From 12-Jun-03 to 20-Jun-03 I was in Dubai, at my brother's house. I spent the mornings lazing around in the house, reading a novel. I honestly don't know what I enjoyed more : the peace and quiet and absolutely carefree mornings or the drives that my brother, sister-in-law and niece took me on during the evenings :-) Anyway, this was my first visit to the city and this blog contains my impressions of the city.
My first impression of Dubai from the air was that it looks like any Indian city. It took me 15 minutes of driving from the airport to see that this wasn't just any Indian city ! The Dubai roads have clearly marked lanes and signals. More importantly, the car drivers know and stick to the lane discipline. It's funny that 50% of the population in Dubai is from the Indian sub-continent, but traffic discipline is decidedly "un-Indian", i.e. better than in India :-) It appears that the strict law enforcement in Dubai has resulted in better discipline.
Besides, for a city that has a desert like climate, the greenery is quite surprising. The roads have portulaca flowers though the temperature outside is in the mid-40s degrees celsius. However, automatic sprinklers come on at least twice a day. Drinking water has to be purchased and water is recycled in the city. There is no problem as far as power and petroleum. I learn that the city is rated as one of the 10 best cities in the world to live in.
While in Dubai, I visited a couple of supermarkets, the museum and went to Hatta - among other things ! The supermarkets are more or less what can be seen in other cities. I will describe the museum and Hatta in some detail instead.
The museum was a revelation on how the history of a place can be projected. The development of Dubai through the ages can be seen in the museum. Archaeology, multimedia and touch screen technology are all used to inform, educate and entertain people about Dubai. For example, the sounds of the marketplace can be heard as life-like mannequins of the jeweller and the spice trader go about their trade. Similarly, to get an idea of what the rhinoceros beetle looks like, I touch the photo on the monitor in front of me. The moment I do so, a spotlight in the darkened exhibit behind the monitor lights up and highlights the beetle and the monitor displays information about the beetle !
The drive to Hatta was also a memorable experience. Hatta is a village surrounded by hills on all sides. It was just as well that my brother had a four wheel drive since the road had a 30 degree dip followed by an equally precipitous climb ! Nestled among the hills was a river that has now dried. En route to this spot, the hills provide a breathtaking backdrop. The landscape at Hatta is stark and the road quite desolate.
Now that I am back home, the drive to Hatta, the museum, the flowers in 40 degrees Celsius heat and the lazy mornings are pleasant memories ! As I write this and as I answered questions from people back home about what Dubai is like, I find that it is not easy to describe the uniqueness about the city. I mean : New Delhi has its history, Mumbai its glamour and Kolkata its attitude, or, more correctly, the attitude of its people.
What marks out Dubai ? when people ask me this question, I did speak about its roads, the dazzling supermarkets, the cosmopolitan crowd and the friendly Indian feel to transactions in the market place, but none of this is conveys its remarkable feature. In my opinion, this feature is : Dubai as a city has come into its own only in the past 30 years or so, unlike Mumbai or Delhi or Kolkata !
Just think about it : 100 years ago, there was a small settlement where Dubai is now. Then in the middle of the 20th century, oil was discovered and that initiated the development of Dubai as we know it now. See http://www.datadubai.com/history.htm for details. Meanwhile, the rulers continued to develop the city. Supermarkets came up and Dubai became famous in India for the glitter of the yellow metal and also for electronics goods. At the same time, it also emerged as a trade hub. It surprised me to learn that it is trade and tourism that contribute the most to Dubai economy now, followed by oil. Now, the Dubai shopping festival in the beginning of the year has become an event of huge proportions. Look at http://www.mydsf.com/about_dss/dss_home_tpl.asp?mode=DSS.
In conclusion : If you need an example for how an opportunity can be really capitalised upon, look no further than the transformation of Dubai.
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When I created my first blog, I
thought I was being clever by being
"anonymous" and let my opinions speak for
themselves (see the archive !) Imagine
my embarrassment when I saw my name
displayed ! So now, while I still
retain the blog name as "Anonymous
Expressions", I will only request you
to ignore my name and concentrate on my
opinions instead !
The opinions expressed in the Weblogs
are my personal opinions. Please tell
me if you don't like the way I have
expressed a view. If I can see your
point, I will correct the mistake. You
can contact me by emailing me at
kiran.suma@gmail.com
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ENDS
++++++
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My first impression of Dubai from the air was that it looks like any Indian city. It took me 15 minutes of driving from the airport to see that this wasn't just any Indian city ! The Dubai roads have clearly marked lanes and signals. More importantly, the car drivers know and stick to the lane discipline. It's funny that 50% of the population in Dubai is from the Indian sub-continent, but traffic discipline is decidedly "un-Indian", i.e. better than in India :-) It appears that the strict law enforcement in Dubai has resulted in better discipline.
Besides, for a city that has a desert like climate, the greenery is quite surprising. The roads have portulaca flowers though the temperature outside is in the mid-40s degrees celsius. However, automatic sprinklers come on at least twice a day. Drinking water has to be purchased and water is recycled in the city. There is no problem as far as power and petroleum. I learn that the city is rated as one of the 10 best cities in the world to live in.
While in Dubai, I visited a couple of supermarkets, the museum and went to Hatta - among other things ! The supermarkets are more or less what can be seen in other cities. I will describe the museum and Hatta in some detail instead.
The museum was a revelation on how the history of a place can be projected. The development of Dubai through the ages can be seen in the museum. Archaeology, multimedia and touch screen technology are all used to inform, educate and entertain people about Dubai. For example, the sounds of the marketplace can be heard as life-like mannequins of the jeweller and the spice trader go about their trade. Similarly, to get an idea of what the rhinoceros beetle looks like, I touch the photo on the monitor in front of me. The moment I do so, a spotlight in the darkened exhibit behind the monitor lights up and highlights the beetle and the monitor displays information about the beetle !
The drive to Hatta was also a memorable experience. Hatta is a village surrounded by hills on all sides. It was just as well that my brother had a four wheel drive since the road had a 30 degree dip followed by an equally precipitous climb ! Nestled among the hills was a river that has now dried. En route to this spot, the hills provide a breathtaking backdrop. The landscape at Hatta is stark and the road quite desolate.
Now that I am back home, the drive to Hatta, the museum, the flowers in 40 degrees Celsius heat and the lazy mornings are pleasant memories ! As I write this and as I answered questions from people back home about what Dubai is like, I find that it is not easy to describe the uniqueness about the city. I mean : New Delhi has its history, Mumbai its glamour and Kolkata its attitude, or, more correctly, the attitude of its people.
What marks out Dubai ? when people ask me this question, I did speak about its roads, the dazzling supermarkets, the cosmopolitan crowd and the friendly Indian feel to transactions in the market place, but none of this is conveys its remarkable feature. In my opinion, this feature is : Dubai as a city has come into its own only in the past 30 years or so, unlike Mumbai or Delhi or Kolkata !
Just think about it : 100 years ago, there was a small settlement where Dubai is now. Then in the middle of the 20th century, oil was discovered and that initiated the development of Dubai as we know it now. See http://www.datadubai.com/history.htm for details. Meanwhile, the rulers continued to develop the city. Supermarkets came up and Dubai became famous in India for the glitter of the yellow metal and also for electronics goods. At the same time, it also emerged as a trade hub. It surprised me to learn that it is trade and tourism that contribute the most to Dubai economy now, followed by oil. Now, the Dubai shopping festival in the beginning of the year has become an event of huge proportions. Look at http://www.mydsf.com/about_dss/dss_home_tpl.asp?mode=DSS.
In conclusion : If you need an example for how an opportunity can be really capitalised upon, look no further than the transformation of Dubai.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
=============================
COMMON TEXT FOR ALL BLOGS
=============================
++++++
BEGINS
++++++
When I created my first blog, I
thought I was being clever by being
"anonymous" and let my opinions speak for
themselves (see the archive !) Imagine
my embarrassment when I saw my name
displayed ! So now, while I still
retain the blog name as "Anonymous
Expressions", I will only request you
to ignore my name and concentrate on my
opinions instead !
The opinions expressed in the Weblogs
are my personal opinions. Please tell
me if you don't like the way I have
expressed a view. If I can see your
point, I will correct the mistake. You
can contact me by emailing me at
kiran.suma@gmail.com
++++++
ENDS
++++++
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