The reversal in trend that is happening now, for the Dubai economy was much awaited & expected. Only point is that the pace & severity of the downturn was something that was unexpected. But this correction, in a way, is a healthy one.
In the last 4~5 years, Dubai had seen exponential growth, which was unprecedented. With numerous mega-sized & iconic projects underway, it was believed that two-third of the worlds construction cranes were in Dubai! Though business was growing, life, per se, was reaching an extremely difficult pace that deteriorated the quality of life. Rents were soaring, acute traffic congestion, extreme inflation and above all - lack of quality. Problems associated with crazy, unplanned & unregulated growth.
With no proper regulation in place & with no genuine demand for houses; real estate prices were speculated & exorbitantly high. And for certain people the growth & economic prosperity had gone in to their heads & had lost ground with reality! The path of life that were traversed were going into oblivion & virtues like - modesty, humility, simplicity, courtesy were tardily evaporating.
Hence the correction or rather ‘negative growth ;-)’ is a healthy one, though there is price to be pay. Hope, henceforth the focus is on value & quality, by having proper regulations in place, rather than on exponential quantitative growth. Bigger the bubble, steeper the fall.
The movie ‘Rock On’ really rocks. The movie, with its excellent theme & Hindi rock music makes compelling viewing. The movie & its music, will strike a chord with the young urban educated masses. The movie is bound to popularise Hindi Rock.
The theme of the movie is about following your dreams and doing what you like in life & what you are good at. It is about reaching out to ones true calling & living your dreams, that gives immense joy. This also needs fortitude and determination. Friendship & Love also plays a part in this success. It is a movie, with which many of us will relate to & connect with, wistfully.
It was late evening on Wed 26th Nov, when the breaking news of multiple terror attack in Mumbai flashed on the TV screen. I had a feeling of anger & frustration. Anger – since there was yet another terror attack in India & frustrated due to the callousness & inaction of the authorities against terror attacks in general. There were a series of attacks in the recent past.
In the beginning, nobody had a clue of how different & grave this attack was from the previous ones. As the gruesome battle continued & went on (for almost three days), people & stories started emerging. Some were fortunate & some were not. Their chronicles were heart-breaking & sorrowful.
These are people who saw people being massacred in front of their eyes, people who had near-death experience, people who miraculously escaped a bullet by a whisker, people who heard gun shots & grenade explosions outside their door, people who were petrified when there was a knock on the door – is it the terrorist or the police or a person from the next room who needs help?. The trauma of the people who went through this ordeal is beyond comprehension & imagination.
It is a matter of shame that even at this crucial juncture of national importance the political parties & politicians could not stand united & were involved in bickering & mudslinging. They politicised the attack & used it as a marketing tool for image building. Some were busy campaigning for elections hence could not attend important crisis meetings. Some were announcing compensation packages for the dead, some were busy attending funerals. Some responsible persons had to pay a price for their irresponsibleness & for making preposterous statements.
Even the PM’s address to the nation lacked that special power to motivate & elevate our spirits at a time of distress. It had the usual wordings ‘condemn’, ‘dastardly act’ etc etc.
Unlike previous attacks, this time the public outcry & anger was heard & also aired by media without restraint. There was anger, frustration & questions of accountability towards politicians & the Government. Levels of nationalism & patriotism were very high. We were pointing fingers at our neighbours as the epicentre of this attack. There was a mood of a looming war. Will there be an attack or not? Candle lit gatherings & a minute of silence were held. Eventually all of this jingoism tapered off.
While we are blaming our neighbours for the attack, why are we not looking inwards – as to what have we as a nation (Government) done so as to curb such attacks? How can we & what are we as citizens contributing to this? Are we as citizens ready to forfeit some of our liberty & freedom?
Why was the public emotion so high this time? It was seen, mostly, in the urban middle class & the elite. Is it because the financial capital, Mumbai was attacked? It is no longer suburban trains & stations but also 5 star hotels & pubs. Though the causalities’ were higher at the CST, the focus of the media was more on the hotels. Is it because the elite are no longer safe? Is it because the mode of attack this time is different? Sociologists will take some time to unravel the reason behind this.
