Visit to the Global Village in Dubai (2004)

Dubai's traffic waxes and wanes to some hidden, unknown, celestial body, it appears. Just when I thought there would be massive traffic today, I found the streets strangely deserted. Where does everyone go during this period? It's one of life's mysteries that needs to be resolved. But not today.

The lack of traffic encouraged a foray to the Global Village.

Traffic was light right up to half a kilometer up to its gate. Miraculously, I was able to find a parking slot practically walking distance from the gate. Last year, as I mentioned in an earlier posting, a Brit lady was bitterly complaining to a friend that Arabs just couldn't do anything right. They must have heard her because this year the transportation facility employed was a model of efficiency. Within minutes of our coming out to a car park a bus picked us up and deposited us at the gate a mere 60 seconds later.

Bajaj (India's 4th largest motorcycle / scooter manufacturer) takes it reputation seriously "You just can't beat a Bajaj" is their slogan). Here were many auto rickshaws, painted a bright green, ferrying passengers briskly to and fro the parking lot for a fee.

Autorickshaws are tremendously overloaded in India. And, during Mrs. Indira Gandhi's 'Emergency' in India, when draconian laws were in force and parliament was suspended, there was a law that stated that every public transportation vehicle must have a government slogan painted on its rear. A foreigner to India, seeing the slogan "The Nation Is On The Move" on the rear of a heavily overloaded autorickshaw, nodded understandingly. It made sense.

There were also a lot of cycle rickshaws apparently sponsored by Western Union plying visitors to and from the parking lots. It's strange to see this non-gas guzzling, human-powered, eco-friendly vehicle plying the roads of a country that has one fourth of all the world's oil!

The crowds at the global Village are clones of the crowds that we saw last year. The year is different but the flavor remains exactly the same. Has some software engineer created that girl in red and the various people in the crowd (a la the Matrix?) We'll never know, will we?

People of all nationalities, colours, religious beliefs rub shoulders here. There are a variety of costumes. From people dressed as Roman soldiers (complete with sword) to women dressed in saris to tribal Africans with spears to girls in tight fitting jeans.....one sees them all at the Global Village.

Apparently cultural shows are again at the forefront this year while eating stalls comes a close second.

We make our way to the Indian stall. After all, that's the mother country and she beckons. It also appears to be one of the largest and most beautiful this year. (Morocco and Egypt also have terrific stalls!).

Inside the Indian stall it is amusing to see a sign saying "Your horoscope" but there is a well dressed guy, sitting on the floor, with a computer in front of him. In the olden days it used to be a half naked sage who consulted rare manuscripts to tell the future.

With India now at the forefront of the IT revolution, the change is being felt all around - the position of the stars are now speedily charted by electrons.

I look out for the henna stall. Ah! There it is. But the mehendi- wali is a different one this year. I pass by, silently.

The range of handicrafts that India has to offer is immense. Like someone once said.....India is not a country, it's a continent. And the diversity of goods on offer justifies this statement.

The next stall on the agenda is the Thailand stall. Everyone in Dubai is is telling everyone else in Dubai to visit the stall and eat "Pekky" mangoes, so we look out for them. It's quite easy to get to the stall. One follows a trail of people with paper trays piled with mango. The one's nearest you have small heaps. The heap increases as you approach the source. When you see a person with a heaped plate, you know that you are almost there.

A plate of mangoes, sliced and with spices added, costs Dh.10. Very expensive, I tell myself. After the first bite I realize that the stall is surviving on hype and word-of-mouth. Indian mangoes are any day better. Better still are Pakistani mangoes! But no one would pay Dh. 10 to eat an Indian or Pakistani mango. The Thais have apparently positioned their mangoes perfectly. Like their silk. In both these areas - mangoes and silk - the Thais have stolen the edge through better marketing. Just like the Chiquita bananas of the Philippines. Ask any Indian and he will tell you that there is no match for the delicious Indian spotted banana but alas, we see it only in India!

Oooops! I digress. Let's get back on track.

This year there are many more pavilions compared to last year. The increase seems to have come from Malaysia, Singapore, and European countries such as Cyprus, Italy, Germany, Russia, Ukraine etc.

Since this was what the Indian Army would call a "recce" (short for reconnaissance) we make mental notes on what to visit and what to skip the next time we come to the Global Village. By `we' I am not referring to the Royal `we'. I mean "me and my wife".

The trip back to the bus stop seems to take longer than when we entered. That's because we are tired and wish to get away ASAP.

The bus, in typical Dubai efficiency, arrives 30 seconds later. A minute later we are in our car. Two minutes later we are on the road. Thirty seven minutes later we are back in Sharjah. But we spend 15 minutes finding a parking slot.

That's Sharjah for you!

Cheers,

Prakash

The Ubiquitous Internet

It was in 1998 or 1999 that I read this startling bit about the internet. The article stated that very soon, within a few years, all of human knowledge would be on the internet.

I remember being impressed but slightly skeptical at that time. I also remember, very vividly, discussing this with a friend (and with his friend, who was also present).

It was because of the reaction of my friend’s friend (I forget his name; let’s call him F2 just for the heck of it) that I even remember where the discussion took place. It is as vivid in my memory today, six years later, as it was soon after the meeting.

My friend, (let’s call him F1) and I, were to have a buffet lunch at Foodland in Dubai. The restaurant is known for its Indian buffet and is situated near the Galadari roundabout. I promised F1 that I would meet him there.

We had a terrific meal together and when we came out, F1 chanced to see an old pal of his, F2, standing outside the restaurant. Apparently he was, in turn, waiting for pals of his own.

After the pleasantries were exchanged he told me that was working for a Jebel Ali company. He was in quite a good job it appeared. He asked me what I did for a living and I told him that I was in the Internet business – designing and hosting web sites.

I soon learned that he was not only computer illiterate, he was one of those guys who hide their fear of the PC by saying “Bosh! I don’t think computers have changed things much! I prefer doing things the old fashioned way!”

I remember trying very hard to show him the error of his thinking and to try and make a new convert out of him.

As the discussion progressed, he became more and more defensive. There was no point in progressing the discussion further so I let it go.

I was, as mentioned earlier, slightly skeptical as to whether mankind’s memoirs and blueprints would ever be found on the Net but thought no more about it. I had had a terrific meal and a good nap was called for. No point pondering the intricacies of the Internet on a stomach close to bursting!

The Net progressed subtly. Windows98 gave way to XP; bandwidth starting shooting skywards; software became larger and larger (and more easily downloadable); MP3 revolutionized music; Real Audio brought tremendous pleasure to people’s lives; on and on went the achievements.

One day, I was diagnosed as diabetic. It was, strangely enough, the 1^st day of January, 2004. And no, I had not had a binge the previous night! My wife and I had retired at a modest 1.30 am after having waited patiently for the New Year to hit India and after having wished friends (and foes) in India a Happy New Year with a gusto reserved only for this particular occasion.

Anyway……..as I mentioned earlier, the New Year brought it with the sweet tidings of sugar in the blood. It was a borderline case, the Pakistani doctor assured me; nothing that couldn’t be reversed, provided I walked an hour a day come heat waves or dust storms.

I mentally wrote off his well meaning suggestions. I couldn’t see myself walking in the 40 plus degrees Centigrade heat that envelopes Dubai almost all year around. It’s like walking in a furnace. Only crazy people or those with very severe diabetes, or even the hardy Pathans would be fool hardy to do so. But certainly not me. No sir!

The doctor had prescribed his pills. All that was left for me to do was to buy them and consume them. This, I did.

One of the tablets was artificial insulin to supplement the reduced insulin that my pancreas was providing. The other was a drug to stimulate the pancreas to produce more insulin.

Soon after starting to take these tablets I began getting a sharp pain in abdominal area. I self-diagnosed it as originating in my liver.

I am a person who has been used to taking anywhere between one and three drinks an evening. Alcoholic beverages, if you must know. I have been doing it for years and whilst I am not addicted to it, it is a pleasant way to spend the evening. It is the legacy of having worked in the Indian automotive industry.

Maybe the tablets were clashing with the booze, I thought to myself. Why not check it out? What better source than to check than the Net?

I entered the generic name of the first dug. Gliclazide. Nothing untoward was reported.

I then entered the name of the second drug – metformin hydrochloride.

The pharmacology for this drug contra indicated alcohol. The consequences of blending the two could be severe!

There it was!

I stopped taking the metformin and continued the drinking and things have been fine.

Luckily for me I relocated in mid 2004 to India. The weather in Bangalore (where I live) is nothing short of scintillating. I take long walks. The sugar in the blood has reduced to normal levels though I still continue with the insulin – one small tablet a day of just 25 mg.

I have now gotten into the habit of checking all medicines prescribed on the Internet. It gives me a lot of insights into their side effects. Things the family doctor would never tell you.

Fast forward to yesterday, the 30^th of January 2005.

I developed a tooth ache. It was the mother of all tooth aches and even my good old friend Brufen 400 (Ibuprofen) was ineffective. In great pain I hobbled over to the friendly pharmacist for his expert opinion on the subject. After asking probing questions on the state of my pain, gums, etc he prescribed three tablets. The first, an antibiotic called Cipmox 500. (It passed the Internet test with flying colors. He was bang on in his prescription of this). The second was a new generation pain killer (Emanzen). This too passed. The third was just a single tablet. It is called Roffix. It is supposed to be a wonder drug. “Take it only if the pain refuses to go away after taking Emanzen” he cautioned. But what he did not tell me is that this drug is banned almost everywhere in the world; it has been recently banned in India too (how come he was selling it?) because it had a tendency to create heart attacks and strokes in its users after “prolonged” use.

Man! Was I stunned!

That’s when it hit me.

The Internet had finally, ubiquitously, become the last word on anything.

Is all of human knowledge currently on the Internet? Maybe not. But it’s close. Very close.

Article copyright © Prakash Subbarao. (prksh1@yahoo.com).