Shawarma...

Shawarma...(I expect the ninety-nine percent of my readers not to know this word a bit… in case it’s the opposite then it’s my pure ignorance on play)

Whatz so special abt this word…. This wouldn’t be of any significance for me if it didn’t happen to be my dinner for past 1 week... I have been surviving on this for last 7 days….

This happens to be an Arabic dish (I think one of the best things that they gave to this world)… Its origin is from Turkey and its cousins across the globe are Greek Gyros and Mexican Taco (I haven’t tasted those yet)…

It’s got slices of grilled chicken meat or lamb (have heard that beef variants are also available) with tomato, cucumber, lettuce dressed with garlic sauce. Some people also include potato fries in between to build it up... this is all wrapped up in a Arabic bread (locally called Kubhoz or pita)… The meat is grilled in a vertical flame cooker… With this they also give some cucumber and chili seasoned in vinegar.

Whoa this combi is heavenly and a must for every food lover (non-veg)… some people may not like the rawness of the meat the first time but somehow I have learned to bypass that part…

The taste here differs from each countries restaurants... Turkish, Egyptian, Lebanese, Syrian…..

The best part is that you (actually I) don’t have to go to hi fi restaurants to have this... u have lot of street corner shops serving this… so that saves u a lot of time and money and stares…

Coming to the last part “the stares”…. Being an expatriate here in an Arabic country where your ethnic race overtakes the local native population (the demographic ratio is little unbalanced here), u have to sustain these stares…

Sometimes when I go to these Arabic Restaurants, u find heads turning... (sometimes 180 degrees) and looking at u… (that typical “what the heck” kind of stuff)…. I somehow manage to convey across the counter what I need and get it with a broad smile on my face… most of the guys who served wore a puzzled look….

This usually used to deter me from going to treat myself with some extra calories… but this thing changed some time back… I happen to go to this Egyptian restaurant and asked for the Shawarma… even though the guy was new, the look was the age old one… but the difference was this guy spoke… he knew a little English(that’s strange) and little Hindi(that’s not very strange in this part of the world or at least where I reside)…

He asked me “u Indian?” (with his chin going quite narrow and wide eyes)

I said with a made up smile “yeah…” and to myself “is that a problem”

He says to me “I joined (this) place 2 weeks (back)… you the first one who comes here…” (as though I was one of those little zombie things walking)

Oh Boy…. this guy is sure to make my sandwich cold… but for courtesy sake I just reply that “I happen to like the taste….”

Then he gives a even more wide smile… “That’s strange...seriously strange...”

Then I quiz him “whatz strange abt that”

With a broad smile he tells me, “u not like other Indians, u talk nicely too” (if he had continued a bit more I bet he would have got what is to talk to a guy who is half dead out of hunger)

Baggage Check !!!

One more reason to opt out of IE !!!

if you had noted that Micro$oft's Internet Explorer is not displaying my blog properly...

U don't get the lists, smilies, empty paras, etc etc... Its time to look for alternatives like Firefox, Mozilla, Opera, Netscape...

Support Open Sauce...

Web filter glitch slows down internet service...

This article was in the front page of my newspaper today…

Web filter glitch slows down internet service
Dubai: The slow internet service experienced this week stemmed from technical problems over the web filter that blocks inappropriate content throughout the Gulf, UAE's telecom regulator said on Tuesday.
Since Sunday, web users throughout the GCC have endured slow connections and inconsistent service, with some users unable to access mainstream sites like Google or Yahoo.
xxxxxx, director-general of the yyyyyyy Authority , said early reports suggest a software program became incompatible with the proxy filter.
zzzzz officials informed xxxxxx the problem was resolved as of Tuesday afternoon, when telecom operators in the region jointly completed a system upgrade.
Service was wholly unaffected for du's internet subscribers in Dubai's free zones, however, which is not covered by the proxy.

I would like some explanations regarding this article (obliviously I cannot write to the editor :-) )

• What do they mean by inappropriate content?? Does Google Web accelerator, skype, public proxy servers, orkut(till recently) fall into these categories
  
• If it’s slow now…. Excuse what do u term the situation before ? “Fast” ?
• Does the director general know the difference between the software program (leave alone proxy filter) and his TV remote.
• Its Wednesday night I am writing this and still the situation is same… so what do they mean by Tuesday afternoon ?
• So does the immoral and inappropriate content not affect the Dubai’s free zone… why are they not covered by the proxy
  

In case I don’t blog in future then you can all guess what happened to me… :-(

It was nice knowing all of you...

“Letters to the Editor” or is it “Thanks to the Editor”??

The other day when Baba was in town we were discussing the quality of newspapers back at home and here… I certainly do miss “The Hindu” and its editorial. I literally grew up reading it up every morning till I came here. After ending up here, I have given up reading and even forgot what actual editorials are supposed to be. How many decades have to pass before these gulf newspapers get some balls to be a critic of the governments here? Instead of calling themselves as newspapers it would be better off if they said they were just press releases of govts. Forget even reporting, the kind of letters to the editor you get here is sometimes unbelievable. Usually it’s a thanks letter to government (it seems for keeping all happy) or somebody.

A typical one that appeared today…

City with a heart

I had finished my grocery shopping and the cart was heavy. I was pushing it across the car park. There were many speed bumps along the pathway. I managed to negotiate a few. And then came a colossal one. I hauled and heaved no avail. As I gave it a second try, an old man walking past quickly stopped and helped me pull it over.
Once the cart was over the speed bump, he turned and walked away. I barely had enough time to say a “thank you”. It may not have been much, but it was a random act of kindness, which showed me that Dubai has its heart in the right place.
From
Name withheld by request
Dubai

I won’t mind these kind of letters once in a while but certainly not daily… the typical letter subjects -- “A true story”, “Dubai police to the rescue”, “Bold Initiative”, “Awesome idea” --- these are the subjects are from a single day :-)

I am thinking of writing a thankful letter to the editor tomorrow thanking for publishing the paper and delivering to my home and I have a gut feeling that it would get published (and of course my name would be withheld by request)

Truly IT

I am bloggin from Chennai Airport... Thanks to BSNL's free wi-fi.... believe me guys we have a good connection in midst of all the same old bureaucratic hassles and broken chairs and leaking taps....
In one side there is a billboard for CRY and next to it Free Wifi board....

Ok now on the way back to work.. After all the great time for past 2 weeks with the gang....

Rest of the bloggin from AUH