lessons from dubai ..

It was a paradox that i finished two of my bucketlist wishes in dubai . First was to touch snow and second was to touch a real firearm . And the third one to see the face behind the veil . (dont misunderstand :)  )

I went to ski dubai  , one of the largest indoor skiing facilities in the world .And yes its in the middle of the desert kingdom and thats a big paradox . With minus 2 degrees my first reaction on seeing the snow was to touch and feel it . It was an amazing feeling for a person who comes from a place which never snows even in the winter . For once i wished i was a child because the children around were giving me stares when i scooped up a handful of snow . So i left it at that . Ski lesssons were amazing when i realised half the class they were teaching how to walk on snow , and how to get up when you fall .

Walking lessons went well at snails pace . And i and my relative (who was my adventure company ) managed very well . I even had to help out a girl who had difficulty walking on snow . Confidence started building up . And when the guy in front of me fell down many metres down i was helping him out with instructions as told by the instructor on how to get up from snow . I was as frustrated as him when he couldnt, even after few minutes ,and instructor had to save him . I was even thinking how he cant even follow the simple instructions told by the instructor and all my verbal help . (i couldnt go and save him as it was a slope down )


Soon my turn came and in james bond style as in the movies i glided down the small slope for beginners . Even glided like james bond for 2 seconds . But then crashed down totally flat on the slope . And thankful to snow god that few people saw it (hopefully ) but more importantly had a divine enlightenment . I struggled for a full 5 minutes to get up and couldnt and then realised advising people is easy but only when you encounter it you know the difficulties . So never advise anybody including in blogs :)

0.22 rimfire rifles are fun . They are like airguns but much more powerful . But shooting them is easier as recoil is manageable and if you are an ok shot you manage to hit the target . Then the chance came in the sharjah shooting club to fire a 9 mm handgun . Having built confidence after the rifle i took on this challenge . Each shot was a mini explosion in the hand and for once i had great admiration for the policemen who use these guns for peacekeeping purposes . I was more amazed when the 25 bullets fired hit reasonably randomly compared to the rifle shot . For a firsttimer it was ok but the lesson learnt was never underestimate anything . If you are good at one thing and proud dont assume a similar thing will be equally easy .

And lastly the veil stuff ..   I always wanted to see how an arab girl looks like . Just curiosity . Having visited other GCC country where many are veiled including face and arabs are generally hostile towards even a casual glance at their women . I was particular that i will just observe at least one arab girl for one second . What started as a glance for one second continued for the full ten days not only observing (remember not staring ) arab women but arab men and children . I was curious and thrilled to find with all the stereotypes the emirati men were looking after children quite well (at least in public ) , emirati women were gorgeous ( as if you wanted my opinion ) and children were much more well behaved than in some other GCC countries . I later learnt emirati arabs are much more dignified than others .

So having finished 3 on my bucketlist and having been very impressed by the vision of the dubai rulers to bring snow into this desert kingdom as well as the tallest building on earth the burj kalifa , etc i came back in one piece to my india . I told you dont misunderstand me , i was decent throughout , including the observations and handholding in snow walking , so landed back in one piece .

Dubai holiday destination

Places are like people . Some places appeal to everyone and some places appeal to select few . To tell frankly being a hardcore nature lover and a history fan i was not very keen to see an "artificial " place like dubai . Of course having my relatives there my visit had a purpose but i never imagined it would combine a relative visit , friend visit and surprisingly a touristy visit bundled together .

Again i hate malls . I still do however big they are . But in dubai each mall has some key attraction attached to it . Be it the ski dubai in the mall of emirates the entire day can be spent at minus 2 degrees skiing, playing with snow , helping people who slip on ice :)  (more on that later ) etc . This place is phenomenal and for an absolute beginner they have a package with ski lessons ( we did that ) . The icing on the cake is taking the ski lift and going to a cafe inside sipping coffee while outside is freezing .. All of this is in the middle of a desert country which makes you awe not only in the engineering marvel but also the vision of the rulers of dubai .

Equally amazed that i chanced upon history in dubai . I was walking in a mall when suddenly an object which was born before history stared in my eyes  .It was a dinosaur full skeleton purchased by dubai from USA and kept as a free exhibit , They had put it a cute name as dubai dino . It was huge and it was kept inside the mall . So history buffs visit dubai as this dinosaur is much much older than alexander the great .

9mm handgun the same thing which police around the world use for peacekeeping purposes . Though USA has an open gun culture for an indian to try his hand at firing this gun is a rare opportunity . Dubai has three or more shooting clubs and a visitor can go and shoot these amazing guns with training lesson included . Its an amazing feeling handling a real gun and shooting 50 bullets with it . Place sharjah shooting club . things needed : passport or national card . and money (little on expensive side ) .

Dolphinarium also was a cute place with the jumping and intelligent dolphins putting up an excellent show and there were even trained seals in the show . For me , having seen both only in animal planet tv it was a delight to the eyes .

A must visit is the dubai museum which shows just in 40 years what a country can become if there is a vision . Lot of beautiful exhibits of arab life before a few decades and what is now . Actually thats history .. the development of a people from almost nothing to one of the most happening places in the world . In short history neednt go back centuries even if you are a history buff ..

Lastly the burj khalifa . I went in it and looked down at the phenomenon called dubai . its the tallest building in the world and it was again illuminating to learn about the vision of the rulers who wanted not the tallest but much taller than any existing or even future building .. Like usain bolt aiming for 5 seconds when all others aim for 9.9 seconds .. (forgive my sports rudimentary knowledge ) ..

This visit to dubai not only helped me to see this city which was different from munich , shanghai etc but gave me some perspectives of arabs especially emirati arabs (different from other GCC arabs in some ways ).. More on that later in next blog ..