Today is 7-Dec-2017. I am sitting in the Indigo flight 6E 096 (did you know that the letters 6E were chosen for Indigo, because they sounded 'Sexy'?) waiting for the flight to commence. The flight, which should have started at 11.00 AM is already delayed by 10 minutes.
I have been in Dubai for the last 3 months, 90 days to be exact. The period that went by can only be called 'eventful'. As a person I made a lot of progress. I learned to smile broadly and laugh loudly and heartily, more at my foibles than anything.
I was always good at giving complements, finding 'what is right' in people. Giving complements comes more naturally to me now that I have been dishing them out regularly in the last three months. I have learned to highlight the positives in people and accept their follies.
Not much though, stupidity still pisses me off
I have learned that all the good things in life are on the other side of inertia. Our default state is to continue in a state of uniform motion, when it comes to ourselves. We habitually do what we regularly do. We need to provide external push to ourselves to change our state.
A good example is my visit to Global Village, Dubai. This is an annual exhibition of goods and culture from different parts of the world. Even though Kannan told me about GV about a month ago, it was only last week, on Sunday 3rd December, that I went there.
It is an amazing fair. You get to know the main products sold by different countries. The types of honey and spices in Morocco and Yemen were mind boggling, so were the variety of dates in Saudi Arabia.
It was huge. There were too many stalls and it would have taken at least 4 visits to the GV to do real justice to it. But I did not have any time, since I had to leave today.
Had I overcome inertia and gone there last month, I could have easily enjoyed the entire experience at a very comfortable pace.
Damn you, inertia...
Another example is of Skydive. If I had done it earlier (I had been planning to do it for more than a month and we were seeing almost every day from office divers diving in Dubai Marina, but still I could not overcome inertia and I must confess, fear. Since I also wanted to Zipline, I could have paced these adventure sports better. Finally, I did skydive on the 5th of December and Zipline on the 6th of December, leading to a lot of stress. I could have avoided all the stress simply by pacing these experiences better.
I also learned that committing myself to anything is the best destroyer of fear. Commitment removes the cobwebs of doubt out of the mind and help focus on the future. I also realized that what looks scary may turn out to be very enjoyable. My Zipline ride is a good example.
But there are exceptions. My skydive looked and felt scary and was a bit scary.
But you have to go there. You cannot not do something because you are afraid. You have to open the box to see if the cat is still alive. Till such time it is only speculation.
I learned to enjoy my company. I found that I was very comfortable to live with. I went for movies and long walks, spend time tweeting..
It was fun. I AM FUN...
I took a 350 Dirhams monthly pass in Dubai Metro and went all over Dubai at odd hours. I took Dubai Metro from Rashidiya to UAE Exchange (Red Line) and from Creek to Al Quisias (Green Line)
I took the bus 44 to Rashidiya, 83 to Naqueel, 66 to Margham Interchange (for Skydive), 88 from Du office to Karama and from there C03 to Al Fahidi metro station...
I ate Kerala Food, Lebanese Food, Pizzas, Burgers and Noodles. I also ate Pasta at City Walk Mall.
I watched Mushairas at Hotel Ascot, R Adda and Hotel Rush Inn. Danced to Out of tune Hindi songs at RAdda, Burjuman
Visited malls. Dubai Mall, Mall of Emirates, Ibn Batuta Mall, City Walk Mall, Marina Mall, Atlantis City and Burjuman.
Took Tram at Marina and Monorail at Atlantis.
Took a lot of Photos and Videos in my mobile phone.
Went to various temples at Meena Bazar, Om Shakti Temple, Swami Narayan Temple and Shiva Temple and sought blessings.
Did all tharpanams including special ones.
Decided to become a multi dollar billionaire. Realized that something amazing is happening to me. Became aware that my Bamboo Shoot moment has already begun and will show spectacular result in the years to come.
Watched a lot of comedy shows. Watched standup comedy by Vipul Goyal, Harpreet Singh and Zakir Khan. I liked Harpreet, Vipul and Zakir in that order. Took photograph with all of them. Also attended the 'Open Mic' event held by V Desi Laughs.
Watched many movies including 'The Foreigner', 'Chef', 'Secret Superstar', 'Tumhari Sulu', 'Quarib Quarib Single', 'Murder in the Orient Express' and 'Finding Gunther'. All were good except the last one.
Made new friends, Akshit and Sohil, both of whom I met in the Comedy Shows. Also Dr.Mater whom I met during my Dubai Round Visit and Edward from Kenya whom I met in Dubai Mall
Supported Adi in handling his first personal challenge while staying alone.
Transferred money to my HDFC Bank Account through Wall Street Exchange, went for boat ride from Gubaiba to Marina, took a Dubai tour (where I met Dr.Mater, a neurosurgeon from Saudi Arabia, in Dubai to explore opportunities)...
What I did not do in Dubai that I should have?
One, I did not go to Aqua Venture Water Park, supposedly the best park in this part of the universe
Two, did not go to Jumaira beach
Three, did not go to any discos including one at York
Four, did not try Desert Safari and Dhow Cruise
Five, did not visit other emirates.
All in all, a good visit.
Did I tell you? I also worked on the project, implementing IFRS15 using Oracle FRM for Du Telecom.
Now it is 12.00 Noon, we are still at Dubai Airport.
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