We truly are in a recession.-from an American friend

Received this from a family member via e-mail. Wonderful to read and the essence is great.... Thanks Ajithetta for sharing...

If Jay Leno reads this he might put it on his next show!!!

• The recession has hit everybody really hard...
• My neighbor got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.
• Wives are having sex with their husbands because they can't afford batteries.
• CEO's are now playing miniature golf.
• Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen.
• A stripper was killed when her audience showered her with rolls of pennies while she danced.
• I saw a Mormon with only one wife.
• If the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient Funds," you call them and ask if they meant you or them.
• McDonald's is selling the 1/4 ouncer.
• Angelina Jolie adopted a child from America .
• Parents in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children's names.
• My cousin had an exorcism but couldn't afford to pay for it, and they re-possessed her!
• A truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico .
• A picture is now only worth 200 words.
• When Bill and Hillary travel together, they now have to share a room.
• The Treasure Island casino in Las Vegas is now managed by Somali pirates.
• Congress says they are looking into this Bernard Madoff scandal. Oh Great! The guy who made $50 Billion disappear is being investigated by the people who made $1.5 Trillion disappear!

• And, finally....

• I was so depressed last night thinking about the economy, wars, jobs, my savings, Social Security, retirement funds, etc., I called the Suicide Hotline. I got a call center in Pakistan , and when I told them I was suicidal, they got all excited, and asked if I could drive a truck.

Communication problems. . .

truly hilarious:

A Chinaman decides to retire and move to Australia after 50 years of living in Shanghai . He buys a small piece of land. A few days after moving in, the friendly Aussie neighbour decides to go across and welcome the new guy to the region. He goes next door, but on his way up the drive-way, he sees the Chinaman running around his frontyard chasing about 10 hens. Not wanting to interrupt these 'Chinese customs', he decides to put the welcome on hold for the day. The next day, he decides to try again, but just as he is about to knock on the front door, he looks through the window and sees the Chinaman urinate into a glass and then drink it. Not wanting to interrupt another 'Chinese custom', he decides to put the welcome on hold for yet another day. A day later, he decides to give it one last go, but on his way next door, he sees the Chinaman leading a bull down the drive-way, ......pause...., and then put his left ear next to the bull's butt. The Aussie bloke can't handle this; so he goes up to the Chinaman and says, 'Jeez Mate, what the hell is it with your Chinese customs? I come over to welcome you to the neighbourhood and see you running around the yard after hens. The next day you are pissing in a glass and drinking it and then today you have your head so close to that bull's butt, it could just about shit on you.' The Chinaman is very taken back and says, 'Sorry sir, you no understand, these no Chinese customs I doing, these Australian Customs.' 'What do you mean mate?' says the Aussie, 'Those aren't Australian customs.' 'Yes they are; man at travel agent tell me.....' replied the Chinaman, 'He say to become true Australian, I must learn to..... chase chicks, ..... get piss drunk, and.... listen to bull-shit.'

Wife will treat you like a son, if the purse is with them.

Wife will treat you like her mother in law, if the purse is with you.

Wife will simply hate you, if the purse is with her mother in law.

She will at least pretend to love you, if she is a joint signatory to your bank account.

This is the reality check.

If any one is not agreeing with this, either he is lying or he is a confirmed bachelor.

Shared Thoughts 14.1.11

"A Leader Should Know How to Manage Failure"

Success in an individual effort is different from success as a Team… this requires Leadership skills, to inspire and be inspired by true leaders… where ego and self pride find no place. This is a classic illustration of a great leader being inspired by another…..

A Leader Should Know How to Manage Failure'

(Former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam at Wharton India Economic forum, Philadelphia, March 22,2008)

Question: Could you give an example, from your own experience, of how leaders should manage failure?

Kalam: Let me tell you about my experience. In 1973 I became the project director of India's satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India's "Rohini" satellite into orbit by 1980. I was given funds and human resources -- but was told clearly that by 1980 we had to launch the satellite into space. Thousands of people worked together in scientific and technical teams towards that goal.

By 1979 -- I think the month was August -- we thought we were ready. As the project director, I went to the control center for the launch. At four minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through the checklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, the computer program put the launch on hold; the display showed that some control components were not in order.

My experts -- I had four or five of them with me -- told me not to worry; they had done their calculations and there was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer, switched to manual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage, everything worked fine. In the second stage, a problem developed. Instead of the satellite going into orbit, the whole rocket system plunged into the Bay of Bengal. It was a big failure.

That day, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Prof. Satish Dhawan, had called a press conference. The launch was at 7:00 am, and the press conference -- where journalists from around the world were present -- was at 7:45 am at ISRO's satellite launch range in Sriharikota [in Andhra Pradesh in southern India]. Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the organization, conducted the press conference himself. He took responsibility for the failure -- he said that the team had worked very hard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the media that in another year, the team would definitely succeed.

Now, I was the project director, and it was my failure, but instead, he took responsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization.

The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to launch the satellite -- and this time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant.

Again, there was a press conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, "You conduct the press conference today."

I learned a very important lesson that day. When failure occurred, the leader of the organization owned that failure. When success came, he gave it to his team.

The best management lesson I have learned did not come to me from reading a book; it came from that experience.

"To the Question of your life, You are the only Answer . . ."

courtesy: Shared Thoughts 14.1.11 by Mr. Mohandas K P (Doha)

Shared Thots!

A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of Root Beer and he started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an elderly man. The man was sitting in the park just feeding some pigeons.

The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie.

The man gratefully accepted it and smiled at boy. His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer.

Again, the man smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the man, and gave him a hug. The man gave him his biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?

"He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? God's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"

Meanwhile, the elderly man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked," Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?"

He replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." However, before his son responded, he added," You know, he's much younger than I expected."

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Embrace all equally!

~author unknown~

Shared thots (december 20, 2009) - PERSPECTIVE

Given below is one more powerful story of how changing one’s own perspective changes entire outlook….

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As Mrs. Thompson stood in front of her 5Th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same.

However, that was not true, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually took delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy's first grade teacher wrote,

"Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners... he is a joy to be around."

His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle."

His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn't show much interest, and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken."

Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class."

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist.

Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to."

After the children left, she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her "teacher's pets."

A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in life.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer.... The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he had met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at the wedding in the place that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course,Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. Moreover, she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.

They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, "Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference."

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said,"Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you.

Credit: the above contents have been posted as received through SHARED THOTS from my uncle Mr. Mohandas K P and also a special thanks to Mukundan (his friend for sharing the said story)

Inflight conversation.

A white man was seated next to a little black girl on the airplane, when he turned to her and said,

"Let's talk. I've heard that flights go quicker, if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger."

The little girl, who had just opened her coloring book, closed it slowly and said to the man,

"What would you like to talk about?"

"Oh, I don't know," said the man,

"But, since you are black, do you think that So-called President elect Barak Obama is qualified for the job?" and he smiles.

"OK", she said. 'That could be an interesting topic.

But let me ask you a question first. :--

A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff - grass .

Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps of dried grass. Why do you suppose that is?"

The man, visibly surprised by the little girl's intelligence, thinks about it and says, "Hmmm, I have no idea."

To which the little girl replies, "Do you really feel qualified to discuss President Barack Obama ..... when you don't know shit!"

The Bathtub Test

During a visit to the mental hospital, I asked the Director 'How do you determine whether or not a patient should be admitted to the hospital.'.

'Well,' said the Director, 'we fill up a bathtub, then we give a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him to empty the bathtub.'

'Oh, I understand,' I said. 'A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup.'

'No.' said the Director, 'A normal person would pull the drain plug.

Well....... Do you want a bed near the window?'

The Legendary Lungi

A well written article, not sure of the source or who the author is or was... But sure does make a very interesting article....

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Just as the national bird of Kerala is the Mosquito, her national dress is 'The Lungi'. Pronounced as 'Lu' as in loo and 'ngi ' as in 'mongey'. A lungi can be identified by its floral or window-curtain pattern. 'Mundu' is the white variation of lungi and is worn on special occasions like hartal or bandh days, weddings and Onam.

Lungi is simple and 'down to earth' like the mallu wearing it. Lungi is the beginning and the end of evolution in its category. Wearing

something on the top half of your body is optional when you are wearing a lungi. Lungi is a strategic dress. It's like a one-size-fits-all bottoms for Keralites.

The technique of wearing a lungi/mundu is passed on from generation to generation through word of mouth like the British Constitution. If you think it is an easy task wearing it, just try it once! It requires techniques like breath control and yoga that is a notch higher than sudarshan kriya of AOL. A lungi/mundu when perfectly worn won't come off even in a quake of 8 on the richter scale. A lungi is not attached to the waist using duct tape, staple, rope or velcro. It's a bit of mallu magic whose formula is a closely guarded secret like the Coaca Coala chemicals.

A lungi can be worn 'Full Mast' or 'Half Mast' like a national flag. A 'Full Mast' lungi is when you are showing respect to an elderly or the dead. Wearing it at full mast has lots of disadvantages. A major disadvantage is when a dog runs after you. When you are wearing a lungi/mundu at full mast, the advantage is mainly for the female onlookers who are spared the ordeal of swooning at the sight of hairy legs.

Wearing a lungi 'Half Mast' is when you wear it exposing yourself like those C grade movie starlets. A mallu can play cricket, football or simbly run when the lungi is worn at half mast. A mallu can even climb a coconut tree wearing lungi in half mast. "It's not good manners, especially for ladies from decent families, to look up at a mallu climbing a coconut tree"- Confucius (or is it Abdul Kalam?)

Most mallus do the traditional dance kudiyattam. Kudi means drinking alcohol and yattam, spelled as aattam, means random movement of the male body. Note that 'y' is silent. When you are drinking, you drink, there is no 'y'. Any alcohol related "festival" can be enjoyed to the maximum when you are topless with lungi and a towel tied around the head. "Half mast lungi makes it easy to dance and shake legs" says Candelaria Amaranto, a Salsa teacher from Spain after watching 'kudiyaattam' .

The 'Lungi Wearing Mallu Union' [LUWMU, pronounced LOVE MU], an NGO which works towards the 'upliftment' of the lungi, strongly disapprove of the GenNext tendency of wearing Bermudas under the lungi. Bermudas under the lungi is a conspiracy by the CIA. It's a disgrace to see a person wearing burmuda with corporate logos under his lungi. What they don't know is how much these corporates are limiting their freedom of movement and expression.

A mallu wears lungi round the year, all weather, all season. A mallu celebrates winter by wearing a colourful lungi with a floral pattern. Lungi provides good ventilation and brings down the heat between legs.

A mallu is scared of global warming more than anyone else in the world.

A lungi/mundu can be worn any time of the day/night. It doubles as blanket at night. It also doubles up as a swing, swimwear, sleeping bag, parachute, facemask while entering/exiting toddy shops, shopping basket and water filter while fishing in ponds and rivers. It also has recreational uses like in 'Lungi/mundu pulling', a pastime in households having more than one male member. Lungi pulling competitions are held outside toddyshops all over Kerala during Onam and Vishu. When these lungis are decommissioned from service, they become table cloths. Thus the humble lungi is a cradle to grave appendage.

(An anonymous piece)

GRANDPARENTS !!!

Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting. ~Author Unknown

What a bargain grandchildren are! I give them my loose change, and they give me a million dollars' worth of pleasure. ~Gene Perret

Grandmothers are just 'antique' little girls. ~Author Unknown

Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild. ~ Welsh Proverb

A grandmother is a babysitter who watches the kids instead of the television.. ~Author Unknown

Never have children, only grandchildren. ~Gore Vidal

Becoming a grandmother is wonderful. One moment you're just a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric. ~Pam Brown

Grandchildren don't stay young forever, which is good because Grandfathers have only so many horsy rides in them. ~Gene Perret

When grandparents enter the door, discipline flies out the window. ~Ogden Nash

Grandma always made you feel she had been waiting to see just you all day and now the day was complete. ~ Marcy DeMaree

Grandmas never run out of hugs or cookies. ~Author unknown

Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever. ~Author Unknown

If I had known how wonderful it would be to have grandchildren, I'd have had them first. ~Lois Wyse

My grandkids believe I'm the oldest thing in the world. And after two or three hours with them, I believe it, too. ~Gene Perret

If becoming a grandmother was only a matter of choice, I should advise every one of you straight away to become one. There is no fun for old people like it! ~Hannah Whithall Smith

It's such a grand thing to be a mother of a mother - that's why the world calls her grandmother. ~Author Unknown

Grandchildren are God's way of compensating us for growing old. ~Mary H. Waldrip

You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother. ~Proverb

An hour with your grandchildren can make you feel young again. Anything longer than that, and you start to age quickly. ~Gene Perret

The best baby-sitters, of course, are the baby's grandparents. You feel completely comfortable entrusting your baby to them for long periods, which is why most grandparents flee to Florida . ~Dave Barry

I wish I had the energy that my grandchildren have - if only for self-defense. ~Gene Perret

Grandmother-grandchild relationships are simple. Grandmas are short on criticism and long on love. ~Author Unknown

Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children. ~Alex Haley

Grandmother - a wonderful mother with lots of practice. ~Author Unknown

A grandparent is old on the outside but young on the inside. ~Author Unknown

One of the most powerful handclasps is that of a new grandbaby around the finger of a grandfather. ~Joy Hargrove

It's amazing how grandparents seem so young once you become one. ~Author Unknown

If your baby is 'beautiful and perfect, never cries or fusses, sleeps on schedule and burps on demand, an angel all the time,' you're the grandma. ~Teresa Bloomingdale

Grandparents are similar to a piece of string - handy to have around and easily wrapped around the fingers of their grandchildren. ~Author Unknown

What is it about grandparents that is so lovely? I'd like to say that grandparents are God's gifts to children. And if they can but see, hear and feel what these people have to give, they can mature at a fast rate. ~Bill Cosby

Grandchildren don't make a man feel old; it's the knowledge that he's married to a grandmother. G. Norman Collie

"Take The Time & Thank Our Precious Heavenly Father Daily For Everything He Has Done Good In Your Life." "Thank You Lord", By: Don Moen

Happy New Year 2010!

New Year's is a harmless annual institution, of no particular use to anybody save as a scapegoat for promiscuous drunks, and friendly calls and humbug resolutions.

~Mark Twain

Legal & Logical (jus for fun)

Good one................

After having failed his exam in "Logistics and Organization", a student goes and confronts his lecturer about it.

Student: "Sir, do you really understand anything about the subject?"

Professor: "Surely I must. Otherwise I would not be a professor!"

Student: "Great, well then I would like to ask you a question.

If you can give me the correct answer, I will accept my mark as is and go. If you however do not know the answer, I want you give me an "A" for the exam. "

Professor: "Okay, it's a deal. So what is the question?"

Student: "What is legal, but not logical, logical, but not legal, and neither logical,nor legal?"

Even after some long and hard consideration, the professor cannot give the student an answer, and therefore changes his exam mark into an "A", as agreed.

Afterwards, the professor calls on his best student and asks him the same question.

One student immediately answers: "Sir, you are 63 years old and married to a 35 year old woman, which is legal, but not logical. Your wife has a 25 year old lover,which is logical, but not legal. The fact that you have given your wife's lover an "A", although he really should have failed, is neither legal, nor logical."

(thought provoking) - an Obituary

as received by mail from a friend

An Obituary printed in the London Times........

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;

I Know My Rights

I Want It Now

Someone Else Is To Blame

I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

If you still remember him, share this on with your near and dear. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Boobs vs. willies !!! (jus for fun)

A family is at the dinner table. The son asks his father, 'Dad, how many kinds of boobs are there?'
The father, surprised, answers, 'Well, son, a woman goes through three phases...
In her 20s, a woman's boobs are like melons, round and firm.
In Her 30s to 40s, they are like pears, still nice but hanging a bit.
After 50, they are like onions'.

'Onions?', the son questions.
'Yes’, replies the father, ‘...you see them and they make you cry.'


This infuriated his wife and daughter, so the daughter asks, 'Mum, how many kinds of 'willies' are there?'
The mother, surprised, smiles and answers, 'Well dear, a man goes through three phases also...
In his 20s, his willy is like an oak tree, mighty and Hard.
In his 30s and 40s, it is like a birch, flexible but reliable.
After his 50s, it is like a Christmas tree'.
'A Christmas tree?', questions the daughter.

'Yes’, replies her mother’...it’s dead from the roots up and the balls are just there for decoration.'

A Dream Called Dubai!!!

Khaleej Times Online > OPINION

A Dream Called Dubai

Aijaz Zaka Syed

10 December 2009

I landed in Dubai on a sunny February morning in 2002. And by October 2003 I had bought my first car, a bright burgundy Toyota that still keeps me going. Buying that car, after countless, incredibly frustrating driving tests, meant realising the dream of a lifetime.

I grew up with the dream of driving my own car since as long as I can remember — from those teeny-weeny toy cars to cardboard models put together by an enterprising older cousin. I am not sure how long I would have waited back home in India to see that dream come true. Dubai fleshed it out within a year — or as soon as I got the licence to drive.

Mine is not a rare story of an average Joe. This is the shared experience of faceless multitudes in this incredible city. This is the city of everyone’s dreams. And it’s full of people whose lives are a living tribute to their 
impossible ambitions.

Of course, all great cities are full of dreamers and achievers with a myriad tales of implausible achievements. But what makes Dubai stand out is its ability to fulfill the dreams of just about everyone. No matter where you come from and what you do, Dubai has a place and slice for you. I can’t think of any other city where dreams are built at this pace and with such ease.

Which is perhaps how it should be? After all, this city itself is the outcome of an ostensibly hopeless dream, a vision that has wowed the world and awed friends and foes alike. Today, that dream finds itself once again under attack — attacks that get vicious and virulent by the day. Knives are back. But the knives had always been there—hidden behind the backs as they all waited for Dubai to falter so they can pounce and finish off the enduring vision that has stood tall, defying all predictions and challenges, continually mocking the skeptics and naysayers.

During the emirate’s mind-boggling construction boom that started with the new millennium, whenever you traveled around the world people would ask with a smirk, ‘so how long is it gonna last?’ When one indignantly protested that Dubai’s boom was not a passing, accidental phenomenon, they would shake their heads warning us of the ‘imminent bust’ ahead. And since the world woke up to the US Wall Street meltdown, thanks to long years of bankrupt economic policies in Washington and its crazy, extravagant wars around the world, just about every pundit has been telling us that it’s end of the road for Dubai too.

During a recent trip to Europe, one was repelled by the glee in fellow hacks’ faces and voices. “Oh, from Dubai!” would be invariably followed by queries about the ‘millions of workers’ who in their view were fleeing the emirate.

The Dubai World’s announcement last week seeking more time to restructure its $59 billion debt has proved the proverbial last straw on the camel’s back. Western news networks and journalists, especially those from the tiny crowded island that once ruled this part of the world, are circling and attacking Dubai and the UAE as hungry vultures would target a dying animal.

Look at some of these Schadenfreude headlines. The Times of London once again leads the attack by screaming: “Bling Central Loses Sparkle!” Rod Liddle, its star columnist, declares: “Dubai is wrecked but, like an old tart with a kiss-and-tell contract from the red-tops, threatens to drag the rest of us down with it.” Elsewhere the paper posits: “Dubai is a monument to the excesses that gave us this global 
financial crisis.”

And we all thought the global crisis was sparked by the sub-prime circus in the United States!

Another Dubai-datelined dispatch exclaims: “How Dubai’s burst bubble has left behind the last days of Rome!” And the team of reporters concludes: “By any conventional logic, Dubai is now a busted flush.”

In another report, the paper vents its frustration over the poise and dignity of the emirate’s leaders amid all this talk of gloom and doom: “Dubai keeps its head in the sand!”

And the Times is not alone in this ‘Mission Kill Dubai’. The Observer declares: “Dubai’s property bonanza just wasn’t built to last!” Another Observer report asks: “As Dubai crashes from wonder to blunder, who’ll go 
down with it?”

I can think of only one answer to all this endless and mindless bitching and carping about Dubai: Shut Up! Just shut up! That was the answer offered by the man who has been the architect of this miracle in the desert.

For it’s not just unfair but downright silly to suggest Dubai is finished just because one of its many companies has requested a rescheduling of loan. Rescheduling of loans and debts happens all the time in this business. One company doesn’t make or mar Dubai.

Have we forgotten how many mighty banks and legendary financial institutions in the United States, UK and elsewhere have been savaged by the global meltdown? From Lehman Brothers to AIG to Citigroup in the US to the Northern Rock to Bear Stearns in the UK, many a giant has fallen from its hallowed perch. The US and governments across Europe and Asia had to step in with massive stimulus packages to support their crisis-struck institutions. While the US pumped in a whopping $787 billion to rescue its financial institutions, the bailout for British banks hit 850 billion pounds. Does this mean all those countries are finished?

This is a global crisis and Dubai and UAE are doing what governments elsewhere have done to deal with it. This is not a crisis of our making and is not special to Dubai or UAE. One fleeting setback cannot undo all that the emirate has built over the years.

This reality is not lost on our friends in Western media. Only they choose to see what they want to see. They just can’t stomach the fact that an Arab and Muslim country has demolished historical stereotypes to beat them at their own game.

Ironically, the first among those rushing to pronounce Dubai dead are those who have benefited the most from the Arabian paradise.

Overpaid Western expats, especially British, who have all these years enjoyed a secure, tax-free existence in their cocooned, luxury beach villas with their SUVs while Asian maids take care of their brood have been the first to carp and snugger about the end of the party. No sense of loyalty there whatsoever, even after decades spent enjoying the good life and sun and sand 
in Jumeirah.

On the other hand, South Asian desis, Filipinos — the people Johann Hari of the Independent calls “slaves in a sinister mirage” — and Arabs and Africans are springing up to Dubai’s defense. They have reasons to get angry. After all, unlike the people you know who, they have built this country. This has been home away from home.

As long as the emirates are blessed with such hard-working, well-meaning people, I would like to believe, 
there’s hope.

A banker friend from Nepal wrote in this week: “The downgrade by the ‘poor’ Standards & Poor notwithstanding, Dubai stands as a beacon of Asian enterprise and chutzpah. If it folds up, it will be decades before our part of the globe will again be able to stand up to the West.”

While Madhukar’s concern is appreciated, I believe Dubai will not just sail through this pocket of rough seas smoothly, it will emerge even stronger. The idea of Dubai will continue to bloom long after the wagging tongues of its detractors have fallen silent. Because the never-say-die spirit that gave birth to the phenomenon called Dubai and the UAE is as alive and vibrant as ever. The can-do spirit that started a revolution in a sleepy, desolate region once known for nothing else but the Empty Quarter is far from beaten 
and vanquished.

Let Dubai’s critics not forget that it has already accomplished in a span of just four decades what mighty nations with infinite resources at their disposal take centuries to build.

Besides fashioning a peaceful and vibrant, multicultural society in a troubled region and its fabled property market, Dubai has established itself as the Middle East’s commercial and financial hub and one of the top 20 such centers in the world. It is the third largest re-export hub in the world. Its airport is the fifth busiest in the world and its duty free is the largest and best airport retail operator. Its container port is the fourth largest port operator in the world, managing close to 50 ports in every part of the globe. These are just some of the things that come 
to mind.

And remember Dubai created all this out of thin air, without the riches of oil to back its sky-high ambitions. If you need to get an idea of the emirate’s true contribution, just look around and see how many Dubai’s have come up all over the Middle East and across the globe. They are a living, thriving tribute to this great city and its enterprising spirit. And they are the answer to its critics. Envy, jealousy and pure venom cannot kill an idea like Dubai. It will outlive its bitchy critics.

Aijaz Zaka Syed is Opinion Editor of 
Khaleej Times and can be reached at 
aijaz@khaleejtimes.com