Dubai: What’s the Buzz?

The buildings in Dubai have character… Towering over the landscape like an irreverent finger is the Burj Dubai - at 150 storeys and 555 metres already the tallest in the world.

The flyovers are amazing, as are the underpasses and floating bridges. The traffic whizzes past at breathtaking speed. While the mandated ‘minimum speed limit’ on the highways is 60 kmph, the fancy cars go twice as fast. The occasional motorbike and bicycle that one sees on the road are an aberration, a rarity that is probably explained by the ridiculously low price of petrol, which retails at AED 6.25 per imperial gallon or LKR 42 per litre.

Probably because the average Dubai resident can afford his own car, the public transport system sucks. The flow of traffic is – by and large – orderly… Jams are rare and tooting your horn is more an expression of extreme annoyance than anything else.

In this alien land, the diversity of spoken languages is amazing… While walking the streets, it is normal to hear a lot of Hindi, some Malayalam, a little Tamil and even a smattering of Sinhala.

Housing is Public Problem Number One. To describe it as expensive is putting it mildly. One can expect to shell out AED 3,000 (LKR 90,000) per month for shared accommodations comprising a room, a kitchen and a bathroom. That's par for the course; thankfully, I stayed with an aunt and uncle in the upmarket residential area of Jumeira.

Most Internet cafes charge AED 3 (LKR 90) per hour because they come equipped with a web cam and headphones. These are frequented by hordes of Filipinos, who carry on their chattering conversations with friends and relatives back home. One would be lucky to discover those cafes that charge AED 1 (LKR 30) per hour; these are preferred by the South Asians.

During my visit in September, I was pleasantly surprised to note that churches are air-conditioned. The diversity of the city’s culture was evident when, during the church service, we could hear the mullah’s call to prayer, emanating from the mosque next door.