A year to remember - 2011

Unlike other years that passed by, 2011 has been a year worth looking back at. If 2007 was one of the years of my life which saw changes coming drastically in me from being a student to a professional, then 2011 was one which brought me back from a completely professional life to a balanced life which had certain things to keep for lifetime.

1. From childhood to adulthood, never felt like I have grown up until I was engaged. I realized. We have all grown up and now its time to take responsibility of our own life. I got married to the man who means world to me on 7th Feb 2011.I feel blessed to have him for lifetime. A BIG Thank to him, you give reason to live life for a lifetime. So this date and this year will always be special for me. The new chapter of life began, I came Dubai. I resigned my job in Pune.

2. Not sooner than expected, I was recruited to a good position in a world's one of the leading bank mid year. It boosted my confidence indeed.It was due to Swapnil's belief in me which made me stretch my limits.

3. 2011 took me one step ahead in my career. However my association with TechM over the last three and half years have been eventful and happening. I would for sure miss my first organization which gave me the platform for what I am today. Thanks to all the people whom I met, I worked with. Time spent at Tech Mahindra would always be fresh in my mind and would be there as a happy memory

4. Realization of the fact that no matter how I felt about Dubai initially, now I feel like home when in Dubai. Not a bad place to live in. I found it next to impossible to move away from Pune, a place where I have lived my precious four years. Its not the place but the experience out here that has pulled me back. Having struggled hard with Swapnil to get settled and get a life here was the most difficult thing over the years and I truly believe I need to preserve what I have achieved being at Dubai. Looking forward to continue it the way it has been so far.

5. I have got some good friends in Dubai with whom I can connect and who have added value to my life. Also, I am in touch with most of friends in back home .

These were few of the best things that 2011 had to offer. There have been many such things which are beyond my capability to express. There have been bad moments as well but I would prefer forgetting them and collect them as part of my tryst with Life

Dibba/Musandum - An Oasis in Desert

A trip to Dibba/Musandum was a treat.

It’s been eight months we are living in Dubai. At times I feel like going back to india and visit my parents. but this is not the right time to take break out of the job(As it’s just four months I have joined my new job). I was really bored of humid and hot climate of Dubai. It was then we boarded a van for dibba. Dibba is a coastal region at the northeastern tip of the United Arab Emirates(UAE)/Oman peninsula on the Gulf of Oman. To get there one has to cross the border of UAE and step in the Sultanate of Oman(yes this is how it was written on Dibba information board). No visa is required to go for a full day tour at Musandam Dibba(this applies if one has UAE Visa). The beautiful Dibba in Musandam peninsula unfolds a full day of sheer fun and relaxation. Winters had just started in the middle east when we visited Dibba.  It was 6AM in the morning,  the climate was foggy when we started our journey from Dubai to Dibba. All the sky kissing buildings were glittering in silver shades(the tallest Burj Khalifa was the most beautiful ). From window of our van it looked like a beautiful portrait. The windy road led us from range of white mountains to another range of completely black mountain, followed by a range of yellow, red hills. As if nature has painted these mountains in its own colors. It was simply awesome. All the hills with no trees, yet they looked amazingly beautiful. Here, cement factories were also located. Huge mechanical factories indeed. 

Then we entered the Dibba- Al- Fujerah province. Anyone could figure out that this is very well designed and managed city. The day being the 40th national day of UAE, all the buildings were decorated with national flag of UAE. The flowers were beautifully arranged on both the sides of the road. The roundabouts were very stunning, making mark of Emirati heritage We reached dibba by 10 AM. Then a wooden cruise(such type of cruises are called as Dhow cruise in UAE) took us in the blue and beautiful Arabic ocean. The breeze was very cold. When the morning sunlight touched the surface of ocean. It looked like thousands of diamonds are shining. The sky was blue and so was water. Water was too clear to see the reflection of the sky.

After being on the cruise for 1 hr we reached a place where cruise was stopped in the water in the middle of the ocean. Then started the real fun of water games.

First time I had banana boat ride. It was amazing. As I don’t know swimming I was allowed to go for banana boat ride on Swapnil’s risk(Swapnil is a real good swimmer). Sometimes while turning th in the sea the banana boat gets twisted and all boarded passengers fall straight in the water. Thankfully our boat ridded safely but other boat twisted in the ocean in front of me. My heart came in my  mouth.

After that followed a speed boat ride. It was fun.  The driver of the boat was very enthusiastic. He took us deep in the sea with hooping speed and took a drastic turn as boat made a 70 degree angle with the surface of the water. It  was terrible yet exciting. After this romance with water, boat took us back to the cruise. I was surprised when some young boys were jumping from the top of the cruise in the ocean.

Swapnil also wanted to jump. He just expressed his desire and guessed the depth from the roof of cruise then looked at me. I was sure, though he is a good swimmer he won’t be courageous enough to jump in the ocean from 12 meters, at least not when there are no safety measures around.

But he made his mind (I think he wanted to impress me). And jumped from the top of the cruise. He was so happy as if he had discovered his childhood. After some swimming in the salty Arabic ocean we boarded our cruise. I must mention here that water was very clean and clear. After all this fun we had a very good lunch on the cruise and headed back to the port. Now I was feeling as if  I am in heaven after hard work in water, had a nice lunch then I was laying on the roof of the cruise and cold breeze touching like a soft feather. I couldn’t ask for anything more.