s society in general.   It’s a means of entertainment- besides eating and drinking, there’s not much more one can do in a large city like Karachi. I’ve found that occasions like Valentine’s increases market activity; there’s a positive vibe in the City; employment and commerce is generated by eating places.   Besides this, roadside sellers of flowers have a boon.   Patisserie orders increase (…so does your waist line!). Pakistanis are not celebrating any religious ang...

February 11, 2020   ( http://t2online.com/lifestyle/comedian-cyrus-broacha-gets-real-about-his-bestie-kunal-vijaykar/cid/14024 ) Our family are Parsi Zoroastrians, a minority so minuscule that we are almost an “endangered” species in our own right 🤣 ! Recently I came across an hilarious post purportedly by Cyrus Broacha, a famous TV Personality, Comedian and … Parsi. So, for a little mid-week humour, let me quote verbatim what I read – QUOTE “While most surnames in India reflect caste and lineage, the Parsis had a delightfully modern streak — having landed from Persia without caste, history or context, they created name identities through professions and names of places (cities and streets). Our family moved to Bombay (now Mumbai) from Rawalpindi during the partition in 1947. We came as refugees, but the family soon settled down and by 1953 my father had started playing golf at the Willingdon Club. I was eight years old and would walk 18 holes with him ...

February 11, 2020   ( http://t2online.com/lifestyle/comedian-cyrus-broacha-gets-real-about-his-bestie-kunal-vijaykar/cid/14024 ) Our family are Parsi Zoroastrians, a minority so minuscule that we are almost an “endangered” species in our own right 🤣 ! Recently I came across an hilarious post purportedly by Cyrus Broacha, a famous TV Personality, Comedian and … Parsi. So, for a little mid-week humour, let me quote verbatim what I read – QUOTE “While most surnames in India reflect caste and lineage, the Parsis had a delightfully modern streak — having landed from Persia without caste, history or context, they created name identities through professions and names of places (cities and streets). Our family moved to Bombay (now Mumbai) from Rawalpindi during the partition in 1947. We came as refugees, but the family soon settled down and by 1953 my father had started playing golf at the Willingdon Club. I was eight years old and would walk 18 holes with him ...