The alliteration of Dubai with Dreams is not accidental. Dubai is very much the stuff fantasies are made of. More importantly – it is in Dubai that dreams melt into reality with a seemingly effortless grace. The first time I came to this Wonderland, it simply took my breath away. What majesty! What magnificence! What magic! I was besotted, utterly and completely. Dubai, to me, became not a city but a phenomenon. All the dreams that I had dreamt about my future came to fruit in this Eden on Earth and newer, bigger dreams now fill my mind.
It is true that I can count the number of years I spent on Dubai soil on my fingers – but when I attempt to enumerate the gifts this magical city gave to me in these two years, I find myself wishing for many more fingers. The multi-ethnic work culture here gave me inspiring insights into several cultures across the globe, even as I made friends galore from the Diasporas of so many nations breathing the Dubai air.
Working in the employer-friendly ambience of the Dubai workplace, my professional experience grew manifold. The reliability of the city’s sophisticated, state-of-the-art infrastructure gave me the wonderful opportunity to hone my work-skills without petty troubles to distract me. The vibrant, pink-with-health economy of Dubai allayed even the worst of my trepidations regarding my finances… Really I can go on and on… Above all, such was the warmth and tenderness with which Dubai welcomed me that I am ashamed to say I hardly felt homesick at all.
So what makes this city tick? I’d think there are three mainstays of the Dubai phenomenon – the warm, mellow hospitality that welcomes citizens across the world with open arms, the super-efficient and well oiled infrastructure, and the respect for law and discipline that contains all the diverse elements of this international city with order and method.
Dubai is like the globe condensed into one city as nearly 200 nations of the world reside here and work in unison. It is like a beautiful rug, the fabric of which contains the threads and colours of nations round the world. It is that neutral ground where millions of international relations are made every day. It is the cauldron where global ideas meet, churn and fuse to evolve newer and better ones each day. Science, technology, culture – it is the hub of all that matters.
Wait a minute, am I describing Dubai, or am I describing the World Expo? You see – what better place than Dubai to host the World Expo 2020 when the city is exactly like an ongoing World Expo itself?
Especially when the World Expo 2020 theme is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ as this is what Dubai has been doing since so long – connecting minds and creating the future!