Dubai, Dare to Dream!

 

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“The Future is for those who Dare to Dream & have Courage to pursue their Dreams” … His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

With this quote of Mr. Bin Rashid, Prime Minister of Dubai & Vice President of UAE, virtual tour of Dubai’s vision about future concludes & you come in to the real world around in Dubai, which also seems like a distant future for our country (sorry guys, no offence as nothing to do about the patriotism here, strictly realistic view)! If you think I am doing injustice with our country’s development then let me share a few experiences of my Dubai (recent one) trip & you only compare or decide about my views or reason behind the above starting statement.

Scene One: I was on an evening walk on the first day in Dubai & along the road some excavation work was going on, on both sides nearly from 500 m distance there were signs in place about road work in progress. Hardly some 30m (100 ft) long stretch of foot path also was dug but for that also they have made alternate route arrangement with a carpet (cheap one yet carpet) to make pedestrians walk comfortable, needless to say “sorry for inconvenience” board was in place!

Scene Two: Out of Airport, there was arrangement of pickup & drop & slots for taxis, private cars, busses were marked & entire area was being monitored with CC TV with just two personnel (police/security) on bike, the total number of vehicles moving in & out was above some five hundred in twenty minutes time yet not a single horn honking or traffic jam was observed!

Scene Three: I was visiting Gold Souk area with my sister, few years back the entire locality was worse than even our Ravivar Peth (Old city of Pune) about traffic as well buildings & encroachments but today I saw it totally transformed with the main Gold Souk Lane converted in walkways, old dilapidated buildings redeveloped & public parking lots for cars, as well private traffic wardens to maneuver the traffic, & all this in just four years! Indeed, this may not be the best area of Dubai like "Dubai Wheel" or Marina Bay yet they have made the old city now look facelifted & much more comfortable for the visitors as well locals!

Scene Four: Dubai Future Museum, a building that looks like an oblong Doughnut (huge one) set on edge & it tells us the story of what Dubai will be in future. Not just the building itself is an architectural marvel but the message it gives to the visitor is about the approach of the city towards the future, that matters most. Ask ourselves how many such buildings or monuments we have in our city as well as public places where people can actually visit & spend time?

Scene Five: A river has been made through the city connecting two creeks, its salt water canal actually but it’s been used for two major purposes, one is entertainment & recreation & other is, it’s being used for public water way transport. The entire project has been completed in five years.

Scene Six: At Dubai airport just eight months back self-check-in kiosks are installed & do mind Emirates terminal is one of the world’s busiest airports with thousands of passengers at check-in counters with their luggage load (thanks to Dubai Shopping Festival to add on the baggage). This used to take hours of queues at check-in counters but with self-check-in thing entire process from scanning of passport to baggage tagging is done by faceless monitor & you are through in fifteen minutes! Needless to say, there are attendants to assist you in the process & on top of it even the immigration check has been done via smart gates which helps you clearing all international flight check in formalities without sharing a word with anybody!

Scene Seven: At the airport we were inquiring for a tax refund (though some hundred dirhams but big for us) at the counter which a non-resident gets at the time of leaving Dubai for purchases done. And to our surprise, there was also a face-less kiosk assisted by a lady & we got cash back in fifteen minutes in the currency of our choice! Imagine getting money back from any govt dept in our country in any form & you will understand why getting a few hundred dirhams back was such a pleasant experience!

Well, I can go on & on with all such scene list & let me tell you this is not to show how advanced Dubai is & how backward (or under developed) our country is but this is to make us realize that if decided by the govt & by the entire society, then only the real growth or development is possible for any nation! Here is where exactly we have a lot to learn from Dubai as many will say they have money & they have Shaikh ruling system & we have democracy where decisions get stuck. I agree but then the Shaikh ruling system has its own disadvantages also on the other side as well as just money was the factor then in comparison to many poor towns Mumbai & Pune are blessed with budgets but how many projects you see have been reached to their end result even after spending money for them? To name a few, we spent nearly Rs 600 cr (maybe much more) on BRTS (Bust rapid or something transport system) & what is scene today of BRTS, has it helped to reduce traffic on the roads, answer is big No! The city is blessed with nearly 32 plus kilometers of river front right from the heart of it & we have been hearing about river beautification project for the last ten years, what is the scene along the riverfront, ask yourself guys & this is what we have to learn from Dubai! They undertake any project with detailed study & then dedicatedly complete that project to the end result level which is our weakest link when we execute our so-called infrastructure developments!

And then the most important aspect which I observed during this visit to Dubai was, its emphasis on creating public places & lots of them & all in & around the city, making the entire city like a big gathering place. Trust me, this creating public places factor is so important for city as look around in our Smart City (read as Pune) & tell me ten public places not just public gardens, where you can spend some quality relaxed time at any hour of the day with your family or guests coming to your home from some out station! Unfortunately, with all due respect to the efforts of our garden dept barring a few even gardens are not a place for the family due many factors apart from maintenance! And I am not referring to creating monuments or huge structures like Dubai Frame, it’s about spaces around these structures as well as walking plazas right in the heart of the city, which serves as public spaces where people come together, have some good moments & get fresh! In our city, all we can do in our free time is go into some mall & stand in the queue of food courts for a pizza, eat hurriedly & come back with frustration over parking problems!

Though there are many malls in Dubai, yet Dubai is no more about just shopping & deals, it’s about making the lives of the citizens as well as visitors happy, this happy factor, is what makes Dubai different from other places. At Dubai Future Museum, I came across a book by Dubai’s Shaikh & Prime Minister Mr.Bin Rashid, “Happiness & Positivity”, and after reading that book, I understood the philosophy or attitude of Dubai towards life. Rarely have I come across a leader (that to a ruler actually) who thinks about making his life as well his citizens happy & positive as if you succeed in doing that then whether you are developed or underdeveloped doesn’t matter, right? What is the use of the development if the end users or the beneficiaries of that development are not happy! The way I go to forests repeatedly, people often ask me what I get by going to forest so often, don’t I get bored & my answer is forest makes me understand life in a better way & with larger vision. I can’t go to Dubai so often the way I go to the forest but my friends do ask me why often to Dubai, when we know we won’t ever be able to create here, something which Dubai does . And when you have a leader like Mr.Bin Rashid, with a vision which is backed up with action then the people (read as residents) also respond which reflects in the attitude of most of the citizens of Dubai & that is seen at public places which are clean, neat & presentable always, a rare (read as impossible) sight in our city!  And that’s why I don’t visit Dubai to copy their buildings or structures or shopping, I go there to copy Dubai’s attitude towards life i.e., try to do fullest whatever you do & with focus; that much I can definitely get back with me from Dubai & I think that’s the best reason to visit Dubai repeatedly!

Below is a photographic trip of Dubai on my Flickr link, if you are not bored with words then please spare some more time clicking it…

Best way of making the world believe you is, by creating something which they think you won't ever be able to create...

I think Dubai lives by this attitude as each time I visit here the place never stops fascinating me & giving me inspiration to do best whatever I am doing. When you see the inside of Dubai then you realize it's attitude about life, as it's not about making tall, huge buildings or biggest malls or discounts on deals but it's about creating an experience. They may not satisfy everybody but they surely try that & to their best, this spirit of trying best is Dubai, is what I always feel..!!
Here are some images which show different faces of Dubai, will keep adding...
You can check on the link below..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72177720304742654

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Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

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

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/09/choosing-right-home.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2021/09/blog-post_21.html

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

https://secure.mygov.in/

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com / https://junglebelles.in/

Honey, I Shrunk the City! (Fursungi & Urali Kanchan Demerging)

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“It is always easy to create an ordinary city; what is difficult is to create an extraordinary one, peaceful and restful one, smart and tidy, artful and cultivated one, in short, a livable one!!... Mehmet Murat ildan

Contemporary Turkish playwright, novelist and thinker Mehmet Murat ildan was born in Elazığ on May 16, 1965, in the Eastern part of Turkey. This guy is awesome as when the topic is about city plus society then he is to the perfection than my Urban Planning goddess i.e., Jane Jacob & his above words about cities is evidence why I said say! Though it’s always difficult how we define a good city or bad city as right from weather to culture to cleanliness to safety to infrastructure to jobs, so many aspects are involved in defining a good or bad city. Yet by me, a good city is a place where you want to make your permanent home, where you may travel around the world but after some days you want to return to that place, it’s a place where you can have your me time in any corner of that city rather it’s a place where everyone has something for him or her! And trust me I too have been around the world & there are very few such cities , Pune is indeed one such though I myself have been born in Nagpur region yet let me tell you Pune has everything for being a good (read as ideal) city from culture to safety to infrastructure (lol!) but! This but always comes in the way in making Pune a perfect city in compare to other such places at world level (not at our country level) & that’s because of our Mai-Baap govt which mostly works for some people!

That way you will what’s wrong in govt working for people, isn’t our constitution itself says, govt of the people, by the people & for the people! Indeed, govt is for the people but when it comes to urban planning, it works only for few people & if you think I am exaggerating then you can check not just history of urban planning but present too & for this a recent salvo is demerging of two of Pune’s villages i.e., Fursungi & Urali Kanchan, from PMC (Pune Municipal Corporation) after nearly five years post their merging in PMC! Again, most will say, what’s big deal in demerging of two villages from a city big as Pune & it’s part of Urban Planning, why so fuss & any ways they have been included just five years back & locals were also opted for demerging of these villages etc! The problem is not about just merging or demerging, sure, that’s govt’s authority to decide but then any authority is like a sword, all it depends on why you use that sword for, to kill someone or to protect some life! If you are thinking I am going on Marvel’s philosophical lines then let me tell you I am not as when the govt uses its authority for wrong decisions then that’s not done & demerging of these two villages is a wrong move because a city growth has to be monolithic & cohesion, imagine if all your body grows but just one leg or one hand doesn’t increase in size like other body, will you call it a right growth? Same is here, the decision of merging the 36 (may be 32) villages which were on all around the old boundaries of PMC was taken to make the growth of city in right way & proportionate & suddenly demerging these two villages is a big blow to urban planning of entire city is what my point!

And then all die-hard Punekars, do I need to remind you the term “Dhankawadi” which now is part of PMC but when it was a village right on the fringe of old Pune boundary it’s because of the illegal constructions & poor infrastructure, anything which is shabbily done or backward is still called as ‘Like Dhankawadi” in Pune!  Sorry Dhankawadi residents but this is a fact & you guys also know it & do ask the Dhankawadi residents whether they have been benefitted after becoming part of PMC or not, there only lies the answer of this demerging decision’s wrongness or rightness! And the joke is it’s been declared that these two villages now will be made as Nagar Parishad, great thanks for not again making them Gram Panchayat! As if this enlightment, that PMC hasn’t done any infrastructure works here, took five years to realize then do take a look what was the scene before five years in these villages & let me know! All over the State Nagara Parishads are failing & that’s because of revenue as well limited scope of works as in urban planning or development, the larger is volume the cheaper or say easier is the development as the cost gets divided on that many numbers as well area. PMC has already published figures that in last five years nearly Rs 500 cr amount works has been carried in these two villages & that may not be sufficient as per the demand of the villagers but the collection in terms of taxes as well development charges was only some Rs 200 cr for this time span. So, the additional Rs 300 cr which these two villagers have enjoyed were paid by rest of Pune, are these two Nagar Parishads going toe return this money of Punekars? At the same time has any thought been given how there will be revenue generation & sustainability of these Nagar Parishads & what if after next five years again these villages decide to get merged in Pune, what will be our call then?

I think, all around the world urban planning aims at merging the settlements which helps in plan in much better way, social as well physical infra which includes network of roads, water lines, drainage lines & many such. If we create pockets with individual identity & budgets & policies then to connect these pockets will be like connecting two cities which isn’t easy job, planning wise as well on administration level. Imagine giving Pune’s reservation TDR in Aurangabad or such policies & then you will realize how hard it will be to have two separate bodies working adjoining. Already Pune has Cantonments right within the PMC limit & the clashes between the authorities keeps on going all the time & we are creating more power centres which is not good for city development & worst for real estate! Today when a real estate firm is working in Pune region it has to deal with five different policy makers PMC, PCMC, PMRDA, Collectorate (town Planning) & Cantonments & now we will as Fursungi & Urali Kanchan Nagar Parishads in it, needless to say with its own interpretation of the UDPCR! And joke is, each of these local bodies have different versions of urban planning, agreed there is UDCPR (Unified rules, lol) but implementation of UDCPR is done differently by every local body as per their convenance. The best example is road cutting charges & fire premiums & road hand over premiums & the list is ever growing!  Why can’t be there one single governing body when it comes to development plan & infrastructure developments as when the citizens don’t have to take any pass or has marked these boundaries on the ground, is the question we should ask! Agreed when two towns are differentiated by geographical boundaries such as distance or mountain range or a river then it’s easy to differentiate between such cities but when one plot is in one city & adjoing plot is in another city then why to keep these tow as different cities, is something even a five-year child won’t do but our govt seems to have lower IQ when it comes to urban planning!

Instead of this merging-demerging game, lets focus on development of entire Pune region, strengthen its infrastructure such as public transport (PMPML especially) & solve the water, drainage, public health (btw, it’s this side of the city which is worse hit by Dengue) & garbage issues at whole is the need of the time. Fortunately, we have education & production & service industries in private hands & they are growing, all we need is a right & fast approach (action plan) for urban planning which only the Govt can have & that’s why high time for the other people (other than the few people) to make the govt realize that’s it’s for all or majority of the people which the govt must work for! To conclude, long back I have watched a wonderful sci-fi movie (Disney, who else) “Honey, I shrunk  The Kids”.  The story was, by accident a scientist shrunk his own kids by size & then his & his wife’s desperate efforts to get the kids back to the normal size, which eventually they do. Mai-Baap Govt, do mind it was Disney movie which usually ends on a note “and they lived happily ever after” but Urban Planning is not a Disney movie, today by demerging two villages, you are actually shrinking the city & it’s not an accident, so please think before you shrunk your kids as you may never will be able to get them back in normal way & the guilt will be on your account only, mind it!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

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

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/09/choosing-right-home.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2021/09/blog-post_21.html

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

https://secure.mygov.in/

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com / https://junglebelles.in/

Earning Growing-Up!

 

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15^th  Dec 22

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“There always will be bad men around & may be a lot more in number but if you give up your goodness fearing their numbers then that makes you worse than those bad men” … The Gifted, Marvel Series.

Dear Chota & Dada (& all my younger Gurus’),

It's 15^th Dec of 22 & time for a balance sheet of my own for your checking, lol! No, it’s not a joke nor a prank, but a fact as because of you two I have learnt many a thing (read as all the names in bracket along) & one of those things is trying to keep myself on a right track as I know someday you will be following those tracks knowingly or unknowingly, for some time, till you make your own path! Though some things in this balance sheet will never change & that is about right & wrong, I haven’t said what is right & what is wrong but just the aspect of right & wrong, mind it. And then it feels nice as fortunately my B’day comes at the end of the yearend too, making it in a way a review of the entire year for all of us too which we call our family or team. That way I have never separated team (read as Sanjeevani or work force) from family as by me a man must always stand by his family & the term must not be restricted to just for the group of people where you have born, Family is much large a term, it’s a feeling of bonding & togetherness with not just humans you are with but with every living object (and even mechanical objects too) which is around you as somewhere somehow you are connected with all of them. And do mind unless you don’t feel that bond & togetherness you will never be able to be responsible for your family & for me growing up is becoming (or say understanding) responsible to my family!

Dada, Chota, life is really funny thing as  when we are kids we expect other (read as elders) to celebrate our birthdays & when we become teen age we want our friends to do it for us & in our young days (where you are now) till you become grownups (considered as no more young or kids) then you want to make as much of your birthday partying whole night & when you turn forty plus, you realize this is actually reduction from your life. And then you look in the mirror & you realize your hair are thinning, your skin no longer glows & the face which stares at you from mirror looks tired, the eyes are sunk & then you get afraid of your upcoming birthday yet you put on a brave smile on face & welcomes the birthday wishes showered on you, I call this as “Law of Birthdays”! Let me tell you, I too am not exception to this law as now I too get afraid to look at mirror a times but now when I look at the ageing face in the mirror keeping apart all above said frightening things I see the eyes which has confidence of knowledge, those eyes now have bank balance of experience (of survival too). And that aged tiered face tells me, its ok to be afraid of reduction in age as other side of that deal is, addition of so many good things in my life & that is earning of my age!

I look in the mirror & see a boy standing behind that face, who has come from a small place named Khamgaon, which had I not been from that place you two would never even know such a place exists! And today I have seen things, travelled around as well as been honored (that's the only term I can use) by the people for little good things I could do such as writing or wildlife front, all this, that boy has never even in his dreams has imagined it! All of this was possible because the boy kept growing by age & experience too & that’s my earning actually, as if I had not spent those years from my age, how I would have experienced so many good things which happened to me, right? And then, I have seen (and have felt by myself too, at times) that most of the people around are unhappy or not at peace only because they either never have earned or not understood their growing-up, may it be by age or by knowledge or by money or power. All we keep doing is complaining about the losses we have made when we grow (read as age also) but no balance sheet has only a loss column, there has to be income or earning column too & then it’s up to us which column of the balance sheet we keep looking at, is what I have understood by now.

Indeed all these words you may find boring or repeat telecast (though you may not say so on my face) & I am not the only person who is or will be telling you this gyan.com but for me you are the only persons (including bhikya, ketki, rohit, shruti, siya, tanisha & other junior gang) whom I keep telling all this stuff because, because one is I have learnt not to give advice or share gyan.com with people who haven’t asked for it & I never stops sharing it with the people which are my family as that’s my duty towards you as well that’s way of returning what I have earned! Dada, Chota, most people never understand what they have earned & that is the reason most people never actually grow, even when you celebrate your birthday, for them it’s just an addition in the number of years in their age, that’s all! But unless you learn to share what you have earned, you will never actually grow. See, if you don’t give space for good things in your life then how can more good things come in your life, right? So, the best way is to share good things you have & create space for more good things in life. And the joke is, this very principle is applicable to the bad things too, that’s why never share bad things with others as that will create space for bad things in your life & more bad things will come in your life, this understanding about life is what my earning of my growing up!

I know you may not even read till this much or have just read as we watch Reels / Insta stories which gets auto-deleted from the account & I don’t blame you both as that’s a phase from which each of us has to go, the problem is most people remain in that phase only. Someday when you will read or re-read or remember my sharing way ahead then you will smile & will try writing or sharing it with your family, I am sure of it. So, to summarize my “earning growing-up”, the usual ten pointers for this year’s Life Balance sheet…

1.Dont be afraid, to be afraid of something but face your fears as that’s the best way to get rid of your fears.

2.Have faith in someone or something, it may break but that’s not your fault, it's the fault of that person.

3.Never try to judge someone for what he or she is, as you are not a judge of anybody’s life but yours.

4.Always respect wisdom as that's the best way to gain it.

5.Go for good habits as they are hard to adopt & easy to lose.

6.Never run behind other person’s success as you don’t know what he has gone through to have it, instead, create your own scale of success.

7.Try to lead on your own as in this world nobody will hand you a sword for free.

8.Read, Watch, Travel as much as you can as these are the means to understand earnings while you grow & do all this with an open mind.

9.Agreed, luck plays a vital role in growing but there is only one thing which can defeat your bad-luck & that is, your determination to defeat it!

10. Last & universal, for all balance sheets of life, choose your right & wrong wisely & stay firm once you have chosen it!

And yes, thanks a ton for accommodating me the way I am as that has made my growing-up wonderful as well as gives me strength to accommodate life the way it is, with happiness, always!

Love,

Baba for you both (& Aai, from wherever she is) as well mama, kaka, dada, for others young ones!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

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

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/09/choosing-right-home.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2021/09/blog-post_21.html

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

https://secure.mygov.in/

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com / https://junglebelles.in/