Strange Ramblings

One of the feeble reasons why I came to Qatar is that I didn't want my Passport to expire again without getting some kind of stamp on it. I could have just flown off for a vacation to Bermuda instead, but then I’d have to have paid for it ;) With 2 more days to go in the desert, it feels about time I capped my stay here with one last writ (albeit more of a photo journal) from these lovely foreign shores.     26th July 2009   The day I embarked upon my professional journey. The day I set foot upon unchartered territory. Feelings and emotions overwhelming my psyche. Feelings like anxiety, excitement, fear, awe and the feeling that everything around you is getting bigger.    

OFFICE PARTIES ARE SO OVER-RATED. Oh wait, they are not. The one which I went to yesterday, couldn't have been lamer. Everything that I have seen about them in movies or read in books is true. A rocking party is like a 4 wheeler, you get stuck even if one of the wheels is missing. Hot Babes should be invited. Booze. Good Food. Great Music. Shockingly, organizers managed to goof up on all the 4 fronts. You don't find too many chicks on a construction site, so they should have fuckin' invited people from the head office. Or atleast provided us with booze so as to make us not fret too much about how thy party sucked. "You don't eat meat? How the hell do you get the proteins into your system?"  WTF(*^#@)(*$^$)@_!@%! Come On you asshole, lot of people are vegans and they fuckin' will go on to live longer that you. And btw, even the salads were confusing. And please someone shoot that guy who selected the music. Seems like Arabic Music has only one scale on ...

Some things are inseparable. Like EXTRAVAGANT SPENDING and the ARAB WORLD . So I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was when I walked into the mock-up flats done for my current project. Quite evidently, the good part of 21 years that I have lived in India has left a lasting impression, and rightly so. Lavish, Flamboyant and Flashy interiors with vibrant colors just caught me off guard. The only thing wrong about the whole affair was the intention of the client to lure prospective buyers with such lavish spendings, where a spoon cost 2k INR and a carpet cost 20-25k, when the very well know, no normal residence will be decorated even remotely close to what was on display. All said, you have to show off the POTENTIAL of the space, So...:) Catch the pics here Until next time. Ciao. P.S. Oh almost forgot. MIDMAC is throwing in a dinner party tonight at Inter Continental Hotel, Doha for all the hard work. Expecting big things. Posted via email from Strange Ramblings !!

... you pay more for drinking water than what you pay for fuel. ... you sweat buckets within 5 mins of standing under the sky in aug - sept. ... you get high quality Sheesha. ... you fail to see a single cloud for like 10 months a year. ... you see or not see the burqa-clad women wherever you turn your head. ... you find most of the retail, banking and other public services snoozing off midday around the year. ... you wake up at 3:30 am to get to the office for a few months. ... you cough up 130 Rs. for like 5 pcs of GolGappe. . .. you get a whiff off a butchery shop in the most poshest of malls let alone street shops. ... you pay over 800 Rs. to watch Avatar in IMAX 3D, the theatre o'course still being not upto Indian standards. ... you have the biggest football game in Qatar history in 2-3 weeks and still the authorities are clueless about everything starting from tickets. ... you are stopped from entering malls and restaurants on a friday stating re...

Ego and Arrogance. These two traits are possibly the most annoying ones, that one can find in a person. And yet, they are probably paramount in one's character. The trick here is to achieve that 'right balance'. You might be inclined to ask me what that right balance is. But unfortunately, that eludes me too. Perhaps someone experienced in Human Psyche might be able to enlighten us, though I am not sure. However, all said, I am sure of one thing: If you go through life with your eyes open, you are bound to see SIGNS that will urge you to strive for that balance .  Signs that I have seen often and neglected a tad more than I should have. But, as I say, Sun seems brighter when you start staring at it. (O'course, your eyes have to have that potential). Anyways, My ongoing stint in Qatar bought a couple more eye-openers of that eternal fight between 'david' and 'goliath', between 'too much' and 'too little'. Considering that we live in ...

Hi all, Things are in hyper mode as I sit and write this. It has been one of those things that I always wanted to do. Now, finally, of all the places that I imagined where I would end up watching my first live football match, it is Qatar. Qatar might not be such a great place to live as yet, it will still take atleast 10 yrs to get into the league of Dubai, but it surely is right up there when we talk about sports. The country's passion for sports in undeniable. They have already hosted Asian Games in 2006 successfully, with 2011 Asian Indoor Games and 2011 AFC Asian Cup Finals on the radar. They have both men's and women's ATP World tours stopping here, with most of the top seeds making appearances. And dare I forget, Qatar's bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Finals and its humongous chances of winning the same, with South Korea being the only other bidding nation. All that aside, the current focus shifts to the all important (well, important for me ;)) friendly between ...