Back in Dubai after almost a year ! What a roller coaster ride it has been. Sometimes it feels like life is taking me to new places, with minimal warning or preparation. While the excitement of doing something new is always there, the trepidation of restless change also keeps me tense. So I put everything in Gods hands and do what I know most – work.
I came to Dubai almost two months ago. Found a hotel apartment and stayed there till today. Today I moved to my new apartment which is also in my old building itself. It’s actually old, and the rent is hefty. But I like familiar places and familiar people, and so decided to start my next innings here.
It felt wonderful seeing my old friends and colleagues. I had really missed them when I moved to Europe. It was almost like I found it very difficult to adjust away from Dubai. Some people want to be away from Dubai, some people like me want to get back to Dubai. That’s the mystery of life. We are in this constant search for happiness and gratification without realizing that what we want is all around us and near us. I was lucky enough to get a good job here when I wanted to get back. I count it as a blessing and know that it’s really some kind of divine intervention.
Somebody once said in order to move forward with single minded focus, we need to unburden ourselves of all that could hold us back. I need to learn that still, but I am sure one day I will get there. For now it’s a kaleidoscope of memories and vivid recollections and experiences and emotions that fill me and I am learning to navigate through it all. Its changing me and it’s not something I crave for. But I guess we all need to get tougher, because life is tough.
Dubai has been the place that gave me beautiful friendships, and it’s also the place that makes the driven succeed. On my return, things had changed a lot. People had changed, their perceptions and needs had changed. It was very easy to identify my true friends because they were few, and they were always there for me. Even when I found things tough and needed support, the boys were there for me. That meant a lot.
To start again from zero is a great experience. Apartment is done. Need a car, but the waiting period for the car I am looking for, is a long one. How long is long is the question. For me, I will wait for as long as it takes. Because I am determined not to settle for anything less than my choice.
I really missed church in Geneva. It felt so peaceful to visit the church on my arrival, and relieve myself of all those feelings of loneliness and lawlessness. As we get older, priorities change, and I look forward to peace in my life. My wife also wants peace in her life, so I think she’s mostly spending her time in India and with Jo in UK. Cant’ blame her 🙂 I think I am difficult to live with.
In my life so far, I have done my best to support my friends and colleagues. However, I am also human and I believe there are those I have hurt too. Not deliberately, but when the weight of expectations that are not met, push me down, sometimes I react and that can cause hurt. Again, that’s life. True friends understand it and work it out. I can only promise to get better.
My daughter is not coming to visit me this vacation and so it will be upto me to plan some trips to see her. I am finding it difficult to take time off from my hectic schedule but I miss seeing her and walking around London with my little girl. Soon she will become independent and have her own life. Though I wish it would be different, I know it’s only right that we let them fly when they get wings. Let them soar and explore and conquer. What I couldn’t do, I will wish for my child to achieve.
I believe my career still has some pleasant surprises in store, and I really look forward to it. After that long time of slow paced work, I am raring to go, and really enjoying the work. The more work there is, the better I seem to like it. I miss Engineering work, but maybe that will change in course of time.
My classmates and I are planning a trip to Thailand to celebrate our fifty years in this mischievous world. Sometime in September. I always used to hold myself back from such get togethers, but the world as I know it, has changed. So I guess it’s time to change myself as well.
In my plans are a garden, lot of weekend trips and responsible recklessness.
The summer is here and I wish all of my friends a pleasant and enriching holiday season. Now that schools will close and lot of people will go to their home countries for the two months of holidays, traffic will also be less. There’s always something good in every situation 🙂