Just back from an extended weekend. It was the national day here so we had Sunday off as well.
And what a wet and windy weekend it was.
It has collectively rained for barely 10 hours in the last 5 years and last weekend it rained for 16 hours continuously. And that too during the opening ceremony of the Asian Games in Doha.
Did any of you manage to catch it on TV? Quite spectacular.
Qatar spent quite a chunk of its oil revenue on this and made sure it was well worth the effort.
Money after all does make the world go round.
The best bit came in the end when 4 horsemen galloped into the stadium and paused in the middle. Then a huge curtain like thing seperated to show the son of he ruler of Qatar on a magnificient stallion with a torch in his hand at one end of the stadium. He then gallopped across the stadium and up a flight of stairs to light the cauldron. Rain however had made the new steel stairs slippery and the gusty winds weren't helping matters either. At 2 or 3 times during the ride it almost looked like the horse was going to slip and fall and it even stopped and hesitated once but was coaxed on by the prince who is also the captain of the Equestrian team. Inspite of all the other wonderful technical wizardy, this one spectacle of man against nature was what transfixed everyone. Guess after everything is over and done with, human struggle is what is the most interesting. Now i know why the 24 hours news channels seem to be doing so well.
Speaking of money, 2 years back during the deluge when Mumbai got flooded and filmstars walked through slush, everyone talked about the lack of resources etc and lastweek it rained for 1 day here and UAE nearly drowned. Guess money does not make the world go round after all.
Have a great day/s ahead.
OXOXOX
Vish
P.S. by the way that OX is hugs and kisses.
Fantastic pictures...and yes in the final analysis, it is always man v/s the elements...y'day we had a new system rolled out...and it went so bad..that we(the bank) lost face..and it took the old fashioned "hand and mind" way of people to steady the badly rocking boat...
ReplyDeleteif you'd leave your name it would be terribly helpful
ReplyDeleteShyam says...
ReplyDeleteWell- the Asian games is not really a showcase event anymore and all the hype around opening ceremonies is worthless to my mind. Reason- the China domination; its almost like they will walk away with all medals in the next few years. Credit to them- regarldess of how they actually drive to this level of perfection and efficiency; but a pathetic state of affairs as far as all other asian countries are concerned. As for wealth & UAE, its a set of bubble economies at play really. I know that most of the UAE is starting to look a lot like the US "downtown" centers- but again- its cosmetic. Where is the growth coming from- some rich emir's indulgence...I am pretty certain that a large set of people are still uneducated & below poverty line levels....I can go on & on about this; but creating these heavenly cities right in the midst of all the strife around them is a sure recipe for disaster
EVERYONE, VISHAL WENT TO THE ASIAN GAMES OPENING,
ReplyDeleteLUCKY HIM!
I am DYING OF ENVY..........NOT.
BY The Way Any comments on "BORAT"?