Sunday, January 3, 2010

Sheikh Never Shakes!

No, I am not in cloud nine. But yes, I am happy watching the inaugural ceremony of the world's tallest building 'Burj Khalifa" yesterday.Only time can answer the life of Burj Khalifa( I am not sure about the structure!) But I think the attempt of Western countries and Indian media to write an obituary note to Dubai shall halt.Since last couple of months, the western media has been busy in broadcasting the dirge in every possible manner.What's so shocking about Dubai when most of the countries in the world are under the recession grip? Why blow up the Dubai crunch alone during world wide recession? Dubai financial crisis were reported in a couple of news papers (New York Times, Guardian..) long back! Of course,they weren't given publicity in Dubai due to censoring. And what were the Indian Media doing then? Now they found something and has began the celebration of crisis!

Indian critics argue that the monarchial set up coupled with reckless planning lead to the present crisis.Agreed,its the reckless planning.Look, Indians talking about monarchial set up when the whole of Indian polity is smudged in Family feud ,heroic worship and statue spree.Oh, yes, not to forget the skyrocketing prices since last couple of years which had made the life of a common man more miserable.Indian media who bitch on the Dubai's uninsulated economy should brush up on Harshad Mehta, Ketan Parekh Satyam scam and so on..The secondary market witnessed a sudden downfull and took time to recover.Satyam irregularities resulted in a major setback for employees. Furthermore,due to worldwide economic slowdown those students who were offered campus placements didn't receive any further communication from the employer giants like Infosys,TCS,Wipro..So whats so fussy about Dubai downfall?Imagine a similar crisis creeping in the Indian IT/BPO/Pvt Bank sector.What would be the scenario then?What will happen to our professionals (carrying the holier-than-thou attitude) who spend lion's share of their salary on EMI and other remittances?(Apartments worth more than 30 lakhs,Car and other luxuries!)

Kerala economy is dependent on Middle East. The annual remittance to Kerala from Dubai is around 46000 crore.Major projects in the state are NRI sponsored ones.All these would come to a stand still if the crisis deepens. So its time to think constructively than entertaining or horrifying the public with negative news.Now that other Emirates has joined hands to support Dubai; sooner the entire Middle east will flock to Dubai's rescue.Let us learn some good lessons from them. United we stand and divided we fall.

( The Burj Khalifa event serves only as an introductory note.Personally I am against all these extravaganzas)