Author Archives: ian

There are many theories as to why the Mayan people abandoned their remarkable cities on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico around 1100 AD. These range from climate change; war; drought; the arrival of hoards of Spanish (enough to make anyone … Continue reading →

So, the start of yet another year heralds the start of round of sales kick-off meetings at SAP to plan for the year ahead. Each region (US, Europe and Asia-Pacific) plans its own event and gave me the opportunity to … Continue reading →

Recently there have been many celebrity cooks making a mint by flambéing a cumquat with some anchovy paste, chucking in a crawfish tail and garnishing with a couple of quails eggs – so the thought goes, why not give it … Continue reading →

So when Germany announced it would host the Football World Cup in 2006, I thought it would be a bit of a wheeze to be part of the fun and applied to work as a volunteer, not dreaming that I … Continue reading →

Let’s face it – eternal youth is a myth, but in my latest attempt to thwart old age, I hit on the idea of traveling to a much later time-zone to grab a few extra hours of being my current … Continue reading →

When Sergey Prokofiev penned the Peter and the Wolf Symphony and story in 1934, he created a classical piece with 7 characters, each skillfully represented by a specific instrument or instrumental family. Peter, for example, is portrayed by the strings, … Continue reading →

Varanasi Varanasi is one of the holiest cities in India where Hindu pilgrims come to wash their sins away in the Ganges River. This is a real act of faith as the river is one of the most polluted in … Continue reading →

Delhi Arriving very late at night in Delhi, we collapsed and waking late the next morning, my traveling companion informed as to that nights dream, where they killed me with a spade – an ominous start, was it a prediction … Continue reading →

Being a successful international author, you get invites to all the fancy SAP events, but the request for SAP TechEd ’05 in India arrived on my desk, I must have broken all land speed records getting down to the travel … Continue reading →

So… the thought process goes: if J.K. Rowling can knock out a few pages and make a mint, it can’t be that difficult to write an international best-seller. And so the concept for a roller-coaster plot of intrigue and suspense … Continue reading →