Couple of cool cab conversations today, with an Ethiopian who speaks Hindi fluently, from the border of Somalia who is here for two decades, recommended Al Habshi restaurants for traditional Ethiopian fare. We spoke about the new president whom he clearly likes. He is clearly at ease in the multicultural milieu that he is in. … More Conversation with Cabbies: Dubai Edition

Attended an impromptu Book Launch at Kinokuniya, Dubai Mall of an Egyptian American Civil Engineer turned Cook Book Author Hanan Sayed, where a bunch of well heeled cool book enthusiasts were present including other restaurant owners (The Bearded Bakers from Sydney were a hawt favourite of the fashionable crowd). There was a MBC crew as … More A Book Launch in Dubai Mall: A Photo Essay

More than big data, there is an acute need of proper primary data where it is not available on public databases and proxy indicator driven data is incomplete at best. Rather than depicting the right baseline, we are often more concerned with the analysis. We need start ups who would collect basic data first and … More Get Real Data First

A long walk along the Bur Dubai Creek from the new Al Seef Waterfront, glitzy like Al Mouj in Muscat to the old part of the creek, via the Al Seef Heritage Village which is a very family friendly place with a whole host of restaurants and shopping options including a Singaporean restaurant called Kim’s. … More A Walk Down Modernity: Dubai Creek Photo Essay

Life is a concert of contradictions And A Symphony of Strategies Mostly unknown Encountered at each bend

And my heart is a repository of diminished dreams, but new ones flower, new hope arises, only to be flattened at the next bend

Meena Bazar, Bur Dubai. The only Hindu Temple in the UAE too adjacent to a Masjid. Dubai exemplifies tolerance. @ Dubai Museum

Happy Republic Day India! We celebrate the audacity the vision of an inclusive constitution in 1950, a people’s constitution in the words of Rohit De. From Porbandar to Itanagar, we are Indian- the strength of the nation is its fragmented, yet thoroughly inclusive character. We are many, yet one when we vote in 2019. Jai … More Republic.

Incomplete wins Tolerable loses Dreams deferred Sounds familiar? Also known As Adulting

Got chatting with a barista at Starbucks from Thimphu who studied English at Fergusson College Pune, who was very articulate, and nostalgic about Juhu Beach. From Thimphu to Pune to Dubai, The Land of Gross National Happiness is having a low but rising representation in the diversity in the Khaleej. Pema Eden was a great … More Little Conversations on Migration