Thoughts on Blogging

Its always way easier said than done...more so for blogging. Its a burning desire I have to start a blog and pen my thoughts down, but being consistent is something that I am really poor at.

My younger one...to liven things up

One may wonder why am I so obsessed with blogging, is it because its a popular fad these days? Not really. All I want to achieve is a clarity in my thoughts and being self aware. What does self-aware mean to me?

In this day and age, where I am bombarded everyday with tonnes of information and news all of which is mostly irrelevant to me and my existence, yet I tend to alteast summarily browse through them. This has led me to a stage where I am never in one place with both body and mind, I can think of disparate things and dream up all kinds of fantasies that I have nothing to do with my skill set, my present and in all probability thats not what I even really want.

I  hate being late, implying I hate wasting time. But with all the above confusion running in my head I am wasting years of my life chasing unwanted dreams.

Hence with blogging or keeping a diary I should be able to focus on my thoughts and stuff that truly matters to my existence.

I have tried pushing my friends and cousins into blogging but none have been able to stick to this habit. It just proves that birds of same feathers flock together..:D

So now the new motto is to blog whenever I am reminded of it. I am too unorganized to follow a schedule, that shouldnt mean that I dont do it ever. 

AmsterDam Sept 2014

Wow!!! thats the shortest way to describe the lovely city of Amsterdam...

Beyond what I ever imagined of a western tourist destination, Amsterdam pleasantly surprised us with its energy and liveliness with the quality of the crowd.

Me and Nadeem met up in Frankfurt and reached Amsterdam by ICE train on Saturday afternoon. We werent particularly well planned but the series of coincidences culminating in us arriving at the perfect time in perfect weather just amazes me.

The trip though uneventful was full of amazing views of the most lovely countryside I have come across. Lush green fields dotted with cattle and horses feeding on the grass is a picture of utmost peace and beauty. The farm houses superbly bordered with sloping roofs and small children playgrounds leaves an impression of happiness and fulfillment.

Setting foot in Amsterdam on a bright sunny day we set out to find our hotel..Hotel Atlanta in Rembrandtplein. Booking via booking.com I hoped that the hotel was half as good and half as well located as described on the website. We were just shocked with the location of the hotel smack on the square surrounded by lovely restaurants and cafeterias. The crowds were every where and thats what we were looking for on a singles only weekend getaway.

The day started with us all hungry to grab some Halal food. There was no shortage of those. Turkish kebabs is my weakness, and I had enough of them to say enough is enough after 2 days of stuffing myself with them.

We had taken the 3 day  tram pass, so nothing was out of reach, we could just hop on and hop off the trams, buses and ferries marked with GVB, whatever those stand for. But the beauty is in the walk, strolling around the lanes and bylanes of the city, criss crossing the canals with pretty little bridges is an experience of the lifetime. It all look so beatiful and serene, that its hard to digest the facts behind these canals and the struggles the Dutch have always had with water.

Netherlands is quite famous for its windmills, atleast in my head that was the picture most associated with this country. There is not a single one to be seen in the city. The only way to see them was to visit the country side where they have persevered to keep these relics of history still standing and turning.

Tours and Tickets run a half day expedition which includes not only windmills, but also a visit to Volendam famous for its harbor and dyke and the island of Marken across the sea from Volendam. We took that on day 3, while never being very sure what to expect. We had such a great time that we thought it to be the best decision we have ever taken.

Seeing the windmills up close, learning about their working, walking in the country side, visiting a cheese factory and tasting the exquisite cheeses, crossing the sea onto Marken on a nice ferry, and visiting a wooden shoe factory in small hamlet village of Marken are all included within the 5 hour tour. It never feels hectic and nor does it feel slow. Its just the best.

Dubai!!

Having lived all my life in Saudi, its funny (for the lack of better word) that I visited Dubai first when I was already 26.

I fell in love with this place from the first day. It is a lovely place no doubt, and everyone will have their own reasons to like it or hate it. Mine were pretty basic; Respect & Humanity.


Is there any excess of those two qualities in this country? May be not! From where I was coming the difference was staggering. Its just sad that I spent such a large part of my life amidst terrible society, if you find that has rubbed off on me, give me a break, not my fault.

So, it happenened or so I made it happen that I am now relocated to Dubai with my company and now running the business for middle east and africa.



Its been 2 months now, and the feelings have not changed, though I was expecting them to. Its my nature to fall in love at the drop of a hat and then either regret it soon after
or love it even more. Dubai falls in the latter category.

So for me now, after my country India it is Dubai.

Settling down in Dubai was an amazingly easy experience, and I have moved around in my life a bit to know a thing or two. I have been in India and in Europe so that's not a  lot of experience, but experience nevertheless. I would love to post about it too, it might very well be the subject of my next post for lack of a better idea.

Actually I just had a couple of ideas for the next blog posts as below. Maybe it was true afterall that if you start  blogging ideas and words start pouring in!!

So the ideas:
1. Blog about the whole settling down experience from my specific perspective of moving from Saudi to UAE with family, house and car. It can be helpful to the hordes of people I hear moving to UAE these days.

2. Blog about my experience in India Though an Indian by naturalization, I have spent a very little time of my life there. More like an expat than a citizen.

3. Blog about my experience in Europe : Rather Finland, I can never cease to love that place. I did my undergraduation from there, and my experience might help a soul or two in their education plans. Mark my words, it is the best place to study.

The post has gotten quite lenghty, I cant see how I started without scrolling up. I have yet to pickup the art of concise writing.

When that happens is anyones guess! Chalo...until next time.