Que Sera Sera ........ Whatever will be .... will be

When i grew up and went to school i asked my teacher what should I try ...... should i paint pictures, should i sing songs ...... this was her wise reply ...... Que Sera Sera ..... whatever will be ... will be .... the futures not ours to see ......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azxoVRTwlNg

I do love the movie the 'The Man Who Knew too Much" and the song a lot but the reason i mentioned this is that most of our children are planning to give their matriculate and university entrance this is a typical question being asked. In the good old days the answer used to be Doctor, Engineer, Accountant etc but a close look at all the professions has turned conventional wisdom upside down.

Artificial Intelligence, Digitization, Analytics, Cognitive and Scholastic Computing .......... are redefining the world

One of my friends I knew majored in Bio-chemistry and she used to study the impact of experimental treatment on terminal diseases like cancer where she used to do a lot of analysis of chemical compounds and impact on illness at various stages. Now all that she does is pours over analytical reports which gives this analysis and the trends. In fact my very own company does work in this area.

One of my friends is a pilot, the first aircraft he flew was a turboprop which he felt was like driving a tram or a cable car compared to flying these days. These days flying an aircraft is like Xbox or Playstation. He says apart from wheels up and touch down the computers do all the flying and they only attend the alerts and messages to ensure there is nothing majorly going wrong. Fly by Wire as they say with GPS and complete computerization of the cockpit.

My friend who is a qualified accountant took up early retirement as he did not have his job anymore. Why? Well he was in the analyst bureau of one of the top investment banks where he used to look at current affairs and analyze impact on stocks and help people save money from diving stocks or make a quick buck from rising stocks. but now there is a sweet program written by a MNC computer giant which does this job and it perfectly predicted the commodity prices on the takeover of Crimea by Russia. Why do they need my friend anymore????

As an accountant in the late 90's i spent hours and hours doing book keeping and accounting and reconciliation and later MIS and finacial reporting. Further some amount of some market placements of funds and forex transaction. Each one of these jobs are done efficiently by SAP, Oracle, Chesapeake, Sunguard and the likes.

However what surprises me today is that in schools and colleges there is no major change in the form of education offered. It remain as irrelevant as ever. The emphasis in education has to be on not remembering what 16X16 is equal to but reading and using the calculator better and ensuring building calculators which are disaster proof.

No wonder corporate spend so much time and money retraining fresh graduates joining from colleges. There are philanthropists the likes of Premji who are making attempts to improve education and its relevance but at global levels there is still a lot to cover.

I am not surprised we have dropouts like Bill Gates, Dhirbhai Ambani, Steve Jobs doing a great job without a formal education. 

Should our children not be dropping out or singing 'We don't need no education' (Pink Floyd). As for me and my advice to my baby ...... Que Sera Sera ..... whatever will be will be

Smoke on Water .......... Fire in the Sky

Almost kicked myself out of bed at 3.00 am. My taxi would be there 5.00 am. Shower with Lukewarm water and my morning prayers. Clad in pinstripes looking like the stereo-type corporate guy i was ready for my cabbie. 

Drooping eyelids ..... pouring rain ..... some Indian gazals ..... rain again ...... heavy traffic on motorway at 5 am heading toward the busy metropolis of London .... queues ...... traffic..... rain......

Someone was tapping on my shoulder ..... eyes open.... cabbie says I am at Terminal 1. I did not have much luggage as i was doing a day trip so breezed through security with a backpack. Located a cafe and managed to get some tea to keep me awake till I got in the aircraft and then I crashed.

When I opened my eyes again i thought I was dreaming but what i was really seeing was the snow capped Alps aka Mont Blanc style.

Intermittent sleep and snow capped mountains were then broken when the aircraft landed with a thud on the tarmac of Geneva International Airport. 

The terminal was full of people. Was it vacation time? Off course not it was that time of the year when you romance the snow on the mountains and you were in the skiing country of the world. A little girl playfully came running towards me in a pink ski suit from head to toe. She was looking like an angel and I was wondering how the pink would contrast with the snow on the mountains. Her dad apologetically came towards me and i just smiled and told him it was OK.

Every make of Ski was visible and every size. The cheap, expensive and designer ones. The booth for the buses to ski resorts had long snaking queues but everyone was in a real jovial mood....... but then I was running the proverbial rat race and had to hurry for my train to Montreux.

Again between few winks caught a few glimpses of Lake Geneva from the train

I had a lunch meeting with one of the mangers in one of the largest companies in the world and then another meeting at 4 pm which was done by 5.30 pm. I scrambled to get to the station and catch a train back to Geneva Airport.

I was now more awake and little less stressed. For some reason i was not able to get Montreux of my mind. There was a strain of music like a electric guitar playing in my mind. As the train started, the sun was was setting and got some of the most gorgeous glimpses of Lake Geneva again @ sunset

When i looked at the scene it came back to me why i could not get Montreux off my mind. It was the memory of the Scorpions singing in the Montreux Jazz Festivals which happens annually. Those hippie days and the cult figure of Scorpions (Hard Rock and all)

Smoke on Water .......... Fire in the Sky........

Some photos here are not my own so no credit for them .........

Shaken not stirred!!!!

That's right!!! ....... it is the proverbial Mr. James Bond asking for his drink. None other than the Vodka Martini.

For a long time I thought it does not exist like the Mi6 soldier himself. But then in Pittsburgh (Station Square) I discovered this great place that served some awesome Martinis and then chanced upon the Vodka Martini on a warm summer evening.

The Vodka Martini is quite a crisp and refreshing cocktail. At the same time it is very potent. One too many can make you feel quite light headed. 

My favorite Vodka for this cocktail is a Stolichnaya Gold. The Stoli Elite is too good to have as a mixed drink and I prefer to have that neat. I prefer to use the Extra Dry vermouth which is the other ingredient of the cocktail. My choice of brands for the same Martini Extra dry Vermouth.

Here goes the recipe:

6 oz vodka

3 oz dry vermouth

Shake vodka and vermouth together with several ice cubes in a shaker. Strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with an olive and serve.

Remember what Mr. Bond always specifies is a key that it should be shaken well and not just stirred else the Vodka and Vermouth will not mix and will float on top of the other (Vodka below). It looks nice but tastes horrible. Since it is like having the two drinks neat one after another and not a cocktail huh!

If you like it salty, a Dirty Martini would catch your imagination both in terms of the color it provides (pale gold hue) to the drink as well as the taste. You can add a peg of Olive Brine in the drink.

Cheers!!! 

Drink and Dream ..............................................................

P.S. - The next post will be a dream or an issue and not drink. Will alternate between a Drink or a dream. Looking forward to the comments of all who tried making the drink at home. Did you enjoy it?

Drinks and Dreams

Do we dare to dream? 

We do, I guess at least I do. The dreams that we dream are almost always our subconscious thoughts and aspirations. Things we dare not say or do openly or publicly in the fear of scorn, hate or criticism. But all is fare in dreams. Even if they are the black and white like the old cathode ray tube and not the new astonishing LED 40 Inch Displays. Why!!!! Because these are too dear to us to care about the media.

Another situation where we dream unabashedly is when we have gulped down a few drinks and we 'feel free'. We again lose all inhibitions and dream and do things that we would not in public. Some times good and sometimes not so good. These are also times when you can see the true feelings and emotions flow.

A baby has no inhibitions and does what it does not caring about what people have to say. They do it just because they wantto do it. 

Over the years we have become conscious of our surroundings, peers, society, political pecking order in corporate and all and sundry. So much so that we start suppressing our own thoughts and feelings.

I have for a long time wanted to open a Cocktail Lounge called Drinks and Dreams where i would have fostered an open spirit where people can drink and dream. Authors can use as a forum for their reading, young artists use as an open audience to understand peer reactions etc etc. Someday with the help of some financier I will do this.

But till then I will use this blog to talk about drinks, dreams and opinions. As my son says 'Dad YOLO'