V'day

Yesterday was that time of the year when swords are brandished, shops set on fire and in general love arson is in the air. Better known as Vandal day or Violence day in this part of this world, this day is typically marked with protests, marches, arrests, agitations, assaults amongst other things. Quite clearly, the day demonstrates the dichotomy that I remember my social studies teacher having taught me aeons back about the world being divided into "haves" and "have nots". Haves, the ones who have a valentine and the "Have nots", who ogle at others' valentines. Your's truly has held a consistent track record and has been a part of the latter group ever since he knew such a day existed. The bevy of girls who he claims were interested in him at various points in time were figments of his fertile imagination.

The significance of the day changed from being just another day to a day to a day when PDA (public display of affection) assumes pornographic delirious proportions to finally a day where the "Haves" run for their dear lives.

This year too, the day was celebrated with much fervour proper security measures. Amongst the highlights of this year were

• Baba Ramdev announced that the day be rechristened as "Marriage" day - Last heard, St.Valentine was turning in his grave.
• Bajrang Dal got a couple publicly displaying their affection, married in Andhra Pradesh - the couple were only too happy to oblige as their parents were against the relationship.

So imagine, dear reader, at the array of possiblities this day could open up.

Remember that classmate / colleague who you always wanted to rough up, but were waiting for professional help at zero cost. All you need to do is to tie those mushy heart shaped baloons to his car and return as satisfied as Abhinav Bindra was, on winning the Olympic Gold.

Want to get an interfaith marriage done ? - childs play !!!! There is Bajrang Dal. The irony however, is, lord Bajrang Bali, on whom this group is named, is known to a chaste bachelor and amonst many objectives of Bajrang Dal is the prevention of Hindu - Muslim marriages.

Police men will be in business again - foiling marriage plans made by Bajrang Dal on one hand and making police stations a safe PDA haven for those who are targetted by the Shiv Sainiks on the other.

Baba Ramdev will teach "Aasanas" on how to take head on blows from the shiv sainiks and still survive to procreate tell the tale.

With such rapid developments happening to this day with every passing year, one needs to be adequately prepared for the day to come out unscathed. For one, you don't want to be seen shaking / holding hands with a member of the opposite sex on this day, much worse, with someone from the same sex - Bajrang Dal can get you married !!!

Phew Good Men: Desert Gold

Phew Good Men: Desert Gold

Desert Gold

Along the barren desert the ragged traveller waddled,
His skin was burnt, his eyes were stone his hair was all disheveled
Feet strained, dermination waned, energy dripping to a cipher,
Uneven path, the sunny wrath, tears flowed down as river

The loving companion, his mate and admiration, lay dead down the track
The ship of the desert, his life & inspiration, who'd led past half the way
But was among the mirages many, the way lost with no turning back
And found he none a guiding star to lead him to his bay

Sweat of dark odour, the sand of pungent nature, the last few drops of water gone
The bells of hell, the chimes of heaven, seemed to him the one
The auburn expanse, the million grain... though not the grain of life...
He'd left his home, for wealth & riches, and his weeping childern & wife...

The knees gave way, last time to pray, a prayer to the holy God
A thousand words, but legible none, meant for life and mercy
His conciousness dead, his courage faded, but faith did still prod
To live again, feel love and pain, for wealth he no longer did fancy

The truth it is and none a myth of the story that goes ahead
The lord he sayth, touched upon his bare and drooping head
And gave him bliss of water and more, for lifelong deeds so noble
Vigour anew, to fight his fear, & made so strong and able

He struck it fast and water he thought, but it was dark and somber
He cursed his luck, and and looked above to the lurking death messenger
It stuck to him, a scarry screen, flowing down his pale sheath
Time it took but realise he did, it was much more beneath

He'd stuck on it, what many had failed the black "Desert Gold"
Was black as night, but shown in light the beautiful "Desert Gold"
The God had helped, the peasant was made to find the hidden wealth
And spread the news, get more views & earn to riches and health

Generations pass, but wealth does flow in the land of darkened shadows,
And many may come and many may go, and bathe in the dark Gold of the Desert
But meant was it to help progress, and not to take mother earth to gallows
Stripped of Gold, a day will come when all thats left will be Desert!!!

Thursdays!! You think you'd love!!

As the sun sets on the Sheikh Zayad skyline on the Thursday evening, you start packing up for upcoming weekend. Ohhh!! did i forget to mention, the weekend in Dubai starts from Friday itself... But please do not get any ideas before I mention that the Sunday is working... (http://www.easyexpat.com/dubai_en/work_work-usage.htm - the link is for working days in Dubai, I'm not suggesting job shifts to Dubai ;) )

So, we pack up and leave for destination... not the beaches of Jumeirah or Khorfakkan but back to our destination, our resting haven in Bur Dubai... And lo! The sky is darkened, the sun hides, lightining splits the heavens apart and .... None of these guys!! It never rains in Dubai... but yes, that was an idea striking!!

So, me and my collegue decide to take a break from the daily ritual and do some sight-seeing and where do we land up? Festival City!! Details left to our master helper (Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai_Festival_City). It was one of the less humid and lesser warm days and the stroll by the creek reminded me of Marine Drive - except for the temperature of the breeze which would easily be felt by a pudding placed in a micro-wave... exaggerating ofcourse... Also, the constant weight of the laptop on the shoulder was reminding me of the lost traveller carrying his dead sheep on the desert dunes....

Anyhow, we reached the IKEA store, which is quite impressive. The display features real life modules of living rooms, kitchens, bathrooms and ofcourse bedrooms. The elegant placement of furniture makes the smallest of display spaces look sufficient and cosy - much to the delight of any Mumbaikar on a visit!! Also on display are several lampshades, containers, cabinets, closets, plants... name it in home decor and you'll find it in here....

We were done in some half hour and then took a stroll along the water channel (still with the laptop on the shoulder - cursing it all the while) and admiring the catamarans lined up on the harbour. We ended up calculating the number of generations it would take to own a fleet (number not disclosable)...

To our pleasant surprise, a group of three colourfully dressed ladies passed us with violins in hands passed us and inquisitive that we are (no pun intended) we followed up on them. And what do we find... as part of the Dubai Summer Surprizes (ohhh!! you would wonder -- this is like the "End of Season Sale" in India wherein everybody is trying to shove off unsold, unattractive stuff at reasonable rates -- reached after discounting previously inflated prices... complicated... that is what I was trying to do... ) the band Maske (http://www.maskemusic.com/) had been invited all the way from Australia to perform in Festival City!!

So, we listen to the music (still with the laptop on the shoulder - cursing it all the while) and click pictures and shoot videos (using my new camera and hence the interest in photography) but are still not sure of the background of the group. The music is melodious and the performance very lively & dynamic and keeps the crowd captivated (I'm not so sure whether it is the perfromance or the performers). Hence, I take my chance and get photographed with them... (Luckily, I did not have my laptop in this picture.. lol... but i have a matching shirt on)

Later during the eveing we get a few amazing pictures of the mall and its facets. The mall looks unusually amazing when it is fully lit up in the evenings. Since it is impossible to put in all the pictures, I would suggest you visit this album... http://picasaweb.google.com/somnath.chakravorti/DubaiFestivalCityIKEADubaiSummerSurprises and i will leave you with this final picture of Festival City... Adios & keep visiting....

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