By Anita Iyer
As I turned on the mobile network one morning last week, my cellphone beeped continuously. My first thought was, “Is everything fine at home?” Unlocking it, I was relieved to see a flood of messages from people I don’t usually hear from, wishing me happy friendship day. A few messages had genuine warmth, enquiring what’s new in my life, but most were forwards.
Continue reading Need special skills to make friends in Dubai. Have them?
By Anjana Sankar
For the last couple of years, I have routinely bought big tubs of chocolate from an ice cream parlour near my house in Khalidiya. I love chocolate, so I never deviate from flavour, but of late, I have tweaked my buying pattern.
Continue reading Why I’ve decided to say no to those ice cream spoons
By Keith Pereña
Wow! An astronaut! I told my grandmother as ASIMO, a humanoid robot, appeared on our boxy television’s screen. His white figure walked in measured steps to reach a spotlight where he finally waved hello to the rest of the world. Grandmother adjusted the antenna on the tube so that my brother and I could view the spectacle clearly. The advert ran for a minute before regular programming of the news and afternoon dramas resumed. Continue reading Bye-bye, ASIMO, the original robot, retiring after 18 years
By Dhanusha Gokulan
Wasting time on Reddit, the social news aggregation website and app is one of my favourite past times. People tend to be honest on the platform. There’s even a ‘subreddit’ I subscribe to, and I’ve read every post any ‘Redditor’ (a person who uses Reddit) has posted on it. For those new to these terms, subreddit is a space for people to discuss matters such as financial planning and how to overcome debt.
Continue reading What I learned after four years of living in debt
In retrospect, I don’t blame myself for fangirling.
It was a moment of serendipity — completely unexpected, unplanned, and straight out of a Hollywood movie.
As a web journalist, opportunities to mix with the high-flying celebrities of the region are few and far in between.
Continue reading I met His Highness for that one second, and he said, “Marhaba”
By Kelly Clarke
Walking through the doors of a popular tailors in Meena Bazaar earlier this week, the initial sense of calm struck me. Being one of the busiest shopping districts in Dubai, just days ahead of Eid al Fitr, I was expecting chockfull shop fronts, queues of demanding customers, and a sense of panic among overworked tailors. Instead, at one place, I got two friendly receptionists and a waiting area consisting of three empty chairs.
Continue reading Come now, who got blingy clothes tailored for Eid?
By Sushmita Bose
I’ve never dined at Rang Mahal restaurant at the JW Marriott in Dubai — though I’ve been meaning to for a while (in fact, I came this close to visiting when it had organised a cookout recently). Atul Kochhar, the first Indian chef to have fetched up a Michelin star (for Benaras restaurant in Mayfair, London), used to be its star power (he’s based in London, but visited Dubai often enough).
Continue reading A stupid tweet burnt a chef. He apologised. Can we let it go?
