Tea shops around petrol pumps in Muscat are important social nodes of interaction over a 100 Bz Karak Chai and an Indian Savory such as Vadai. These petrol pumps are the end of the supply chain assets, which offer last mile connectivity to the consumer, in the global circuit of petrocapitalism, with epicentres from Vienna to the oil fields of Al Wusta in Oman.

Expatriate workers are feeling the hit of a low oil price environment, with fewer jobs and a constant stream of one way tickets back home.

These ‘Bachelor Bodies’ (Ye 2014) have a moment of life lived over small sips of chai and nibbles of samosa.

Writing the Cities of the Gulf need a language which is fresh and new, and decoupled from the lens of western anthropologists which analyse everything from an exhausted vocabulary of resource flows and globalisation. The gulf has its own nuances with a social conservatism anchored in, with the eyes looking to a future of innovation and entrepreneurship.

#migranttales

Pari, the Anushka Sharma and Parambrata starrer is a horror firm within a larger story regarding south Asian narratives and a romantic dimension. It has a meaty ethical underpinning. Good direction by Prosit Roy in a kolkata backdrop with a Bengali star cast. The bylanes of South Kolkata and the Maidan was nice to watch.

The atmospherics were gripping with shock values. A bit stretched in the second half. I do not watch horror films but it was a refreshing change. Anushka has a winner on her hands and is surely doing a superb job as a content producer.

Do watch for the chills. Literally.

Entrepreneurship in the recent discourse has focused on the exit and the valuation. The quick buck to be made, the Zuckerberg syndrome. Where as the traditional trader and the SME has anchored his/her business on longevity and sustainability. The marathon takes more than the sprint. The questions revolve along multiples and the sales targets. Legitimate to survival, but is the motive of the organisation the product, the corresponding impact and hence the money to raise more for an expansion or is it the exit itself. Are the employees in the game to create value or to create institutional careers?

Is travel about covering the entire itinerary?

Or is it about the best selfies on Instagram?

Or the most pretty feeds at the end of trip

With #throwback hashtags

Or is it about soaking in the moment

Soaking in the view

Soaking in the breeze

Let the atmosphere seep in to the bones

Let the desert sand stick to your jeans

De hyphenate, travel from social media theatre

Travel is ultimately about

The journey

The roads

To the destination and back

Rather the translation of the senses

Look outward

To veer inward

Travel is a synonym

For journey

For life

For learning

And the occasional vanity picture

Ofcourse, as travel is a human endeavour

After all

There is an impression that Indian entrepreneurship has taken a hit with Nirav, Vijay and Rotomac episodes is unfortunate. There are people who spend their lives building legitimate businesses and the negative perception does a disservice to the business community. I feel for the lost jobs to be honest more than the lost money to the banking system, where NPA’s are a reality.

It is easy to critique the non availability of good work in the system, where reservations and lack of public sector jobs are major concerns/drivers. In this precarious environment, business is the avenue for jobs. The amount of risk an entrepreneur takes is mind boggling. The money that the entrepreneurs make is after walking on a bed of thorns, and lost sleep. There is no rent seeking in this matter. Businesses lose face value of their stock over a tweet now a days.

The hype and the hysteria of the Lynch mob mindset should be tempered. Who will create the jobs in this gig and AI economy? Not at AK Gopalan Bhavan certainly. Cyber Hub is more the correct geography.

Demographic Deluge rather than Dividend is not too far away.

Not everything has a template in life. A template is a crunch. It might be a supportive friend, a boss who knows that one is not blazing the trail, a reporting deliverable which is rehashed. Create a fresh report. Identify dead weight and reboot. Life does not offer many opportunities. Reflection in this distraction friendly social internet paradigm is rare. The world of AI is brutal and it will only recognise what has been not created apriori.

What are the default settings we are operating on?

Ekushe. We will not forget the day when Language consciousness became national consciousness. Dignity stolen will be dignity redeemed.

Entrepreneurship is a perennial buzz word bordering on rhetorical fatigue , in the traditional discourse on employment generation and business literature. There are plenty of entrepreneurship forums and platforms such as TiE on a global basis. A select few focus on women and their stories regarding their journeys in the big bad world of business. Women in Business have metaphorical glass ceilings, which has recently been amplified with the recent debates on the news ticker and twitter feeds such as diversity.

Entrepreneurship Seminars and Conferences are non conventional sites of knowledge production, as stories are shared and lessons are learnt, beyond the textbook. Entrepreneurship is a contact sport, and insights catalyse the Imagination for creating value. Oman is a country on the cusp of transforming beyond a hydrocarbon present and entrepreneurship is the natural engine for economic growth. Women in Oman lead the way in many a realm, and business is no stranger to their brilliance and strategic expertise.

Knowledge Oman, a pioneering social initiative curating relevant context and content regarding entrepreneurship in the country, founded by youth visionary Mr. Tariq Al Barwani. The last instalment of the entrepreneurship seminar series, had a stellar A Player cast with an auditorium packed to the brim. The evening of learning began by an articulate talk by Madam Sharifa, the founder of a USD 15 million micro fund – The Wadi Accelerator. She hit the nail on the head when she quipped that ‘Self Development is as important as Business Development’. She goes back to learning something new every two years, and doubles down on grit as a quality for an entrepreneur. She finds being a women entrepreneur no different than being a male entrepreneur and foregrounded her talk by thanking the men in the audience for being there for a women entrepreneur seminar!

Madam Sharifa warned the entrepreneurship community to be careful of limelight and to concentrate on the bottom line rather than be egotistical. Be humble, was the straight forward takeaway. A great, great talk, full of good leads. Memorable Stuff to recall on a bad day.

Next up the curve was a terrific panel discussion constituted by six panelist’s, sharing commonalities in their entrepreneurial journeys marked by joy, disappointments and the range of emotions spanning the spectrum. The panel had a jeweller, a handicrafts pioneer, a hospitality entrepreneur, a bakery owner, a social Internet enabler, and a famous fashion designer popular in the GCC. An eclectic all women panel (obviously) is a rare event, and was certainly the piece de resistance of the evening. A lot of stories of accidental starts and failures were common themes mapped from their stories. The ‘light bulb’ moment was fascinating to understand as entrepreneurs are movers, and they move the ecosystem forward. These amazing women were candid and honest. The Fashion Abaya entrepreneur on the panel, started her business by saving her wedding expenses. Some amazing insights were shared.

The best business expertise is learnt by doing, and academics do definitely fall short, way short. But, through this article, i hope to record these narratives of Omani women entrepreneurs which need to be read and this will I hope, Add to the entrepreneurial conversations in Oman and the wider region, as writing is an act of theorisation and memory.

The most impressive bits of Seminar time are what might be labelled as fillers, inconsequential gaps in space time eagerly waited for it to get over with and move on to the real deal. However, these networking gaps over some Gloria Jeans Coffee and savouries, are nodes for collaboration and a quick exchange of business cards and ideas. These exchanges are starting points for opportunities to open up and bloom.

Knowledge Oman does an amazing job in creating these interconnections by forging practitioner and volunteer communities of ideas and learning and this evening and the entire entrepreneurship series was a seminal moment in the contemporary landscape of learning in Oman.

He is from Chembur, Mumbai where my Mother grew up. He works for a group which has common ancestral roots with his family. We discussed the Gujarati trade diasporic roots in Oman, including their initiative to maintain Temple assets here. He knows Vashi well, in the satellite city of Navi Mumbai in the greater Mumbai region, where my family has a nest. We spoke about the expansion of Navi Mumbai as well. He is here for a decade, and works at a Pizzeria. I would not be surprised if he does not eat most of the fare he helps to create.

#migranttales

#latergram

#humansofmuscat

Radical value needs the breakthrough idea, which is beyond business as usual, as per definition. The idea comes when, focus and context, merge at an inflection point. Reflection, very much a core methodological tenet in sociology has practical import. Only, when we know several data points from across disciplines, then the awareness dawns upon us that we have to go beyond the normative. Anyone can do the needed check list bullets. The information era, makes mediocre normal, and excellence very hard.

The definition of an A Player has evolved. It’s beyond delivering the goods. Neoliberalism, stretches the top five percent top performer bracket, every two years. Organisations in the gig era, will need more than the mediocre. I know this will sound audacious, but now a days, A Players will need to create the Blue Ocean space. Create value there is none. College does not teach you this. Actually, College is John Snow, it knows nothing about the real world.

In the information era, all data is online. The key is know what to know and have the cognitive tools to process it, in real time. The limitations of the post text era, the title of a very recent NYT article, will make for the cognitive dexterity in numbers and narratives, intersecting at various hierarchies very difficult. One remedial measure, is to learn ‘close reading’. The ability to read between the lines is slowly getting lost. If we do not read, how would we know?

Reskilling is resilience, and economies all over are dispensing Education fit for 1950. The smart phone knows more than you, then how will you remain relevant in the market, ready with millions of graduates in South Asia ready to do remote work?