Jumeirah Open Beach in a So So Evening

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Umm al-Qaiwain impromptu

Two forced bachelors figured out that to kill boredom on a Friday evening, perhaps it would be a good idea to drive up north and find out why alcohol centric people are so keen to land up in Barracuda in the Emirate of Umm al-Qaiwain. In the process we took some photographs or two to satisfy our brains' photo voltaic cells!! The trip was not too exciting especially theb scenery was nothing to talk about except that the roads were excellent to drive in. We stopped at beach and clicked a few shots for you to critique!! Don;t take me too seriously!!!

Next in line was Jumeirah. The beach and not anything else since the clouds played spoil sport the day we visited Umm al-Qaiwain.

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Road on the Rocks

On a sunny Thursday post afternoon, with the hope of catching up with the sunset at Jebel Hafeet, me and Upalda(an old friend-more important the enabler of the trip) set out towards the outskirts of Al Ain. After about two hours of dedicated driving on a barren highway, we reached the well planned city. The Sheikh has spend money and the place definitely looked more appealing then the concrete jungle coming up in Dubai!! The big brown road sign boards led us to Jebel Hafeet. It was a hillock or a collection of hillocks out of nowhere. No greens, it was pure rock!! The first glimpse of the mountain is nothing exciting but then thats what we did not come for. We came for the winding asphalt that was built on this barren hill albeit equipped with a Hotel and dissappointing Cafe at the Mall at the top.

The winding road was extremely good and perhaps we would have done better with a Aston Martin, but beggars can't be choosers, not always that is. We stopped at some vantage point where I thought of capturing the sun setting as usual promising us for a better day ahead. We

whiled away there and then back were in the car for hitting the top at top gear in a winding sort of way. On the way we passed a few cars and a couple of villas on the rocks and then of course the Hotel. I guess a weekend out here would not be a bad idea with some alcohol on the rocks on the rocks.

We stopped at a couple of mor points that allowed Upalda to go for some more shots of the stony heights with his new acqusition. I was waiting for whats on the top. It was like a flat top that reminded of some old phantom comics of a hill like that.You could skate board on the flat concrete and of course I could see tyre marks too and that means people would have tried out some stunts hopefully without creating trouble for others. I took some more of my silica carbon surroundings while enjoying some good chatter from some Gujarati families having fun.

At the cafe we ordered for coffee without paying heed to my sugarless life and spent discussing some points on phtography(my sister an avid photographer perhaps would be laughing at the whole idea). But then thats what it is and I was keen to make the best out of the evening and why not. The sun had finally set and the lights

came on and I managed this amateurish shot from inside the windscreen while we were winding our spiral downwards. The immediate thoughts were like, would we come here again and perhaps we had mixed feelings about the whole sojourn. The idea was to also visit the park at the foothills but amateurs like us without signage got lost and we started heading towards nowhere land, well not really since the road led to the city centre of Al Ain, But then that was nowhere considering our objective in mind, We came to a roundabout and I insisted that we should turn around and like a good bloke Upalda agreed to the pleasantly put dictat. But then we turned around the lights dazzled us from a distance. I got down from the car and shot some film and I guess more than the images here the naked eye devouring the scene was more effective.

And that was our small Jebel Hafeet episode. Nect we visited our own Jumeirah Beach in Dubai and that was interesting too albeit it was hardly for an hour.

ADIOS!!

P.S. Have you seen the movie Race(Hindi)!! Its happening at Jebel Hafeet!!

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The Earth Hour and the moments thereof!!

In our lives these days there is never one that has not been defined as SOME DAY or the other. Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Lover’s Day, Peace Day, Health Day, Women’s Day and so on and so forth. These days we have hours and shortly perhaps we would come down to minutes and then moments. But then we were talking about the Earth Hour that was observed yesterday for an Hour!! Everybody was supposed to switch off their lights and being in Dubai I am sure not the Air Conditioning Units or for that matter the television. What about the neon advertisings? To be honest I was not sure myself of the dimension.

I would prescribe that we break up the Earth Hour into tiny implementable bits and an one that would make a difference. For example, every moment should be a earth hour. In office do not pick up that plastic or paper glass to drink tea, coffee or water. Instead, invest in a mug that you wash yourself. Wear lighter clothes in office instead of wearing suits and then turn the environment into a refrigerator.

Decline to pick up that plastic bag when you visit your local convenience store when all that you have bought is one Coke and a Chicken Pie!!Switch off your engine when you are standing at a signal or a traffic jam for a long time. Switch off that extra fluorescent tube when you can well do with natural light(working for long hours under fluorescent light is harmful to your health too. Take the stairs instead of the elevator when going down. Don’t over order in restaurants and waste food. Don’t buy gas guzzling cars just to show that you are superior than me. Actually you are not, since you did that to cover up your inferiority complex.

Offer car lifts to your friends and colleagues in office, instead of waiting for them to come. The GDP will go slightly done but it would save some fuel. Use less paper in office and don’t foster a photocopying fetish.

I could go on, and the best part is that you know it all. Practice earth moments instead of observing earth hours. Just a changed color on Google(the screen turned black) will not make the difference. Sphere: Related Content

THANK YOU and BEST REGARDS

"Thank you so much for joining in", said the news anchor in a television channel to a news correspondent joining in from a remote village somewhere in Iraq. Did the host really mean it from the bottom of her heart when she said that? The correspondent was anyway cutoff from the transmission before the dialogue was delivered. So he logically could not have heard her pleasantry.

This is just an example. Let's take the case of emails. We end our mails by "Regards" or "Best Regards" or some other form of acknowledgement on how pleased we are. But does this matter. What about when you are sending an angry mail or perhaps reprimanding somebody. "I wanted to inform that you have really screwed it up and I am at a loss. I am not able to control myself and might just strangle you." With Best Regards ...you would end!!

Are these pleasantries just words that mean nothing or its just the context that make them meaningless. We are taught not to act what you don't mean and by the same logic are you falsifying your actual intentions or perhaps no intentions. It's somewhat like the Good Morning that people wish me while they pass my desk every morning without the slightest intention of waiting for my response.

I rest my case...With Best Regards!!! Sphere: Related Content

Abu Dhabi Airport vs Dubai Airport

In the alpahebtical order, Abu Dhabi would come first but in terms 0f sixe, grandeur and action the airport in Dubai would put the former in shame. In terms of Duty Free Shopping, Passport Control, Services, Handling the capital's airport has a long way to go.

The departure gate lounges are pathetic and worse is passenger management and amenities. Whats wrong sir? Sphere: Related Content

Eyes Open, Mouth Open, Jaws Hung, Nose Twitched and Ears Stressed

VG Pillai and his two sons go to the local grocery shop and get three ice cream sticks for themselves. They chatter amongst themselves, breaking the peaceful silence of the night and when finished with the sticks, they casually throw them on the road and walk nonchalantly way home!!

Rahul Chatterjee smokes a cigarette (isn't he pleased?) and then flicks the balance butt two footsteps back unconcerned about its destination!!

Raghuvir Sharma likes his Betel Leaf with Tobacco and he beats the cow in terms of extracting the juice and then he opens the door of his posh Lexus and spits out some red paint on the black tar.

Srilatha Subramaniam gets ready early in the morning and goes for work. I can smell her Indian made hair oil 40 minutes later in the elevator!!!

Daisy D'Souza and her family impatiently waits at the Karama Signal with her husband and son. The signal is red but she lashes out at her husband and starts off to cross in spite of the same. Poor Husband follows. I am still waiting for the signal man to turn green!!

Pinky Chauhan visits the garbage room in my block everyday. But she has a fetish. She cannot throw the bag full of garbage down the shute, She leaves them on the room floor for our benefit!! Well, you never know, maybe she expects us other mortals to scavenge through the remains to find a treasure(smelly though)!!

And then I met Vinit Gupta. A pious man, at least that's what he projects. An erstwhile Hindu, a pious man, hears Sankrit Slokas in RAP form - when he drives a car, you would remember Dr. Jekyll and Mr, Hyde. His driving influnces you too pray too!!

And I know lots of other people. Another day, another time!! Sphere: Related Content