A brand new start

Well, Ramadan was over, life was back to normal and Dubai seemed to get back to its old self after all that fasting and praying.

I too was preparing for my brand new start. A start to my career in the UAE and also a beginning of what I never thought i would have to go through again, college.

The first day at work was exciting as always. New faces glaring down at you like you were the only humane thing around, your to-be manager walking up to you and introducing himself (like he was the sweetest person alive) and of-course the ultimate boss giving you that look of suspicion in a sense that indirectly asked you how long you were planning to stick on.

Things at work moved peacefully, the burden of work was low giving me that level of comfort during those initial days. I learnt from co-workers that it was not the case to be once i was a full fledged ripe mango ready to be squeezed from the inside to the get the maximum work output.

I very joyfully went through the day arranging my new desk and making sure everything was in place. I definitely did not want to start on a wrong note by screwing up on my first day. Plus the reduced work load actually gave me the time for all this arranging and gearing up.

After office it was now time for me to get to college for my first day. This part i was confident of and carried the 'been there done that' attitude on my way out of home. Little did i know that my energy levels would drop down way below critical on my 2 hour journey to college which included a good brisk 20-25 min walk at 2 in the afternoon, a one hour metro journey and about an hours travel by bus.

I reached the bus stop where i was to get into the first bus that would take me to the metro station. I was already panting like i just ran a marathon, thanks to the lack of exercise in my life. I cleared all that sweat with a wet perfume induced hand towel which my mother had wrapped in a nice plastic air tight bag. She had obviously anticipated this. The bus journey was confusing as i had no clue of the route, no idea where i was to get off and absolutely no idea of how i was to tell the damn driver where i was to get off!. Thanks to the in-bus colour monitor that told you which stop was next and the flashy green button on almost every corner of the bus that you could press to notify the driver that you were getting off at the next stop, i was able to safely get down at the metro station.

The metro ride was more fun. I got into the metro realizing the fact that there was no driver. (How in the world would the metro know how to stop!) Plus to add to the excitement, there were no press-to-stop buttons. I just sat on one of the seats hoping and praying like hell that the metro developers had done a good job in terms of programming this machine on a single rail. There were the occasional announcements in Arabic which made no sense but almost immediately followed by an English translation that told you which stop was next. After a couple of stops i was assured that the programming was just fine as the train very promptly came to a halt at every terminal.

It was after i took another bus from the metro destination and traveled another 20 mins that i finally got off at college. The campus in itself was huge. ( No wonder it was called knowledge village). I had to walk another set of blocks to reach the entrance of my university. Dripping in sweat, i entered the classroom. To my surprise i was the first man in!. Nobody in the vicinity. I wondered if i was in the wrong classroom. I waited for a while, checked my watch a couple of times to make sure it was working but still no one. I walked down to the registration counter and inquired. I was in the right place at the right time. As i walked back i met another student so to say coz he looked as lost as i was during my first day of engineering. This was masters. How old was he?. How long had it been since he saw the face of a university?. I asked myself these questions as i approached him to see if he was in the same class as I. In reality i was just looking for someone to talk with to kill time.

The classes began on a pleasant note with the class getting full with people of different age groups and various nationalities. I was lucky i found a good seat coz soon the class ran out of seats. The remainder of late comers who did not get a seat were offered some temporary seats from the neighboring office.

The subject being taught was Marketing. 'Cake' was the first word that popped in my head as i heard the professor read out the name of the subject along with his. It seemed the professor somehow magically read that word from my mind because the first thing he said after that was " Students this subject should be a cake walk for all you working professionals". He carried on the class explaining how the subject would be nowhere close to a cake walk and how the exam would be tough as hell. He obviously made it look very politically correct but i sensed the reality behind his kind words. Four hours of class finished off with just one tiny break and it was time to go home.

Wondering what exactly was taught, i walked back to the bus stop. The bus arrived, i got in with a sense of sleepiness slowly dawning over me and off we went. The next one and a half hours were spent in looking at the night scenery, the luxurious cars that zoomed past and the people who got in and out of the bus.

I got off at a so called bus stop that was in the middle of nowhere. I wondered if the next bus would even see me. Lucky for me, the bus came almost immediately after and took me home. The last walk back home in the middle of the night was like i was being burdened with some kind of large rock on my head. How i wished i could fly. Dragging my feet through the sand, i managed to reach home. I looked at the time. It was 11:30 pm. I had been out since 2 pm. I wondered how this would go in the days to come.

As i cuddled under the sheets for the night, there was one thing i knew. This would be fun!

Walking into the holy month..

My stay in Dubai so far was a fine experience. Those horrible visions that i had about the life here were slowly beginning to fade away and a more beautiful picture started to take its form.

I had actually begun enjoying my stay and was in reality waiting to take things to the next level of my stay in this country. I have to admit that the sun and the heat were killing my attempts to venture out more often but when i thought about it, if the entire population was surviving under these climatic conditions, i should be able to adapt without problems.

It was not long before the entire GCC (Gulf Countries Council) and rest of the world alike was getting all geared for the holy month of Ramadan. Honestly speaking, i had no clue what i was getting into. After having lived in a country with so many cultures, it felt kinda weird to be surrounded by a clout of people who followed the same religion. Not that i had a problem so far but this holy month started giving me the creeps. Newspapers, television channels and even radio stations were announcing the start of the holy month and with every announcement that i heard, my heart starting beating harder. A sense of nervousness started to set in. I thought to myself. Will i be able to survive this?. Will i unknowingly do something during this month that could land me into trouble?. All these thoughts kept pondering in my mind as the first day of Ramadan finally begun.

The rules were pretty straight forward. No eating, smoking or drinking during the fasting hours. Something so minutely unnoticed as chewing gum in public during the fast hours was also considered a crime and if caught in the act, you could probably be paying a hefty pocket burning fine.

The work hours were cut down for the benefit of those fasting, work timings were changed, working after noon till bout 3pm in the open was strictly prohibited and leaves for those who needed it were being given left right and center.

It was a month were the entire country came to a halt. All that people were concerned about were their prayer times and iftars( a kind of ceremony where people have a feast so as to end the fast for the day which of-course is preceded by a prayer).

Adapting to these basic rules was not so difficult but that fear of unknowingly sipping water or grabbing a bite in public always remained.

While in the grind, i took time to go through the history of Ramadan to try and understand what the entire purpose of this holy month was and why the people took this month so seriously with the fasting and excessive praying.

The facts actually made a lot of sense and following these rules that were laid down was not so difficult to follow after i understood why everyone was going through this strict regime. I did make an attempt to follow the fasting part, but my love for food and the thought of missing a meal during the day took precedence over everything else. I obviously took all precautions before taking out that secret snack i carried in my pocket to quench those sudden bursts of hunger but did try and also avoid overdoing it due to the fear of getting caught in the act.

The month of Ramadan was a fun experience, with people like me praying for life to get back to normal so that we could just eat when we wanted to!. Of-course the work timings and laid back culture during the month was exceptionally fun but it was beginning to get kind of monotonous without any real work coming our way.

The 30 days (29 days this time) were over before i realized. As the month drew to the end, one could feel a sudden sense of celebration in the air. Alas, it was Eid!. Banners came out, people pulled out their new clothes and here i was in the midst of all the mayhem. The night after the last fasting session was all of a sudden filled with some kind of energy and vibes. People all around were in a party mood. Food stalls swung back into action, malls were over crowded and the roads were flooded with cars. One would wonder where all this population was for so many days.

I sure enjoyed the experience and actually am looking forward to the next Ramadan. Till then, Eid Mubarak!.