Skyward Fire

All Together Now by Light of Midnight

Before I came to the UAE, I was told a lot of negative things about the country, about the ways of the government, and how things really work over here. Most of it turned out to be contradictory to what I had heard when I actually saw things with my very own eyes. And most of the things turned out to be basically the same in form or another like it is there back home in India. Might I as well add, that for the next years, UAE is my home. The 4 years of engineering studies will keep me occupied here. What plans after that? Well, that will eventually unfold during the course of time.

One amongst the very things I heard a lot about was the Government. UAE is a monarchy, actually, one amongst the very few fully functional monarchies in the world. There are different rules for the Royal Family, different rules for the locals, and different rules for the expatriates. But is that really that bad? I don’t think so. If you go to someone else’s house, you’ll be expected to abide by their own rules and ethics for as long as you’re there at their place. You’re a guest there, and your hosts will do their best to appease you as long as you keep them happy. You came here out of your own free will, and you are free to leave at your own liberty. And if you think you’re not free to do so, you should have thought and re-thought about getting here in the first place.

We here a lot about the economic recession and the bad press that Dubai and UAE usually get from non-Middle Eastern press. Alright, every one knows that the local press, the local media as a whole is controlled by the government. And it is bad. But I’m kind of glad there’s some restriction. Back in India, the press and the media have often taken advantage of such freedom to promote agendas of their own every time they get a chance. As far as the class system goes, it’s rampant here. And it is so even in India, and that too, not just in small towns and villages, but even in metros and other occupationally bigger cities. We define what goes on here as racism. And what happens in India is basically put together as casteism. Basically, it’s the same thing with two different names. Are we so different after all?

Some people find the rules and regulations here really restrictive. I am absolutely with the government on most of the rules and regulations that apply directly to social life. Actually, I’m in huge favor of laws against smoking, drinking & non-medicinal drug consumption. Of course, it’s a personal choice, but how about doing so without causing discomfort of the others. We have plenty of that in India, and over here, it’s less. And if the cops here for once just really enforced this rule, we might just flush out all the drunken rats that we have here. If you can’t hold on to yourself after a drink or two, you need to stop. Like right now. As for the whole economic recession rant about Dubai, there is none of that here. And it probably wont have a bad financial time as long as the world needs oil, and as long as UAE produces it. People here have enough gold and sumptuous bank balances to actually be in any kind of economic recession. The same goes for India. There’s just so much of black money there that no matter how bad the situation is, the black suits and the politico types can always inject some of their own personal wealth to make sure the engine is well-oiled for even the worst of situations. So it happens everywhere. Are we so different after all?

For every nation, there’s pros and cons. And there’s always room for improvement. Is something is broken, it can always be fixed. We’re a planet run by humans, and we’re all very familiar with human nature of erring and fixing, and sometimes, not fixing. India and UAE are two very different cultural mechanisms, but in the end, who we are, and what we do is all the same for everyone. UAE and India are two beautiful countries, and both have intense potential to marvel up ahead in time.