20 August 2016

The Dubai Experience

Hello Everyone! :-)
I am in Dubai these days. Arrived here in the last week of July on a 2-month work-related visit. Out of the country (and my comfort zone), it has been an interesting experience so far. 

Having heard of Dubai's glamour and all things flashy, I'm finally getting to see the real Dubai as a commoner. Well, on the ground the picture isn't quite as colourful as tourism promotion commercials would have you believe. It's a city like any other: lots of super-markets and malls, well-built roads and pavements, buildings packed as close as possible, and huge crowds of hardworking common men and women going about their daily lives. 


Yes, the infrastructure is somewhat better than what you would find back home, people follow rules and queues more scrupulously, pedestrians get much more respect crossing the streets, and the list may go on. But in the end it's just another city! To me, there is hardly anything that would make me choose living in Dubai over Bangalore. 
Now, I'm not saying Bangalore is a better place to live universally, but I'd choose Bangalore over Dubai any day. This is even with Bangalore having incomparably worse traffic and tightly packed crowds besides may other things. Bangalore or any other city in India just feels more like home

I almost forgot to mention: the place is hot as hell! It's extremely hot and humid. Day temperature commonly touches 44 degrees while the nights are not far cooler. The sun is blistering and even a gust of wind at noon feels like from a blast furnace. On a typically humid day, you'd be soaked in sweat within minutes of stepping out. So there isn't very much stepping-out to do. All indoors are suitably air-conditioned, though. But this also means that you can't just stroll out for some fresh air. By comparison Bangalore is paradise! :-)

I've been here just over three weeks now, so I now know my way around and have a fairly good idea about how life is here. My view of this city hasn't changed much from the first impression after landing. We could debate endlessly over merits or Dubai over Bangalore and vice-versa, so please remember that I'm only indicating my personal preference here. Yours may vary.

I'll write more about the experience in the coming days. Hoping to get a glimpse of some of the better things here and write about them.

Cheers,
Aashish



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