The magical Kalba - An Unplanned Day Trip

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.....

Birth and Rebirth of Radio - The lifecycle of Radio's Popularity

Talk about the birth of radio and many a great name pops up in front of our eyes; Faraday, Maxwell, Jagadish Chandra Bose and off course Guglielmo Marconi. The good news is that I am not going to discuss about them here. I would like to romanticise the radio we have seen in India before Television became popular and affordable and its gradual waning and miraculous comeback. 

Our favourite AIR, The All India Radio, commenced operation in 1936, as a government organisation. The objectives was to inform, educate and entertain the masses. But it did much more than that. It had struck a cord with the masses. Rabindranath Tagore named it akashvani which means voice from the sky and it was a word which was coined particularly for this purpose. 

Radio in those days was at the center of people's life. People in the village used to get together every evening to listen to their favorite songs and for the latest news. As we know numerous plays and movies had been written with radio at core of the story. Those were the days of romanticism when songs used to be released over the radio and people used to request for their favorite songs by postcards and wait patiently for months for it to be played. Another important part of those show was the program presenter who had a different face painted in the mind of their listeners.

It was the era of the blooming of India's identity and it saw overall development in all fields related to Art and Culture. Radio was powered by film songs from popular Hindi cinema, while it inspired the development of non film music and dramas. 

At the beginning, radio like many other object de desire divided the society into who possess it and who doesn't. But soon enough the progress of science and technology made 'transistor' and 'tape recorder' a common household item. 

Young people of this generation will find it difficult to believe that owning a Radio transistor in the states with international border came with additional complications. I remember as I grew up during the seventies we were required to have a government license to own a radio, and those were renewed every year. I vividly remember the small booklet that had a transmission tower on its blue cover page. As the surge in the popularity of the Radio continued the innovation in the industry followed closely. The most popular innovation probably was the pocket transistor with the earphone. What followed next was the popularity of combining multiple functions into one device - which ushered in the era of 2 in 1 and3 in 1.

The history of Indian radio will be incomplete without the mention of one place called Jhumri Talaiya, a place in the present Jharkhand, originally a sleepy mining town, which became famous in India due to its connection with Vividh Bharati programmes. A large number of song were requested from Jhumri Taliya. Youngsters in the town were said to compete on who sent out the most song requests in a day or month. There used to one Rameswar Burnwal from Jhumri Telaiya whose name would be repeated daily. A very popular program transmitted from outside of India was the "Binaca Geetmala" from Ceylon. 

Then came the television and with its advent the popularity of the radio started to wane. The Television turned out to be the Big Brother, Hogging all the limelight and almost instantly gobbling up all the advertising revenue. The cash starved Radio started to lose out and we believed it was the end of radio.

The radio made its comeback in the early nineties with the FM transmission. I remember those days in New Delhi when the private stations started to come alive with hit music and interactive programs. More and more creative and young people started to sign up and the old slow tunes started to give way to the fast and peppy music. The advertisement jingles with the childhood memories came back feeding life into the system while connecting generations with remixed tunes.

Little did we realize at that time that things have changed for good. It was not the old wine in a new bottle, it was brand new product which catered to the entire spectrum of the society. Another boost to the life of the Radio came from the mobile phones with FM tuner. The FM became the USP of many a mobile phone handsets during the start of this century and turned out to be a success story for the phone makers also. The phone started to be the source of live music all the time, be it jogging or waiting for the bus or train. Unlimited songs powered by commercials and presented by qualified professionals started to get out to the listeners round the clock.

While the private FM stations are doing booming business the government owned stations seem to be losing the battle. BBC and VOA are noticing sizing down on their international programing. Shortly after India's independence from British colonizers, the cold war started to take shape and both the powers started to try and influence as many minds they could towards their side. India, with its tilt towards the USSR was the target of the propaganda of the western bloc. Voice of America and BBC started to reach and influence the masses through the air waves with various programs in Hindi and other Indian languages. Now with the cold war over and the governments around the world with budget deficits of their own are finding it difficult to justify their existence.

When I arrived in Dubai, I found that the FM Radio is a big industry in its own rights. There are almost 10 stations streaming out indian film music and gossips all through the day. I would imagine that they are great profit centres and why not they are powered by plenty of advertisements. All types of product starting from apartments to cars to music concerts are announced over these FM stations. 

TV programs are advertised over the FM stations here in Dubai and that goes to prove once again that 'nothing succeeds like success.'

Who would not like to reach out to thousands of commuters with high spending power locked inside their own cars in the middle of the famous or infamous DJ, the Dubai Jam. Can you dream of a better clientèle than this for your product? Long live Radio but I sincerely hope that they observe a minimum of one "No Remix day" every week.

Looking Through My Office Window - Watching Construction Progress

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 - The Challenges A Newcomer Faced In 2008

First week in March of 2008 when I relocated myself to realise 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 through 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.

It didn't take long to have the reality check and I soon realised that it was only the beginner's luck working when I had to wait only for a few minutes to get my morning taxi. A phone call to the RTA call centre used send me a taxi to return home safe and sound. 

I found out soon that it was not only difficult to get through to the to the call centre but even if booked the cab, it didn't show up half the time. Having accepted my new found reality, I started to get settled with the conventional terms and conditions of Dubai.

Getting an apartment was much more 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 I couldn't find any house 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!

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 odour around is not intolerable. 

One big positive aspect of Dubai is that one can survive on the public transport system, particularly when the family is yet to join. But my life and my job called for a driving license and independence that came with it. It is difficult not to imagine oneself zooming 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.

A Random Act of Kindness

Today the internet has become a part of our life, so much so that we now have a mental condition wherein the patients suffers from a disorder that arises out of not being able to access the internet. People find it difficult to handle the situation where they cannot access Google to search for something that came across their mind. This may be an extreme condition, but it is quite normal to use internet for day to day life, for staying connected and staying enlightened. 

None of these can be termed as selfless acts even if these are not selfish but we seldom put back to the web as much as we seem to have taken from it. 

I am inspired by the story I read recently about spreading the good word. It started when young Melissa Morris-Ivone encountered a polite gesture from a fellow human being; a gesture that used to be normal in the good old times. We now live in a world of cut throat competition and this madness has taken us so far away from our forefathers. 

Perhaps this justifies why a simple act of kindness and politeness made such a big impact and she decided to use the internet to spread the good word. She came up with the idea of starting OperationNice(dot)com, where people can contribute any act of kindness that they have been part of. In a world where selfishness and cruelty are part of daily life we definitely need more of such good vibes.

This story took me back to a car bumper sticker which read "do a random act of kindness today," which was popular in the last millennium. We know for sure that on many occasions this turned out to be a contagious act. 

If every one of us does a random act of kindness as part of our daily life we could actually make a big difference to this world. Bumper sticker brings to my mind the driving ethics of the motorists here in Dubai. It hurts me to observe how so many people fail to look or think beyond their very own self. They shamelessly use the bus drop off or a parallel internal road to cut the queue and go before you without any remorse and totally ignoring the sentiments of us who have been waiting patiently for our turn. 

We may think that next time we will do the same but our conscience does not allow that, neither can we stop others from doing that. 

I propose, we not start a campaign the Gandhi way and try to change them? could we not do some thing like a "random act of kindness" so that they too feel pity about themselves as we do for them for lacking basic humane qualities!! This is just an idea......

Be A Millionaire By Fifty - 2B or not 2B

Grab a couple of dollars and fly into Zimbabwe. Voila! you become a millionaire. This perhaps is easiest way to become a millionaire today. But sometimes it better not to take the easy route. The challenge is to retire as one and that too in dollars term. Till yesterday Zimbabwe and its millions has been a party joke. Now with recession staring at our faces it is not easy any more to laugh at others. 

The relatively younger generation with lot of determination and a bit of prudence can still work out a plan to end up in a comfortable situation at their retirement. The big question however, is how? Lets try to think together how that can be achieved. But the unanswered question is what does people who are nearing retirement do!

Let me start looking at what a person presently going through mid-life crisis can do to secure a comfortable retired life. All will agree that every one dreams to be a millionaire before they hang the boots. But it is not easy and it requires a lot of hard work and perseverance to get any where near that goal. Here is an attempt to put together a few important points....

The first and the most important mantra is the one that has been told and retold by your insurance agent over and over again. Nobody plans to fail, they fail to plan. No matter how commonplace it might sound, it is the most important formula that works for all walks of life with a exception of maybe gambling.

The second important thing is to take chances in life but never gamble. There is a thin line which might get blurred at your convenience. So steer out of that.

Third comes setting up of the target. Be realistic about the inflation that is going to happen over the coming years. To get an idea of how money devaluates speak to your dad and find out what was the living expenses 20 -25 years back. I can assure you that the cost will move northwards , so factor in your safety quotient.

The fourth mantra is to start saving immediately and this one needs no further elaboration. Do today what you thought could be put back to tomorrow.

Get aggressive and allocate part of the investments in calculative risky asset. Fixed income generating vehicle will not let your wealth grow much as the inflation is going to bite into the chunk of that income

Try to invest in income generating assets. This will give you more freedom to think and act freely.

Set milestones along the entire period of your investment tenure. Monitor that you are not deviating from your target. Modify the path if and when necessary.

Differentiate between asset and liability. Investing with borrowed funds could well turn to be a liability rather than an asset.

Watch your spending. Restrict your impulsive buying habits and go for things that you need rather than that you want. Wait for discount sale to pick up those branded stuff you have been looking for.

Try to supplement your income by letting your hobbies and passions generate some extra income for you. Let your writing or painting or crafts get some extra revenue into your kitty.

Keep your cool. There is no shortcut to making money... any such thing simply does not exist.

And finally try to save more than you had targeted........... when time comes you will only be too happy to have those extra bucks.

Stay At Home Dads: A Shift In Society

Just a few weeks back I was reading a rather interesting article in a local magazine. It spoke about a subject that till recently was not such an acceptable social trend in our society, but things surely seems to have changed with the turn of the century. The article was about "stay -at-home dads". 

Let me give a bit of insight into the concept. It's about men who are not at work everyday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and their tribe seem to be growing in number as well as popularity. According to British Government statistics, 20,000 men in the UK embrace househusbandhood. 

Amazing! 

Well one can check out either www(.)rebeldad(.)com or www(.)slowlane(.)com for further details. Reading this piece, my reaction was perhaps a bit different than others. 

"Oh wow! Is this official now?" I uttered to myself.

I had once during my career associated with a high profile interior designer. While she used to be very busy meeting people & making presentations around the globe, the man of the household used to stay perched at home most of the time except when he was taking the children out for riding or private classes. We used to secretly refer to him as Mr. Househusband. 

In the early nineties a househusband was not a very common sighting in urban India-not even in New Delhi. So quite justifiably all those "hiss hiss & huss huss" kept our rumor mill grinding. As time passed, we realised that to be an urban househusband one has to have zillions of money, decent enough to sustain a golf lifestyle. Financed out of wife's purse is definitely not easy to come not unless you happen to belong to one of the few places like in the northeast India where you might be lucky! Women there traditionally works hard to earn the bread for the family, she also earns the wine for her husband while the husbands eat, drink, gamble and make merry!

It is True, there are instances of one partner (read husband) opting out of work as the other had more growth opportunity. It must be difficult being a househusband as compared to his female counterpart when one considers the aspects of parenting, the social pressures (like answering questions like what do you do for a living etc.)

I wouldn't be too worried about the husbands of the like of Mrs Margaret Thatcher or HM the Queen but will be curious to know if some one as successful as the head of Pepsi Co would be comfortable with a househusband who keeps himself busy with charity organisations and social commitments? Probably, anyone might hazard a guess! 

However un-masculine it might sound, Yours truly has had waited for such an offer-which never came through...