Saturday, November 07, 2015

Musical evening

I went to a musical evening with Anshuman yesterday. Sonu Nigam sang and completely charmed the audience. He does have a lovely voice and I never knew how funny he could be. He kept the audience singing and laughing throughout. I met some people I hadn't seen in ages. The Indian food including paani poori and dosas was mouth watering. I wore a sari but very poorly I must say. I had got some clip on bling to put on my sandals but I lost one. I spilled water on myself twice and silently thanked myself for not drinking alcohol otherwise all my clothes would be wine stained I'm sure. The women were dressed in all their finery and I've never seen so many diamonds in one place. I mean it was a thief's wet dream!

Thursday, November 05, 2015

Winter

You know how it is... sometimes you want to write but you're not sure of what you want to say. Let me just share my pleasure at the arrival of winter once again. Those of us who live in the desert truly cherish these pleasant days and nights. There are smiles everywhere you go. When I go for a walk with the dogs every evening a soft, cool breeze blows. There is a basketball tournament going on next door and people cheer loudly as someone lands one in. The green grass is turning lush slowly and the flowers are blooming, the birds are singing and nesting. A dove has made a nest on the branches of the Neem tree outside my window. She has laid her eggs and patiently warms them for hours. Children laugh and run about, playing as the mums look on fondly. I can relax by the bedroom window with a book as the dogs sunbathe and another soft and sunny day goes by.

Monday, November 02, 2015

November

The winter is slowly tip toeing in to the desert hand in hand with the beautiful month of November. We went to a lovely lake where they allow dogs and it was such a pleasure to see Ninna jump into the water. She's a bit of a neat freak I think as her paws got muddy she would go into the water again only to get the mud on her again. We met a few dog owners, some of whom had come with their picnic baskets to enjoy the lovely evening.

The days have become so pleasant that I can leave my window open in the afternoon and lie in the sun, read my book as the dogs laze around. I'm reading this book called Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith. More than half the book is over and there's been no mention of Agent 6. The story seems to be meandering from Russia to America to Afghanistan and Leo Demidov is nowhere near getting revenge. Honestly I don't like leaving books halfway but I'm so tempted to just toss this one aside. It's not that what he's writing is uninteresting but if I needed a lesson in history I would read a history book or historical fiction. Anyway here's to a pleasant sun filled November!

Sunday, November 01, 2015

Miss you already

A stroke of good fortune brought Ankita to Dubai almost three years ago. And it was as if we had never lost touch. And now she's in a designer's haven, Paris and I miss her already. All the Thursday nights we went dancing and got to know the band thanks to her. I miss her effervescence, her joie de vivre, the way she cut onions to precise little pieces and her funky jewellery collection. Arte will not be the same without her. I will miss her everytime I go through all the handicraft stalls. And I'll miss little Ahana running up to me and jumping into my arms with kisses and 'I love yous'. This is the life of expats in Dubai. It's a transitory place and you must adjust to the absence of loved ones.

This is just to say that I wish you all the very best in the city of love. I hope you will settle down well and soon and travel to all sorts of exotic places. Love you to bits and miss you already Onki!