Dinshaw Avari- Trying my Hand at Blogging!

June 12, 2020 (Do you follow Marvel Cinematic Universe?)   (Photo credit- https://images.app.goo.gl/ceGmi8qAB9ZarsTbA ) With one snap of his fingers, Thanos eliminates an arbitrary 50% of the world’s population; according to him it was to correct Nature’s imbalance … he was “trying to save the universe from itself”.    Yeah, right!!!!   Compared to any other living being on Earth & the seas, humans’ capacity to harm & kill each other, and exploit & destroy the world’s resources, is unlimited. Is the Coronavirus pandemic nature’s way of correcting our exploitation of the World? Is the Coronavirus pandemic a lesson to humans about the value of Life? Is the Coronavirus pandemic here to give mankind a taste of its own Medicine?   Whatever the reasons, we need to sit up, learn and rectify our ways.   Unfortunately, I don’t believe this is going to happen in this lifetime!  As I said, our capacity to harm others gets in the way ...

April 2, 2020 (Image credit- https://images.app.goo.gl/kXaAvcuBG5UZQ4DN8 )  Life is all about experiences and based on those experiences, over time, your outlook towards life and the world forms & changes. Likewise, I too have become more philosophical, definitely more religious and have come to sincerely believe in (& follow) a saying we learnt from my father– “ Whatever happens, happens for the best; Whatever happens, happens the way God wants it to    because that’s the best way ” So when my sailing friends, Bill & Kate Gover invited me to cruise with them on ‘SY SENETO’ around the world ( https://billkatesail.wordpress.com/ ), I jumped at this opportunity for their Pacific leg.  About four weeks - a leisurely cruise - interspersed with squalls (and calm) – but nothing grueling like it would have been in a Clipper or Fastnet race. My wife Dinaz did - and my family would’ve - supported this 100%, as they have my other ...

July 23, 2019 This Instagram post from @house.of.leaders got me thinking... There is a growing disparity I see in our daily lives between the those of us who “have” and the rest of our society.  There is a gulf which grows as the years progress. Information technology, medical technology, smart phones, mortality rates and so much more are, without doubt, getting better – yet I believe the standards of life, in general, are getting worse for the vast majority of the world!  As I type this on my laptop in the comfort of my chilled room, @house.of.leaders’ quote glares at me in my face, as I realize 70% of the rest of our Country is withering away in the heat, families trying to get their children a minimal education, so that they can at least read & write, let alone own or use a laptop. We have a roof over our heads; we wear clean clothes and shoes; have access to daily food, electricity, water, education, transport, medicines, justice … all of which we...

July 12, 2019 We are an inquisitive nation and by extension an inquisitive people 😊 ! Politically, we just cannot stop poking our [long] noses into others’ affairs … and more than that, commenting on the same.   We are ‘holier than thou’! Locally, we must be part of the crowd – we just cannot mind our own business. Socially, not only must we ‘k eep up with the Joneses ’ but we must comment on “them”, their life, clothes, dogs, cats and anything else we are inquisitive enough to bitch about. We’ll stop to see an accident; we’ll mill around the affected; we’ll give our comments on who was right or wrong without even knowing anything about the incident; we’ll even pronounce judgement – all along with no relationship to affected parties concerned.   All because our voice must be heard above the din of another 50 onlookers with exactly the same purpose in mind 😊 ! Oi people!!! ... Get a life!   There’s more to life than inquiring into our neigh...

(Image source- https://www.wired.com/story/giving-open-source-projects-life-after-a-developers-death/ ) June 6, 2019 People say there are only two finite things in this World- however, I believe there’s only one … DEATH.   Many of you may not agree but I do believe DEATH is the only certainty in the whole world.   Everything else is your destiny … and what you make of your life. William Somerset Maugham’s last play, “Sheppey”, tells the story of Sheppey, an hairdresser, who believes he is a lucky man.   Maugham ends the play with an old Arabic Fable, where “DEATH” visits Sheppey; and in reply to Sheppey, tells the story of a merchant in Baghdad trying to escape death   ( source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheppey_(play) ) .   Jeffrey Archer’s very first chapter, titled “Death Speaks” in his book “To Cut a Long Story Short”, requotes this very Fable. Whatever our life and however good or evil we’ve lived it, in the end we just cannot esc...

(Photo credit- https://www.labmanager.com/leadership-and-staffing/2015/10/time-management-101#.XOZlwogzZnK ) May 30, 2019 In the 1980s, my two friends – #Shahrukh & #Shahveer – and I decided we’ll be on time for every party.  Guess what happened … we were the only three there at the appointed time!  What a riot … even the hosts weren’t around. On average, we only have 657,000 hours in our lifetime – so why WHY NOT MANAGE TIME BETTER !? Amongst my many idiosyncrasies, I hate being late and I hate waiting for latecomers - I get irritated; it vexes me ( I love that term 😊 ); and it truly gets under my skin. A close relative has an uncanny ability of turning up at a party just when the food is coming out or a minute earlier.  There has NEVER been a time when he has to wait for the food 😊 . Another close relative just cannot be at an appointment on time – even for his departing flight!  The one time I decided to trick him into going earli...

February 1, 2019 Everyone talks of "them good ol’ days” (yankee accent please 😊) … and I really believe they were!   We were too young to enjoy those days in the ‘70s but I remember talks of cabarets in Karachi, international flights (with layover crew), bars, discos … basically Karachi was just another big, cosmopolitan & accepted city. Our Beach Luxury Hotel used to be one of the hotels which annually hosted the December 31 st New Year Eve dinner & bash.   My parents talked of performers like The Talismen band (Norman is still going strong – good for Norman!), Conchita with Soc Penalosa & his Filipino quartet, Maria Angelica, Rita Elen, The Broadway Sisters and many many more international performers especially flown in just for that one night. Besides New Year’s eve dinners, there were regular shows through the year – and all “black tie”, formal affairs- where the women dressed up in their finest and the men in their tux’s, sporting ci...