Guru Josh Project – Infinity 2008 (Official Video – Klaas Vocal Edit)
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¿Donde esta el baño? ¿Como esta usted? That pretty well sums up two years of high school Spanish taken as a college prep course almost 50 years ago! Of course, why would anyone ever need to know Spanish having never met a Mexican, let alone thought about going to Mexico? My, how times have changed!
After living in Houston for 25 years, we discovered that Mexico was only two hours away and that it had some very intriguing qualities to offer. In 1984 we bought a condo in Mismaloya, south of Puerto Vallarta, and made semi-annual visits to Vallarta for 13 years before buying a villa in the foothills of the Sierra Madres, overlooking Banderas Bay and El Centro, the downtown area of PV.
When we moved to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, known as PV or Vallarta by the locals, ten years ago, our Spanish vocabulary consisted of about five words. Fortunately, a few taxi drivers, most restaurant waiters, and some caddies spoke, or at least understood, a little English. In order to survive here, it was imperative to understand and speak some degree of Spanish. During our first month in Vallarta, we purchased text books, manuals, dictionaries, and hired a tutor to come to our villa twice a week.
We worked diligently for almost six months, learning Spanish words, paraphrases, tenses, etc. so that we would have a chance of communicating with the locals. To assist our learning process, we watched our Mexican TV which had about five channels; CNN, Mexican shows aimed at sixth graders, and American movies with Spanish subtitles. We would then turn off the volume and try to understand the movies by reading the subtitles. Not much fun, but the price you had to pay in order to live in Paradise where the average daily temperature during the “high season” of November through May is 73°F with virtually no chance of rain!
We spent that first summer back in the States and upon returning to PV, we got lazy and discontinued our studies. Satellite TV became available in Vallarta and we no longer had the five Mexican channels, but instead had 350 channels from the US. Fortunately for us, the tourism boom in Vallarta was just beginning to occur ten years ago.
During the past decade, there have been thousands of new houses and tens of thousands of new condos, new hospitals, a new University of Guadalajara campus, new airport, new maritime terminal, etc. built in Vallarta. As tourism increased, so did the requirement for speaking English by the locals. If they could understand and speak English, they could obtain the higher paying jobs where interaction with tourists is a routine occurrence. Jobs such as waiting tables, caddying, taxi driving, police department, clerking at front desks in hotels, offices, hospitals, airport, etc. and management positions in stores and other businesses could pay three times as much as construction work, daily labor, cleaning, etc. where there is no requirement for English speaking skills. The difference in wages was so obvious and substantial that during the past ten years, most all of the younger generation of people in Vallarta are taking English classes in school and understand and speak basic English. Even those that haven’t had a day of classroom English have a good understanding of “Espanglish” and we therefore have absolutely no problem communicating with anyone in Vallarta.
Virtually all educated Mexicans in PV such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, bankers, nurses, teachers, etc. are fluent in English. In fact, the majority of these people seem to prefer speaking English with Americans and Canadians. Typical music in restaurants, bars, hotels, and even dental offices are the popular American songs. American magazines, newspapers, and books are available throughout the city, whereas ten years ago they were virtually non-existent.
In summarizing, having knowledge of Spanish is no longer a prerequisite for visiting or retiring in Vallarta. The majority of the retirees that live in PV have little Spanish speaking ability and get along just fine. Most all tourists by plane or cruise ship have no knowledge of Spanish and they too have no communication problems.
Obviously, Vallarta is not typical of Mexico, however, those considering a trip to or retirement in Vallarta with no Spanish speaking ability, should not be concerned about a language barrier here. At the rate things are changing in PV, who knows, English could become its primary language in another generation!
About the Author:
Jim Scherrer has owned property in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for 24 years and resided there for the past ten years. The mission of his series of 20 articles pertaining to retirement in Puerto Vallarta is to reveal the recent changes that have occurred in Vallarta while dispelling the misconceptions about living conditions in Mexico. For the full series of articles regarding travel to and retirement in Vallarta as well as pertinent Puerto Vallarta links, please visit us at www.pvreba.com
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Call them arch rivals or call them good friends, the Shahrukh Khan vs Aamir Khan war has been fought time and over now since the past 14 years. Surprising there has been no clear winner because both SRK and Aamir Khan are hugely popular in Bollywood, with a sea of fan following.
Back in 1994, Shahrukh Khan’s movie Ram Jaane released along with Aamir Khan’s Akele Hum Akele Tum released on the same day. Believe it or not, both of them bombed. While SRK earned some pittance in the north, Aamir Khan’s movie got some revenue in Mumbai and western parts of India. Since then both Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan have been very conscious about the movies they sign or produce. Viewers may note that both are friends but careful not to be subdued by one another. For instance, Rang De Basanti, Aamir Khan’s iconic film had Shahrukh Khan initially in the role of R. Madhavan which he had declined. Shahrukh Khan had also asked Aamir Khan to be a part of Om Shanti Om, item number, but Aamir Khan had declined, because he was “busy”.
Also Shahrukh Khan’s loss has been Aamir Khan’s gain and vice versa. Darr was supposed to star Aamir Khan who had doubts about doing a villain’s role. The gutsy SRK did it anyway. Similarly Lagaan was offered to Shahrukh Khan who didnt think it would work and Aamir Khan ended up making history out of Lagaan.
Cut to 2007- 2008. Both the Khans, Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan size up for the competition in a big manner and pay attention to marketing their films in a sassy manner. Last year in 2007, Shahrukh Khan did his best to promote and market his film Om Shanti Om in the best manner possible, and the efforts paid off. Om Shanti Om became one of the biggest all time hits in Bollywood. Contrast to Aamir Khan who used low key marketing and let the product for itself in the form of his directoral debut Taare Zameen Par. But just as collections picked up, Aamir Khan made sure that Taare Zameen Par was reached out to everyone. He held charity screenings, marketed star kid Darsheel Safary in the best manner possible and did everything to ensure that Taare Zameen Par stayed in public memory for ever. Not surprisingly, considering Taare Zameen Par is one of the best movies of our times.
In 2008; ie now, Shahrukh Khan has gone for low key marketing. He did not market Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi aggressively. He stated that it was not the right time to promote or talk about his film considering the tragic 26/11 scenario. Though there was low key advertising and promotion, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is doing roaring business, proving that Brand Shahrukh is Brand Shahrukh. Well, Aamir Khan who adopted a low key strategy for TZP is now going all ends fired for Ghajini. He built an 8 packs physique an impressive one at that, following SRK’s six packs wonder which he build for Om Shanti Om. Aamir Khan has come up with slick promotion tactics for Ghajini, be it print, television or online. He had promoted Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na well, but for Ghajini, he is leaving no stone unturned. Aamir Khan recently asked theatre staff of Big Cinemas and PVR, which are playing Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, to adopt the Ghajini hair cut. It is evident: you are watching Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi with the aura of Ghajini around you!
Asked what SRK thought of Aamir Khan’s recent strategy for Ghajini, Shahrukh Khan claimed, “I think it is a good strategy. You take the biggest brand in the country that is SRK and then use that platform to publicise yourself. I think Aamir rocks. The problem is that I cannot use any another brand because there is no one bigger than me”.
V.S.ARUNRAJ, in his entertaining blog Bollywood Trends gives a low-down on the news, views, reviews, masala and trends of the biggest and the busiest film industry in the world-Bollywood
