Friday, February 15, 2013

Dubaized


I am almost scared to admit that I have been dubaized. Today one of my school friends asked me if I had any plans to shift back in India and my instant reply was ‘no’. Dubai has spoiled me. No matter how much I long for Delhi street food, friends, family and romanticize my country’s potholes, filth even mosquitoes, deep down I know I like Dubai, I love the place. It’s cleaner, less chaotic and far more convenient. I complain a lot about Dubai’s flaws, lack of street food, lack of culture, intellectual stimulation and blah blah…but what it has offered me in last three years can’t go unnoticed. In Delhi I was just a voice in the background. I was never spotted on the roads. I was anonymous and honestly I liked it that way. Despite some fifty odd hoardings that went up on Delhi roads, screaming loud and clear to catch my new show on a local radio station, I didn’t have anyone come up to me and say…’hey you are RJ Lokesh right?’ ok it happened twice, maybe thrice…but in a span of 3 years of being on air in Delhi. In Dubai the score is thrice practically every day. Not at the cost of sounding too narcissist, it’s flattering when people spot you on the road or give you that –I-have-seen-you-somewhere smile/look. It doesn’t happen with RJs for sure. Dubai has made that happen for me. And then there is my car. I am not a car person, I admit. I could be bloody well driving a Toyota or Civic or a Lamborghini, I promise I couldn’t care less. I am more of a passenger than a driver. I would anyday be driven around than be asked to play the designated driver. Yet I bought one of the costliest, fanciest cars in the market- Audi A5, convertible. And I admit, every time the top goes down and the speedometer hits 100 in the third second, my heart misses a beat and swells with pride. No I am not saying, the car makes anyone look cool. I admit it’s always the other way round. Yet it feels great (even if it means momentary) to own such hot wheels and a even hotter body!! The always air conditioned indoors, the malls that spoil you with choice, the varieties, that familiar look by the hot chick walking down the road, that young lady who spots me in Meena Bazar and excitedly asks for a quick pic, the every weekend shopping, the cupboards packed with clothes and shoes, the lazing around in my house’s balcony that looks over the ocean, the comforts…yes the material pursuits, the perishable comforts have made me fall in love with the city! Fuck how shallow I could be, I wonder!