First days on foreign soil......

I can still remember the emotional moment when I saw my parents and dear friends at the Bombay airport waving at me. As soon as I lost sight of them, I realised that a whole new world awaits where there are not people behind to help or support you if you fall. Quite automatically, I felt more responsible. The joy of flying by plane was somewhat lost in the sadness of leaving the most important people in my life.
Even as IA 681 took off from Bombay at 12:05 am, I saw the chain of streets and hoarding lights disappear into darkness and soon there was only the black Arabian sea to give me company.

I read some Technip info and a WC 2006 magazine and had my dinner on the flight. Soon, after some 2 hrs, lights reappeared again in the background. These were my first live glimpses of a foreign land - something which I had only heard of and seen only on TV or books. As we touched down at Sharjah, I could clearly see the small sand dunes and before I could realise, I was amidst a host of Malaylis, Americans, French, Iranians and ofcourse Arab people. Soon, after completing formalities, I found myself in one of the most comfortable AC vehicles sent by the company to pick me up and it roared down the WIDE highways at 130 KMPH !!!!!!!!! As we roared, I could see a stadium with lights and for all practical purposes, regarded it to be the stadium where the GOD demolished the Aussies some 8 yrs ago !!!!!!

I slept in the car and reached our hotel - a 10 star one (for me) at 4 in the morning. Soon, without any sleep, I made my way to the office at 8 in the morning. First day was spent mainly completing the formalities. The office people were nice with me and my fresher colleagues, Vikas and Shraddha are really nice ppl to hv as friends.

Abu Dhabi is characterized by TALL buldings and WIDE roads - u will hv to walk vertically, not horizontally. All the posh cars going around and u will hv utter confusion since u will tend to look left when u hv to look right while crossing the road since vehicles are left-hand drive here. This place is hot but ACs are everywhere. I met an Indian and Bangladeshi working in the hotel and they were so happy to see an Indian here !!!!!

I got an accomodation with a southie family at reasonable price close to office. Here, most things are cheap including food, cyber, cell, travel and most things except for acco. There are lots of malls and restaurants and I am proud to be working on the 21st flr of the tallest building in Abu Dhabi !!!!!!!!!!

This place is still a concrete jungle - worth working in some of poshest offices which are hard to find even in Nariman Point in Bombay!!!!!! The buildings from inside look very ordinary and it is not worth to live here as socialising is difficult. My pre-medical check-up was done by French lady doctor and it was really quite an amusing experience. Ofcourse, anything Indian - be it the food or the movies or the people looks doubly nice from this place. Today I happened to watch Lakhshya on TV and literally cried at some of the scenes. As they say, when u live away from India while being Indian at heart, you realise the power of India.

Will write more soon..