Vision of Life; by Sanjay: Dubai, Oasis of Efforts & Hope!

“We may not live for hundreds of years, but the products of our creativity can leave a legacy long after we are gone.”… Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Flashes of Thought.

With this quote from Mr. Maktoum on screen, “Dubai of Future” Audio Visual ride in the exit chamber of Dubai Frame ends & in this one sentence is the secret of Dubai’s success. Well, is it a success, is what many will ask with raised eyebrows yet in my seventh visit in last six years to this city, I will still vouch for Maktoum’s vision which in a way is Dubai’s vision too! Time & again I have wrote about Dubai & just the way every time when I come back from some forest there is something new to share which I have learnt or say felt after visiting the forests & same is the feeling this city gives me! I think in these words lies my reply to every raised eyebrow & then if you don’t share what you have learn then it’s a waste & more than that whatever you have seen, learn or felt you must get in to practice also & of course I am referring about good things only which Dubai has lot to offer AT every visit!

This visit which also isn’t different though the focus was Abudhbai about which I will be sharing my experiences separately (well, don’t want to dilute my Dubai love actually), as usual the Rolex watches on walls of the long passages to immigration greeted me once I was out of the plane, reminding me by time Dubai may be one & half hour behind us but on development time frame its decades ahead of us! Out of airport on roads which are as spotless as floors in our flats & hoarding free barring few which were showcasing Mr. Maktoum’s facing told me Dubai’s Independence Day is close by & its 48^th Birthday of Dubai which actually is UAE i.e. United Aram Emirate’s independence Day but so synonymous name Dubai has been to us that whenever we think UAE or say middle east all we think as Dubai (well, more bout it in Abudhabi’s sharing) & that’s success of Dubai is what I think. Just like Bislery brand in mineral water, as we ask to some shopkeeper, “Bhayya ek bisleri dena” & he also promptly gives mineral water bottle whichever available with him which we don’t mind! That way artifacts uncovered in the UAE show a history of human habitation and transmigration spanning back 125,000 years & till some few decades back scene wasn’t change a bit from the days of these artifact’s but then the hoardings thanking Mr. Maktoum for today’s Dubai were not fake (the way we are used to see our leader’s hoardings by their chamchas’ sorry karykartas’) or just to please him but tribute to his as well his team’s efforts to make Dubai a brand by itself for the world. And then there were Dubai 20-20 posters on the airport which are like posters of some Sci-Fi movie & my curiosity kept increasing like arrow of speed on the taxi’s speedometer about what I am going to see this time!

And then next three days (too small time) went like an hour, to start with Sheikh Zayed road which is main artery of Dubai has again some new giants (well, sky-scraper word is too small) i.e. towers rising high in sky & in the forms which made the engineer in me at shame for the structures I call buildings here! A lot has been spoken about this Dubai 20-20 & we are yet in 19’s but Dubai is all guns firing for the World’s Business Summit which they will be using to show case the city as best investment place. A major shift I had observed on Dubai airport in my last visit was on floors of the lobbies leading to exit from the terminal there was written “Welcome to the Happy City” & now everywhere I got to read a message saying “Welcome to the International Hub for Innovation & Design”! This is the smartness of Mr. Maktoum (and his team) I like & respect most as first you made this place in a shopping hub & made people around the world addicted for shopping by Dubai Mall, Mall of Emirates, Marina Mall & may such. Then you made people to come here & be resident by telling them this is Happy Place & build things like IMG Studio, Bollywood Studio, Burj Khalipha, Jumera Beach Island, Atlantis & many more for happiness of the residents. And now you know by just making people to shop or trying to make them happy, it’s not enough a city needs reason to migrate here & people will be happy & shop only if they have jobs (read as good earning) & that is possible only by Innovation & Design, key words of today’s future! Today’s future, one may wonder what I meant with it, well I learnt this term (rather thought of it) in this trip to Dubai. Our all mythologies’ & philosophies’ too (even my most loved Master Shifu from Kung fu Panda) keeps us telling live in today i.e. in present & not to worry about future. But here in Dubai, I realized you can live in today by working for future by what & how you work today, is what will decide your today’s future!

So the stage is being set for making all the big business houses in the world witness what Dubai can offer apart from shopping & fun, I would have been surprised if the progress of the projects which I have witnesses a bit slow in last few visits. The buildings along Sheikh Zyaed road are now ready for occupancy as well massive new developments are on just they were some five years back. One of the significant rather two of them are Creek Side development & Blue Waters! Every civil engineer must visit Blue Waters for sheer volume of development & the way it’s being handled. Its consists of Dubai Eye i.e. a Giant Wheel showing view of Dubai’s sky line & it will be tallest of its kind in world (needless to say that)! Its bit prolonged by Duabi’s standards yet the wheel will be inaugurated probably on start of Dubai Expo. There has been a lagoon created along with beach side promenade where people can have sea side restaurants & more to that book a private yacht & have party all night here. Can you imagine this is a Middle East place which we were looking down naming them most orthodox society & resilient to changes! One most significant thing is Mr. Maktoum understands just buildings, parks, malls, business centers won’t work as they will need infrastructure, physical & social both; that too is in full swing. Dubai’s main thrust now is on not the flyovers or transportation things but on public health & education. Dubai Sports city is operational already along Abudhabi road where every sport’s training will be given to youths & kids as that’s important aspect of education in Europe as well USA & even China; so if you want these people to come & settle here for their earnings you ought to provide them living standards for their family as per their needs! This is something our so called Smart City needs to understand & adopt as when we call people here to reside then are we thinking of what they need for living apart from salary & this is why Dubai is way ahead of us as it thinks about humans needs not just greed!

And one of significant aspect on this front is Dubai has become world’s food hub providing authentic food from every corner from the globe. When I say authentic it is authentic & not like the junk served under the name of Chinese of Punjabi which we get here every corner! As in Dubai if you have opened a Malbari joint then you will be surely getting some Kerali family to visit it & they will immediately find your authenticity, so you can’t afford to be fake when its taste buds! This one industry is sure booming as in the shopping malls I saw the food-malls full while the shops were waiting for tourists & credit goes to authenticity as well variety of the cuisines, Dubai offers to the foodies here!

Well there are few areas of concerns as even Gods are not spared from lacunas & one of it is climate change. Though it’s November yet just the way here we are yet to get rid from the rains Dubai too was waiting for winter & it was pretty hot & summer is bad for business here. Post 9am in morning the sun bakes up everything under him making any outdoor activity a No No for tourists & it does affect every front of Dubai from taxies to theme parks to shopping & eating outlets also! And if you want to know the scene on business front best way is to talk with taxiwalas or tour operators & small food joint owners in Dubai. Things are slow & post Diwali which is best tourism season keeping in mind Indian tourists, the foot fall is way below what it used to be & that has affected business. Deals are being floated at unbelievable rates for hotels & even in shopping malls. Somewhere the Vat of 5% has made dent of the trade & though tourists does get VAT refund (and real fast at Airport) yet I think the big trading houses are not happy, moving out there operations to other destinations. What Dubai needs now is production (well our country too needs it) as that is what will create more jobs & attracts people here. At the same time Mr. Maktoum must keep an eye on the services his creations are providing to the visitors as family friends of mine has very bad experience at Burj Khalipha where the mess created with the crowd made them come back without visiting “On the Top”, which is one of the most photographed monument in recent past. As it’s comparatively easy to become number one but most difficult to retain that place!

Will share an incidence before closing which tells the story of Dubai; I posted my snaps of Dubai’s development on my college group & my one friend commented why we can’t have even one such street here in our country’s any city or town while there entire city can be so clean? I replied it’s not the garbage but the person who creates the garbage is the real problem! At one of the Juice Bar I was buying a milk shake to take away & the serving girl filed my container & asked me to keep it on counter for a while. When I asked why so, when she has already filled my container, she smiled & said let the shake settle a bit so some more space will be there to fill it to the top as I have paid for the full glass & she won’t like it to give me even if it’s just little portion remaining! And she then filled the container till the hilt with remaining shake in the juicer & closed it with lid & gave to me! Need I say anything more guys, this is Dubai which tries to give its best to you always!

At the exit of Dubai Frame (from where I started my this sharing) you enter in to a lounge, here Mr. Maktoum takes you on a 4-Dimensional audio visual ride of what Dubai will be in next fifty years. Here a patient will be scanned just by making him sit in his home-chair & then robots will operate the patient, cars will fly & farming will be don’t on hundred storied building , schools will be virtual yet there will be real physical fitness training for kids by their skills & while you are wondering is this a dream, they show you the way Dubai was forty years back & what it is today. Even after seeing this entire show if you still don't believe Mr. Maktoum yet one thing is sure you don’t doubt him or his intentions for Dubai anymore! As for speaking about me; thanks Mr. Maktoum for making me believe in efforts of a man against adversities, as that’s the best thing you sold to me in my this Dubai trip & without charging me any VAT for it!

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at YouTube link below..

https://youtu.be/al0NZ-7Zhq0

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2018/08/pune-city-no-1.html