Monday, August 18

Doob Gai

I finally went to Dubai. Hmmmmm. Obviously the little cultured me had absolutely no interest in going to this industrial nightmare in the middle of an Arabian desert, but my dad planned it so I gave in. Of course I had a great time with family but the place is quite weird. Apart from the fact that I didn't think that the celsius grade scale went above 40, well apparently it does. Because the temperature oscillated between 52 to 56 the whole time I was there. Of course the great thing about being in an oil producing country is that such things will never bother you. The only people you are likely to see on the roads are immigrants anyway, the Filipinos, Indians and Pakistanis. And does anyone know that you get a gallon of petrol for 60 bucks there. Yes, eat that. The obscene number of Landcruisers made more sense to me after knowing this. But its funny how such places never make an impact on you in any possible way. I've never been the staying in the hotel and shopping all day kind of tourist, but that's exactly what I did for 5 days. And shamelessly at that. Yeah, they have some indigenous things like the shisha and deserts. Wow. I'm real sad about not experiencing that.
You meet all these kids from UAE who come to do university in India and the common thread amongst them is the need for filtered water. Of course bastards, you guys don't have ANY water being produced from your country's resources, hence the confusion about bad and good water. And paying for water is so nouveau riche. Only you are not aware of it. But this post is not about mineral water. It's really about nothing in particular but I just feel I should feel up some space.

The women are quite pretty though. That is what I could make out from whatever I could see of them. Ha ha. I don't like going to such places because they seem to expose the hypocrite in me. Like how I held back my smirks whenever I caught a whiff of an Hermes scarp underneath the burqa, or saw the Balenciaga shoes clinking noisily, golden shiny ones at that. But then I told myself that my entire problem with the hijab is that it constricts women and relegates them to a clinical place, then why should I balk at these women prettying themselves so excessively beneath all those black layers. They have high - end designer stores that only make hijab. And you can really look at one of these and know who's more loaded. What's the point of this hypocrisy. Either you decide to live life hiding your power to attract men in any way possible and wear the hijab everywhere, or you just don't wear it altogether. My dad was impressed that most of these women have Anglican accents and have come for vacation after studying in Eton or something. That is even more depressing actually. Because it proves that even high end education and world experience cannot take these people away from this Islamic disease. Of course the only good thing is that their men really do not look at any women. Ever. Funnily, I felt relieved at reaching Bombay airport when some guys offered me a lift in classic romeo fashion, because I really thought I had become ugly almost overnight in Dubai since no one was looking at me!
I know its a different culture and I would probably never understand it. And that's what I'm thankful about. You have to know freedom to realize all that you're missing out. And no amount of Dior and LV bags can fucking top my life. Maybe it's like a balancing act by God. Since they can't wear it, they can afford it. And since I can wear it, I can't afford it. Hmmmm. Must be so much fun to spend 2 lakhs on a Lanvin dress and experience the secret thrill of wearing it under a hijab.
It seems like I hate these women. But I really don't. I wish great things for them. Even if Arab women prefer this life, then I pray for some revolution that'll open their minds that life is much more than just being pretty and using no contraception.

******

I have the most embarrassing secret. It takes 3 hours by cab to reach Pune from Bombay. And I spent the better part of that ride listening to that Aditi song from the Jaane Tu on repeat. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME. It's only because I can imagine Imran Khan singing that song in front of me. God. A celebrity crush. Me. Don't tell anyone. But he's so cute. If someone knows someone who looks like him and ahem, if he also resembles his character in the movie. Please let me know. Hee hee.

9 comments:

Bombay Girl said...

Fellow Joan Baez lover? Never been to Dubai but if I saw all those brands teasing me like that, I'd pretty much be hating them too.

~Bombay Girl

Spider42 said...

meh, i found dubai to be passable a best.. mostly a consumer and crassness oriented place (i.m.h.o) and I found no heart as such yknow?
but it can be fun to visit, never would live there though, not as it is..

oh, and I promise I wont talk about the crush to anyone... else... :)

good to have you back.
Cheers..

LostLittleGirl said...

So you understand :)

dude: yeah, pretty average place. No soul as you put it..if I wanted to see buildings, I can hang out in Dlf for a day na..
hee hee. Keep my lover boy thing a secret

woenvu said...

is dubai like david lynch's dune?

a world of sand.

..
..
..

that's it?

SwB said...

its that way everywhere in the middle east babe. you become a damn vegetable of sorts. Ask me, I grew up there. Which is why I'll never go back ... not if I can help it.

Spider42 said...

First things first: @bobo
please, dont compare the sad little desert city of dubai to the wonders of Dune. Im a big fan of the books and dont much like the comparison.

ok, sorry to hijack..

lostlittlegirl:
yeah, theres always dlf and it seems to get bigger, more convoluted and congested by the day!
And no worries, as I said before, I will tell no one! (as if I could really!) ;)
keep posting...
cheers..

Anonymous said...

dude -

aha, but i compared it to the movie, not the books. :)

- bobo.

Spider42 said...

well... even then, not even close.. until you fully leave the city behind and head out into open highway.. maybe then..

Utopia said...

oh i so agree with you when you say hope there is a revolution and their eyes open but guess it never will and they are just plain happy leading dual lives. sigh!
i wouldn't ever wanna be in their shoes in a million years.