Dubai Days-A Shot of Nostalgia:) I always felt I never gave back enough to the place I spent my childhood in,and everytime I sit down to write about my life there and the small and petty things that I enjoyed an overwhelming sense of nostalgia hits me and I put the writing off for later. But here I am finally putting them into words. Well I dont really remember how I ended up in DXB because that was a decision which was not in my hands and I was happy I didnt have to burn my head on that. These days I find it funny when people refer to the olden days of 80s and 90s as desert in Dubai because when I used to live there,the desert was such a part of life.I used to play cricket on a concrete pitch in the middle of a desert!Unthinkable? Early days started off in Dafa where every uncle and every aunty knew each other and all the uncles worked at the same place,and there was this building which housed the entire staff of the Hyatt Regency and I used to look at them in awe as they all went so smartly dressed in their uniforms and I was constantly told they work in a 5 star hotel a place that I never saw till I got into my first job 25 years later.The 5 star was always an enigma.I used to position myself at the entry into their building just to see how they got into their buses all dressed smartly.The bus too was an object of awe for me because it was an Airconditioned Isuzu! Another rarity,and evenings were spent in playing volleyball.Sunley Building-wonder if anybody remembers that name was another big wonder,and much later did I come to know that its supposed to be referred to as the World Trade Center and Sunley was the engineer who designed it.Driving back from Abudhabi,the moment you begin to see Sunley building you knew home was close. Then life got upgraded after a while with a shift into Karama.This was akin to moving from the Mumbai suburbs of today to the present day Colaba.That was the feeling I got when I stepped into our house in Karama-7000 building or the Rulers Colony as it was referred to formally.I missed the open spaces that Dafa offered us,but hey this was acceptable,we have upgraded:) My first day at the Gulf Indian School was miserable.It was hardly 10minutes from home,and all that I remember about the day was I howled and howled till it was time to go home.What a trauma!To overcome the trauma I was treated to a 2dhs Shawarma!The taste still lingers.Gulf Indian days were uneventful and I dont even remember most of them.Some of the things that were an integral part those days was the Thursday evening battle at Oriental Video shop to get the latest Malayalam movies print.Thursday morning I am seriously reading the new release section of the paper to see if RAFA,Forhans,Thomson are all releasing any movies or not. The sense of achievement of getting your hands on the latest Malayalam movie the night it was released- was priceless.Follow that up with a packed dinner of Porottas and Chicken Chillys from Sweet and Sour Restaurant and life was bliss! Visits to the small grocery shops-Al Karama Supermarket,Al Fatah,Madina,Mustafa,Charminar etc were the most awaited events in life simply because you could get your hands on the Snickers,Twix and icecreams and I was constantly made to give into that bargaining of having to settle for those Milk toffees-yuck.Not to miss out on the Dixi with the dots going up and up,Mountain Dew,RC Cola,Maaza!All the groceries had a typical smell and that airconditioned blast of air that hits you on your face when you step in from outside is just mind numbing! A Kentucky Fried Chicken never happened all the time I was in school,it happened much later but the Kentucky outlet on Al Fahidi Street,Bur Dubai always caught my fancy and the Colonel Sanders was simpler than and had things under greater control than he has today:)The aroma that wafted through when you walk in front of that outlet always made me wonder-if only I could get a job here!The Dahi Wada that India House Restaurant served was the stuff that I could die for simply because they used to add sugar in the curd! Another thing that has stayed on from my Dubai days has been the Antenna Rotator for the TV,keep buying pepsi cola just to see what do you get written under the pullout opener-a cap,a cricket bat,a football?The same with Milo- buy boxes just to see if you would get lucky with the football,the chocobar icecreams to see what was written on the stick after you lick your way through,those green grey public phone booths with the telephone directory manual hanging below and you press the buttons just for the heck of it because it felt nice!The neverending quest for that elusive digital watch that had a car racing game in it and the way the school authorities would be after kids who had those watches! Programs on TV-whoa thats a whole different world.After so many years I actually googled to see if Shahnaz Pakravan was still alive and kicking and pleasantly she still is.She was the CH33 news reader for a long time!Programs like Werewolf,A Team,Mind your Language,Grenthizer,Capt Majid,Small Wonder,Danger Mouse,Pacman,Inspector Gadget all captured my imagination.The Thursday night Hindi movies which were later replaced by Pakistani movies much to everyones displeasure:( Then came the satellite TV and all the uncles in the building were conspiring with each other if everyone would pitch in money to buy a dish so that we could watch Zee,PrimeSports,BBC,MTV.DD1 and PTV (PTV was added to compensate for the DD1:) )!!!!!Visits to Strand Cinema,Al Nasr Cinema,Deira Cinema,Plaza and the popcorn that went with it. Birthdays in schools where you were considered elite if you managed to take a Quality Street box to school and you were budget category if you took Hobby bars:)The constant tussle between Junior News and Young Times,the wait for them to come out on Thursdays was hillarious to watch!How can I forget the cheese balls-Pofaki!and people used to think it was powdered with Prawns.To date I dont knw if it really is-one of those lifelong mysteries sigh. The yearly once pilgrimage to DNATA to book tickets to Kerala.The aroma of DNATA used to bring in the mood of vacations and those big cutouts of aircrafts and all the reservation jargon that I used to hear was a mindblower! 25fils Abra-you cant get a bigger stressbuster than that.The BBME parking which was on the first floor was another mystery for me.The ramp leading upto the first floor-wow you can actually have a car park on the first floor of a building?The monthly once visits to the ATM and the constant question inside my head- was there someone sitting on the other side of the wall who is supplying dad with the required money?The yearning for a Kinderjoy during your monthly grocery shopping and when you open the toy you are clueless on how to fix the damn toy! Visits to Al Nasr Leisureland and the train ride through tunnels where a big spider lands on you and so you never want to sit on the first seat!It creeps me out even today-the very thought!Onasadyas at Leisureland and the games there.Icerink visits and mayo-filled chicken sandwiches by the side of the rink. Cops driving about in Mercs,and another unsolved mystery there is-those cars dont have an aircon fixed,because if there is an aircon in a patrol car,then the cops might go to sleep-stuff that urban legend is made of.Walkman-how could you go on a picnic without having a walkman!The mammoth sized mobile phones and pagers clipped onto everyones belts was a style statement. Knight Rider with Kit speaking and David Hasselhoff in the black jackets and Street Hawk-the bike series-droolworthy stuff.Every person used a Charlie perfume and I was pleasantly surprised when someone coming from Dubai gave me a Charlie the other day-some things survive the test of time. Everyone from Ghusais talked about Shaikh Colony,Everyone from AL Shaab talked about Shaikh Colony,Sharjah guys talked about Rolla Square,everyone had to click their passport photos in Rose Studio,everyone had to eat one vegetarian lunch at Woodlands in Karama once in their lifetime,on Indias cricket days everyone is crowding outside Sind Punjab Restaurant in Karama,because the menu board is replaced by a scoreboard and the owner would distribute motichoor laddoos everytime an Indian six happened or an opposition wicket fell-that laddo was heavenly! In school for the art and craft exhibitions,every single person makes a model of the clocktower or the trade centre.Safeway was the real and original Hypermarket to happen and I thought it.Every Britisher had to drive a Range Rover with the rover bums protruding back,and we all attended the Sheikhs marriages held on big open grounds:)Every school picnic was to the Al Ain Hilli Fun City and yet we never got tired of it. How can you be in Dubai and not own an Attari.Discreet exchanges of cassettes.People used to drink Shani to get their lips red!You could go anywhere in Dubai in those small taxis at Dhs 5 and Dhs7 and everyone would bargain irrespective of the fare.You didnt own a viewmaster?you are not fit to be a Dubai person of the 80-90s.Spinneys was the dream destination for a supermarket,the one that you only see from outside but never can enter. Trips to Jumeirah were far and few and Chicago Beach hotel was your dream destination which later got replaced by Jumeirah Beach Park.Satwa-Karama-Ghusais-Al Shaab formed the infamous quartet where all your friends invariably lived.Everyone carried an Oxford geometry box and you always lost the protractor inside it and only had the divider in it which nobody knew how to use ever. Just a few Dubai memories and yes we never travelled on camels as you think we did:)
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 11:06:35 +0000
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