Been looking up how far the Omkara has gone, since i put up pictures of it on the web… and thanks to Currylingus, C***S***F, SepiaMutiny and more recently Sensory Impact and Jalopnik ….. its still delightfully on the roll ..

People who have linked to Omkara – Thanks a bunch !
Sensory Impact – Cheers Bud ! Thanks for the writeup !
Desi Media Bitch (aka c***S***f )
SepiaMutiny
Currylingus
Jalopnik

And guess what peeps ?? I had told Nina Paley (writer, director and animator of the gorgeous series Sitayana) about the Omkara and she actually left a comment on the site

Nina Paley comments on Omkara …
“AWESOME! Now I want an Om-bicycle-a.”
Thanks Nina – i’ll get to painting your Om bicycle sooon .. ;P

Sadly though .. i could use all the help i can get to revive the omkara .. cuz right now thats what it looks like –>

So any of you in Dubai … who might know of a sweet and covered parking spot where i can park this mini – pllllllssss let me know !!

not quite there yet boys !! not quite there yet !
Still wanna be able to see those images … cmon hurry up – whats taking you so long !!!??

It says : ” We apologize the site that you are attempting to visit has been blocked due to its content being inconsistent with the religious, cultural, political and moral values of the United Arab Emirates “

I say : ” inconsistent – my ass “

How disgusting and painfully sad this is. tch tch tch
Just a fine example of why i feel so creatively stiffled by this country and its policies. Doesn’t the the ‘Big E’ realize that there are much more clever ways of finding nudity if one needs to find some and that blanket blocking sites such as flickr.com does not at all offer a solution to the problem. If the ‘higher ups’ were realllly so concerned about ‘practices’ that were so inconsistent with religious, cultural, political and moral values of the country – does it not make more sense to go out and clear the streets and dodgy nightclubs around town first !!!? pitiful !

Earlier this year, E blocked out ‘friendster.com’ apparently because it encouraged ‘dating’ … hmmm… yea right !! you heard me ! ‘DATING aint allowed here’ hmm so let me get this right – One is allowed to go and pick up a tight skirt russian or a filipina or both from the cyclone parking lot, but you aren’t allowed to ‘date’ …. pitiful !

I wouldnt be surprised if every single blog and other blog engines of the likes of blogger and livejournal too get blocked out soon ….. pitiful !

Nibbling away on chicken salad and surfing through the daily blog roll today at work, i paused for a fair bit at Currylingus’s post on the ‘official H2 salute’ which happens to be a?… ‘a birdie’ !!

hmm….

…. i agree completely – sure there is a bit of hidden jealousy there …. but im goin to hide behind my enviornment friendly facade and say “hello !! oil is running out – we should be conserving and this gas guzzler aint helping + i really dont want a lane hoarder like an h2 giving me a hardshoulder .. do i !? ”

I guess there are a lotta ppl out there who feel the same way about the H2.
Check out this fun website called FUH2 and join the community of H2 despisers you guys.

Funny thing though …. just as i finished reading the post on currylingus’s … Shk.Mo comes into my office and says “Raj..i think you will want to see my new car”

DAMN !!! this car was PIMP !! Red interiors and chrome+chrome+chrome everywhere.. and guess what he said he was going to get the door to open up ( like one of them lamborghinis ) .. damn… thats gonna be just PIMPER !! huh ??

How could i resist and not join the evergrowing international community of FUH2’s out there.. so thats my submission !! HAH! take that you H2 lovers you !! ( nothing personal Mo … even though i hate this car because i cant have it … you still owe me a ride in this pimp machine.. daymn ! )

daymn!

This is a bit of a random realization post based on a recent observation. Consider it an insiders point of view to this fascinating city called Dubai.

At the Car Wash
Always remember to play an indian fm station whilst getting your car washed. Madcap pointless observation !? not really !

After rolling the car out of the wash, when one drives into the cleaning/drying area to get the car tidied up, there is generally a squad of four superfast indian+paki fellas who go zoop-zoop-zooop-zooop around the vehicle and then go ‘thank you sir – come again’. As efficient as this may seem, one usually ends up noticing soap suds still accumulated around the corner of the windshield or dust on the dashboard !!

Sooooo…. to rectify this one should play an indian fm station on the car radio when these fellas started cleaning. They usually take the liberty of pumping up the volume and then do a song and dance routine whilst doing the necessary chore. The catch here is that, a ‘regular’ hindi song from a ‘regular’ hindi film plays on for not less than 6 minutes – and usually by the 3rd minute these guys are are so engrossed into their little taptap routine.. that they prefer to stay on – clean – scrub every corner of your car till the song ends !

So there you go – you drive away feeling all happy, clean and satisfied – and they move onto another car with a happy tune in their head! – Fun for all !

At the Gates
This has to be one of the most important of all Dubaian ways – its called ‘flicka the fingas ‘

When approaching a security gate of any sort – it becomes increasingly important not to come to a halt – maintain a decent rolling speed – look extremely confident and have hand ready to be raised in a gesture of ‘its allright … i show mercy – you weakling”.

Just when passing the gate, raise the hand and flick the fingers ( usually middle and index finger joined ) and in a very calm and confident manner …. drive through. If done with accuracy, nobody will ever bother asking what exactly your daily business with the sheikh really is !

At the MiniMarts
Although many find this practice quite apalling and outright demeaning… its funny how second-nature it has become in this part of the world… what am i talking about ?

Im talking about how one doesnt find the need to park the car, get off and make the effort to walk into the minimart to buy anything… instead just *HONK* and scream out the shopping list. Usually, one of them employees come running out from the store to make a mental note of the list …. and in matter of seconds, have your daily milk+ bread+ jam and butter neatly placed on your back seat. how convenient !? or how spoilt !?

Well thats Dubai and the Dubaian way of doing things .. i guess !

Hello Sunshine!! – www.artraj.com