MY IMPRESSIONS OF DUBAI
Actually, the title is a misnomer ! My wife and I visited Dubai for 10 days, staying with my brother. In those ten days, we also covered Sharjah and Fujairah, two other emirates in UAE. Anyway, since most of our time was indeed spent in Dubai, I will continue with that title ! Photos WITHOUT PEOPLE have been uploaded at http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/tags/dubai2007/show/.
This was my second trip to Dubai and my wife's first trip. What struck me in the city was the infrastructure. My better half was most impressed by the traffic sense there and also the overall civic sense in the city. Indeed, it is these two things that stay etched in my mind even from the first trip, a few years ago.
It is a pleasure to see six lanes (on one way! ) in some roads of Dubai, for eyes normally used to seeing two lanes (on both sides:-)) in Bengalooru ! In most areas, there are dustbins clearly indicated and the main roads are clean. On one of the days, we saw ornamental street lights in the suburbs being cleaned by water at a high pressure from a hose pipe ! The lighting on the roads of the city is also amazing. In fact, in my brother's car, we discussed about this and the consensus in the car among us Bengaloorians was that the lighting was too much in Dubai !!
There is a simple rule in Dubai that if the front of the vehicle is damaged, it is that vehicle's driver who is at fault. The basic idea is that the driver should have control enough not to crash the front. If that happens, the insurance premiums are much higher for the driver ! People rarely honk and if there is another vehicle that comes from a cross road, they make way for it. It was good to see drivers acknowledge the vehicles giving way as well ! This is how driving ought to be ! My brother says things have worsened of late with more people honking or refusing to give way, but compared to what I see in Bengalooru, the city is still far ahead in driving culture.
The roads have plenty of greenery, usually in the form of green grass in the road dividers and also flowering shrubs like petunias. The greenery is sustained by drip irrigation and timed sprinklers. I cannot imagine that there could be such greenery in the desert climate ! Pictures of one of these roads is available at http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/2154932828/.
Cars have a minimum speed limit of 60 kmph on the main roads and a maximum of 120 kmph. To go to the left side of the main roads, there are separate exits (lanes) that start from the right side of the road (or highway), loop upwards and then turn leftwards, sloping downwards. Thus, cross roads and intersections are avoided. This may be common in the West and USA, but it is a novelty for me ! This is the kind of planning that the city can afford to have, thanks to the revenue it earns.
When I mentioned this to my brother, he asked me what I thought the biggest revenue earner for Dubai is. Naturally, I thought it was petrol ! To my surprise, he said that trade and tourism are the two biggest revenue earners for the city ! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai confirms this fact. All the shopping that Dubai is famous for has obviously helped burgeon the city's coffers !! The interesting thing is that the money continues to be ploughed back into the city itself.
Dubai has different avatars to present to the world : shopping, of course, is its calling card. The other lesser known avatars are "Health City", "Equestrian City" and "Festival City" (for the shopping festival). There is now a plan to create an Academic City, so that famous universities of the world can have centres in Asia. Not all of these ideas may really succeed. For example, the idea of Dubai as an IT city has not taken off. Yet, the point I like is the vision of the rulers to try and re-invent the city.
I learn that 15% of the world's cranes are in Dubai. http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/05/13/10039528.html has this information. When I see the kind of construction going on I am not surprised by that fact ! The world's tallest tower Burj Dubai (see http://www.burjdubai.com/) is coming up in Dubai. Burj-al-arab (see http://www.burj-al-arab.com/), the iconic bow like hotel that has become a symbol for Dubai is another famous construction. Then there is the palm .... sorry, I should say The Palm (see http://www.thepalm.ae/) :-) The Palm is a set of artificial islands in the shape of the leaves of a palm tree, meant for the wealthy.
It seems the city only cares for the superlative ! We were impressed by two of Its malls : The Mall of the Emirates (see http://www.malloftheemirates.com/) and the Ibn Battuta mall (see http://www.ibnbattutamall.com/). The former has a ski slope that is maintained at -4 degrees Celsius, irrespective of the temperature outside ! The Ibn Batuta mall stretches wide and contains areas named after countries that the Arab explorer visited. These countries include China, Persia and India.
What I liked was the information about Ibn Battuta, his adventures and biography and also the advancement of ancient Arabian civilizations. Looking at the portrayal of Arabs in Hindi pictures, one gets the feeling that they are rich people with little intellect. The life story of Ibn Battuta available at http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/biographies/battuta/ serves as a reminder that this generalization is not necessarily correct !!
All malls in Dubai have extensive parking space and yet, there are parking problems sometimes ! We also visited Lulu hypermarket. I expect that when Reliance opens its hypermarkets in India, we would see something similar here soon.
One evening, my wife and I went for a desert safari. Azeez, our driver, came in a Toyota Landcruiser. We had a German family for company with us in the car. At Lehbab, around 60 km from Dubai, we saw the orange sands of the Arabian desert in the rays of sunlight. A photo is available at http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/2154934058/. Azeez deflated the tyres of the car to some extent. Then began the "dune bashing". The car slid, slipped and eventually climbed the dunes. It was a thrilling experience .... not to mention a stomach churning one :-) It was just as well that we had eaten a light lunch :-) The thrill particularly in the first few drops and climbs is quite an experience.
We stopped at an Arabian camp. On the way to the camp, we saw a wild desert oryx, a deer like animal with black "stockinged" feet. A snap of the oryx is available at http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/2154139965/. At the camp, there were stalls selling liquor, date juice, sheesha (hookah to Indians), application of mehendi (henna), etc. The evening was pretty cool. Once dusk set in, the stage was set for a belly dance performance. The dancer looked like a citizen of the former Soviet republics. She was fair looking and amazingly flexible, like most belly dancers are. She involved people from the audience as well and the performance ended in half an hour or so.
After that we ate dinner. For vegetarians, this was basically north Indian cuisine, but for non-vegetarians there was a barbecue.
On another day, we went to Hatta, an area of hills surrounding a river that is now dry. To get to Hatta, we have to pass through a part of Oman. There are no passport or immigration formalities, though. At Hatta, the river has cut the rocks of the hills making a landscape which is best described as "stark". Photos of Hatta are available at http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/2154936968/ and http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/2154142341/. My niece attempted preliminary rock climbing on the solid faces of the hillside. She was game to climb and equally ready to get down : for me, going up is easy ; but it is coming down that is tricky !
Hatta also has a heritage village that describes how rural life in UAE. The rooms in a typical house, the social milieu, the musical instruments, weapons of defense are all retained and re-constructed. A similar approach is also seen in the Dubai Fort Museum in the city. In the courtyard of the museum, the house and wind tower of the typical Arab are shown. Underground, an audio video presentation on how Dubai evolved is shown. From the pearl fishing of the '50s to the oil boom of the '70s to The Palm of the 2000s, it is all covered along with background music that changes from traditional Arab music for the '50s to a more contemporary music for the 2000s ! Then, the museum contains description of the Arab marketplace and trades complete with life size mannequins as well. The natural life of the desert is also described in the museum.
The thought that strikes me that with the kind of history and culture that we have in India, if we can bring the same zeal in presenting it to the world, we can probably eliminate all poverty only using the money from tourism ! What we need are people who can showcase the best of India to the rest of the world !
Near the museum is the Dubai creek. We walked along the creek for close to 2km, enjoying the afternoon sun on a cold day. The water in the creek is blue and there are yachts promising cruises in the evening and night. Bur Dubai, an area that represents old Dubai is also close to the museum. There are shops selling gold, clothes and to my wife, this immediately brought memories of Chickpet in Bengalooru ! On another day, we visited the gold souk, a road with only gold shops in the street. We did our purchases elsewhere, but to see the glitter of gold in the evening, a visit to the gold souk is a must.
We visited the Khor Fakkan beach in Fujairah, which is another emirate. The drive takes us through Al Dhaid, a small town with a bustling "Friday market". We saw Bangladeshi hawkers of coconuts, pots, etc. Al Dhaid is near the Masafi springs at the foothills and a lot of fruits and vegetables are cultivated in this area. We shopped for a while, letting the spirit of the place seep in to us. In the drive, the hills present quite a majestic view. When we reached Khor Fakkan, we were again welcomed by the same azure waters (see http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/2154144125/) that we saw in the Dubai creek. The big difference was the waves and the tides.
Those were some of the impressions that I have of Dubai. The question in my mind is : why can't India have such cities ? For one, the populations cannot be compared. The number of people in India is overwhelming. All ideas of discipline and order must take a back seat in the face of such a teeming population. Second, Dubai uses technology : if cars exceed the speed limit, cameras take the photos and annually, drivers have to pay up the fines. In India, the fear of the law (or of fines) is minimal, if not missing ! This can change with a strong willed administration, but the chance of that happening is remote, unfortunately. Third, the system of governance is different in the two countries. If the ruler of Dubai chooses to make a law or build a new highway, it could be done far easier since there is no opposition. The diversity that thrives in India would mean that any new proposal would have opponents and detractors. It may be that the delay is worth it, but at least if one looks to infrastructure, such delays can only hinder India's progress.
What is the way forward then ? A strong leader that people can believe in would be a useful beginning for us. However even simply benchmarking success stories is also a way to learn - and one such story is Dubai, a mere 3 and a half hours away from Bengalooru !
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NOTE:
I had originally written this blog in another site. Since that site is no longer accessible, I am uploading it in this blog at http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/ using the same date as the original blog dates.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
===== 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 !
ALL COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS ARE ACKNOWLEDGED
AS THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR OWNERS.
The opinions expressed in the Weblogs are my
personal opinions. Please tell me if you spot any
factual mistakes or don't like the way I have
expressed a view. If I can see your point, I will
correct the mistake. You can email me at
kiran.suma@gmail.com.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Actually, the title is a misnomer ! My wife and I visited Dubai for 10 days, staying with my brother. In those ten days, we also covered Sharjah and Fujairah, two other emirates in UAE. Anyway, since most of our time was indeed spent in Dubai, I will continue with that title ! Photos WITHOUT PEOPLE have been uploaded at http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/tags/dubai2007/show/.
This was my second trip to Dubai and my wife's first trip. What struck me in the city was the infrastructure. My better half was most impressed by the traffic sense there and also the overall civic sense in the city. Indeed, it is these two things that stay etched in my mind even from the first trip, a few years ago.
It is a pleasure to see six lanes (on one way! ) in some roads of Dubai, for eyes normally used to seeing two lanes (on both sides:-)) in Bengalooru ! In most areas, there are dustbins clearly indicated and the main roads are clean. On one of the days, we saw ornamental street lights in the suburbs being cleaned by water at a high pressure from a hose pipe ! The lighting on the roads of the city is also amazing. In fact, in my brother's car, we discussed about this and the consensus in the car among us Bengaloorians was that the lighting was too much in Dubai !!
There is a simple rule in Dubai that if the front of the vehicle is damaged, it is that vehicle's driver who is at fault. The basic idea is that the driver should have control enough not to crash the front. If that happens, the insurance premiums are much higher for the driver ! People rarely honk and if there is another vehicle that comes from a cross road, they make way for it. It was good to see drivers acknowledge the vehicles giving way as well ! This is how driving ought to be ! My brother says things have worsened of late with more people honking or refusing to give way, but compared to what I see in Bengalooru, the city is still far ahead in driving culture.
The roads have plenty of greenery, usually in the form of green grass in the road dividers and also flowering shrubs like petunias. The greenery is sustained by drip irrigation and timed sprinklers. I cannot imagine that there could be such greenery in the desert climate ! Pictures of one of these roads is available at http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/2154932828/.
Cars have a minimum speed limit of 60 kmph on the main roads and a maximum of 120 kmph. To go to the left side of the main roads, there are separate exits (lanes) that start from the right side of the road (or highway), loop upwards and then turn leftwards, sloping downwards. Thus, cross roads and intersections are avoided. This may be common in the West and USA, but it is a novelty for me ! This is the kind of planning that the city can afford to have, thanks to the revenue it earns.
When I mentioned this to my brother, he asked me what I thought the biggest revenue earner for Dubai is. Naturally, I thought it was petrol ! To my surprise, he said that trade and tourism are the two biggest revenue earners for the city ! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai confirms this fact. All the shopping that Dubai is famous for has obviously helped burgeon the city's coffers !! The interesting thing is that the money continues to be ploughed back into the city itself.
Dubai has different avatars to present to the world : shopping, of course, is its calling card. The other lesser known avatars are "Health City", "Equestrian City" and "Festival City" (for the shopping festival). There is now a plan to create an Academic City, so that famous universities of the world can have centres in Asia. Not all of these ideas may really succeed. For example, the idea of Dubai as an IT city has not taken off. Yet, the point I like is the vision of the rulers to try and re-invent the city.
I learn that 15% of the world's cranes are in Dubai. http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/05/13/10039528.html has this information. When I see the kind of construction going on I am not surprised by that fact ! The world's tallest tower Burj Dubai (see http://www.burjdubai.com/) is coming up in Dubai. Burj-al-arab (see http://www.burj-al-arab.com/), the iconic bow like hotel that has become a symbol for Dubai is another famous construction. Then there is the palm .... sorry, I should say The Palm (see http://www.thepalm.ae/) :-) The Palm is a set of artificial islands in the shape of the leaves of a palm tree, meant for the wealthy.
It seems the city only cares for the superlative ! We were impressed by two of Its malls : The Mall of the Emirates (see http://www.malloftheemirates.com/) and the Ibn Battuta mall (see http://www.ibnbattutamall.com/). The former has a ski slope that is maintained at -4 degrees Celsius, irrespective of the temperature outside ! The Ibn Batuta mall stretches wide and contains areas named after countries that the Arab explorer visited. These countries include China, Persia and India.
What I liked was the information about Ibn Battuta, his adventures and biography and also the advancement of ancient Arabian civilizations. Looking at the portrayal of Arabs in Hindi pictures, one gets the feeling that they are rich people with little intellect. The life story of Ibn Battuta available at http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/biographies/battuta/ serves as a reminder that this generalization is not necessarily correct !!
All malls in Dubai have extensive parking space and yet, there are parking problems sometimes ! We also visited Lulu hypermarket. I expect that when Reliance opens its hypermarkets in India, we would see something similar here soon.
One evening, my wife and I went for a desert safari. Azeez, our driver, came in a Toyota Landcruiser. We had a German family for company with us in the car. At Lehbab, around 60 km from Dubai, we saw the orange sands of the Arabian desert in the rays of sunlight. A photo is available at http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/2154934058/. Azeez deflated the tyres of the car to some extent. Then began the "dune bashing". The car slid, slipped and eventually climbed the dunes. It was a thrilling experience .... not to mention a stomach churning one :-) It was just as well that we had eaten a light lunch :-) The thrill particularly in the first few drops and climbs is quite an experience.
We stopped at an Arabian camp. On the way to the camp, we saw a wild desert oryx, a deer like animal with black "stockinged" feet. A snap of the oryx is available at http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/2154139965/. At the camp, there were stalls selling liquor, date juice, sheesha (hookah to Indians), application of mehendi (henna), etc. The evening was pretty cool. Once dusk set in, the stage was set for a belly dance performance. The dancer looked like a citizen of the former Soviet republics. She was fair looking and amazingly flexible, like most belly dancers are. She involved people from the audience as well and the performance ended in half an hour or so.
After that we ate dinner. For vegetarians, this was basically north Indian cuisine, but for non-vegetarians there was a barbecue.
On another day, we went to Hatta, an area of hills surrounding a river that is now dry. To get to Hatta, we have to pass through a part of Oman. There are no passport or immigration formalities, though. At Hatta, the river has cut the rocks of the hills making a landscape which is best described as "stark". Photos of Hatta are available at http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/2154936968/ and http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/2154142341/. My niece attempted preliminary rock climbing on the solid faces of the hillside. She was game to climb and equally ready to get down : for me, going up is easy ; but it is coming down that is tricky !
Hatta also has a heritage village that describes how rural life in UAE. The rooms in a typical house, the social milieu, the musical instruments, weapons of defense are all retained and re-constructed. A similar approach is also seen in the Dubai Fort Museum in the city. In the courtyard of the museum, the house and wind tower of the typical Arab are shown. Underground, an audio video presentation on how Dubai evolved is shown. From the pearl fishing of the '50s to the oil boom of the '70s to The Palm of the 2000s, it is all covered along with background music that changes from traditional Arab music for the '50s to a more contemporary music for the 2000s ! Then, the museum contains description of the Arab marketplace and trades complete with life size mannequins as well. The natural life of the desert is also described in the museum.
The thought that strikes me that with the kind of history and culture that we have in India, if we can bring the same zeal in presenting it to the world, we can probably eliminate all poverty only using the money from tourism ! What we need are people who can showcase the best of India to the rest of the world !
Near the museum is the Dubai creek. We walked along the creek for close to 2km, enjoying the afternoon sun on a cold day. The water in the creek is blue and there are yachts promising cruises in the evening and night. Bur Dubai, an area that represents old Dubai is also close to the museum. There are shops selling gold, clothes and to my wife, this immediately brought memories of Chickpet in Bengalooru ! On another day, we visited the gold souk, a road with only gold shops in the street. We did our purchases elsewhere, but to see the glitter of gold in the evening, a visit to the gold souk is a must.
We visited the Khor Fakkan beach in Fujairah, which is another emirate. The drive takes us through Al Dhaid, a small town with a bustling "Friday market". We saw Bangladeshi hawkers of coconuts, pots, etc. Al Dhaid is near the Masafi springs at the foothills and a lot of fruits and vegetables are cultivated in this area. We shopped for a while, letting the spirit of the place seep in to us. In the drive, the hills present quite a majestic view. When we reached Khor Fakkan, we were again welcomed by the same azure waters (see http://flickr.com/photos/fromkiran/2154144125/) that we saw in the Dubai creek. The big difference was the waves and the tides.
Those were some of the impressions that I have of Dubai. The question in my mind is : why can't India have such cities ? For one, the populations cannot be compared. The number of people in India is overwhelming. All ideas of discipline and order must take a back seat in the face of such a teeming population. Second, Dubai uses technology : if cars exceed the speed limit, cameras take the photos and annually, drivers have to pay up the fines. In India, the fear of the law (or of fines) is minimal, if not missing ! This can change with a strong willed administration, but the chance of that happening is remote, unfortunately. Third, the system of governance is different in the two countries. If the ruler of Dubai chooses to make a law or build a new highway, it could be done far easier since there is no opposition. The diversity that thrives in India would mean that any new proposal would have opponents and detractors. It may be that the delay is worth it, but at least if one looks to infrastructure, such delays can only hinder India's progress.
What is the way forward then ? A strong leader that people can believe in would be a useful beginning for us. However even simply benchmarking success stories is also a way to learn - and one such story is Dubai, a mere 3 and a half hours away from Bengalooru !
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
NOTE:
I had originally written this blog in another site. Since that site is no longer accessible, I am uploading it in this blog at http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/ using the same date as the original blog dates.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
===== 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 !
ALL COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS ARE ACKNOWLEDGED
AS THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR OWNERS.
The opinions expressed in the Weblogs are my
personal opinions. Please tell me if you spot any
factual mistakes or don't like the way I have
expressed a view. If I can see your point, I will
correct the mistake. You can email me at
kiran.suma@gmail.com.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
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