Land of Gold

To many of us visiting  Dubai means shopping in humongous malls,  catching the shopping festival with its fabulous discounts, the Global Village, and incredible entertainment packages. As a tourist you gawk at glitzy skyscrapers emulating the US skyline, fine dining, and monumental buildings.  Where else would you find artificial beaches, roadsides and  parks with greenery and flowers, trees, grown and nurtured with water which is a precious commodity more expensive than petrol? Last year, not surprisingly 10 million tourists visited Dubai.

You can snigger at the synthetic presence, everything artificial, like polyester fabric as opposed to real handloom, but you have to hand it to the town planners for their meticulous vision, for their doing what is right for the people and ensuring a life of comfort provided they follow the rules. Stay there for a month and you find that you are insulated in a cocoon of security, only vaguely aware of the horrific happenings, oblivious of the petty politics  in  the  country to which you belong. If like me you want to experience the pain, the challenges and the triumph when you beat  situations, it is difficult to pull up your roots and consign yourself to a life of comfort living on a permanent basis.

 Almost all projects are done to perfection, in this vibrant city,  right down to the smallest detail. Experts from other countries are called in for advice, planning and execution,  and if you are a water sports person, Dubai is the place for you. There seems to be a robotic efficiency by the people in charge melded with a respect for the elderly and the love for children. If an elderly person or a child wishes to cross the road, and even if pedestrian lights are not on, the speeding traffic comes to a dead halt.  No gnashing of teeth, no road rage, no honking, which is such a blessed relief. Come calamity, and the speed with which normalcy is restored is amazing.

Take the recent fire near Burj Khalifa. A massive fire tore through the Address Downtown hotel on New Year’s Eve. Thousands of people were evacuated from the building and Downtown area and the fire took 24 hours to extinguish. A faulty spotlight an electrical connection sparked off the fire.  Reports say that the fire crews rushed to the site in two minutes and the guests evacuated quickly and sprinklers prevented the fire from spreading. The scheduled fireworks took place as if nothing had happened.

With the drop in prices of oil, the economy is bound to be affected, but knowing the vision the rulers have, it will be dealt with and other avenues of revenue will be created, for that has been the principle of this country…never say die.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a country on the Arabian Peninsula located on the south eastern coast of the Persian Gulf and the north western coast of the Gulf of Oman, and consists of seven emirates, founded in 1971 as a federation, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah.

One of the places I just loved  is the Dubai Museum located in the Al Fahidi Fort, built in 1787  the oldest existing building in Dubai. The history is so well depicted that it transports you to the general culture of the land way back in the 1800s. You can see local antiquities as well as artifacts with the African and Asian countries that traded with Dubai, including dioramas depicting life in the Emirate before the advent of oil.

And if mall hopping is your cup of tea,  don your walking shoes and walk miles to shop till you drop. Amongst others you could choose the Dubai Mall which is the largest in the world, or dine near the Burj Khalifa  the 160 storey skyscraper, tallest in the world, with its observation desk as you  watch the dancing fountains. The Dubai Desert Safari is not to be missed. The Dubai Creek is a saltwater creek going all the way to the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary. Legend has it that the creek extended as far inland as Al Ain and that the ancient Greeks called it River Zara. Historically the creek divided the city. And did you know that rupees constituted the local currency till they were replaced by dirhams?

Dubai is the only emirate that has Hindu temples and  a Gurudwara. It has grown from a small fishing village to what it is today an entertainment capital of the Middle East.

With all the glamour, the mind boggling bests, we look forward to harking back to our nests in India, with its innumerable stories of poverty, of scarcity, social disparity, taking back with us a determination to fight to make our country a better place to live in taking a page from Dubai with its streamlined governance, and comfort living, provided you follow all the laws.