Sikh Gurudwara in Dubai

A gurudawara, meaning The Gateway to the Guru, is a place of worship for Sikhs, the followers of Sikhism. This Gurudwa is located off Ibn Batuta Mall near Jebel Ali

A proud moment for us

Many years ago, as I set off to take up my new position in Dubai, little did I realise the magnitude of the change that was about to take place in my life. There were mixed reactions from my family and friends when I broke the news about having taken up the  job offer. Some of them feared for my safety as I was moving to a war torn region of the world. Many of my friends warned me of the perils of moving to an Islamic state. Some of them even recommended a few books that I should read so that I could understand the country a little more. Every job change is a difficult one. But this one was turning out to be a lot more difficult than I had initially anticipated. 

I remember stepping out of the airport at Sharjah where a burly khandura clad local man waited to pick me up. It must have been a little past midnight when we left the airport en route to Dubai. The very old Chevrolet Caprice was not the idea of a taxi I had imagined.  It was dirty and the seats seemed to have weathered many summers. The man did not speak English and I never understood anything of what he said to me. In fact he spoke very little since we shook hands at the airport. The drive to Dubai must have taken what seemed like an hour. I remember imaging all the terrible things that could possibly have happened to me during the drive.

That night I cried a little as I lay in bed, anxiously waiting for my new life in Dubai to begin.

Today I feel proud and in some ways lucky that I chose to make the change. Since moving to UAE, I have grown as much as I have seen this beautiful country transform itself. What UAE has achieved in the last few decades is some thing many countries have taken over a century to accomplish. 

Today UAE is a shining example of how enormous change and growth can be achieved in such a short time. From the tallest building in the world to the largest and glitziest malls, it is all happening right here. I am sure UAE will score high across most measures of success. I am amazed at the stories of success I see everywhere. UAE is an international tourist and business centre as well as a modern, safe and stable country for its residents. It boasts of one of the highest per capita income in the world. UAE is home to over 100 nationalities who make a wonderful mosaic. 

Today everybody wants to be here! 

Many of the fears I felt as I set out for Dubai have been laid to rest. I feel safe here. My family feels safe here. I feel I live in a relatively fair system where I am not treated in any way differently. Contrary to perception, I find that the system here is relatively fairer to expats as compared to other countries. I can practice my religion freely. Not many of my friends back home believe I attend weekly church service without hindrance. 

So is it too good to be true? Like every country, UAE too has its own share of challenges. In many places, the pace of growth has far out striped the pace of changes in its legal system. I can see many things that need to be changed. And quickly. But what makes that big difference is that many of these challenges are being addressed as I write this. Head on. 

Never for a moment can I doubt the transformation that the leadership has brought about in the last 41 years. Success is all about how much better we are as compared to yesterday. Its about how much further we move every day. 

Today as UAE celebrates its 41st National Day, I wish its citizens and residents on this happy occasion. We all need to contribute to the success of UAE as much as we expect the  government to play its role. 

Happy Birthday UAE!

The Twister

This building will surely figure in the list of amazing buildings in the world. Located at Dubai Marina, the building is a few months away from completion and already draws a lot of attention from visitors. 

I am not sure what the actual name of the building is. So I have gone ahead and named it The Twister. Yet another amazing building being added to Dubai's collection.

The Walk - Jumeirah Beach Residence

Ramadan Kareem

So what are my rights?

I picked up these pictures from a recent visit to the Dubai 7s stadium. I am sure many of us have experienced some awesome sporting moments at the 7s.


But many of us may be surprised by this unsporting condition that is displayed prominently outside the 7s stadium. 


One of the conditions reads "The organiser reserves the right to cancel the tournament in whole or in part without notice, for any reason. In such cases a refund or partial refund may be given at the organiser's discretion, but is not guaranteed".


This brings to mind many questions. 

• What if the tournament is cancelled and I have paid a pretty sum for the ticket? Do I as a customer have any rights in this case? 
• As a customer, I would have paid the money to the organisers who in return are required to provide a particular service. Would the organisation in this case have any obligation to me?
• If I had purchased a television from an electronics store, would the above case be equivalent to the the outlet refusing to hand over my money after having failed to deliver a television? 
• Do similar conditions exist at other events, tournaments or concerts?
• And if these conditions are commonly used, is there any law to define the validity of these conditions?
• If such a law does not exist in Dubai, do we need to have one?

If you have an opinion on the subject, please leave a comment. Better still, please share this page within your social circles to get opinion from other residents of Dubai.

Run? Walk?

The KFC Bucket 'Run' will start at "The Walk'!!!!!!!  :-)


Get ready. The KFC Bucket Run is coming up at the weekend and its got a charity objective attached to it. So if you want run..... or walk? or whatever! Turn up at the Walk and get ready to run!

Dubai Pet Show 2012

It was a carnival like atmosphere. There were thousands of people in the most colourful outfits. There were musicians and there were face painters. And there were dogs.


Dogs wearing designer T-Shirts, bandanas, ribbons, scarves or skirts! And some with a little bit of attitude. It was a fun day for the entire family! 

Just got back this evening from the Dubai Pet Show. I am not really sure why its called a Pet show (yes there was an enclosure with cats) as almost all the activity at the venue is all about dogs. 

I love dogs and really happy that I took time of from my other work to head down to Dubai Sevens. Yes. This is the new venue since last year. Dubai Pet Show has moved to a new location down at Dubai Sevens down Al Ain road.

As usual, the police squad put up its show. Police dogs demonstrated their skills sniffing out stuff from drugs to revolvers.


Here is my collection of my favourite dogs from the show.

For details of Dubai Pet Show in 2009, please click here

A face in the crowd

Neighbourhoods

Al Barsha

Victory Heights

Motor City

Jumeirah Lake Tower JLT

The most visited blogposts of 2011

Another year has gone by and its time to look back at the year that was. Here is a list of the popular posts from 2011. This is a list of popular posts not necessarily in order of hits.


1. Karama Market
2. Bur Dubai Souk
3. The only Hindu temple in Dubai
4. Dragon Mart
5. Al Ghusais
6. Mini Manila
7. Dubai's Angels
8. Safa Park
9. Al Fahidi Fort
10. Abras

40 years of pride

UAE is 40 years old and I am proud of being witness to the growth of such a wonderful country.

Its been a long journey from pearl diving to being home to the tallest building in the world. UAE has come a long way. Bear in mind that this nation is no more than 4 decades old and the success it has achieved in this short time is nothing short of phenomenal. There is a lot to celebrate. 

I remember having arrived in UAE many years ago to join my current organisation. Many of my friends in those days used to tell me about how much UAE had changed in just a few years. There were buildings in areas that used to be just patches of sand. Small single lane roads that turned into large highways in a matter of a few years. I remember that a drive to the old Hard Rock Cafe was like driving out into the desert. 

And yet in the last few years that I have resided in UAE, I can look make in amazement. Everything has changed so much. Everything has become so much better.

I am fully aware of some of the problems that continue till date. There is no doubt that UAE lags behind in a few areas. But let's not for a moment lose sight of the huge progress this nation has made over the last few years. I cannot think of many other countries that have achieved so much in 40 years. 

Today I feel proud of being a resident of this wonderful nation. 

Dubai's Angels

In a city that is known more for its glitz and glamour, nothing beats the experience of seeing the more humane side of the city. It is Dubai's blessing to have an angel in the form of Roshni Raimalwala and her band of happy volunteers who go out each Friday doing small deeds full of goodness for the city's under privileged. 

Roshni is part of a beautiful concept build around social service. Roshni and her group of volunteers visit various parts of Dubai and distribute food and groceries to the not so lucky. They spend a lot of time during the week collecting material for donors. This includes donations in kind like sugar, rice, tea bags, soap, toothpaste etc. These are then put together in packets by the volunteers and distributed each week.

At times it is easy to get blinded by the success of Dubai. Dubai is home to the rich and famous. And yet behind all the glitz, Dubai is also home to many poor residents who work hard to keep the city in shape. These mostly include workers from Asian countries like India, Pakistan and Philippines. Roshni and her volunteers visit these workers from time to time and support them with free food and groceries. Even though the labourers are taken care of by their employers and earn a salary, a hot pipping biryani and supply of essential groceries goes a long way in making life easier.

The picture below shows one such activity that was conducted recently. I know that many of the volunteers and Roshni herself may not be happy with publicity and are happy to stay away from the limelight. But such beautiful acts of kindness deserve every bit of support. 

If you'd like to support this concept, you can get in touch with Roshni at +971 50 8585903.  I did and I hope to support this project as much as possible. 

How genuine are Dubai's online deals?

Its the next big thing in town. Everyone is talking about the big discount websites where everything appears to be flying off the virtual shelves. 

I have subscribed to a few of these sites Souq, Gonabit, Groupon, Cobone etc but I must confess I am yet to make a purchase till date. Nonetheless what freaks me out are a few recent offers that I received which appear to be absolute cons. At least that is the way they appear given that these are supposed to be 'offers' and not regular purchases form any online shop. So what exactly is the value proposition that these sites bring to the table. 

Here are screen shots of a few that I received in my mailbox. 

To any other person, these may appear like fantastic deals. But not to me!!! The new Blackberry 9860 at AED 1,999/-??????????? The model has been selling at AED 1,999/- at most well known retailers since the day this product was launched. Souq.com in fact shows the old price at AED 2,700/- and the deal price at AED 2,049/-. So made a few calls to some of my friends at Axiom Telecom only to confirm that the product was available at Axiom Telecom on the same day at AED 1,999/-!

So are our online deal sites in fact misleading the public? Are these really deals or an attempt to cheat the gullible customer?  So what exactly is the reference point to benchmark the 'old' price? Is this the price at some odd retail outlet in some corner of Deira or is this the lowest/highest price at an established retailer? Or should this be the recommended retail price set by the manufacturer?

I am not sure if the onus lies with the respective online site? Or should this be the responsibility of the respective seller who uses the services of sites like Souq, Cobone or Groupon? Ultimately and irrespective of the legal interpretation, should the online sites be accountable for the offers being made by a third party? In the case of the offer shown above, it appears that the offer on Souq.com itself is made by a seller named Daily Deals and may not be a promise from Souq.  

I am yet to take advantage of any of the online deals so far and based on this case, I may be one of the many who will remain suspicious of the deals that pop into the mailbox.

A Kawha experience

Arabic coffeee or Kawha is a very important part of local hospitality. One of the many things you will experience during a visit to the local family is Kawha. In fact it is considered an insult to the host if you refuse the first round of coffee. Remember that you continue to get refills of Kawha until you signal that you have had enough. And the only way to do this is a slight shake of the cup. I remember my uncle once telling us about his experience in the 70's when he ended up have several cups of coffee as he had not yet understood the system!

Hierarchy is an important part of life here and this can be seen in the way coffee is served. The first person to be served is usually the most important person in the room. Age takes precedence over rank and hence the older people in the room are usually served first.

Cleaning Burj Khalifa

It is the tallest building in the world. And most people I have met are excited to go up to the top floors for a majestic view of Dubai.


So would the guys who clean the building share the same excitement? 


I happened to visit the Burj Khalifa a few days back and noticed the cleaning crew at their job. Imagine being suspended several hundred feet about ground? I am sure it must be one hell of a scary job. But for these men, its just another day on the job.