Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed visiting India'

In what could be the most exciting news to me, H.H Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is visiting India this week! For all the people who know less of him, here's a slight intro.

Who is he?

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed is the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, the Capital of the United Arab Emirates. He is very very widely adored by both Locals and Expatriates alike, most notably because he shares a strikingly similar personality of that of his much beloved father H.H Sheikh Zayed (May god rest his soul in peace). 

Why is he so awesome?

One of the main aspects is his humility that makes him stand apart from the rest of the world leaders. Despite being the Crown Prince of the Richest City in the World( As reported by CNN), he drives mostly himself, in a Nissan Patrol. Thats what the Average Joe in Abu Dhabi drives, so its quite surprising to see the CP to drive the same car, that too by himself! Him driving around how he makes sure Abu Dhabi and Al Ain are well within his eyes, its always good to know a leader is first-handedly making sure the city is doing well.

He is also very accessible to his public, head to the Jones the Grocer in Al-Nahyan area and you'll easily find him there, most likely surrounded by excited people wanting to take a picture. That's also where is office is.

Beyond that, there are some very interesting anecdotes of him as well.

There was a news story on how he offered a school kid a ride home, who was waiting in the heat for her dad who was running late to pick her up. Surprisingly, the girl declined saying her Mom had told her not to accept requests from strangers. At this, another Officer working for His Highness then informed the little girl that this was no stranger, but the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi! The girl however replied she was well aware of the fact, but still didnt want to disobey her mom. What happened next? Well, Sheikh Mohammed decided to then wait for her dad with her! 

Super-Economic Power:

He is also why Abu Dhabi is on the global map today, be it the Yas Marina Circuit, or the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum. Not only that, the Cleaveland Clinic Abu Dhabi also opened doors recently thanks to his company, Mubadala. NYU Abu Dhabi is another success story credited to Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed. He doesn't care if these earn money or no, all he wants is that his citizens get the best of everything in the world, be it Healthcare, Education or simply Leisure events.

With that, i wish Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed a very successful visit to India!

The Writer is a student hailing from Abu Dhabi, currently pursuing his studies in Mumbai.

Bombay needs a Coffee Mafia

WHY is coffee in Mumbai so DAMN EXPENSIVE? 

I'm not kidding. You can get Chai at every nook and cranny, but Coffee at only select places. Even when you do, its 3.5x as expensive as Chai that you get. 

To give perspective, South Indians, namely Tamilians love their Coffee and their filter coffee is not only out of the world, its also easily available and damn cheap as well. But in Bombay, i barely see it being sold street-side, leaving it to the high-end chains to do their thang. Heck, even in my College canteen a Chai is for 8 bucks, and Coffee for 40! And the cup size is *THE* same. 

Its very very annoying, we need a Coffee Mafia in Mumbai to get this right! Its time we demand equality for the boon that keeps us awake. 

Who's in?

Time to ban Start-ups?

I'm done with the term 'Start-up', its all i hear and see nowdays, be it College or Twitter for that matter. I feel like i'm going to Puke the next time i hear the word 'Start-up'.

And yet, the worst part is so much of my life is dependent on this very name! For Food there isn't a day when i don't use the super efficient and awesome services of Swiggy or Faasos(Till they dropped that awesome Fusion Breakfast from the menu that is), or even Scootsy when i want a Thumps Up! Yes, Scootsy has no minimum amount to order, and they even deliver at 3AM in the morning! Did i also mention that Swiggy takes no delivery fee? Thats right, Free delivery from Swiggy.Its Insane, like how are you going to earn?? 

If that isn't the Shitty part, then it surely gets dirty when the realism sets in. There was a time 6 months ago when Foodpanda had really awesome discounts of nearly 50% per order, it was also the time where i had Pizza and Pasta everyday for Dinner, forgot how my Canteen-wallah looked like, and gained a good 10 kilos. Today, Foodpanda barely has any offers, it's 'minimum order' amounts to deliver now are nothing less than 300RS, and they also down-sized like crazy when it came to the choice of restaurants. 

Food aside, there are Start-ups to get your laundry done, pay your bills, and also send your friend some money. It's insane!

Nearly all of these start-ups are unhealthy, they have these enticing promo codes and cashback offers, and all they do is burn Venture Capitalist money. With some plans to earn 5-10 years down the line. Yeah, right. Whatever happened to a real businesses?

On the contary, there are however some B2B Start-ups that are doing some amazing work. They are bootstrapped so there is no question of VC's, they mainly deal in Tech and are really a positive addition to the economy. Its only the B2C losers i am worried about.

 I think we're at that phase where its time to ban start-ups, there are like 10 of them doing the same thing anyways. Or hopefully, the start-up bubble bursts. Its time these 'Imaginary' businesses closed down for good. Yes, they got many people employed for good, and No if 'Scootsy' closes shop i won't be able to get a Thumps up at 3 in the morning, HOWEVER i'll still live for good. 

The only thing i'll possibly miss is the Tracking feature of Swiggy, where you could Track where exactly your Driver was via the App. For an Measely Order of 80 Rupees Swiggy made me feel like FBI/KGB/Mossad and it couldn't have been less awesome. But what's going to happen when the realism sets in?

There should be a fine line between a business and a start-up, its time we all discovered that. Only, the first one never goes out of fashion.