Posted on December 19, 2016 under Monday Morning Musings with one comment

The Corniche – Abu Dhabi UAE

Let me get this out of the way quickly. I do not DESERVE a one week vacation in Abu Dhabi. While I appreciate the sentiments of many of you ( and the cheap shots for me posting that picture of the 7^th. floor pool and hot tub! ), I certainly haven’t done anything in India to merit this brief hiatus. The people who really deserve a break and never get one, are the poor… in India and everywhere else on this planet. Many of us are just plain lucky that an “ accident of birth” gave us the lifestyle we enjoy including plentiful water, clean air, good food and security.

I’m like many of you. I cringe ( too polite a word?! ) sometimes when I see pictures that people send back home from vacations and exotic destinations… especially in winter.  Very often the inclination is to tell them to go and pound sand. The images that I have been sending the last few days from Abu Dhabi are not to evoke envy. They are simply to show the stark and shocking contrast between a fabulously rich country and one that is still an emerging economy.  

When I planned this little mini vacation, I went to one of those discount brokers and booked three legs of the trip at once. The first leg, from Hyderabad to Abu Dhabi was with Etihad Airlines. Of course, having never travelled in this part of the world, I had never seen the name before. Well, ignorance is bliss, as they say. My first thought was that this was a small regional carrier and that as long as I arrived safely, then I would tolerate any hiccups. Excuse me. This is THE airlines of the United Arab Emirates.

The four hour flight was hands down, the best flying experience… ever. This could very well have been this airplane’s  ( Airbus 320  ) inaugural flight. The interior was spotless and the flight attendants were simply glamorous. An hour into the flight, the passengers were presented with a menu card for a hot meal. I kept looking for the price. Everything on the flight was free. Headsets ( high quality ), food and beverages were all included in the price. My guess is that the plane was only a third full and I had no one beside me, in front of me, behind me or across the aisle. It was like having my own plane. The movie selection was amazing. If you ever have a chance to fly Etihad, I highly recommend it.

Many of you know Matt MacDonald ( We Move This Town ). He has been living in Abu Dhabi for a few years and invited me to come and hang out with him for a week. He and his friend live in this amazing apartment complex. The owner of this building ( and many others ) , keeps part of his “fleet “ of vehicles outside the front door… two Rolls Royce and a Bentley. I don’t think our Yaris would fit in very well over here! Lo and behold, one of Matt’s neighbors is a Nova Scotian who just happened to be leaving for home when I arrived. She graciously gave me the use of her 39^th. floor apartment. After the constant din of India, the silence was deafening when I crawled into bed the first night of my stay. Thanks so much, Pauline for the use of your place!

There is an amazing walkway along the waterfront. The Corniche is 8 kilometers ( one way ) and I plan to do a return trip every day of my stay.

On Saturday, Matt showed me around the city. It is spotlessly clean and you can almost taste the wealth. We went to a fruit and vegetable market that was simply gargantuan. We loaded up on persimmons, dates and bananas. You would not believe how many different varieties of dates that are grown in the Middle East and how many vendors sell them. There are even chocolate covered dates which the owner of one shop insisted that we sample. We complied! We also bought some freshly ground Turkish coffee at this wonderful coffee emporium. I hurried home and made some in Pauline’s French press. After drinking mediocre coffee for the better part of two months in India, this was a real treat.

Late in the afternoon, we went for a walk. On our way home, we took a short cut through a parking lot. I looked at some people exiting their vehicle and did a double take. In a city of 2.5 million people, in a random parking lot, I was facing Danny and Pat Berry, their two daughters and a friend. Before we sold our house on Ross Street a year and a half ago, we lived about 150 yards away from the Berrys  whose  home is on Whidden Street. What are the statistical odds of meeting friends from home, in a parking lot half way around the world?  If Matt and I hadn’t stopped at a Mall and posed for a picture with Santa ( photo coming !), we would have missed this chance encounter. Those of you are friends of Danny and Pat know that they recently relocated to Abu Dhabi after three years in China.

It’s a small world after all.

Oh yes, the ATM’s in Abu Dhabi work just fine. It felt amazing to simply walk up to an ATM and 1) not see a two hour lineup or 2) see a sign that says “ no cash.”  I have switched from rupees to dirhams. One dirham is the equivalent to .36 cents Canadian.

As you scurry around this week leading up to Christmas, take a moment to ponder your good fortune.

Have a great week. Easy on the eggnog!

P.S. Look for my very first podcast coming soon.

 

 

Posted on December 12, 2016 under Monday Morning Musings with 3 comments

Gaudium Grandeur

“ And we’ll sit round the fire, until the wee hours,

And greet the morning sun. “

Oceanside Again. Sons of Maxwell

After some pretty low keyed weekends, this past one was a barnburner. I received all kinds of interesting invitations, none more so than the one to attend a fun evening at a private school. I won’t bore you with the details of how this transpired. Hey, when you get an invitation, I say take it!

Those of you who have been following my antics know that the neighborhood that I call home here in India is not in Beverly Hills. There’s a lot of poverty, garbage, pollution and noise. So it looked quite odd to see a sleek 2016 BMW pull up to the gates of my building to take me to the Gaudium School. I was invited as a guest of the school and was asked to spend the evening with a few hundred kids from Grade 3-8. They were having a sleep over at the school along with a talent show, assorted games and a big meal . To end the evening of festivities , they invited an up and coming female Indian singer ( she finished in the top 25 in a recent country wide talent contest ) to perform. And the warm up act? Yours truly.

The kids created their own talent show. They only had a week to plan their skit so there was quite an assortment of stuff. As you can see in the picture, the school has a lovely outdoor amphitheatre which is where the bonfire was held. They had an area set up probably fifty feet away for the two musical acts. It was poorly lit and too far from the action for my liking so I asked the principal if I could move down near the bonfire. They were able to move the PA system too.

I was told that all of the children understood English but playing for such a wide age group was going to be tricky. The opening song was a no brainer. As they were lighting the fire, I gave them a brief primer on Nova Scotia and the notion of cottages near the ocean. I sang Oceanside Again and they were clapping madly to the music. I had paid attention to the talent show, being a judge and all. There was one student who did an amazing a capella version of “Angels We Have Heard on High.” I was so shocked because I didn’t think that Christmas was a big deal over here. I asked him to come up and sing it again. This time, he had a microphone, a guitar to back him up and some harmony. The other kids loved it. Then I found a kid who had a birthday and made a big deal of this. So, I just ad libbed and got the students involved… etc, etc. It was a hoot.

The Indian girl was very good and she sang in several different dialects… all a capella. I nearly dropped when she started singing John Denver’s “ Country Roads.” Being the shy type (!) I grabbed my guitar and joined her. She finished off with “ Silent Night.” I played and harmonized as every student was belting it out at the tops of their lungs. It was awesome evening and they gave me a lovely coffee table book as a gift.

Two stories coming your way. I went to my usual haunt for breakfast yesterday morning. A guy I didn’t recognize brought my meal to the table. Usually the cooks just yell and you go up and get it. He then proceeded to plunk himself down at my table. The place was nearly empty. He was picking up a big take out order and was killing time so he wanted to know where I was from and what brought me to India. He was a remarkable young man. He is a computer specialist with a Masters Degree.  He is an only child. His parents both have Masters Degrees . They spent their lives in the garment business and even though they are only in their early 60’s, their bodies are broken from the arduous work. He is going to look after them for as long as they live. He says that he owes it to them.  I am getting together with him this week and he will be the subject of an upcoming Faces in the Crowd story.

Even “follically challenged people” need to go to the barber from time to time when they get that scruffy look. I pass this place in my neighborhood every day on my way to breakfast. It is the approximate size of a small baby barn and looks like it’s been there since the city was founded. I was going to go to one of those upscale unisex places at a mall but knew that if I went to the small shop, the experience would be very different. Stay tuned for a full story called “ Beauteous” later this week. You must wonder sometimes how I can possibly write 1000 words on such mundane topics. I wonder the same thing!

Have a great week.

 

Posted on December 5, 2016 under Monday Morning Musings with 3 comments

This guy has the right of way

 

“ Be kind. For everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.” Ian MacLaren

I saw this quote the other day and it really struck home. Travelling in the small villages in India, you can see firsthand the “great battles” that people fight everyday of their lives. We are prone to looking at friends we know, sometimes with a hint of envy, as they seem to have it all. Nobody gets through life unscathed.

There is simply not enough space here to capture what I see on a daily basis. It seems that something about India startles me with shocking regularity. If you are a person who likes structure and predictability, I’m not sure you would survive very long in this country.

Bathrooms. I have never seen so many different configurations for bathrooms in my entire life. I didn’t realize that I might need a degree in engineering to figure out how some of them work. But, by god I can tell you this, when nature calls, you must figure it out! Here’s a well known hint for North Americans. Carry toilet paper with you at all times… and hand sanitizer. Most washrooms have neither soap nor toilet tissue. This is NOT a criticism nor meant to be disparaging in any way.  It is simply different from North America.

A few days ago after a long day and  an even longer drive ( it took 4.5 hours to travel 100 kilometers! ), we were nearing our destination when my host asked me if I would like to sleep on a cot in his office or go to a hotel. Needless to say, I chose the hotel. I would have paid $1,000 at that point to have a few creature comforts. Ok. It wasn’t The Ritz but it was perfectly adequate. There was no hot water in the morning for washing up. A minor inconvenience.  ( Most places don’t have showers. You fill a large bucket with hot water and then use a smaller bucket to pour the water over your body ). When I checked out, I stared at my receipt. I hadn’t asked about the rate when I checked in. It came to approximately 800 rupees or $16.85 Canadian!

My colleagues took me to a restaurant for breakfast… spicy but delicious. When we were leaving, they pointed out two beautiful dogs who were lying on a bench. These belong to the owners of the business and are their “ children.” These are two of the most pampered animals on the planet. They don’t move all day and food is placed in their mouths at meal time. Good work if you can get it!

We went to a very small village where I did an interview for an upcoming “ Faces in the Crowd” story. I have three in the queue. The first one is coming up on Thursday.

On our way to our final destination for the day, we stopped for lunch around 2:00 ( 1:30 seems to be the norm around here ). We entered this large restaurant and the place was packed… jam packed. No seats. That it, until they escorted us to a secondary, air conditioned room that probably sat another 50. I asked for the usual lunch fare. It was the most impressive arrangement of food I’ve seen on one plate on my entire trip. It was loaded with yummy ( and spicy! ) stuff. We had three waiters buzzing around us the whole time, refilling our plates with whatever we wanted. All that plus a banana and a tasty Indian dessert. There was no menu so I didn’t know the price. As I was getting low on rupees again ( no money in the ATM’s ), I was a wee bit concerned about having enough cash to pay. I needn’t have worried. The total bill, including tax: 90 rupees ( about $1.80 ). You may not like the pollution, the noise and the general chaos of India but the prices for everything are ridiculously cheap.

On the way out of town, we came upon a funeral procession, with fireworks and lots of loud music. Very celebratory.

The train ride back to Hyderabad was uneventful… until the very end. I was travelling with a colleague who is a veteran of train travel. Normally we are picked up by a driver but when I questioned him the day before, he said that there wouldn’t be a driver because he wasn’t sure where we were getting off. Hmmm, I thought? Knowing we had about a half an hour before getting close to our destination, my friend beckoned me and we ran for the door. I couldn’t see the station because there wasn’t one. Apparently the train slows down at this spot for a few minutes and if you are quick enough, you can disembark before the train starts to move again (  at your own risk )…  a drop to the ground of around 5 feet. Now if I was 16, this might not be a big deal. But try doing this at 65 with 1) a suitcase ; 2) a laptop; 3) a “man bag”; and 4) a grocery bag with food, snacks etc. and a bad back.

I have learned on so many occasions not to ask but just go with the flow. We got out moments before the train lurched forward. We stood by the tracks until it was safe to walk. We walked along the tracks and down an embankment to a street. We hailed an auto rickshaw and got to our residence in 20 minutes. By doing this manoeuvre, we saved ourselves 2 hours of rush hour traffic,  had we gone to our final destination on the train! Well worth the adventure.

Have a great week.