JUMMA JABBER

FRIDAY... it is Jumma, the official weekend in Dubai and means a whole lot of things to a whole lot of people. It is usually the laundry day for most and clothes lines are invariably a rainbow flutter. It also means storing up the deep freezers and spending an extra hour in the kitchen to stir up some fresh broth…So in a way a flurry of activities even when u really want to just laze and unwind.


But then sooner or later you head for a mall because that is your life line. You shop for yr groceries there, meet up friends for a chinwag over a cuppa, do a bit of fun stuff like roller skating or enjoy an exotic dancing fountain to sooth your jangling nerves.

Just about everything but serious buying - even with ‘Ramadan’ festoons fluttering everywhere and attractive discount sales cajoling buyers to forget the recession. There can be no eating or drinking in the open till ‘Iftaar’(sundown) so the real rush is in the evenings which lasts way past midnight. It is such a beautiful sight - a sea of people dotting the vast expanse of this flitting collage.

Dubai is extremely hot and humid right now, even when it is towards the end of its summers. I actually love my walks in the cool climes of these malls (in sneakers and with a pedometer…That’s serious!). With average rentals slipping south, footfalls and conversions in the malls are a major pointer to the health of the economy. Who knows I may actually soon spearhead the new trend of ‘mall jogging’. These failing retail outlets will break even if they charge a small amount for using its space for long walks or charity marathons. That will surely be a lot of footfall in record time. Anyone listening?



Driving around in Dubai is really fun especially when someone else is behind the wheel. The Sheik Zaid, the main arterial road in Dubai and the Emirates (both twelve lane duel carriage ways) make this zippy experience even more entertaining with “nation ka fun station 89.1” FM radio tossing out some great music and hilarious comparing. So if you are not driving you can have your feet curled up, enjoying the ride. If your driver is a practiced 'Salik' (road toll) dodger then you are in for a bonus adventure. You cut through narrow bylanes and swerve along construction sites, get lost at unknown exits for the sheer thrill of evading a 4 Dhs pass. It is another thing that you may end up paying two to six hundred Dhs for accidental speeding (who said dodging was easy?) But then you give some to get some. Life is a rollercoaster.

That takes me to the Dubai Metro - the next big happening story from Dubai. I shall hopefully cover the news separately in greater detail but for a little snoopy tidbit let me share this. I am told the already beleaguered malls are anticipating a serious problem with the commuters who plan to park their cars in the free parking space of the malls. For a hefty fee some of the malls managed to get stations built right in the front of their properties (to attract more buyers) but they had not envisaged the parking issue at that juncture. Now all hell has broken loose and parking in these malls may cost a fair penny. Now won’t that reduce the footfall even further, especially when there is no dearth of malls in Dubai? Something to mull over!

I will come back with more nuggets soon…Till then Ramadan Kareem

MY NEW COORDINATES... MY NEW HOME

This space got a little flaky off late. I was confused. It began with an army wife writing from outposts about all and sundry. But then things changed. We became ex-army and my nomadic lifestyle found roots in the outskirts of Mumbai. I had a lot to write but nothing pertaining to the army anymore. I used the blog in spurts to archive my published articles instead. Like this CII meet I attended two weeks ago. A sketchy news item on what happened in this annual summit held by the confederation of Indian Industries will go into this blog - Demystifying Indian Consumer Market. Anyone blogging for stories on the army will be thoroughly confused. It is a mixed platter. But that is in essence the army spouces's life. That has been the only undisputed constant anyway…Change. Only it has gone one step ahead and I now I am trying to be the change that I want to see. I hope this blog gets a facelift soon and prepares my readers for the new changes in store with many interesting nuggets from my life.

So where am I now? In Dubai. The internet is literally my only window to this new life as I sit and write from a small ( biggish) studio apartment in Dubai International City … My new home.

The International City is an interesting cluster of theme based, three story high buildings, with different façades and colour to suggest different countries, with the floor plan exactly the the same for all. There are about 387 such units in 10 main clusters. I stay in Russia. These are very cosy looking dull brown and cream houses with thatched black slate roofs and Russian filigree work decorating the outer ramparts.Yeah that's the building I stay. The aparmentt with a balcony to the right of the stairwell, on the first floor, is where I live. I am surrounded by England on one side and Spain one the far end (can’t really see from here). The other communities are: China, Emirates, France, Greece, Italy, Morocco and Persia. (I shall be able to write more on the architectural aspects when I study them in detail).

England may look quite cheerful in ochre, cream and rust with cute terracotta tiles and a slumbering parish church look with pointed arches but there is a murky truth to it. Every now and then it gets flooded with sewage and you find tankers all over the place collecting the smelly fluid. I have seen such problems in Rajasthan - in the Fort City of Jaisalmer for instance where they had not evolved a sewage system in the sandy deserts in those days. So when the popultion increased they could not handle it. But in this ultra modern high tech country where everything is bigger and better than any other part of the world a last ditch effort to clear the scum, stinks.

This I am told is a popular residential complex today with apparently more than 70,000 people staying here from 75 different countries.This project designed as an integrated multi purpose development to meet the increasing demand for affordable housing in Dubai has been pretty successfull in attracting local and international businesses, retailers, commercial establishments, traders, residents and tourists. With more and more detail outlets booming this place is becoming extremely attractive for home dwellers. I see a great change myself in the last one year that I have been visiting Dubai. It has become greener and looks far from the ghost town it used to be only a year ago. There are several more laundries, supermarkets, cafés, and interesting eateries offering different cuisine, all along the basement of these houses today.

I sit on top of a famous hookah joint “Bub Al Hara” and spend many pleasant evening watching expensive cars (no less than Rolls Royces) pulling in and ladies in black hijaab walking in mysteriously for their rendevouz. I am daring myself to visit it just once for the sake of an experience. This place comes in handy when I have to escape the smoke detector everytime I manage to burn my popcorn/rotis. I just rush out into the balcony. Leaving the fuming packet there I let all evidence of my culinery expertise go up in smoke...

For coordinate freaks this complex is situated 12 kms from the Dubai airport and is just 15 mins away from the Festival city and Mirdiff. Located about 20 KM from Dubai on the highway to Hatta and Oman, it is on the eastern side of the Dubai Creek. The Dubai Hatta Road meets the second arterial road, the Emirates Road of Dubai. There is a la Palika bazaar style huge market called the Dragon Mart right on the highway as a major landmark.

Come weekneds this mall which has chineese pdts is so full that it is hard to find a parking space in there. Who would think Dubai was facing recession...But then you go to Dubai Mall and see the diffference. Bigger is not necessarily better u learn for one. Infact there could be an interesting theory generated on what is likely to be the optimal size of a mall. A place that is so huge that it makes you feel like an ant on a mission across the plains of Siberia may be quite intimidating even as an adventure.

No wonder there hasn't been any major footfall in the Dubai Mall since its inception. It is not the recession people are flying from. Directionally challenged women are not particularly fond of mazes. And you expect them to read a map to find their way to their favourite coffee corner? Come on that's asking for too much...

Que Sera Dubai?

Dubai’s fortune, which has been on the rise for the last two decades, is today reeling under the effect of global recession. Is the bubble of Middle East’s showcase metro about to burst? I reported this from Dubai several months ago...but as usual the article didn't come out on time...So what you read here may seem a bit stale. But there are some interesting facts that have not been reported before...Check this story out before you trash it. Que Sera Dubai?