Month: August 2014
An old Peugeot Station Wagon
An old Peugeot Station Wagon car seen at Coimbatore. Once these type of cars ruled the road between Abu Dhabi and Dubai as taxis. You don’t see them anymore.
Bon Voyage my friend
It was a chance meeting and it ended up as we knew each other for a very long time. At the end of a 9 year stay in the UAE, Joe, is undertaking a journey of a life time. True, by road to Switzerland from Dubai! 8000 odd kms….wooooooooowoow….
Any motorsports enthusiasts dream. The journey covering several countries and terrains of unknown nature and life conditions, alone, is really something awesome!. Let your machine and self hold strong from start to end.
Thank you Joe for your kind heart to kindly offer me hundreds of books from your collections for use of charitable cause and also not to forget the beautiful musical instruments to add to my collection.
Wish you a great trip and do keep in touch.
Ramesh Menon, Abu Dhabi
26 August 2014
A joy ride through the canals of Venice
Never ending flow of boats, kayaks and all other types of marine vehicles. Canals of Venice, always an interesting scene to stay on, watch and admire.
Mother’s affection – Gulf Today – Short Take – 23 August 2014
Mother’s affection
In a flash this year’s holy month of Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr passed by. An extended holiday at the end of it was utilised to be with my aged mother in an orthopaedic hospital back home in India. She was undergoing a series of surgeries.
Being with her during the entire period was very satisfying and I felt like giving back little affection to the ocean of love and care she showered on me till this age.
At the hospital, I was really impressed by one lady staff’s commitment to her duty. Bharathi, a lady security manning the post-operative ward of that busy hospital, turned out to be an excellent example.
Starting her duty early in the morning, she kept an excellent watch on those who really had to visit and controlled all those who should not. With due instructions prior to entering, she made sure everyone followed all the necessary health, safety and environment regulations to protect the welfare of the patients. Of course, she was at a very junior level of the hospital, but she did show a great example of how important each person’s job was and how to attend to it when its intended result is achieved. It was proved every day as soon as she left for home and her replacement took charge and people did utilise their influence to get in at will, disrupting the peaceful function of the post-operative ward.
While returning to the UAE on the plane, a little boy came and sat next to me. Due to the huge passenger rush for Abu Dhabi, his mother and sister were seated on different rows while the father was seated way behind.
Well dressed and impressive at his age, I started a conversation with him. He was found to be very intelligent and was aware of all the modern gadgets and their uses.
He was closely watching me what I was doing as he was changing the channels on the monitor in front. As the airline staff started serving, he read out the menu and ordered his choice of meals, which was a plate of kebabs and rice. I ordered a different item. When the staff served the food, he was curious as to what I was getting and as he tasted his and wasn’t impressed with it.
He asked me whether he could re-order his food. I said to him, I will try. Calling the airhostess and explaining to her the little one’s wish, I persuaded her to bring her a set of meals with fish, which was the next choice by this little one. It took some time for her to bring the food and by then I finished my dinner.
When he tasted the fish, he didn’t like that too. Slowly, he turned towards me and said, “Uncle, can I ask her to bring what you had?!” I explained to him, normally, they will carry only a limited number of packets and they will not have extra, which was the case exactly as explained to me by the airhostess.
In order to console him, I asked him to order ice cream and when they brought it, it was rock solid. He tried to cut and eat the ice cream but in vain.
The airhostess told him that it would melt soon. Waiting for it to melt, we started talking to each other and in no time, he was asleep and me too! I woke up hearing the announcement for the plane to land at Abu Dhabi and looked for the boy. He was still asleep. The ice cream bowl was cleared by the staff by then!
Ramesh Menon
Gulf Today – Short Take – 23 August 2014
To read it in original, please visit Gulf Today online
To read it in original, please visit Gulf Today online
Petrol station employees need shaded areas – The National Dt. 20 August 2014
Petrol station employees need shaded areas
Driving between Abu Dhabi and Dubai regularly, I have noticed that many petrol stations lack shade in the areas where diesel and special fuels are served. This is a cause for concern as the staff have to work all day under the open sky. I am sure their problems do not end at night, or even during the winter.
I request the fuel company to consider installing shades over all serving points at every fuel station.
Ramesh Menon, Abu Dhabi
The National, Dt. 20 August 2014
Pledge: Make UAE Roads Safer
Are you a resident of UAE and holds a driving license? Then, it is time for you to visit:
Drivers and Passengers taking the pledge will commit themselves to the following 4 points;
√ YES – Seat belts – by EVERYBODY in your car!
√ YES – Indicators – every time you change lanes!
ø NO – Speeding!
ø NO – Mobile Phone: not without proper hands-free equipment!
The UAE has one of the highest per-capita road fatalities globally and we experience shortcomings of Road Safety on a daily basis. ‘Road injury’ is the number 1 cause of premature death in the UAE (according to a Global Burden of Disease study), and accidents are the number 2 killer in the UAE with traffic related accidents representing about 2/3 of all accidents. Clearly, this is avoidable!
RoadSafetyUAE.com want to ‘make a difference’ and this needs a strong voice. This is the reason, why we team up with media partners, corporate supporters, and governmental entities like RTA, to help us ‘spread the word’.
We need YOUR VOICE, and the voices of all road traffic participants of the UAE! We need your voice to clearly state: ‘I commit myself to MAKE UAE’s ROADS SAFER!’ – and to sign our pledge!
…and please: forward the pledge to your family, friends, colleagues – whoever you care about!
For 2014, we are aiming for 100,000 pledges by year end. Maybe we achieve even more! Together, we’ll celebrate and decide our game plan for the future. With 100,000 of us standing strong for the cause, we will for sure improve the safety on our roads.
There are definitely additional important points of road safety, but for our initial pledge we want motorists to commit to those 4. In future pledges, additional points of road safety will be included.
Will your pledge make a difference and what is the purpose of the pledge? Possessing a driving license proves, that we know the road rules and the proper road behavior. Taking the pledge is a concrete action of rationalizing and reminding ourselves of how to do it right. Reading and discussing is one thing, but actively taking the pledge is a much more a testimony of our commitment to increase road safety. Please also refer to our ‘Topics & Tips section’!
Certainly, in the initial phases of the pledge, traffic participants, who already have a high conduct of road safety will make the pledge. However, they are encouraged to forward to pledge to other traffic participants with improvement potentials, or with a low conduct of road safety! It is in the interest of those they forward the pledge to! The more traffic participants will go through this process of rationalization by signing the pledge, the more the level of road safety will improve.
By forming a group, we can accomplish difficult goals that we might have trouble achieving alone. Like-minded people can help support the cause of improved road safety and the group momentum can positively influence positive behavioral change and ensure that we follow through on our good intentions. We need to ensure a culture of looking after each other on the road – and taking the pledge is a good start!
Inviting all companies, educational institutions and organizations sign the pledge, and also to encourage their employees, customers, students and other stakeholders to sign, too. It will help organizations develop a systematic approach to managing the key risks arising from road transport, thereby contributing to successful road safety outcomes.
Appending below is the support and call by the Ambassador of India, H.E. T.P. Seetharam in support of this initiative.
Please share the link, spread the word around and let there be less accidents as possible.
Thank you and best wishes in advance,
Ramesh Menon, Abu Dhabi
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