DubaiDiary:Its Raining

Something I thought I am going to miss this year.. Moved out of India just before the monsoons and I had absolutely no hopes of see it in this desert country..

But I am lucky..It is raining and it's a downpour.. A rare thing for people here but I am sure enjoying it.. Feeling so so happy seeing it rain .. Just two steps from being a kid again I guess.. A few paper boats and the joy is complete :)


But the best rainy days were sure back home.. Sitting on the balcony watching the rains comming straight across the bbsr airfield... some novel in hand.. light spray of water hitting your face and of course with Maa there to supply the pakodas..wahhh

DubaiDiary: GoodMorning Dubai

For most people like me, the day you wake up to see the sunrise is definitely special.. Whatever be reason for waking early, it's a new chance..

The world looks different during different times of the day and there is a special glow that the morning sun brings with it. OR may be simply because I see so few sunrises..

This morning, I decided to click away a few memories of a morning in Dubai and went off with my cam to the creek...join me..

The first rays of the sun on the Dubai creek
The Magic that the golden rays bring.. everything looks magnificent.. You are looking at a Dhow, that's what boats are called here...
The famous twin towers... Couldn't miss out the chance to shoot it with an aircraft :)
Footpath..Bank Street.. by the time i returned, people were ready to go to their work..

Bank Street again.. Al Rostamani... a name all expats know.. that's how u send money back..

DubaiDiary:Inventing Privacy

Like I said, most people share their accomodation and the biggest loss is that of privacy. But I have started to notice how people start inventing ways to regain their privacy in these cramped up spaces.

The simplest solution - Earphones : When Akio Morito was thinking of carrying music along, he never thought that it would one day be a device to regain privacy. Once back from office, within minutes you have your headphones ON. Turn on the music and lapse into your own world.

Where the rooms are shared by more than 2 people, there would always be cross conversation and at times you just dont want to talk. The earphones are your first line of defense. Does'nt matter whether you are listening to music or not, it has to be ON so that you can pretend that you did not hear.

Something I really really hate. It took a long time time to learn to be "Present", to pay attention to people right around you, to be responsive. And now I am learning how to IGNORE!!!

DubaiDiary: Lifecycle of an appartment

Accomodation in Dubai is a real pain... You don't rent out a house or a appartment, you start talking about rooms and bedspaces. Especially in bur Dubai where I stay, I see this happening all around me. The rent for a 1bhk is at least 80+K AED (1AED=13.2INR as of today) p.a. Most of the people cant afford it and hence you find people sharing their rooms, sacrificing one of the most basic requirement of civilized society, "Privacy". Nothing very different from a bunch of Neanderthals cramped in a cave around a fire. Well that's a different story...some other time.. but here I wanted to share a short story my friend has penned down..
Based on true events :)

Dubai—Lifecycle of an apartment.

Once a long long time ago, a person decided to make money helping the needy in Dubai. Let’s call her the Broker or B. B rented an apartment, and decided to sublet it after furnishing it. Thus she will be helping the short term travelers and new people to Dubai. She got a nice apartment for 12000, furnished it and rented it out.

Initially there were 3 people in the apartment. Let’s call them C, D and E. C&D shared a room and gave 3000 each, E had a single room and gave 5000. This gave B 11000. Thus the minute she rented out the third and last room, she will move to profit. The third room was the smallest. As the largest room went for 3000*2 = 6000, the next room for 5000, she expected the smallest room to go for 4000. Thus she will get 15,000 as rent. She pays 12,000. A nice profit of 3000 per month for her work and furnishing.

Fortunately or unfortunately, a group of 3 people decided they could somehow fit into the tiny room. They were willing to pay 1800 each. This was slightly more than what B expected. She was happy. Then she felt if the tiny room is giving so much, then should not the big room give more? She was happy with the setup. You may call it her greed, but I think it was smartness to recognize the market dynamics. Common it made sense …small room goes for less than big room.

So she re-negotiated with the C&D. finally they agreed to take in a third person (lets call him S). B got higher rent, she was happy. And everything went nice for a few days. Now the people in the tiny weenie room felt that 1800 was too high, they could afford only 1500. B was not in favor of reducing rent. So they agreed to bring in a fourth person. So know it was 4*1500 == 6000 for the tiny room. Now B felt the middle room where E was staying was undervalued. If the tiny room gave 6000, that room should give 7000. E resisted and then finally agreed. Now it made sense that the big room should give 8000. So she started pestering the C&D to take a fourth person……

That’s how the ghettos in Dubai with 10-12 people in a 2BHK are built

Now what happened one day S asked C how these ghettos was built. C called D&E and all 4 soon were talking about the good old days. They then remembered that the rent has not changed for B. So they decided to find new apartments for themselves. First E found one and flew away. Bit later C, D and S also got a better apartment.

Initially the 4 guys in the tiny room were happy….they could take a bigger room. But the new tenants who came refused to pay 6000 for the tiny room. The house had a few empty rooms. DEWA and internet cost went high as number of people sharing reduced. The “4” realized that the others were paying 3000-5000 per head and not 1500 like them and they could not afford it.

Will this lead to a rationalization of rent? Will this lead to the “4” adding another 8-10 to the house to keep rent low. Will it see bunker beds like in Pilipino dwellings? Those I do not know, but I do know how the ghetto got built in the first place…..I do know why the rents in Dubai are so high. It is due to us and our brethren. We are to blame for it and not the brokers. We and especially my sloth J

-->link to the original blogger.. Lord Chaos :)

As a sequel I want a write a piece, the teaser for which goes like this:

Did C, D and S finally move off ....

OR did they end up getting deeper into this shit….. what finally triggered their exit?

Did the small room remain empty or is the market full of pathetic creeps who far outnumbered people like C,D and S?

Watch out this space...
Read the story of their exit...

a tale of sufferings, subversion of privacy, soul searching and finally bold heroic decisions to regain a more humane life :)

DubaiDiary: Surviving Ramadan

Just a week in Dubai and the Islamic holy month of Ramadan started. Unlike India, things are so different here. One simple rule that turned my world upside down. "You cannot eat or drink in a public place during the day hours"

The hotel are all closed. Since there are a lot of Indian restaurants, they have found a nice way out. You cannot eat here but you can take a parcel. But the worst part is about drinking. One day I had to go to the Al Baraha hospital out here for my medical check up and as fate would have it, after the check up (abt 11Am) I had walk almost a km and stand in the sun for almost an hour before I finally got a taxi.. I was dizzy n was feeling like going back to the hospital. So its best to avoid any outdoor activity during this time.

At the workplace, things were really difficult. I kind of have short circuit between my tummy n my brain. As soon as the sugar levels started falling I found it really difficult to keep going. I realized I was getting irritable and was no longer thinking clearly. The problem is that the offices here dont have a cafetaria or kitchen, so there is no place you can eat. I anyway found my way out...I had heard somewhere that soldiers are given chocolates in their survival packs. Tried it out and I swear it works like magic to get your sugar levels back to normal immediately.

Now since i dont smoke, it was not a problem but I found my friends really suffering since it's a strict no-no in public places during this month. Life is allmost normal after sunset.. People break their fast and hotels etc open up. But all our haunting spots lose their charm during this month. Pubs, discos etc are almost empty.. so not much to do. We spent all the weekends partying at home and the only place you can go is a mall.

Anyway, I am so happy the month is almost over and it seems like I would be getting almost a week off for Eid.. Sounds like it was worth the trouble...

Dubaidiary: virtual privacy

A city where you see ads not only for villas and appartments but also for bed spaces. And bed spaces are what most people settle down for. The construction boom non-withstanding, there is a great skewness in the demand supply of affordable living in Dubai.

The rents are so damn costly, most people cant afford it. And how do you find privacy when you are sharing a 400sqft. hall with 2 other people. You should have a look at such a place and you will find 3 otherwise bright talkative people glued to their laptops with headphones over their ears. Communication breaks and you create an invisible space around you. Kind of uncomfortable but i guess people get used to it.

Dubaidiary: keyboard problem

Having a tough time with the keyboard here. This is a standard T61 from lenovo but the keyboard layout is a bit different. The biggest problem is the shift button on the left. For the first time when I started using it, I just couldnt find the delete button... Page up and down is reperesented by strange symbols..

I dont understand the logic.. why should the keyboard layout be changed..

Dubai Diary: Hot and happening

This was the first weekend and I did not want to miss it at all. The ground work was already done during the day and it was about 11pm when I left the hotel with a couple of friends. One of them suggested Pancho and we walked round the corner to enter the pub/disco. Having paid a penalty of 70 dirhams for making a stag entry, we walked into this happening place. I did not really why they chose this one but once we were IN, I guessed it pretty quickly. It was filled with people from all nationalities and with equally varied backgrounds and strata of life. For me it was the first glimpse of what Dubai truly was. Reminded me of some of the descriptions of port cities in some of the classics. People from almost whole of the Islamic world found a place and to add to this clourful mosaic were Russians, Europeans, Indians, Philipinos and of course the locals.

Soon the stage was taken by beautiful Russian and we had a great show of belly dance. Soon to follow the was a live band. As they started singing the dance floor as let open to the public. What was really noteworthy was the collection of songs that was being played and change that brought onto the dance floor. Representing the myriad cultures that was mingling with each other, the dance numbers changed from Arabic to English to Urdu to Hindi to a number of African languages I could not understand. As each song changed I could see the joy that it brought to the people who understood the song and quickly jumped into the dance floor. I am sure each number was a smashing hit in its country of origin. Of course those of us who did not understand continued to dance but the lead was taken by the people who understood it and the joy of dancing to the tunes of a song from their own country clearly showed on their faces.

By the time we left it was 3Am and I had seen a glimpse of the spirit of Dubai. People from all over the world come here to work, earn and have a blast of a time...May be that’s just one facet of it and I am eager to see more..

Duabai diary: Karachi darbar

Right across the hotel where I stay is bustling Pakistani joint called Karachi Darbar. The problem with big hotels is that no matter where you are they serve food that tastes the same and I really wanted to taste the local cuisine and that was the reason why I walked out of the hotel to have my dinner. Entered into this one just on an impulse and I am so happy I did. One of the oldest hotels out here in Bur Dubai, it’s a hotspot for hundreds of people looking for good tasty food that probably is as close to home as possible.

I have become a hardcore fan of the food out there. One, the items on the menu look so familiar to what you would find in some of the best in India. Two, the taste is so good that by the time you walk out of the hotel, you not only filled but extremely satisfied. Three, you can’t better define value for money. Not only is the quantity of food enough, the price is very affordable.

Why did I chose a Pakistani restaurant on day 1 when there were so many Indian names around, I don’t really know.

pitstop Dubai

From the land of Du_bhai!!!!!
Every pitstop is to be enjoyed... more than a temporary break in the thrill of the race, it’s a chance to realign, learn and get ready for the next lap.
Almost a year after I denied (actually vehemently fought back) the offered to take up an assignment in the Middle East, in what I can say a 180 degrees turn in situation; I willingly agreed to take up an assignment in Dubai.
After a dramatic weekend marked my frantic calls between the travel desk back home and the airlines, I managed to board the flight from Bangalore. As I began to ease up, the next twist in the tale came up. My flight reached late and I missed the connecting flight from Bahrain. Managed to get the next flight (some 3hrs latter) to Dubai but the uncertainty was not going to end till finally walked out of Dubai airport. I was so happy to see the person from the hotel who had come for the pickup.
As I finally reached the hotel and slumped on the bed, I sat thinking, the uncertainty and pain apart, I did know a lot more than I would have, if the things would have gone the normal way. If put it in the way we put it in my profession, normal/happy flows have to be captured but the challenge lies in capturing the exception flows. The robustness of a process/system is known only when things start going wrong. Well professional gyan apart, here are a few interesting things I came across:
1. For Dubai, most of the times, you get the visa on arrival and this information has to be there with the airlines with which you are travelling. Or else, they just won’t let you board the flight. Got to know after I had to return once from the airport because someone in the travel desk had goofed up and I did not know because when things go right you need not know!!! Anyway, I (and my friends who had gone to the airport to drop me off) did need a full day sleep after a day of hectic packing and a full night of partying. (we figured out that was the best way to stay awake and leave for airport at 3.30 in the morning)
2. BIAL (Bangalore International Airport) authorities have done one great thing. I am so happy they have a free wi-fi in the departure lobby. And I just could not miss the chance to test my ASUS p527. The speed was great. Just had to send an sms to a number and you got a uid and pwd. I mention this because I could not connect to the wifi at Bahrain Intl airport, though my phone did detect a free network.
3. The day I was sitting with that guy from travel desk to get my tickets done, I asked him if 1hr is safe enough for transit between 2 flights. He said Bahrain is a small airport and anyway its in the same terminal so don’t worry. Well you should. If it an airport where you are landing for the first time, you WILL take time to figure things out and flights do miss their schedules. So use your head, don’t listen to some joker who pretends to know more than he does. But if you do land up in a situation like I did, the airlines/airport will have a ‘transfer desk’ that would handle situations like these. They would route you through the next available flight without charging you. But I guess that’s when you have boarding passes for both the parts of the journey with you.
4. In Dubai airport you have to collect the original visa papers (if it is visa on arrival), go for a retina scan and then proceed to the customs/immigration. No one really told me that I have to go to a certain counter in the airport to collect my visa!!!
5. In Dubai airport, there is a duty free shopping area after you cross the immigration and collect your baggage.. can be valuable information especially if you plan to pick up some stocks at the last minute.
PS: when you try to log in into blogger from dubai, the page comes up in Arabic.. but thankfully I could spot a box on the top left corner that let me change it into English :)