A spooky first

There have been many firsts in my life since coming to Dubai but by far this is the spookiest. This is the building I live in and as far as I know this is the first time I have lived in a building a murder has taken place in.

Summer pinks?

If ‘winter blues’, the more common way of referring to Seasonal Affective Disorder happens in winter, when the sun is hardly up, surely summer should give rise to ‘summer pinks’ or Seasonal Heightened-State-of-Bliss disorder. And I guess some people in some parts of the globe do experience that as well but it is diificult for one based in Dubai.

I almost melted after my seven minute walk from the car park to office this morning. It was only 35 degrees then and the maximum temperature is expected to be a horrible 45 degrees! And after reaching office I realized that I had forgotten my deodorant home so I borrowed some from my cubicle-mate. The fact that he would have deodarants for men seemed irrelevant when one is melting in one's sweat but now here I am writing this post - smelling like a man!

It’s only July and things will get worse next month and in September. I took this picture on a lovely wintry evening (as wintry as it can get when you are based in Dubai anyway) earlier this year while walking to the car park from office. What a contrast to how things were this morning!


The RTA has warned us of more accidents in summer because tempers are flying and drivers are prone to road rage then. I believe the RTA intends to start counselling for people who've been in accidents this summer.

I hope summer goes by quickly till then I just have to make a superhuman effort to stay cool, especially when at the wheel!

Is this for real?

Spotted in one of the tiny shops in the Spice Souk, Deira

Leh - Ladakh

A trip to Ladakh was on my mind for the last few months so when my favourite tour organizer Women on Wanderlust (with whom I had gone to Bhutan two years ago) advertised their upcoming tour to Ladakh I jumped at the offer. My vacation started on a funny note when my Australian colleague asked me not to tell him about my personal life when I told him that I was going to Leh (lay) on my vacation! I was apprehensive about the kind of company I would have in the week to come but that turned out to be the least of my worries. Our group was made up of sixteen wonderful women, each an achiever in her own way and we were never short of things to talk about.

Unlike in Bhutan I realised that here you do not easily get a glimpse into the life of a Ladakhi family unless you consciously go looking for it. That’s because the schedule is so tight what with visiting Shanti Stupa, the Gurudwara, Alchi Monastery, rafting in the Zanskar and the long drives through Khardungla and Changla and much more. The only Ladakhis I got to know well were our three wonderful, funny and entertaining drivers whom I was really sad to say good bye to on the last day.

Words do not come easily to me while describing the place, especially Pangong Tso, so I will leave it to the photographs to do the needful. However for people who have travel to Ladakh and Bhutan on their wish-list I would suggest that they go to Ladakh first. The monasteries in Bhutan are beautiful and stay in your mind’s eye for really long and one invariably tends to compare other monasteries with them.




I tried not to compare the two but couldn’t help myself and hence found that I liked the outdoors, the Pangong lake, the Zanskar river, the high mountain passes to be more of an attraction of the region than the monasteries. Infact the Shey Palace is poorly maintained and it saddens one to see that and one can easily give Sindhu Ghat (where most of the Ladakhi public ceremonies take place) a miss unless there is something happening there at the time of visit.




Our driver Raja had told us ‘Mumbai ke fashion aur Ladakh ke mausam ka khabie bharosa nahin karna chahiye’ but we were lucky to have been blessed by the weather Gods throughout our stay. The mountain passes are not easy to navigate and we had to wait a couple of times when a vehicle broke down on the pass or when a truck got stuck and almost pushed off the mountain while making a turn. I knew that this vacation would need me to be physically fit and I managed the long drives at the high altitude with no medication but I was very breathless and giddy at Khardungla and on the way up to Changla. I wish I were as adventurous as this group of French bikers whom we saw at Khardungla. The average age of their group must have been 50! And my colleague just told me that a marathon is likely to take place in Ladakh in August this year. It starts at a village across Khardungla and ends at Khardungla. The world's best athletes are expected to take part in this 237 km marathon that is expected to last 70 hours.


All in all Ladakh is worth a visit. I wish the place were better maintained though. The Leh market is filthy, shopping is a poor bargainer’s nightmare (but I love the turquoise and coral prayer wheel I bought there). You breathe in diesel fumes almost all the time and there are stray dogs all over the place. The tiny eateries that sell yummy Maggi look questionable with regards to their hygiene standards. There are few public toilets and they are almost always unusable. And yet Ladakh is worth a visit. There is something in the air there and you feel very connected and close to nature in that place...

Signs in Leh

I just got back from a very refreshing vacation in Leh and a detailed post on it will follow soon but to start with here's a peak at some of the sign posts one gets to see there. I loved the 'Please after close the door' one which I saw on my very first day there outside a toilet at Shanti Stupa -

The Border Roads Organization are commendable not only for the roads they have built in the world's highest passes like Khardungla and Changla but also for the signs they have put up at regular intervals that make you smile. These are just a few that I managed to click - the rest of the time I was gasping for breath in the high altitude!

Shakira Shakira

Yet another concert and yet another opportunity to watch one of my favourite singers and this time it was Shakira. She was in Abu Dhabi, as part of her only Asian appearance of her 'When the sun comes out' world tour. Amr Diab, a well-known Egyptian singer was supposed to go onstage first and Shakira was supposed to come on at 10 p.m. I timed myself accordingly and drove the 110 kms to Yas Island, looking forward to a great concert.
Shakira did not disappoint the thousands of people gathered there to watch her. The only hitch for me was that I had to catch most of the concert on the side-screens since the crowds made it impossible to go near the stage. Shakira being pint-sized and with me not being tall either I could hardly see her on stage. Despite her singing so many Spanish songs that I don't know I still enjoyed the concert. She is an amazing dancer and I particularly enjoyed Waka Waka, Hips don't lie, Loca Loca and her oriental style rendition of Metallica's Nothing else matters.
Shakira also proves another point - Short is sexy!

Me in Gone with the wind...

According to Oldbooth, an application in iPhone 4 this is how I will look when I grow old. I think I can pass off as a house servant or slave on the Tara plantation of Gone with the wind.

India, The World Cup & Cricket

Ok - I admit it - I am finally liking cricket...loving it is more like it. For someone who always thought that cricket was a slow game, took the whole day to watch, lacked excitement and was over-hyped I have now fallen for it - and how! Yes, it took an India-Pakistan World Cup semi-final to finally realise this and now I am being greedy - I want the World Cup! Here are some pictures of the celebrations on the roads of Dubai after we won last night.

I badly need a vacation and since I cannot take one till May I get by by looking at these photographs I'd taken last month. These are in Fujeirah and I love the hues of the mountains and the blue of the sea and the many seagulls...

Stevie Wonder in Abu Dhabi

Stevie Wonder performed at Yas Arena, Yas Island on Friday night and it was one of the best concerts I have attended. Since the radio station I work for was broadcasting live from the venue I was there from 3 p.m. onwards and had the good fortune of watching Stevie and his band practice on stage for almost two and a half hours before the gates opened.
And when he came on stage later in the night he performed to a crowd of more than 10,000 people. To say that he was fabulous would be an understement. He performed for almost three hours and sang some of his best tunes - Sir Duke, Signed sealed delivered - I'm yours, My cherie amour, I just called to say I love you, Do I do.... He was also very funny and had the crowds in splits often.
Stevie Wonder Shukran for coming to the U.A.E.