11.04.2008

 

Britain’s Paul Bonhomme gained a measure of sweet revenge in the season opener of the 2008 Red Bull Air Race World Series in Abu Dhabi with an emphatic victory that wiped away the painful memories of losing the 2007 championship to American Mike Mangold. Bonhomme was in a class of his own, despite sweltering heat, winning in front of 400,000 spectators watching from the Corniche in front of Abu Dhabi’s skyline above the turquoise waters of the Arabian Gulf.

 

For more... visit http://www.redbullairrace.com/

It was midday & the sun was very bright, we got out of my car sharp at 12 o clock. Yet, the freezing breeze gave a bumpy feeling even in that radiating neighboring. Within no time, we had to turn back to my car to fetch our jackets. We were just about to go to the counter to buy tickets; a man in clean suit stopped us know what ethnic group we belong to. We didn’t know how to respond to that question with another ‘Why do you want to know’ query, we simply answered we are Indians. I wonder what kind of Analytics they might derive from this survey – knowing the Nationality of the people who visit the zoo. Number of visitors, Number of Animals, total number of food courts, revenue generated per hour, number of staff, children visited, Number of senior citizens, and many other reports make sense to me but not ethnic group. Did the authorities wanted to know how many Italian’s visit that place so that they can have Pasta delights at every 100 yards. Whatever is the reason for this survey, we were baffled with that friendly question.

 

As soon as we entered the facility where wild animals are housed for exhibition, the first thing that encountered us was not the python but the pop-corn stalls, ice cream parlors and Coffee café. Well this is the best beginning a child can expect in any zoo isn’t it. Definite result of these stalls, the entrance was crowded.  I seriously wonder about human tendency to buy short eats wherever they go. You go to movies, you have to walk-in with pop-corn, Soda and Nachos with loads of tomato sauce, hot melted cheese (100% fat), and loads of spicy pickles. You wish that person sitting next to you holds the pop-corn pot and lets you to enjoy the movie without even causing little pain to your hands. You go to a park, you have to find a stall that sells tea and you have to drink that watery milk at any cost. You visit a supermarket, at any time of the day, just the sight of food, don’t know how well it is prepared, well- decorated though, and it pushes you want to taste everything on the display.  Obesity has become universal theme; in any part of the world, today Soda Cans, Pop-Corn, Ice Creams, Kebabs rule unanimously. They don’t have any competition whatsoever. Health talks, doctors’ advice, and dreams of having a thin waistline have taken the backseat.

 

For once we deiced against buying anything for the road and went on to see the Flamingoes, large pink web-footed wading bird, why do they have these birds at the entrance. Is it because, people in Dubai are used to seeing these birds daily and or is it because, flamingoes are easily available for display. After seeing the deers with short erect tails next to flamingoes, I didn’t quite get the soul principle of categorizing these animals. I’m accustomed to seeing birds at one side, Cats at another end. Here the entire image was distorted. I couldn’t map the logic behind having wild cats next to deers and red ass monkey’s next to these cats. We moved on admiring the wild grass, bamboo shoots and saw some wild goats, and red cherry trees. Pavements were beautifully laid out; rocks of same kind were arranged fighting fit and bright sun above made it look even better. Next two large cages were empty, not totally empty; a sign of life was there, except for the fact that it wasn’t breathing, a dead eagle was floating dead happily I guess. 

 

Our next stop was at Bengal Tigers courtyard.  Those tigers looked healthy, the wild spirit, the aggressiveness, were definitely not lingering in that courtyard.  They looked lethargic, given up & total submissive. Will we ever catch a tiger in its true nature, no idea? Just like tamed humans, it was also behaving to please the audience, once in while, yawning and showing its unused teeth.  I took close pictures and we moved on to see a bear, another interesting note, why a bear next to a tiger. The bear, habituated to getting bananas, peanuts, chocolate bars from the visitors; was standing in a ready position to get whatever has been thrown abundantly. There were two well fed bears, one was very active to get extra food and another was not bothered about the surroundings. It was not even bothered to tear the camera cover lying next to it. I don’t even want to discuss the genius ways the people take to get the attention of wild beasts. Black to yellowish colored, a large spotted feline, a panther was relaxing in the next compartment. Just when I wondering whether the cheetah was painted black, I saw magnificent royal black panther slowly crawling up the unnatural mountain. Since I was a kid, Black Panthers always fascinated me. These wild cats give me sense of pride, the authority, the power that no can alter or change. When they run, I’m sure that the wind gets mesmerized. The beauty, the strength, the perfection, the excellence, no one can match or will ever dream of running along those lines. An aquatic reptile having a long snout with massive jaws and sharp teeth and a body covered with bony plates, was relaxing in the sun. From distance it appeared as if it was dead, however, if you look deeply in the eyes of it, you will suddenly remember the fear you experienced while watching one of those best Steve Irwin’s shows.

 

It is often said and believed that amongst all wild cats, the Lion or Leo is strongest and most brute of all cats. I had an episode to witness at lions den. There were five tawny coated skinny looking lions. Two Leos were very lazy even to move, they were relaxing without giving any impression of royal existence. One of those five big cats was restlessly moving like a man without any ambition or goal. This cat was so energetic that it circled the artificial den many times within a few seconds. It might be the calorie conscious Leo, who knows. Large gregarious predatory feline was busy on the top of the rock pleasing its mate. It was biting its mate’s neck, caressing its body and unfortunately it had to do everything in public. Still it didn’t care, it progressed well, by then the crowd around that cage had grown and every opening to spot this scene was blocked for a late comer. People actually took pleasure in witnessing beasts make out. Well, this is another very sensitive topic which I don’t wish to discuss here esp. when talking about animals’ exhibition.

 

We moved on from there, we were already exhausted and my friend started complaining that it’s already close to evening and still we haven’t had a single glimpse of food. We could’ve certainly lived for a week or two without food, taking into consideration the plenty of stored energy we have, but you are used to eating on time. Remember what your mom used to you tell you, eat full, sleep tight & play right. We decided against our abdomen calls; and continued our exploration.

 

Our next exploration reminded me of the Jurassic Park movie, remember the bird cage where in you can only enter and exit is to left to the mercy of the inhabitants. We moved in slowly pushing the iron gates to be attacked by an archaeopteryx but the more we gazed at the wired mesh the more empty it looked. It took sometime to figure out that birds are floating below the bridge rather than flying above. There were many kinds of lovely feathered birds. The water was dark green, gave an impression that the water was a real luxury in the desert. However bad the water looked, pure white Swan next to the dirty water was enjoying gulping down the stream. There were bird poops all over the railings and we didn’t feel like noticing those things while live amazing action was going on. We came out of bird cage safe though to enter the Nocturnal mode. My friends were forced to remove their flashy sunglasses to see what’s inside that dark room.  Even the dark moonless nights will be brighter than the room we went in. I tried taking some pictures of night-time cats, owls, but nothing soaked well in my camera.  We could barely see what was around us; seriously, whoever designed that room must have hated light and all those nighttime’s creatures.

Later on, it was time to witness the most venomous and the most dangerous reptiles of this earth. We saw many thin, long, flexible, colorful snakes in the Reptiles room, coiled dangerously behind glass cages. There were turtles, iguanas and many other reptiles in those fascinating glass urns.  Every snake had its own story to narrate, its own dangerous episode to reveal. I dread these snakes the most; still I admire the beauty of each scale vehemently.

 

We came out in piece and took a break. Still No desire to eat and drink anything; I don’t know what stopped us in buying juice, or chocolates, was it the crowd or animals, or unspoken unkempt stench- whatever, we moved to an African zone from there. It was magnificent to witness beasts in harmony. There were Giraffes, Zebras, Deers,   Birds of some kind, I don’t know their names, all lived together. Gave a perfect picture of lived happily ever after.  I took some awesome pictures of these glorious animals and moved to see an Ostrich in a small cage. For the first time, I saw an Ostrich so close, never knew its two-toed feet looked so ugly yet powerful. It looked as if it can squash a humans head with no effort at all. The flightless bird’s features were so gigantic and sturdy that it gave me a feeling that I can never pluck one of those featherings. It made weird sounds; I don’t know whether it was admiring my presence or appreciating me stopping by at its cage. 

 

One of my friend was very much interested to meet his ancestors, at that very moment, while he mentioning we should go see them, we heard thundering roar. Everyone around us stopped what they were doing and turned around to see where it is coming from. We immediately walked across to see the majestic Leo with long coarse hair around its neck, resting in a grandiose manner; it cared less for its surroundings. We didn’t see any companions for him, he was a lone ranger, staring at the unknown horizon and roaring and proclaiming its existence to mortal weaklings staring at him beyond the safe fence.  If I close my eyes and think about it, I can still recall that spine shivering thunder.

 

As I have told you before, many times, about my fascination towards aquariums and its dwellers, I was thrilled to see an Aqua zone.  Closed for renovation board mashed my electrifying wish… and we moved on to see a bird house. A Bird house, another one! It was humid and hot, thought it might be for birds lived in tropics or deserts. I was right. We found many desert birds including the one I see everyday- dumb pigeons. Just when we were about get out of that bird house, we literally saw a tropical set-up changing into North Pole. There were many penguins swimming, posing and moving in that chilly water.  They were very sharp though, why do I say so- to take pictures, we made sounds to attract penguins to us, they came expecting some delicious fishes, soon they learnt that the calls we made were false call for food & no use coming to us. It was splendid to see the underwater swimming skills of penguins.

 

We thought of winding up at this point of time. We were hungry & tired and we didn’t know where to look for the gorillas we wished to see. On our way back, we finally, accidentally bumped into chimpanzees and orangutans. Chimpanzees were fine, they looked like monkeys but orangutans looked like over-sized old ugly beasts. Interestingly, they were chewing gum and one of them was fascinated playing with that gum. Whatever said and done, we were disappointed to see the sight of those monkeys. We slowly dragged us out of those apes sight to get something to eat at late in the evening.  In a land where vegetation is a dream, having a fine-looking zoo is also a herculean task. This is wasn’t the best zoo in the world but definitely good enough for this desert.

Its a New Year and well... its ought to be happy & prosperous. I have started the New Year by gazing at an amazing fireworks down the Jumeira beach skies. I hope, I wish, I pray that this new year may bring outstanding success, and may God give you all that you ever wished for. Thank you for taking your time to read my blogs. I have a few new albums that I have uploaded which may be of interest to you.

Right time or an excellent opportunity or any other luck factors did not play a role in stopping me from watching the TV series, Lost. I have been hearing about these series from many of my friends, but never had an inclination to purchase the DVDs and watch the series at a stretch. This weekend, I happened to sit and watch these episodes- unfolding interestingly & mysteriously portraying the most engrossing theme. ‘What will happen next’ feeling kept me going on & on. The entire lost series is based on the clichéd theme of getting washed away into unknown, unheard place, where only mysteries and dangers breathe. We have seen this happening in movies, dramas, adventure stories and read about castaways in many countless books. Still, why it is so interesting to witness the struggle, the struggle for existence in an unknown place. Why there is so much contentment when civilization wins over crude rather harsh nature. This makes me think! Is Dark Age influence still lingers in all of us? I really don’t know the answer for this question. However, I can certainly say that when it comes to survival, we all act based on inborn instincts. Your university degrees or your white paper studies will vanish in no time and rough and ready basic instinct takes over to get you out the mess you are in. 

 

Fate, destiny, faith, belief, science, logic, rationale, etc… such limitless possibilities with life you can go on associating. Definitely, you think about misfortune, coincidence only when you are stuck in an unheard of island and when you are forced to live amidst strangers. There is no question of trust, no can say who’s saying the truth who’s not, it’s all about chances & good luck to get connected with the right people in not so right place. Every character featured in this series is beautifully painted; everyone has a useless story linked with them, should I say useless or distinct, whatever the case may be. Writers of the lost have painfully picked the most uncommon incidents of the life and put it together in Lost, and that’s what makes this series interesting. Who needs to know how you struggle with your corporate policies; to take your mind off from the hectic traffic jam, the irritating rat race, all you need is primitive set-up and relaxed mind to certainly enjoy the efforts for hunting for food, growing veggies and fishing out strange things day after day. There is good mix of people grown in various parts of this globe in Lost; interestingly, except for one; everyone speaks English. All the female characters dress up as if they have just walked out of Marks & Spencer, however, as usual men are portrayed as shabby, hardworking and literally look as if they stink. Interesting to know that the survivors enjoy all luxuries including deo sticks, sun screens, glasses, and shampoos. Do they show shampoos in the series, Nah. Just that everyone’s hair is so tidy and shiny; I assumed that they might be having Pantene Pro, extra shiny shampoo on board. Of course, Sawyer, Sayid & Hurley hair looks as if they have never seen the sight of even salted water. Well, all of a sudden I started talking about the characters without introducing who is what in Lost. Well, my intention is to talk about the story; I’m not even interested in summarizing the plot. Just voicing a few aspects of our lives, the hidden desire to watch something primitive and pre-historic – if you have not seen it, sooner or later you will get a chance to see these episodes. You might also get the same curiosity in understanding the nature’s secrecy. Watch out, don’t get lost in Lost.

 

Well, what differentiates living human inhabitants of the earth from living organisms, I mean animals of this terra firma; humans constantly think and ask questions about themselves and about their surrounding, definitely animals are safe to live with because they bother about food and living. Well, I really do not wish to comment on the thinking power of men but I wish to talk about the way we express our thinking.

We can’t agree more on that fact that we certainly do live in a world of curious euphemisms. I wish to go beyond Religion, Terrorism or communism. I claim that we struggle to maintain euphemistic attitude at all times. Be it at personal level or at public ; we try to show that we are nice at all times, we are, no doubt leading our lives like a dream rather than confronting our conscious mind.  Actually speaking, who is bothered about war on terrorism? Who is concerned about Pakistan motives and/or US justification about freeing Iraqis? For a common man, be it an engineer or a doctor, 9-6 job is the highest priority.
 
How often you show the nerve to condemn your own leader’s decision? Most often than not, you end up covering your questions with a smile or you just ignore the fact that you felt like voicing your opinion. ‘Political Correctness’ might be the reason that stops you from asking your US boss about bush administration or how an average American feels about Iraq, sectarian violence, troops’ deaths, etc. We ‘Play safe’ by spending a quiet evening with jazz, beer & movies talk. In almost all the social gatherings, you can see that no one is actually bothered about international politics or war in Lebanon, they care about the property you bought, or the new car you are driving. So, my question - is euphemism only exists during troubled times?  Your struggles to get the best and be the nicest; takes over your original feelings; you end up admiring something artificial or untrue as ‘how nice’ and this happens at every instance esp. when you have to face a so called friend whom you dislike the most but you pretend to be the most overnice person.

 

How can we transfer people from surrealistic world to real world? Media, well, media just reports what happened where, very rarely we get to hear comments about what should have been done instead or why did you do something like that? If you watch an interview with any politician, you certainly get diabetic; only sugar-coated questions and seraphic replies.

 

Why do some people hate Islam? There are many Muslims whom we interact on a daily basis shows integrity and liking towards their nation. However, it is also true there are untold, unseen, unheard tensions in the minds of all non-Muslims. It is indeed very frightening to imagine our world being spilt into pieces based religion- when you look at our lives, how much of religion we practice on a daily-basis? An average Hindu prays once a day and believes strongly that his values & traditions are strictly restricted to himself and his family members. It is pretty scary view of sweeping everyone who is not a follower of Islam out of this planet earth. Islam is certainly growing faster than we thought. Whatever is the current situation, the euphemistic nutshell is what protecting us and we are proud about it@! The right time to burst this bubble, hummn, no one knows.

Last night, after eating 0% fat free brown rice, Chaya and I decided to do something nice; thought of watching one of the movies from our stockpile. I and chaya have always given importance animation & vitality; our admiration starts from the point when the film makers display the animation studio’s name. All that is natural in this world is beautiful, no doubt, at same time unnatural things bring unspoken happiness; may be coz our sub conscious mind admires fairy tale world than our own objective ways. We started watching ‘Finding Nemo’- very old animated movie but has all the emotional qualities that can stir your paternal, maternal instincts or love, whatever you want to call it - human emotions are so complicated but seems so nice and lovable when animals take on human’s role. Storyline is as simple as it could be – a small clown fish traveling from Coral regions to a dentist’s Aquarium in Sydney and finally getting back to school at corals with a great adventure experience & confidence. How wonderful it would have been that every man is allowed one such adventure and after that life turns to ‘Living Happily ever after’ – whims and fancies are never ending!

Coming back to Nemo- what I admire the most is the every ounce of the movie is made to look as natural as it could be. When you start seeing the movie you feel, its kid’s stuff; but later on , may be after three clips you realize you have painted similar world and you wish to be a part of it; someday and sometime before you travel to the place unknown.

Keeping one’s promise & risking its entire existence - that’s not human, though every man dreams of doing it but fails whenever he or she makes promise. Promises are made to be broken, where did this phrase come from, of course from us, who really don’t dare to keep the words that comes out to balance the situation or to console the emotions for the time being. Are we to be blamed for making promises and breaking them; well , as far as I think, this world is what we think it is. There is no such thing as black and white – all you have is a big ugly gray shade- some perceive it as rainbow and some as just blue. Never knew how thought provoking this movie can be- do we ever try to think on these lines? I always had an aquarium for myself at home- I even dream of having an entire coral set up in my living room, I wish to enjoy my scotch listening to coral reeves and seeing the colorful picture that can only be imagined. Have I changed after seeing this movie to not to have an aquarium? Definitely not, I know, Out of ‘Finding Nemo’ movie, fish’s brains work only for good water and food. They might experience little cramped but are we not confined, don’t we play by rules all the time. Are we not confined to our homes, this planet, earth.

Here is an excerpt from a mail Chaya had send me saying that I fit the bill !

"Bobby" happens to be my name.

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Little Bobby came into the kitchen where his mother was making dinner.
His birthday was coming up and he thought this was a good time to tell his mother what he wanted.

"Mom, I want a bike for my birthday." Little Bobby was a bit of a troublemaker.

He had gotten into trouble at school and at home.
Bobby's mother asked him if he thought he deserved to get a bike for his birthday.
Little Bobby, of course, thought he did.

Bobby's mother wanted Bobby to reflect on his behavior over the last year.

"Go to your room, Bobby, and think about how you have behaved this year. Then write a letter to God and tell him why you deserve a bike for your birthday."

Little Bobby stomped up the steps to his room and sat down to write God a letter.

Letter 1

Dear God,

I have been a very good boy this year and I would like a bike for my birthday. I want a red one.

Your friend,
Bobby

 

Bobby knew that this wasn't true. He had not been a very good boy this year, so he tore up the letter and started over.

Letter 2

Dear God,

This is your friend Bobby. I have been a good boy this year and I would like a red bike for my birthday.

Thank you.
Your friend
Bobby

 

Bobby knew that this wasn't true either. So, he tore up the letter and started again.

Letter 3

Dear God,

I have been an "OK "boy this year. I still would really like a bike for my birthday.

Bobby

 

Bobby knew he could not send this letter to God either. So, Bobby wrote a fourth letter.

 

Letter 4

God,

I know I haven't been a good boy this year. I am very sorry. I will be a good boy if you just send me a bike for my birthday. Please!

Thank you,
Bobby

 

Bobby knew, even if it was true, this letter was not going to get him a bike.

 

Now,
Bobby was very upset.
He went downstairs and told his mom that he wanted to go to church.
Bobby's mother thought her plan had worked, as Bobby looked very sad.

"Just be home in time for dinner," Bobby's mother told him.

Bobby walked down the street to the church on the corner. Little Bobby went into the church and up to the altar.
He looked around to see if anyone was there. Bobby bent down and picked up a statue of the Mary.
He slipped the statue under his shirt and ran out of the church, down the street, into the house, and up to his room.
He shut the door to his room and sat down with a piece of paper and a pen.
Bobby began to write his letter to God.

Letter 5

God,

I'VE KIDNAPPED YOUR MAMA. IF YOU WANT TO SEE   HER AGAIN, SEND THE BIKE !!! !!! !

What a month!

 

There was sadness; there was joy, there were silent tears, there was loud laughter; there was dancing; there was calm; some dreams were shattered and some came true……common passion towards the sport united the whole world in spite of differences – all color, race rejoiced and soared to heights this month… there was no time to travel to Germany to watch the brilliance of players, so decided to subscribe special 8 fifa channels. Subscription fee was high but I knew that the amount I will be spending will be worth watching history created right in front of your eyes.

 

At the initial match itself between Germany and Costa Rica, I witnessed awesome opening towards the quest; quest for the world’s most desired title..... never expected so many unexpected events to unfold right in front of my eyes….Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Ghana, Portugal, Czech Republic, played well beyond my expectations ; however none of these teams could complete the journey….Czec republic was very impressive at the initial match against US, but lost against great Ghana… unexpected out come ….. Portugal was brilliant right the beginning, but both Brazil and Portugal made way to France to move forward…..  anticipation for my favorite team Brazil to win was unbelievable; I expected them to play brilliantly in every match and come out clean with the title just like 2002…even more exceptional things were hidden for me- my expectations were shattered, Brazil got out in Quarter Finals, no doubt but new desires cropped up the moment I heard Italy will be there in Finals…

 

France and Italy evenly matched as both of them had strong defense, creative mid-fielders and formidable strikers – we all know Italy’s biggest  advantage –the  goalkeeper Buffon……… Buffon is my favorite goalkeeper as well; he is without a doubt one of the world’s best goalkeepers. Though Buffon couldn’t stop the cheeky penalty shoot of Zidnae, he was there as the pillar of winning spirit… I knew that young Italians will win away the title amongst all the match-fixing scandal back home …. I’m very glad at least one of my prediction and expectation came true and all late nights and tensions to see the matches on time paid off…. Was happy and content about magnificent sport’s outcome… looking forward to 2010 world unite occasion; also hope to see my country to qualify for the big matches…

For those of you soccer fans at work during the FIFA matches, here is a chance to keep yourself updated with all the latest tournament news and information; download and install this live world cup ticker from Microsoft downlaods. Its awesome.

 

 

Mercury rising... and I'm all for the world cup beginning with Friday’s (9th June) opening game in Munich. For all you football loving fans out there... gear up. And for all you emirates flyers, here is an official broadcast-

 

EMIRATES TO SHOW 2006 FIFA WORLD CUP™ GAMES ON ALL FLIGHTS !

 

Truly, the world speaks one language: Football.

Well, what I can say about Animated movies; they are unreal, impractical, dreamlike, illusory, fantastic, out of this world, incredible and actually more than you can bear; real   'feel good' things. I always enjoyed watching animated movies since my early days. While I was babyish, I imagined that my heroes survived in unknown, secret parts of the world and will appear only when someone needs them… bitter realities of this world didn't allow this nice feeling to linger for long…now this imagination has migrated from my mind to animated movies… Whenever, I see any ad for an animated movie- I will make sure to book my dates to enjoy and to go back to that comfort zone…

 

A serious theme like death, doom & destruction is portrayed so well in both Ice age movies. I absolutely loved both the movies… despite the fact that ice age 1 story line is entirely different from the ice age 2.   Manny (Mammoth), Diego (Saber tooth), Sid (sloth)- the main characters of this plot are so real and entertaining especially Sid and his not so intellectual thoughts for instance ' Well, I think mating for life is stupid. I mean, there's plenty of Sid to go around' makes you fall down laughing…. Diego's role in Ice age 2 was minimal but effective; the primary focus was on Manny and his new discovery – another mammoth… Whatever is the plot; it has been depicted really well.   This movie pictures all prehistoric animals as well known and recognized to the real world. True, we can easily relate to these animals even though we have just read about these creatures in encyclopedia and that's what I think is the beauty of the animated movies like Thumbelina or tiny who lived in an elegantly polished walnut-shell; can we ever imagine to see her while crossing highways or at countryside lanes…    but we can enjoy her presence in the movie very well!

 

Don't miss the Broadway musicals – Vultures Band sings in a good way to give you an idea about what they have in mind, really entertaining. I can't stop talking about the Ice age without mentioning Scat, the saber-tooth squirrel, who's life ambition is to get a hold of acorn and it's incredible to watch that every time he tries to get it, every time he fails brilliantly, that's taken from authentic life time experience, I guess.

 

 

 

 

I’m not writing this blog to judge who’s right or who could’ve possibly committed the biggest blunders against humanity- having encountered a person (a structural architect, who has got aspirations in life like you and me) - who has experienced bitter feelings; I have solidified my idea of opposing any kind of war in any part of the world as NOT a solution for perceived reasons.

 

Imagine spending days or months in fear – fear that anytime a 2 tonne bomb shell would impact your house, loved ones and the very reason for your survival – Life. These life threatening incidents are planned, executed more than that there is another human being responsible for these miseries.

 

Every system be it educational, social, economical or any business, every ounce of the society is affected by some individuals wrong decisions.
 
There is a feeling I get every time I think about different races, religion or  different people-  Someone is conducting experiment on every one to see whether we live in harmony or not! For all you know that someone I was talking about a few seconds back might seize to continue experimenting on this world! That’s when we have the result of another World War.

 

Just want to highlight real encounter of a person who went through the recent war. They were informed about the war four months in advance, but as usual human factor, they ignored and thought something will work out and the rulers will find a way out. Not until the day they heard the war siren, the thought - this is it, this is how we are going to die’ struck them hard. They literally said good bye to each other and pushed themselves into crowded shelters/bunkers/escaped to quieter regions.  

 

Unfortunately, my acquaintance’s family decided to stay back and this lady tells me that she never forgives her family for taking the decision to hang on – how could they have thought that war is going to psychologically ruin their family. For months their family survived on plain rice, bread and little meat. Not to mention about their daily chores.  Even, taking a leak was an expensive act to perform during those critical times…. I can go on writing a book out of this but not this time.

 

And not to mention about scotching heat, explosions, causalities that foreign military faced on the desert soil – ending up staying away from their home & family for years where their families lost most hope of their safe return.

 

God bless us all.

Some cool Enterprise Library V2 extensions.

Paint me Saffron – this is what came to my mind when I heard 'rang de basanti'…

 

Last Friday, Chaya and I were planning to go to Global Village, Instead; to be patriotic for once, decided to watch a hindi movie – made up our minds to watch 'Rang de Bansati'. Amir Kahan's take on this movie to to reimburse the ticket money if we didn't like the movie, was indeed well-thought-of remark - was impressed with his confidence – he has done a brilliant job – his Punjabi slang is just awesome.

  

After watching this movie, you get the same feeling as you've just walked out of school's independence day's parade. This movie grabs your attention and it is realistic to the core – you feel you've seen many such incidents in your day –to-day life – Very realistic…No it wasn't filmy at all….

 

 

"Is desh ka kuch nahin hoga!" we keep repeating this, and run away to get a Job in US or migrate to Australia…

This movie paints characters who think exactly like us… but only difference is that they don't have oversees voyage but … well I really don't want to disclose anything about the movie, you watch it !

Before talking about my new car, I want to take you through my vehicle hunting journey. I started looking for a used 4 wheel drive; here in Dubai it is very easy to buy a used car from the secondary markets. The used car market is growing fast and wide… this is not at all shocking… when you are getting nearly new vehicle for 25% cheaper rate, you would rather go for it than spend money on first hand vehicle.

People, who come here to UAE, will be for sure surprised to see luxury cars and SUVs sold at cheaper price compared to west or Asian market. They get even more excited when they see used cars at even lower prices. All vehicles at the secondary market look stunning and ready to be owned by someone classy and elegant.

There is huge market for Japanese models here. People blindly purchase Japanese cars based on the belief that only Japanese modeled cars resale value is high. The market tends to neglect German engineered vehicles, which was startling factor to me…

Generally, everyone buys a vehicle based on rumors and gossips. Some parameters are;

Buy only from the expatriate (80% of the population is expats), Buy only Japanese models (Korean or German engineered vehicles value is less), Buy from single owner lady driven car…etc… None of these tips come handy when you actually get into secondary market. The good vehicles are priced closely to the new ones. No maintenance records and no proof to ensure quality of a used car.

 

How do you know whether the car is imported or bought from a cold market? No records or no clues to prove that, full service statement is missing for almost all used cars at secondary markets. Manufacturers warranty doesn’t come along with the used car that is for sale. Finding any problems with the car is also impossible. Very well disguised pose will stop you from thinking from problems point of view.

 

There is no Government ‘Code of Conduct’ or Sale of Goods Act, which pertains particularly to Used Car Standards.  (Although of course there are Legal options for printed ‘Lies’ or deliberate fraud).  If buying ‘on price’ only and asked to sign a ‘no warranty’ or ‘as is where is’ disclaimer the purchaser waives all rights. Be careful when you are purchasing a second hand vehicle.

 

Also, after seeing the way high-powered vehicles are handled, I have decided not go for any second hand vehicles.