Dreaming in the clouds of poetry and food!

This blog has reflected how people in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman have lots of time while driving on the roads! It is normal for a person to spend up to 4 hours daily if not more travelling on the busy or rather clogged roads.

The endless lines of unending traffic seems like ants waiting in line to get back into their ant holes! The disconsolate mind conjures up food and poetry, perhaps a dangerous mix! But this blog is after all to sing a song of freedom from an Open Mind and Free Thoughts!

Freemind Pictures ©

From www.bbc.co.uk

That cloud above did look some what like the chicken in the picture below! But then the lone cloud had poetry take over my mind to the words of the great poet Wordsworth.

I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud

I WANDERED lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed--and gazed--but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

- William Wordsworth

Clouds with no Rain!

Freemind Pictures ©

In the morning, the radio stations had me on a high! Talking of imminent rains. So much for that. As the sun set into the dry landscape - the only consolation was a spectacular display of art in the clouds.

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.
Rabindranath Tagore


Freemind Pictures ©

Freemind Pictures ©

“We can never have enough of nature. We must be refreshed by the sight of inexhaustible vigor, vast and titanic features, the sea-coast with its wrecks, the wilderness with its living and its decaying trees, the thunder-cloud, and the rain.”

~ Henry D. Thoreau, American Poet & Philosopher

November Rain!

No! I am not referring to the song - November Rain by Guns and Roses. It is just about the rain in Dubai heralding Queen Winter with all her splendor and chill. The steady downpour is a welcome from the year long sunshine and heat! A poem came to mind when the rain trickled down my face and ears as I walked home from my bus stop. Have fun reading!

~~~

Acquainted With the Night by Robert Frost

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain - and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.

~~~

Burj Dubai rising into the rain clouds
Freemind Pictures ©

Meat with a difference!

Shark Meat Trading

Talk about misleading names. This so called Shark meat joint sells only goat mutton and lamb.

Reminds me of my old post - "What's in a name." Shops in Dubai sometimes have a unique feature of having names which have nothing to do with the shop or totally wacky in nature.

This graphic designer must have got his words mixed up when trying to describe a goat! Or he was simply playing around! Good thing, he didn't put a picture of a tiger or giraffe for more effect instead of the goats.

What ever said - the sign board sure does catch the customer's eye and in business that's all that matters! 3 cheers to creativity!

“Sometimes in our confusion, we see not the world as it is, but the world through eyes blurred by the mind.” ~ Unknown

Skating through the Traffic!

The new road toll to be implemented on Dubai roads, have people worried and thinking about alternative modes of transport. Here is one guy who perhaps decided to do something about it by taking a test run on the main road with his skateboard!


With no exemption for cars, taxis, motor cycles, buses, vans, trucks - I guess skateboarders will be the only ones going over the Al Garhoud bridge for free! Sorry for the bad quality of picture but this guy was zipping way too fast too click. A quick and sure way to zip through the endless and unmoving traffic.


This guy is crazy and a clear danger to himself and others on the roads! There is enough of people becoming victims of car accidents everyday and the last thing we need is a crazy skateboarder on the crowded roads.


Only in Dubai! I wonder if he has a driving permit for the skateboard on the road?

How many is a handful of people?

Yesterday, the main headline in Gulf News (15 November, 2006) was on how more than 150 people were abducted from the Iraqi Education Ministry Building in broad daylight.


The page layout was misleading as a lot of people including myself for a second, thought how in the heavens did the abductors have enough time to line up the 150 victims for a group photo on the stairs outside the building in suits?

Then it struck me, the photo beneath the main story was for another news story altogether and nothing to do with the abduction of hostage!


Then today, be it the Gulf News sub editor or reporter who complied the various agency reports or the agencies themselves printed a story:

"Iraq minister says some hostages tortured, killed"
Agencies

Baghdad: Kidnappers who seized dozens of men from an Iraqi government building two days ago tortured and killed some of their hostages, the minister for higher education said on Thursday, citing the testimony of freed hostages.

The comments from Abd Dhiab, who also said some 70 staff were still missing, underlined the rifts in the government of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, who has insisted that all but a handful of around 40 hostages have been freed...

Higher Education Minister Dhiab told reporters on Thursday that around 70 hostages had been released out of about 150 staff and visitors originally seized from one of his ministry's buildings in central Baghdad."

Note the words in Bold and think about this :

~150 people is more than 12 dozens so can they use the term dozens when talking about 150 people?
~70 missing and some killed - considering the present Iraqi scenario where 'missing = dead' when did 70 become 'some.'
~Handful of 40 hostages - when was 40 people called a handful?
~If 70 are freed from 150, that means 80 are missing - talk about confusion and how words and statements are made to mislead the reader to the exact scenario!

Death has always been numbers and technical terms to play around with, by the media and politicians alike!

“Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one to whom the torture and death of his fellow creatures is amusing in itself.”

~ James Froude (British Historian, 1818-1894)

The Light at the end of the Tunnel !

“There is light at the end of the tunnel.”

Every time we find ourselves in a tough spot in life, people shoot this proverb at you. It is almost as if this proverb was a magic spell or wonder drug which made problems disappear or easier to face!

'The tunnel' has been a standard allegory for 'the journey of life' - 'journey after death' and much more.


But then all of a sudden, I came across an image which dismissed all my notions on tunnels! What do you do, when there is light before and after the tunnel and most of all when there are lights in the tunnel?


So much for the light at the end of the tunnel!

Freemind Pictures ©

Gandhi Gangster flick bowls over UN

Lage Raho Munnabhai, a hindi gangster flick which has captured the heart of India bowled over the hearts and minds of the United Nations.


Diplomats, staff and journalists praised the movie which was shown in the United Nations. Bollywood blockbuster Lage Raho Munnabhai, which resurrected Mahatma Gandhi's ideals through 'Gandhigiri,' has become the first full length Indian movie to be shown in the United Nations, Dag Hammerscjold auditorium.

The movie was shown on Friday evening as a part of the centennial observation of the first Satyagraha (philosophy of nonviolent resistance) launched by Mahatma Gandhi. The movie is being acclaimed for its presentation of Gandhian values of sacrifice, truth and non-violence, and making it more relevant for today's generation who feel these values are highly idealistic and outdated.

The cast of the movie were quick to add “The film is not being screened there for cultural reasons. It’s there because of what it stands for."


Earlier, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh commented after seeing a special screening of the movie "It captures Bapu's message about the power of truth and humanism."


A tribute indeed to the Man (Mahatma Gandhi) who is now become a hip, pop icon according to The Washington Post!


Mahatma Gandhi continues to be a voice of sanity in this world of insanity and mindless violence. He was nominated thrice for the Nobel Peace Prize and even shortlisted as the winner in 1948, but he was assassinated and no prize was given out that year. Geir Lundestad, Director, Norwegian Nobel Institute and Secretary, Norwegian Nobel Committee has openly stated in his reflections on the official Nobel Prize website that "With hindsight, most people would probably agree that Mahatma Gandhi - the twentieth century's leading advocate of non-violence - should have been given the Peace Prize."


However the fact no one was given a prize in the year of Gandhi's death, makes it stand out in history for people, to remember Mahatma Gandhi even more. He was a simple man who never wanted power or riches and wrapped himself in a single self spun cloth. Several Nobel Prize winners like Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Dalai Lama and many more have mentioned Gandhi as an important influence on their lives and mission for world peace. A constant reminder of his ideals which still influence people who make a difference.


Producer of the movie, Vidhu Vinod Chopra will submit Lage Raho Munna Bhai as an independent entry to the 79th Academy Awards, which will be held sometime in 2007 after receiving tremendous support from world over.


I quote a few lines from the Richard Attenborough movie Gandhi, winner of BAFTA , Golden Globe and 8 Academy Awards. Distinguished American broadcaster, Edward R. Murrow, is shown speaking into a CBS microphone at the funeral procession of Mahatma Gandhi stating the following words:

The object of this massive tribute died as he had always lived – a private man without wealth, without property, without official title or office . . . Mahatma Gandhi was not a commander of great armies nor ruler of vast lands, he could boast no scientific achievements, no artistic gift .


. . .Yet men, governments and dignitaries from all over the world have joined hands today to pay homage to this little brown man in the loincloth who led his country to freedom . . .


Pope Pius, the Archbishop of Canterbury, President Truman, Chiang Kai-shek, The Foreign Minister of Russia, the President of France . . . are among the millions here and abroad who have lamented his passing. In the words of General George C. Marshall, the American Secretary of State, "Mahatma Gandhi had become the spokesman for the conscience of mankind . . ."


. . . a man who made humility and simple truth more powerful than empires." And Albert Einstein added, "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth."

~o~

If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.
~ Mahatma Gandhi

India finally acknowledges its forgotten soldiers of World War I

A Havildar and Sepoys from the 39th Garwhal Rifles in France, 1915.

The Times of India published a story on how the Indian Government is finally acknowledging the sacrifice of more than a million Indians who fought on the front lines of World War I. The Great War as it is known, was the first War in history to be globally fought on land, air, water and underwater.


Ever since Independence in 1947, the Indian Government has maintained a mysterious silence and turned a blind eye to India's contribution to the World Wars. It was as though there was an official edict, to cover up any memory of Indian soldiers who died fighting in the world wars because they were part of the British India Army. The only recognized World War I memorial in India is the India Gate. This however is now known more for the Amar Jawan Jyoti (The flame of the immortal warrior), which marks the Unknown Soldier's Tomb.


Almost every other country has taken pride in remembering and honouring their men who fell on the battle fields. Books, movies and pictures have immortalized these men in other countries, however their own home country refused to know them. Even Pakistan and Bangladesh have an equal right and moral duty to honour these men, as surely the 129th Baluchis company were from Baluchistan which is present day Pakistan or the Bengal Lancers who were from present day Bangladesh or the Indian state of West Bengal.


However Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the United Progressive Alliance which forms the Indian Government, visited a monument in honour of Indian Soldiers at Ieper, Belgium yesterday. It laid the ghosts of indifference to rest and the souls of thousands whose graves lie forgotten, scattered across distant lands and battlefields of old. It is a move in the right direction by India, in accepting history and acknowledging the contribution of these soldiers in the "Great War."

Late on Friday night, Gandhi wrote a simple message in the Book of Honour of the Last Post Association, which has marked with haunting bugle call the soldiers' ultimate sacrifice at eight o'clock every night for 80 years.

Gandhi wrote, quoting the 19th-century American poet Emily Dickinson: "My being here to pay homage to the brave Indian soldiers who laid down their lives in the prime of their youth and so far away from their beloved motherland reminds me of the poet's line, 'It feels a shame to be alive when men so brave are dead, one envies the distinguished dust, permitted such a head'. I salute their memory".

“Remembering the past gives power to the present”

In World War I the Indian Army saw extensive service including: Western Front (Europe), Battle of Gallipoli, Sinai and Palestine Campaign, Mesopotamian Campaign, Siege of Kut, East Africa, including the Battle of Tanga.

About 43,000 Indian soldiers were killed and 65,000 wounded during World War I. Also serving in World War I were so-called "Imperial Service troops," provided by the semi-autonomous Princely States. About 21,000 of these were raised in Word War I, mainly consisting of Sikhs of Punjab and Rajputs from Rajputana (such as the Bikaner Camel Corps and Jodhpur Lances). These forces played a prominent part in the Palestine Campaign.


The Indian Army however has poignantly kept an entire section of the Indian Army War Museum in the Red Fort, Delhi as a tribute to their men and history. Here are some of the artifacts on display taken on my last visit. (Apologies for the poor image quality)

A German Flag captured by Indian Soldiers
from surrendering German troops in World War I.
Army War Museum, Red Fort, Delhi, India
Pic taken by Freemind

Aerial Bombs and Artillery used in the World War.
Army War Museum, Red Fort, Delhi, India

Pic taken by Freemind

A Machine Gun used in the battlefronts.
Army War Museum, Red Fort, Delhi, India

Pic taken by Freemind

Pic taken by Freemind

Situated on the Rajpath in New Delhi, India Gate (originally called the All India War Memorial) is a monument built by Edwin Lutyens to commemorate more than 90 000 Indian soldiers who died in the World War I and the Afghan Wars. The names of the soldiers who died in these wars are inscribed on the walls. Work on the monument started on 10 February 1921 and was completed in 1931.

Inscribed on top of India Gate in capital letters is the line:

To the dead of the Indian armies who fell honoured in France and Flanders Mesopotamia and Persia East Africa Gallipoli and elsewhere in the near and the far-east and in sacred memory also of those whose names are recorded and who fell in India or the north-west frontier and during the Third Afgan War.

Link: Pictures of Indian Soldiers in World War I

~~0~~

I am pasting the Times of India article below for your reading.

Sonia lays WWI Indian ghosts to rest

Rashmee Roshan Lall
10 Nov, 2006
Times News Network

YPRES (Belgium): On the 11th hour, of the 11th day (November 11) of the 11th month of the year 2006, Sonia Gandhi becomes the most senior Indian leader ever to lay to rest the ghosts of Indian soldiers who fought and fell here in World War I.

Eighty-eight years after the so-called Great War ended, leaving a variously estimated 43,000 to 65,000 Indians dead on the battlefield, Gandhi marks the ultimate sacrifice of the men who valiantly fought a white man's war, thousands of miles away from home, in a cause that was not their own.

Flying into Belgium on Friday, for a three-day visit, Gandhi's first scheduled official act is the trek to Ypres, the flat, battle-scarred wastelands in the west Flanders region, 130 km from Brussels.

At the Menin Gate, which is dedicated to soldiers with no known graves, Gandhi finally paid long-overdue tribute to India's heroic, generally-unheralded effort to help win Britain's war for the heart and soul of Europe.

In so doing, Gandhi redresses a famously perverse act of official Indian indifference.

Observers said it was especially poignant that Gandhi decided to visit Ypres and the Menin Gate, the route so many Indians and other British imperial army soldiers took towards the fighting, many never to return.

Observers said the chairwoman of the governing UPA coalition is the most senior Indian leader to pay tribute to India's WWI dead, most of whom were canon-fodder in line with Siegfried Sassaoon's famous lament in his poem, 'On Passing The Menin Gate': "Who will remember passing through this Gate / The unheroic Dead who fed the guns?"

Ypres, which has become legendary in literature and film as 'the Western Front', is littered with graves and headstones and its pockmarked earth blooms every year with blood-red wild poppies that have become a symbol of WWI savagery and suffering.

Every year, European and Commonwealth leaders, veterans and bereaved families gather here still to remember and vow never again to wage so brutal a war, but India officially pays little heed.

Now, Gandhi's visit changes all that.

Interestingly, in a sign that her government is intensely conscious about paying its debt to history, Gandhi's Ypres tribute comes nearly nine weeks after Pranab Mukherjee visited a memorial to the Indian dead at Neuve Chapelle, 300 km north of Paris, where the Indian Corps fought its first major battle in the Great War.

An estimated 1.3 million Indians served in WWI, with the men seeing extensive service on the Western Front; in the Battle of Gallipoli; in the Sinai, Palestine and Mesopotamia Campaigns; the Siege of Kut and in the Battle of Tanga in East Africa.

Sonia Gandhi pays tribute to Indian soldiers of World War I who sacrificed their lives in Ieper, Belgium. (AP)

Breaking Walls!

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.

~Mending Wall by Robert Frost

Todays marks 17 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November, 1989. In the 50's and sixties, humankind felt the world was doomed for a nuclear showdown. Peace reigned and walls fell and the world was normal again.


Yesterday, another wall fell as US voters felt the world was going back to the Cold War era! Walls are made but they are bound to be broken! Peace was given another shot in the arm yesterday.

“There is no way to peace, peace is the way.”

~ A. J. Muste

Breaking down the Berlin Wall - 1989

“A critic is a man who knows the way but can't drive the car.”

Quick run to your cars! Go for a free ride around Dubai while it lasts. The Gulf News reported next week motorists will have to pay a tariff to drive at specific hours and on specific roads. It is going to cost AED 4 to be precise which is just little more than a dollar.


I can visualize Cuba Gooding Jr. screaming "Show me the money" from the movie Jerry Maguire. It would be more economical taking a taxi now, cause after paying the tariff, there is still the parking fees which is again AED 2 (50 cents) for an hour. God help you if you stay on a street with the toll machines. It would cost you a fortune trying to leave or get back to your own home! It is said the price of development never comes cheap or without pain!

“It's not hard to meet expenses, they're everywhere.”

Over the last week there has been a tremendous crackdown on errant drivers across Dubai, and it has become even more harder to get a driving license. But does that make life easier on the roads here? No!

“Don't drive as if you owned the road, Drive as if you owned the car”

Who today, heeds to the above line of thinking? A majority of drivers in the UAE believe they are Kings of the Road by divine right.


What happened to the good old days of traffic on the Dubai roads where 4 cars was a jam at a red light? But now, just 50 cars or a odd 100 cars in front at a red light makes me pray "when will these automatic self driving cars be ready for mass production? " Radio shows get on my nerves with helpful driving alerts such as -"There are traffic jams everywhere!" Talk about stating the obvious!

The driving scenario does not get any better! With the onset of winter in Dubai, foggy weather is quiet common on the roads of Dubai. What however even more common here is, how drivers think they have infra red or radar vision, driving through the fog as though they were cruising down an empty highway at top speed!


Gulf News reported:

Dubai Police's Command and Control Room reported more than 225 minor accidents ... Police blamed the accidents on drivers who were speeding, ignoring traffic rules and failing to leave enough space between vehicles.


Just over 225 accidents! I think it is something about the Dubai culture which makes people think that they are somehow related to Superman, by sharing his super power vision.

But remember...

“Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly”

Traffic Blues and Imagination!

Long are the hours spent on Sheikh Zayed Road (SZR), that I am seeing things! Must be the long tiresome wait in the unending traffic to and fro work. It is a good thing I am not driving and just sitting in the passenger seat.


This building on SZR for some reason reminds me of Barad-dûr, the fortress tower of Sauron, in the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) movie. Is it my eyes or was the architect an inspired LOTR fan? Or else it's my late night movie sessions on One Channel and MBC 2.

"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere." ~ Carl Sagan, US astronomer.

The mind is such marvelous get away. I guess that's all there is to do for people from Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman, who according to yesterday's Gulf News are "Living out of their vehicles." About 4- 5 hours on the road each day, does give a lot of people time to think!

Picture by Prasad Nair, Gulf News

~ * ~

632

The Brain—is wider than the Sky—
For—put them side by side—
The one the other will contain
With ease—and You—beside—

The Brain is deeper than the sea—
For—hold them—Blue to Blue—
The one the other will absorb—
As Sponges—Buckets—do—

The Brain is just the weight of God—
For—Heft them—Pound for Pound—
And they will differ—if they do—
As Syllable from Sound—

~ Emily Dickinson

A Dream of Peace!

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been sentenced to death by hanging. (AP)

He has been immortalized, he may swing on the noose, but like Hitler he will not be forgotten all that soon.


His captors, his judges, lawyers will all vanish in the sands of time - but Saddam will pop up in history and any conversation where ever US foreign policy is discussed, even if it is in the smallest of tea shops.


And yet innocent blood flows with no one to ask justice for them! Oh people of Iraq when will peace come to your land and souls? How Long? How Long? May not one dictator be replaced with the dictators in your hearts!

Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will live as one.

~ John Lennon

Taking a walk!

Many Dubai residents are slowly switching to motorcycles and bicycles to beat the traffic on the busy roads of Dubai, especially the traffic on SZR (Sheikh Zayed Road).


I guess with today morning's fog, low visibility and chock bloc traffic on SZR, this cyclist decided to walk to office, leaving the cycle locked up on the sign post. Only hope the person didn't try walking to Jebal Ali or Abu Dhabi! Then again he or she might have reached faster than I would have in my car!


No matter what you do! There is always something to make sure you spend a few hours on SZR every morning! Be it an accident, vehicle break down, lane jumpers, construction or road repairs and now the weather!

Time to get some new walking shoes!

SZR covered by fog!


Low visibility on the highway!

Thank you!

It's been a year now since FreeMind hit the blogosphere! One Year Complete!

This is a just a note of "thank you" to all my regular readers from UAE, India, USA, Australia, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Qatar, Italy and UK who have taken the interest and pains to come back and read more on this blog.

And thank you to all the others who stumbled onto my blog and clicked out faster than the "Flash" or in less than a minute! The honours go to Sweden, Portugal, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Germany, France, Denmark and Belgium.

A special thank you to my fellow bloggers and friends who have encouraged FreeMind to continously write. Thanks! Like someone quoted "This is not the end but the beginning."

Camelicious Drive by!

Dubai is famous for its desert safaris and dune bashing adventures. Perhaps this unusual couple had enough of the crowd in the desert and decided to have a pleasant drive around Dubai. Maybe looking for Camel City! After all there must be one among the endless cities popping up everywhere! There is already a Falcon City coming up.


Then again it is a pleasant surprise to see "real camels" driving past for a change.

"Stop looking at my Gal"

(Click on pictures for larger image)

What's in a Name?

Dubai is known for its business spirit and entrepreneurship. But at times, in their hurry to get their shop license – shop owners put together a couple of words to form a name for registration. Some of these names are unique and very much an integral part of the Dubai shopping experience.

Keep an eye out the next time you go out! Might give you a good reason to smile and admire the creative shops names!

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." ~William Shakespeare

I think that can be rewritten as "What's in a name? That which we call a shop by any other name would still sell only the things it has to offer."

Enjoy!