About india: Anniversary Post..

Hi guys…

It’s Whiteopal’s first birthday today. Been an eventful year, this one. And very happy one too. I hope it continues. And wishing a happy year ahead for all you guys…

I got back from Dubai yesterday. You might recall, that I had co-authored a paper, which got published by IEEE Computer Society. Had been invited for an oral presentation for the same. Well, had gone to Dubai for the conference, but must confess- it was more of a vacation. The fact that we’d presented the same topic at a number of places back home made us complacent- didn’t really hit us that we were supposed to present the same till the day of the conference. But it went of just fine. Had to present the paper towards the fag end, so had only a dozen or so bored Chinese listening to us, which was a bit of an anti-climax, but what the hell- the claps were loud enough!

The conference venue- Hyatt Regency

The flight from Mumbai to Dubai was Air India, and spent most of the time before the flight at Mumbai airport comparing the air-hostesses walking by. Verdict- Dr. Vijay Mallya really knows how to pick his gals. I mean seriously! Heard that he himself sits at their air-hostess job interviews. That true? I knew the hostesses in Air India would be in saris. In my opinion, there is no dress in the world as elegant as a sari. But what I didn’t expect was 45 year old hostesses. I mean, cummon! The funny thing was, we’d asked for a window seat both times (to and fro) But Both times, we found ourselves at the Emergency Exit. With a rather serious looking air hostess asking us-”Will you like to assist the crew in case of an emergency? ” . And then proceeding to give us instructions…

Dubai itself was great. The Arabs have poured a lot of money there, I tell ya. What with intricate wooden dustbins. Everything is in superlatives over there. Tallest building, largest mall. All glitz and show. Name the brand, and you got it. Its clean, disciplined and $$$$$. If you ever want a reason for wanting to be a billionaire, go to Dubai. Suddenly you feeling poor . And yes- the Arabs don’t like Indians. Literally, they put up with us just because they have to. They don’t like Pakistanis either. They seem to have some preformed notions, as most Indians and Pakis they see are laborers. And yeah- the Arabs don’t work. They don’t need to. They own all the places, and have Indians, Pakistanis and Filipinos working for them. The Arabs are like the most chilled out people in the world, roaming around in pure white Jellaba shirts.

Luckily for us, we had a classmate who is from Dubai, and he showed us around the city. The first day we had to go to the conference venue to get ourselves registered. The next stop was Burjuman Mall, and then Mall of the Emirates, and finally Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world. Right in front of the Dubai mall is Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world, scheduled to be opened on 4th Jan. The fountain-dance in the adjoining lake is fantastic, and a must watch. We must’ve walked at least 10 km that day, covering most of the malls. I’d put that figure around 15, but my friends disagree. At any rate, it was enough to send me packing for the night.

Burj Dubai seen from Jumeirah beach- haven't quite been able to capture the size of it.

The next day, was the day of the conference. The whole thing got over by 6 p.m., after which we visited yet another mall- the Deira city Center, and then spent a leisurely evening at the Dubai creek. Lots of hotels had their private boats in the creek, and the city lights across it were fantastic. The breeze was quite chilly, but not uncomfortably so.

Dubai creek

The last day we first checked out of the hotel, and then went to the Jumeirah area. Our first stop was Madinat Jumeirah, a shopping mall selling Arab antiques and stuff. I absolutely loved this place. IF I have a ton of money one day, and want some decor for my house, I’ll buy it ALL from here *fat dreams* . Then we check out Burj Al Arab, the only 7 star hotel in the world- from outside. The entry fee is AED 200.