Thus Far..

Before I begin, let me put out an open question to those reading; How many times in life have you come to a juncture where u looked yourself in the mirror and said, "Man!!..this is not real!...Life has changed!".

I started out in the gulf as a fresher; a guy who had no real aim in life and as someone whose main agenda was basically to try and figure out life as it was.

I looked myself in the mirror this morning and asked myself the same question. When I look back at life, it seems to be throwing back a thousand questions at me.

Questions to which I don't seem to have a definite answer. Shocking as it may seem, I had now been through two whole cycles of climate change, experienced Ramadan (to which I was now quite familiarized, so to speak) and was eventually moving towards that period of time when I would have to visit my office, go up to the HR and say, Hey, its time to get my visa renewed for another cycle!

Life in the UAE has been a bumpy ride to be very honest. I've had my up's and down's but have quite frankly enjoyed the ride so far.

It seems like just yesterday when I was packing my bags for my first ever paid vacation. The excitement, the thrill of being able to head home, to be able to narrate my experiences, to meet old pals and re-unite with some long forgotten relatives.

Hell its been a good 4 months since all that ended!. Where did it go?!..I celebrated the new year twice in the gulf and I'm finding it hard already to recollect what I did on those days...Was it really that long ago?.

Life here has been an experience for starters. The things I've come to learn, the friends I've made, the kind of new found hobbies that I've indulged into..its all part of a time that I probably will never be able to re-live.

Now I'm not saying that I regret those days, or that I would like to change something from the past. The point here is that I'm only trying to cherish those memories and at the same time try and build up on what lies ahead.

My latest hobby, photography, has been quite a game changer. I never imagined that it could get so in-to-me.

Walking on the streets, capturing memories, scenes and people have actually added meaning to my otherwise meaningless life. It seems to have added that missing sparkle.

I recently happened to stumble upon a meet-up group based in Dubai; a group of enthusiasts who share the same expensive passion - photography.

Looking at what little you can do otherwise, I decided to head for one of those meetings. I must mention that it was mind blowing.

People traveled from various parts of the country just for this one session of fun filled activities.

Things like these tell you two things; one, your not the only crazy guy who goes out and buys an SLR just for the sake of owning one and two, people here are really interested in meeting up with more of their kinds and getting to know what the other does to survive in this otherwise rather lonely secluded world that we create around us.

To sum it all up, I can proudly say that I've been seasoned, learnt the trick of the trade (here I am specifically referring to being able to live without boring yourself to death!) and am eagerly looking forward to the road ahead.

Like I mentioned earlier; life has been full of surprises and I'm actually hoping that it continues to move with the same pace of excitement and thrill. All I can say right now is that thus far, its been great!