When Spring Returns

This weekend the dark clouds gathered around the global economy once again and this time it was on concerns that two of Dubai - owned companies may default on their debt obligations. Watching the news develop in the television stations a thought crossed my mind … “How happy we were there”.

I was transported to another world when I read Oscar Wilde’s “Selfish Giant” for the first time. The statement “How happy we were there” remained closed to my heart and popped into my mind every now and then.

This time it was not so much for us as we had reached Dubai as matters had already started to get sour, though I would have loved to live there. There has been hundreds of thousand s of families who had to leave the land of their dreams. The economy was buyout many people lost control over their lifestyle started to live beyond their means. They were sitting on the edge spend their past , present and future income with an illusion that they are immune to the global economic downturn without realizing that a strong breeze could throw them off balance. While some developed cardiac problems when hit others departed abandoning their earthly possessions. The state does not have personal bankruptcy protection and that prompted many to leave behind massive amount of unpaid credit card and personal loans. Many of them left behind their much loved new cars in one of the many parking lots. About 6 months back the government auctioned about 3000 sparingly used cars but there are still many and I guess new ones are joining the ranks like this one that I spotted in the expensive airport short time parking lot.

But this place was not fair to the people who actually built the city. The wages were as low as 1000 dirham while the bosses at the developers were at times taking home as much as 170,000 dirham a month. While the rentals for the apartments skyrocketed every effort were being made to drive the laborers, taxi drivers and other low income groups to outskirts keeping the city only for the rich, famous and the tourists.

Hope the city will embrace everyone rich and poor with open arms when spring returns to its gardens.How happy we are here! They will cry out to each other once again.

Spot the real model

Few days back I had written about the living statues in my other blog A Slice of Art & Design. What a coincidence that a very similar technique was being used in one of the popular malls in Dubai last week. A few stores had come together with a Radio station (who runs a few FM channels in different languages) to host a competition. The competition was quite uncommon (I shall not comment if I liked the idea or I did not) for this city where there is a constant attempt to inject new ideas to promote consumerism.

This particular competition was called “Spot the real model”. There were a few (5 to be precise) model who were posing with the mannequins in the display windows of the stores spread all over the mall. It was exactly the same act as one of those living models. The only difference probably was that they were working under a corporate or a modeling assignment and not as street performers.

All one had to do to claim a prize (shopping vouchers) was to be one of the first three persons to spot the live model and run and report to the organizers. You would then receive a shopping voucher and you could also request your favorite song to be played over the fm station.

But for the models, it was not easy. Seating or standing there in a frozen state and people taking picture might not be all that fun. I may be guilty of taking this picture…. but I did it just for this blog. I tried asking for her permission before taking the picture using sign language. I took her silence to be her consent. Probalby I am mistaken.. probably they were enjoying the whole Paparazzi attention and were well taking in their strides. After all its all in a days work as they say.....

You are the King

Last month I had attended “The Hotel Show” at the Dubai International Trade Centre. It was a one of its kind yearly occurrence with exhibitors from around the globe descends here to showcase their products. Everything that you see and you do not see when you walk into a hotel as a guest was on display. It goes without saying that stuff that we do not see surpasses what we do with a great margin but this is not my point of discussion. It was very encouraging to see how the business houses are putting up a brave face in the wake of the economic Tsunami that has struck the entire world. Everyone was being extremely optimistic and kept focusing on to the sunny days ahead and we all know that it is not too far away.
There were amazing and awesome products on display like stabilized natural plants to designer’s furniture. Similarly exciting were the technological concepts focusing into providing a unique and integrated guest experience. There was a design competition for the employee uniform and it was it was a corporate catwalk that showcased those 7 categories of uniforms by designers. Two conferences were being organized simultaneously on the side lines of these displayed products and glitz. My main interest was to attend The 7 star conference and The Middle East spa Summit which roped in the experts and the business leaders from the region.
Now that I have sat through those two, I would like to reveal a secret that I was able to conclude while listening to what the market leaders had to say. I have found out that you and only you are the King at this moment in history and I thought everyone should know this.
Today the all the players (Tour Operators; Retailers; Airlines; Hotels) of the Travel and Tourism industry are working together and working hard to come out of the crisis brought in by the global economic downturn. We need to remember that in good times they are arch rivals vying for each other’s blood or market share. So what does it mean to you when they come together and try to get back the tourists? The answer is simple. They need you. Rather they need your money. They woo you with very attractive offers and great discounts. You are pampered like never before. A few years back you had to be very rich or an influential and powerful somebody in order to be treated royally. But today all that have changed for this moment. Today you can negotiate the best rate with the top hotels and one doesn't have to be embarrassed in doing so. You can select from various packages being provided by airlines. You walk into a boutique or any store for that matter and you are treated like a shahenshah. So enjoy it till it lasts.
Similar trends are visible in Dubai. The top of the range hotels including Atlantis is providing series of attractive packages. The resorts in and around Dubai are also offering a basket of alternative choices for guests and patrons to select.
There has been lot of Dubai Bashing in the past few months in the western media. But the general consensus that came out of the speakers was that business generated here today is still much more than other areas around the world. Someone has very aptly described the situation in Dubai as "the heat is off the cattle right now but not to forget that the cattle were already overheated."
So enjoy being a Royal till it lasts.

Search for a picture Postcard

Time Freezes... The Sun is setting ... A plane about to land.. while a boat lazing around

They say Industrial revolution has brought in the concept of mass education where large number of pupils were taught in the classrooms as opposed to one is to one teacher student relationship. The result have been amazing and the world started to mass produce all the produce all categories of professionals. A large number of individuals who could do the same work with same level of expertise and one could replace the other so very easily. I think one of the few profession which was relatively untouched by this sweeping wave has been the photography. Primarily because of the high initial cost and operation expense.

Today we live in a world where everyone is a photographer and a digital camera is one of the most common possession of a person on the street. The first question you will face when some one spots a new camera is "how many mega pixels is your camera?" the notion is that the higher the value the superior the camera. He does not care to know about the lens and other good stuffs.

Birds.... remember the movie by that name!

I am not a professional photographer either, though deep inside I aspire to be one someday. Here is my quest for a picture postcard but failed single out any one in particular...

Everyday and the same magic is recreated but one can never get bored of it

Too lazy to get off the car

The Most expensive Hotel, Burj Al Arab as a backdrop

Madinat Jumeirah

Amphitheatre on occassion but a restaurant otherwise

Calmness

Traffic Signal Photography

What do you do when you stop at the traffic light? One has to be very attentive in this part of the world. A delay of a split second to move at the light turning green could start a live orchestra with people trying their hands on the car horns. I have noticed some motorist, (actually more than some motorist) devoting this spare time of theirs in keeping their nose clean. In other words downloading stuff from inside their nose into their car with the help of the index fingers.
Some people like to spend this time by getting prepared for the meeting he is going to attend on his arrival or being creative by developing ideas or trying to solve mathematical mind benders or maybe analyzing the days activities at work, the usual what went wrong or what could be dealt in a better way..... while the car fm provide the background score.
Have you ever tried to try your hand at photography. These are some result of my humble attempt at what I call "Traffic signal photography".
Let me know what you all do at the traffic stops ......

The Rising Sun

A new day dawning

The setting Sun

A piece of Sky between the cars

Wanted to avoid those two cars but they just drove in


A few rain drops on the windsheild and the night sky beyond


All set to start pouring from the sky


This time I managed to get the mosque without the cars


Water logged Sharjah street

What a pair!

A nice Dubai Street

Going to work on a rainy day

Just before the hard rain

The magical Kalba

There is something quite unique about a bridge not far away from Dubai. It is a narrow bridge which only allows only oneway traffic. You have to wait for your turn to get into the bridge and can only do that once the car already on the bridge have crossed over and no one from the other side has started. This is the only link to the mainland and if something happens to that bridge you will be in limbo! There are no traffic light or traffic cop but people ensure that there is a smooth movement of traffic back and forth. Why can't we have this behavior within the city limits? Well that is a million dollar question. Within the city limits we are different people.. "bina juddhe nahi debo succhagro medini" (will not concede any land even equivalent to the tip of a needle without a fight). Once you cross over to the other side there is nothing ....... not a black hole though! But a vast deserted sand punctuated by the track marks of 4X4 vehicles and then converges into the pristine beach of the Indian Ocean. On this side of the bridge, there are the mountains, sea and mangroves and lots of manicured parks.

The boys always leave their mark


We dared to let our tyres bathe in the Indian Ocean



The magical moment

The Setting sun

We did not plan for this visit. Set off based on a news feature, impressed by the photographs, rather seduced by the images posted along. The place I am talking about is known as Kalba. I had seen the road sign for kalba on the emirates road and thought it would be a place just around the next corner. It is in United Arab Emirates and falls within the boundary of the emirate of Sharjah. The southern most tip of the UAE's Indian Ocean coastline ends in an extensive dark green belt of almost impenetrable mangrove marsh. The backdrop of the green is formed by brown rocky mountains. The beauty of Khor Kalba is further enhanced by the sparkling blue water of the ocean and this is unquestionably a magical place, a place of exquisite beauty. I would say this is one of the most picturesque places in this country. A place where nature has placed greenery, sea and mountains next to one another and a place not spoiled by we humans. Not yet!

The Joggers park

The Sun has gone down and the lights have come up. Its time to start the return journey.

It is about 2 and 1/2 hours drive from Dubai Airport. We intend to visit the place once again and this time we plan to stay overnight. Its a promise.....

Looking through my window

It helps at times to look out of the window without trying to focus on any particular object but stare at a distance. It clears my thought process and opens up the mind to the world of imagination and ideas. One particular morning with a freshly prepared coffee in my mug, I walked up and stood in front of the window. It was in the 10th floor in one of the mid-rise buildings of downtown Dubai. We had a wonderful view of the creek, golf club and the city skyline with intermittent take off and landing of aeroplanes from this office. That morning it was a building construction site across the street that caught my attention. It was buzzing with activities. At this point one would be tempted to wonder what is new in this, probably 80 out of 100 windows in Dubai has got a similar view, a construction site with whole lot of activities. After all this is a city which has employed almost 60% of worlds total number of tower cranes. It has built in ten years what took better part of a millennium for other big cities to achieve. Usually I look at this construction site all the time but this morning it was different. As I was sipping through my morning coffee I was observing how people are working to get this tower up. From the 10th floor where I was standing it was not possible to make out any of the faces but I could see their hats; most of them were yellow with some blue and a few red and white ones. As I was watching them the scene in front of me started to get transformed to a colony of ants busy pushing stuff around in an anthill. All members of this community seemed to me are color coded and each color of hat belong to a sub group performing under the supervision of his team leader. Everything goes on with precision and everyone doing exactly what they are supposed to do. The tower crane loads and unloads materials as required and the movement of the 3 tower cranes at work are so well synchronized that it reminds you of the movement of the 3 arms of the watch.
It is important to realize that all this does not happen by chance but it is the culmination of intensive and meticulous planning. It is a plan which is alive and changing till the completion of the project. Being in the profession that I am, these activities are part of the daily drill and usually I am one of the many down there dancing and running around. But it is not the same as to have a view from the top. The realization started to grow in me the power of organization and the importance of a system and order.This is the skill of management to ensure that all the components fall perfectly in the right places in right order to put together this jigsaw puzzle. When something does not go the desired way then one have a backup plan to get them back on track. A good manager is someone who is able to have this view from the top well in advance, much before the start of any activity at the construction site.
Sometimes it is difficult to understand the necessity of being managed by an efficient manager and it is his skills and experience that makes or breaks a project. We all tend to think that we can manage it ourselves and we can do it better so why do we need a professional project manager. Yes, you may be right in assuming that everyone can perform this particular task but the question one need to answer is that will any one be able to do this as efficiently within the same budget and same time and still produce the same standards and quality.

Managing the workforce at the construction site is another mammoth task by it self. A small mistake could cost very dearly and that is why all major check points are identified well in advance. At those check points multiple level of checks are conducted to ensure that noting escapes as an oversight. To identify those points and to get all responsible to perform this procedure amidst the deadlines and time crunch is a true test of his managerial skills. When it comes to executing a milestone task its like 1000 dancers performing in a particular rhythm. They work as a team, a single entity and one cannot differentiate one individual from another but you do not notice an individual when he goes off beat. The idea is not to remove a out of beat dancer. The manager relocates him to the position where he fits and that is how he manages his resources. The similarity could have been very easily drawn with that of marching column of soldiers but this is architecture and as we say architecture is frozen music.
Since that morning lot of water has crossed through the Dubai Creek and economic downturn that started in a foreign land thousands of miles always has reached the shores in UAE. Our project team have moved to Ajman, closer to the project site. We do not get the opportunity to view from that window now. A few weeks back I had the chance to pass by and was very happy to see that the building is still on course and is standing tall; smiling and ridiculing all the antagonists of Dubai .... :)

Coming to Dubai

First week in March of 2008 when I relocated myself to realize the Dubai dream I was overwhelmed by the sheer scale of things in this city. Living in Dubai is completely a different experience than visiting the city for a day or transiting by its airport. I was speechless as I discovered a city so vibrant and so full of life with so much of glitz all around. I was put up in a service apartment on the Sheikh Zayed road and used the public transport to commute to and from my office in Deira. It was almost like a skiing, could not have been smoother. I used to wonder while it only takes 15 minutes travel to and back from my workplace, why is all this fuss that people make about Dubai Jam.
Soon I realized that it was only the beginner's luck that worked in my favor when I had to wait only for a few minutes to get my morning taxi while a phone call to the RTA call center used send me a taxi to get me home safe and sound. The rude awakening came as I found out it is was not only difficult to get through to the to the call center but even if you got through the cab does not show up half the time. Having accepted my new found reality, I started to get settled in those conventional terms.
Getting an apartment was much difficult than one would have imagined. The city veterans rightly advised that if I got to have an apartment here I need to move around with my cheque book. But nothing came my way that satisfied my taste even if I discount the fuss of  the Architect in me and more importantly that fitted the wallet. I kept stretching my budget and drifting away from downtown Dubai. With a bit of divine assistance, I finally managed to get an apartment.
Oh What a feeling!
Honestly I was not as exuded even when we took possession of our own apartment back home.
Now that I have moved to my new home, I have to liberate myself from those long queues for taxis and indefinite wait for the bus. Travelling by bus is fun as long as you have a place to seat and the odor around is not intolerable. The good thing is that one can survive on the public transport system in Dubai particularly when the family is yet to join you. But my life and my job called for a driving license and independence that came with it. After all I it is difficult not to see oneself zooming all around this land of opportunity.
Backed by 3 other valid GCC driving licenses in my pocket I marched to the offices of RTA beaming with confidence. But alas! I have to appear for test and sit not only in front of the computer but also behind the steering wheel. I said to myself... I am driving in the region for 10 years, these tests are going to be a cakewalk. The signal test was while the driving test wasn't. I flunked the first test and had to have an instructor and complete 6 lessons. After seeing me drive and looking at my other licenses the trainer asked me in Hindi "Do they intend to make a pilot out of you?" Umm! well... maybe!!
Finally after almost 3 months of my tryst I got my hand on the most sought after object de art, all shiny and golden with my face nicely framed in one corner. I felt like throwing my hat in the air and leap with joy and freeze that picture forever.
Now that I have the license, I have come to realize that getting the most coveted thing in this dreamland is not the end of this long , exciting and somewhat tiring journey ...... it just the beginning. But that is another story and to be told another day.