Dubai

You know what’s good about working on a Sunday? Nothing. I’m at work today and it makes me sad when I notice that its Sunday. I’m habituated to a non-working Sunday. Like I’ve mentioned before; I love the Rajni song – “Aaj Sunday hai… aaj Sunday hai… <pause> to din mein daaru peene ka day hai…” I mean, it’s not like I get drunk. Huh, barely even. I’m tired of the high I get out of canned Mango juice which is so sweet that it gives you a sugary high. I’ve added “Joos” by “Insert undecipherable Arabic here” company (which makes the most amazing canned Mango syrup I have ever tasted) into my daily diet. Sorry for complicating that statement but I had to put it across like this for optimum delivery of my current experience.

I apologize for the lack of new words here. I’ll justify my absence on the basis of my new found luck in Dubai. As I mentioned, in my previous post; here I am in Dubai working for one of the two telecom giants in this part of the world. I do not wish to correct my previous post and therefore, I’d like to use this space to thank Muiz for enlightening me to the fact that Dubai is not a country. So here I am in Dubai city and in the UAE. So why haven’t I been posting here? Considering that these are the most jubilant days of my life… allegedly. I’m used to babbling to the many ghosts who visit this blog. They are all just a figment of my imagination. But then, I don’t know how I feel right now. I’m supposed to be happy and elated but all I feel is a mixture of happy-sad moments where I crave to be back in my flat in Bangalore, my home and the comfort of my soft quill and the not so soft bed. I sometimes crave for my car and for the tea that my regular chay-wala made for me. Most annoyingly, I miss my family. I never missed them all this much when I was in Bangalore and I wonder why it is that I miss them all the more now. On that note, gather around. Pep talk – It costs me less than 1000 dhs for flight tickets to India and back. How neat is that? Alright, so I’ll keep the bullshit aside for now and come to the point. Why didn’t I write?

• No original content.
• Lethargy.
• I was genuinely busy upto the 10th of this month.
• I’m bored of myself and almost everyone else.
• I suck.
• Youtube wouldn’t work on my laptop ;(
• Get lost now! Sup with you jobless people reading this crap?

For now and for this specific post; I’m not going to get into details. I will, however, provide minutes for the events that transpired over the last month. Whatever happened; happened after the 14th of April. A very auspicious day for us mallu’s!  It was Vishu and I was resting after a heavy meal. Point to note that I had attended quick interview rounds from XYZ Company 2 days before but I wasn’t expecting much because I always thought that good things never happened to me.

• Call from the HR of XYZ Company with the offer letter.
• Job location mentioned – Dubai, UAE.
• Compensation – out of this world when compared with what I get now.
• Joining date – ASAP; approximate date 5th of May.
• Return to Bangalore.
• Resignation at HP and ongoing problems with shortfall in notice period.
• No hope and no use in trying to convince a manager who is bound by “policies” <yes sarcasm>
• Accepted the offer and promised to join on the 5th.
• Packed up my stuff and sent it to my new house in Kerala.
• Said good bye to almost all the important people in Bangalore.
• Drove down to Kerala, solo. It was one hellova ride.
• Attended a huge family get together for the Pooja of my new house there.
• Around 30 people turned up for the Pooja and over 120 people turned up for the lunch thereafter. Notice the discrepancy?
• Spent some quality time with my family as the heat and humidity teamed up in a combined effort to torture us.
• Finally went to Aathirapilly waterfalls and it was breathtaking.
• Throughout this while, it was amazing that I couldn’t quite establish a decent dialogue with dad. I hate myself for that.
• The ticket and Visa arrived on the 1st after a lot of anxious waiting.
• Packing up thereafter did not take more than a couple of hours.
• Bid farewell to my folks and luckily, this time, mom did not cry. She was calm and composed. This worried me because she is someone who cries each time I say good bye. I guess we did not have much time at the airport. Probably that’s why.
• The airport roughed me up with a bill for 4500 /- Rs after having removed most of my books, shoes and blankets and the bag containing it. Extra luggage. Did you know that the maximum weight allowed in case of International flights is 20 kgs? YES!! That’s exactly what is charged in our national flights. Fly Emirates sucked like that. But then, I enjoyed the fact that they had a tv built in to the back of their seats which facilitated an easy passage of time. Plus, complimentary breakfast of “Kadala curry and Upma” damn that combination!
• I could smell the barren land as I stepped out of the flight and felt the heat, the real heat for the first time!
• Suddenly Kerala seemed like Mt. Abu to me.
• I rushed into the waiting A/C buses and I’ve been indoors ever since.
• I am currently living at the company guest house which is a 3BHK flat at a plush location in Dubai. Burjman, Bur Dubai to be exact.
• I cannot afford to like this place cause uhm, well… I cannot afford the kinda rent they demand in this part of town.
• I’d need to find a place by the end of this month and I’m clueless right now.
• The transportation system out here is good in spite of all the traffic jams. Its luxurious and seems inexpensive when compared to what’s being given.
• We have nothing less than Toyota Camry’s running as taxi’s. I’ve always wanted to ride in one of those and well, that’s that.
• Current debacle and ongoing debate with myself and Mr. Prahlad Singh, my only respite amongst all the new people around me.
• He’s a new person too, but then; clicks with some people instantly, doesn’t it?
• We’ve decided to look for a house together and I’m crawling my way towards settling down.
• I’ve begun exploring Dubai. From within the walls and cool rooms mind you! This is the time when the Middle East lights up its pyre.
• I managed to be inside the worlds largest mall and I did see the worlds only (self acclaimed) 7 start hotel and yes, the worlds largest building, the Burj Dubai. I went nuts as I witnessed these awesome structures and I’m at awe for the wonders man can build.
• Over and above all this, work, which is the reason I came here has been good and very enriching thus far.
• I hope to get my hands dirty with technologies like Clustering/ISA/SMS/MOM/ILM2 and HMC.
• People who do not understand technology might want to ignore that. But for those who do know – you’ll know thats a handful!

That’s just about it for now. There is more to discuss but I guess I’ll keep that for later. I’m sure that things will go back to where it was. I will write more regularly and yes; I do hope to travel. Finally, it’s too early for this but I do miss my land and its killing me that I’ll miss out on the wet smell of fresh mud. I will miss the yearly rains and I’d sweat it out here in the Middle East where summer has just begun. To all my people – I miss you’ll!