Weekend Discovery - Friday Farmers Market Dubai

One of those few things I like about Dubai, apart from the two months of winters, tax free income and availability of sheesha at every nook and corner is its ability to surprise me time and time again.

I have always said that Dubai is a transient city filled with mostly transient people. Lately I’ve been thinking that maybe like many others, this is a stop – gap city for me too and therefore I haven’t allowed myself to make it home.

But Dubai pushes me, to make her my own by showing me time and time again that she has that potential to have a character, a soul.

One of her attempts has been my introduction to a little farmers market tucked away near the JLT Lake.

Started a few weeks ago, this up coming farmers market is run by the organic food store – Blue Planet GreenPeople. 

It can’t compete with farmers market across the globe where there are tons of stalls with fresh produce, colorful flowers and a buzz of activity. But this place feels like home. 10-12 stalls where everyone seems to know each other, everyone has a smile on their face and strangely which is unlike Dubai, everyone looks relaxed.

Blame it on the weather or its picturesque setting with the JLT Lake as a backdrop, the energy, warmth of the place and people makes you all smiley and happy.

I ended up purchasing my weekly vegetables from the two organic produce stalls. Thinking about it now, the prices are almost the same as my neighborhood grocery but the quality is top notch. I can’t wait to make some yummy pasta tonight with the fresh basil and tomatoes I loaded up my shopping bag with.

I hope to see some fruit stalls the next time I’m there. (This might become a Friday ritual I think!)

A few other stalls that caught my eye and not just for the amazing stuff they were selling but also for the people who were selling it were – Pretty Jewelry – handmade jewelry by a very warm and friendly French teacher and Ayesha’s - Stems and Shoots.

 Ayesha, a young, single corporate executive or miss green fingers as you would like to refer to her actually grows and maintains plants in her balcony and then sells them to friends.

One of her lovely plants now adorns my balcony and is adding such amazing color to my home.

We spent the rest of the afternoon people watching at a Brazilian café next to the farmers market called Sweet Brasil tucking into scrambled eggs and fresh bread.

This place is a must visit for authentic Brazilian coffee and lovely, attentive staff. Owned by a lady who loves cooking Brazilian food, everything about the café speaks home, freshness and warmth.

We met some lovely people, exchanged numbers and email addresses promising to meet next Friday to do our weekly vegetable shopping and perhaps a shot of Brazilian coffee.

I recommend all you Dubai folk to get down to the market one weekend, let the kids indulge in free story telling sessions, have a laugh with some very friendly people and pick up some little knick knacks and some good veges. 

:)

The farmers market takes place at Al Seef 2, Cluster U, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai. 

Get in touch with the BPGP guys on their facebook page here if you want to participate in the market.
Contact Ayesha for some lovely plants on her facebook page here

And of course, follow Idle Tuesday Afternoon Thoughts on Facebook here

Single And No One To Mingle?

Last year, before I turned thirty, most of my friends who had already crossed over the big 3-O (especially the single ones) consoled me with the statement – ‘Thirties are the new twenties’

Its true in a way. We’ve never looked better, we are financially independent, we are over being naïve, the wrinkles aren’t obvious yet and probably it will take a few years before it goes downhill in that department.

The eighties kid, who grew up listening to Bob Dylan and Backstreet Boys together, bleached their hair and wore ‘tight’ jeans with short tube tops to make a statement. That eighties kid has a lot to celebrate.

A year down the thirties road, I can’t help but wonder, if its true, is thirty really the new twenty? And is that the reason so many of us, the thirty something’s are still lost in the dilemma of love?

Sitting with a bunch of single thirty something’s over lunch the other day, the conversation flows easily, amazing weather, unfulfilling jobs, vacation spots and then the dreaded topic - relationships. Men can’t find women and the women complain there aren’t any single, good looking, respectable, decent men left in the city.

These are the eighties kids, confident and worldly, evolved from long overnight conversations on the landline and handmade cards to BBM texts, facebook relationship updates and high flying corporate jobs.

I come back from lunch with this thought knocking on my head - How come so many of us, men and women, thirty something’s are still single when we had amazing relationships in our twenties?

Have we turned non-compromising? Are we stuck with our beliefs of ideal relationships and aren’t willing to settle for anything less or are there really no men/women left in the world. 

While I still believe in the magic of love and have the kind of heart that keeps pumping and healing it self time and time again, I can’t help but wonder, how come when love finally becomes a support to a complete life and not a destination for a validation of a complete life, it becomes so hard to find?

A Letter To Our Government

Image from Economic Times

Dear Mr. Prime Minister, 

I was seven, in Kanpur when I was eve teased the first time. I didn’t know what it meant. I knew it was something horrible because my mum banned me from traveling in rickshaws from then on. If I did, I had to have the rickshaw hood up and the rickshaw guy had to be someone we knew. 

My mum and I were in the rickshaw, getting back from school, happily chatting about my day when a hand slipped under my skirt at the traffic light. I screamed, my mum screamed and the poor old rickshaw guy got down to slap the man, whose face I still remember. The men standing there laughed and mocked the rickshaw fellow and we meekly left. 

This was the first.

From then on, I never left my guard down. I became angry.

One of the first things my mum taught me as I was growing up was how to be a lady. Always cross your legs, don’t giggle too much in front of men and hold your head high. But she never taught me how to react when someone violated my personal space, made me feel like I’m an object and looked at me with those disgusting eyes that I wanted to pull out. 

I often wondered as I left home at the age of sixteen, started staying alone and had to be extra careful about my own safety, where so much anger inside me came from? 

I moved to Delhi after a few relatively ‘safer years’ in Maharashtra and understood exactly where and how this stemmed from my very core.

I traveled in buses with pepper spray, wore loose clothing, crossed my arms and carried safety pins. This is how I went to college. 

I could protect my chest, but I couldn’t protect my ass. 

In my mind I would have visions of killing and torturing these men who salivated looking at me. I have to admit, I thought of killing very often. I am human after all.

I have been in Dubai since the past three years and it was only after the incident in Delhi recently that made me realize what a calmer person, moving to the Middle East has made me. I haven’t been angry in three years until now that I see the chaos in my country and being a citizen, I need to stand up to this horrible mess.

As a woman, you never should let your guard down is something I have learned and practice. 

But in my city, I can walk out at 11PM, catch a cab, go to a bar and meet some friends without thinking twice. I know this because I know my rights as a woman are protected. I know that the punishment for anyone misbehaving with me is a death penalty and it will be taken. The law will ALWAYS be on my side in case of an issue like this. I am confident that the government or police will not violate me in any manner but protect me. 

When I told my mum once on how I wanted to report some hooligan’s to the Delhi police, her reaction was, ‘Don’t, they might lock you up and rape you’. 

This is the world we live in, Sir.

I am today; glad to be staying out of my country. 

After traveling to several countries alone, I am traveling to India today and for the first time in my life, I am scared to go back home.

Pleading you to think and act,

An Indian Woman

2012, You were awesome!

If I had asked for pots of gold last year around this time, maybe I would have got a million pots of gold by now. 

They say you should be careful for what you wish for, because most of the times, it does come true.

There are years about people, then there are years about yourself. 

My epic 30th year was mine and all mine in all its glory. I couldn’t have asked for more or any less. Each month amazed me, either with its highest highs or lowest lows. In the end as this one draws to a close, I don’t think any year has taught me so much about my own self than this year has. 

And so, this is how 2012 went... 

This year i wished to keep walking, keep exploring... and that is what i did, in my bright pink shoes. 

my good enough to eat strawberry shoes

I discovered the joy of traveling alone and once again, became my own best friend. 

Turning 30 was so much fun, but jumping off a plane, even better.

With a new camera in hand, I saw my city in a different light. Even though sometimes I disliked it, it  became my home. 

Romanced food and wine. Experienced the beauty of doing nothing in Italy. Came back with oodles of trinkets and a few extra pounds. 

Romantic Rome

Orgasmic food

Enchanting Florence

Dropped my jaw several times and salivated at Swiss, Spanish and Tuscan landscapes. 

Believed in fairy tales again in the heart of Switzerland.

Loved getting into work everyday just for this view... 

Cried when I saw it twinkle.

Tried to understand architecture, failed. So I just stared in wonder instead at ginger bread houses and tree trunk pillars. 

And then after a hard day of staring, discovered my poison by the beach. Lots and lots of Sangria. 

Gaudis Barcelona

Bought my first solitaire. Soon realised, its not my thing. It was worth a ticket to London. Today it lies packed somewhere in my cupboard. 

Practiced my mantra for 2012 everyday.

Each year teaches me this. This one taught me a bigger lesson on letting go. Someday, I will be a pro in that area. As of now, I am still trying...

image from google

Did a bit of dancing, tried an online language course, gave up after the first class, enjoyed cooking, loved photography, learned the art of conversation with strangers, learned the art of conversation amidst being lost in translation, finally owned a mac and an iphone, discovered my love for music again with Joshua Radin....

...And as I look back today, waiting to embark on my last journey before this year ends, back to my own country to friends and family, I cant help but think, was this year really about travel, new experiences and discoveries? Or was it about a journey that I took inside my own self. 

Threw away a lot of masks, unveiled a few layers, fell down and bruised myself, got up and looked at the world with wonder at its sheer beauty and its unending urge to surprise me, every time I lost a little bit of faith. 

image from google

Happy 2013!

** All images are a copyright of idle tuesday afternoon thoughts except the ones mentioned. 

To Rainbow Filled Skies

Image copyright - Idle Tuesday Afternoon Thoughts

Letting go is a scary thing. The moment you start to let go, the knot that holds you together for some reason gets tighter. 

The moment of clarity get blurred and the ‘what if’s’ start hounding your mind.

Why does it feel like you are cheating your own self by the decisions you have made. Why do you start feeling guilty for not sticking to your guns and keeping the self preservation mode on 24/7?

Letting go is not easy. 

Post the hurt and pain comes guilt, confusion and a misbalanced sense of right and wrong.

But letting go is important. There is a reason for everything. And even in that blurred state we need to remember the reason we started to let go was because that one thing was not meant to be.

There is a life, a whole new one waiting to reveal itself, just as this blurry cloud moves away. Just as the knot loosens and we start flying free, into sunny, rainbow filled skies.