The Legend Never Dies

The world, today is a different place. An era without IM Pei, the internationally recognized and one of the most celebrated architect of our times has begun. He died on Thursday May 16th at the age of 102.

Ieoh Ming Pei was born in Canton (now Guangzhou) on April 26, 1917 to Tsuyee Pei, one of China’s leading bankers and moved to Hong Kong when he was an infant. He recalled that as child of 9, he was fascinated by the construction and knew he wanted to build. At the age of 17, Pei moved to the US of America and in 1940, he was awarded a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from MIT.

Tributes have been pouring in from all over the world, remembering him for a lifetime of designing iconic structures worldwide. In his career stretching more than 70 years, he have amassed an impressive portfolio and the iconic glass pyramid of the louvre in Paris is the poster boy of his legacy.

My favorite masterpiece of this great Master is the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar which was completed in 2008. At the ripe age of 91, he came back from his retirement and delved in to history of Islamic Architecture to create one of his most famous cultural landmarks.

A masterpiece positioned on a man-made island and covering a vast area of 45,000 m2. We have been fortunate to spend hours in this vastness and experience the simplicity in the grandeur of the Museum of Islamic Arts. A realization of the magic that simple forms could create when stacked together in the right proportion. The interior spaces and the landscape compliments the Architecture to leave behind his legacy that will continue to inspire generations.

There are plenty of photos of the museum available throughout the internet, I leave a few of my own as well. I also share a video of MIA Park that my daughter had made a few years back.

Choose your partner with care

Last weekend we were at the beach and it was rather empty around. I guess most of the people were either at home as this is the holy month of fasting or did not think it was a good idea to be at the beach on this hot summer afternoon.
While our daughter was reluctantly getting introduced to the Majestic Sea under the mother’s supervision, not at all amused by its vastness, I decided to take a lone stroll along the water.

I spotted a dead fish on the sand I remembered two stories that keep having a significant impact on our lives. These are the fish story and the scorpion stories of life. I thought of sharing these with you as both of these are worth sharing.

The Fish Story
A small boy was once walking in the beach along the water and he noticed that as waves were crashing into the sand they were throwing hundreds of small fishes out of the water. Those little creatures had no hope of surviving. Then he saw a man who was picking a hand full of those fishes and letting them back in the water. A little boy who was amused and asked,

“Sir there are hundreds of fish that are been thrown out with each wave. You are rescuing only a few while most of them are dying anyways. What difference does it make?”
The next wave swept in and he picked one fish and while he returned it back to the water, he said
” It did make huge a difference to this fish. It is alive.“

It also made a big difference to the boy!

The Scorpion
The other story that crossed my thoughts was that of the scorpion who used to live by the side of a pond along with other creatures. It was raining heavily one day and water started to overflow and flood the surrounding areas. As land was getting submerged, the only way for the creatures to survive was to swim across to the other side. The scorpion did not know how to swim and approached a frog with a request for a ride across to the shore.

“I won’t do that as you will sting me” said the frog said.
“Now you are my partner. If I will do that my I will sink with you” said the scorpion.
Reassured the frog let the scorpion ride on his back as it swam across. Half way through the scorpion stung on the back.
The poison paralyzed the frog’s limbs and asked as they were sinking the frog asked,

“Why did you do it? Now you too are going to die.”

“What can do my friend” said the scorpion with tears rolling down.

“This is my nature.”

Choose your partner with care. ....my friends

A Modern Day Gypsy

Last few weeks have been very hectic for me. Tough decisions are always tough to take. It was not at all easy to decide to leave Dubai and go. The stay in Dubai was short but sweet. We had some of the best moments in our life while living in Dubai. But as it turns out I am only a modern day Nomad ……. a gypsy of the 21st century. I have tried putting up a home in so many times in so many cities in the past decade but could never stay long enough to grow my roots and that is the reason why I am able to relocate myself to a new place with relative ease. As they say that a rolling stone gather no moss… I am on the roll once again! I do not have any regrets in leaving that place, but I am a bit sad that I had to leave in such a short notice.

The boom of the past few years had attracted people from all walks of life and from around the world. There had been a mad rush in the past years to reach there to make a living and build the city. When I landed there, it was as if a grand party was in progress. The place was humming with all kind of activities. The streets packed with cars, the malls with shoppers and the restaurants with tourists. The city which glitters like a diamond every night is full of friendly people a bit preoccupied and busy with their own life though. But as it turned out, we were a bit late in reaching there. When we moved here from Kuwait, someone told me that the party was already over and the closing ceremony was in progress, and it turned out to be very true. But I believe that this is only a temporary phase for Dubai and it will soon get back to its former self and a new set of people will rush back to this city which never stops changing its skyline.

When I was offered this option of getting transferred to Doha, Qatar by our company, I took the hard decision to leave and move for the moment. The other option was to hold on to the fort and travel up and down to Abu Dhabi everyday and that was even more difficult for my set of priorities! So I had to come to this new country, new city and start fresh once again!

I have heard a lot about this place and everyone has their own opinion and view point. When I posted that “I am liking this place” in my FB, I received a barrage of reaction from my friends… so today being the day off, I took a “get to know the city” drive in the afternoon and clicked a few snaps. I am glad to see the West Bay skyline and the way it is developing further. I can now rest assured that I have arrived to witness another megacity in the making.