The greatest salesman ever vs the worst

The greatest salesman ever must surely be Barack Obama. Black man with roots in Africa -unlikeliest person to become President of the most powerful country on Earth. Yet he did. He sold the American dream (second one, the first was Capitalism and we know what happened to that)to the Americans, and to the rest of the world, and didn't we buy it. Rememeber those "Yes we can" and "Change" slogans? Them speeches-"This is the time the planet is going to heal" and the soap opera like elections? I was one of those billions who thought this guy was really going to do some good for the world and for America. A few years down the road, and we know that all those promises he made was just words that he never intended to fulfill. It was just the right words at the right time (one could argue that anyone would have been better after Bush).The planet did not heal. Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine are still occupied. Oops, forgot Tibet. Now, there's Syria, Lybia, and i guess they will not be satisfied until they have all the world's oil under their control. Regime change for the good of democracty? Hah, as if.

The greatest man who ever lived in quite a few polls would be, should be "Mahatma" Gandhi. He introduced the top most weapon of mass destruction known to mankind - "Ahimsa" or Non violence. And demonstrated it's use by winning India independence from a 'great' nation -England. And how did we Indians thank him. We killed him. With a conventional weapon - the gun. And how did the world honour him? By never using his incredible weapon again- ever. oh, he did inspire a couple of honorable copycat exceptions. Like Martin Luther King. Who Americans say was the greatest man who ever lived. Well, he met Gandhi's fate as well. Then there's Nelson Mandela, who Africans say was the greatest man who ever lived. Though he couldn't resist resorting to violence when he realized Gandhism found no takers in white racist South Africa. Or maybe he realized he wasn't as good or did not have the determination or skill of Gandhi. At least Mandela survived to die of natural causes. Of course, they did lock him away for a couple of decades. Bit of torture too. All forgiven now and maybe even forgotten keeping in mind that the blacks are in power in South Africa. I wonder why the 'World Community ' does not have any problems with black supremacists in South Africa and especially Zimbabwe, where they are throwing out the white boy farmers. Is it because, as the Zimbabweans claim publicly, 'that they do not have oil'. Am I getting off track here. Save that for my next blog.

World needs a hero. So there's hope that the next Gandhi (if or whenever there is such a person again) might not be killed. We could even make him out to be the next pop star icon- - kinda like MJ or Che. Imagine Lennon singing Gandhi's lyrics. A Lennon/M.Gandhi duo?:-) Back to Gandhi. The past dead poor simple Gandhi. Who would probably turn in his grave with the thought of his new incarnation being a pop star/icon version.Technically, Gandhi could claim to be the top arms manufacturer of all time. He demonstrated to the world how brilliantly his weapon could be used. But no one bought his invention. Though it's probably the only way a nation can win a war with no casualties to either side. Hope the people who gloat about how drones & modern warfare by rich industrialized nations can win wars with minimum or no casualties- to their side, are reading this. On second thought, nah, they'll be too busy plotting how to bring down the next dictator (oil rich only). And developing the next 'how to kill from distance' toy.

The world needs a new Gandhi coming from the rich developed nations. Who's going to listen to someone from the less privileged countries? Did anyone follow the ideals or legacy of Gandhi- the original?! Johnson Gilbert htttp://www.johnsonskerala.com

Johnson's 2012 - 2013 mixed season

A very mixed season, although I did the numbers well, the complaints I got this last season was some of the worst, and I have to say, I got some really bad tourists here as well. I can blame it on the world wide recession, but also have to admit that my tolerance towards testy tourists is wearing thin. Review sites like tripadvsior are partly to blame too. Guests come in, and as in the case of Barbara Ball, who was on her second visit here, actually threatened (disguised) to put a bad review if she did not get a discount. I did not take her seriously as she and her daughter were very friendly on their last visit, but what happens - a not very nice review turns up soon enough. Barbara Ball's was not the worst, there was plenty of really bad ones, but I still put her in the category of worst tourists this season. And not to forget Shaun and 2 friends - English, who I came to a physical confrontation with. Sadly, the English were the worst guests this season. Surprising too as they usually get on very well with me. On the bright side was the number of recommended guests turning up. One would think that Tripadvisor bad reviews would make a dent in my arrivals, but hell, they can kiss my butt, as we did the numbers very well. Another change I am making now, is that I am slowly opening my doors to Indian tourists. I realize that the younger Indian guests are really nice, as opposed to the days when I was starting and it was a really horrid expenrience dealing with Indian guests. In fact, I am also toying with the idea of restricting my guest age group to under 40 years. I know that I get along well much better with younger tourists than with the middle age more demanding over 40 group. I have also taken a new resort- a lake side guesthouse where we berth my houseboat for the evening. Hope it does well. https://www.ecohouseboat.com