Skiing down memory lane in Dubai – just for old times’ sake



The wind whistled past my ears as I whooshed down in a flurry of snow, the white spray fanning behind before floating wispily into the powder. A family sat huddled on the deck of the cosy wooden chalet above, where glowing lights winked lazily. Nice as it would have been to be flying about in an exotically romantic resort such as Chamonix, I was trundling about in the rather closer-to-home Ski Dubai.

It won’t be long before I leave Dubai, so I’m trying to revisit old haunts and decided to go skiing. It had been ages since I last went, though, so apprehensions were rife.

The minute I’d lined up to get my boots, however, the torrent of old coaches and old faces began, waving frantically and beaming.

It was all very heartening, as was the presence of a friend who had taken one Discovery lesson and had decided to manage the rest on his own. At least I wouldn’t be the worst skier there.

“How hard can it be, right?” Yash had asked. “I’ll just learn to ski myself without a coach. You can tell me if I’m doing it wrong.” Yash is an excellent sportsperson and had introduced me to sailing, which was much harder – skiing should be a doddle.

“Oh yes, I bet I’ll be a brilliant teacher,” I’d replied, puffing up, forgetting to mention that the place is bursting with 5-year-old skiers who are without exception better than I am. You often see six little kids skiing in a single file behind their coach, winding a sinuous path down the slope in perfect coordination. It’s preposterously cute, like a row of ducklings following Mother Duck.

Picking up skis and poles, we were soon at the top and zipping down the slope. Well, I was proceeding cautiously with shaky knees, euphemistically telling myself I was “warming up”. “Just follow me – up, bend your knees, straighten, turn,” I intoned in a mixed-up imitation of my coach in my first lessons taken aeons ago.

Yash took off like a bullet, hurtled wildly down and fell head over skis. He had also managed to lose his glove before he had even reached the top of the slope. “Man up, it’s not that cold,” I said doubtfully, as he fretted that his hand felt almost frostbitten. My bravado against the elements didn’t stretch as far as lending him a glove, though I did mumble: “You’re doing great!” at sporadic intervals.

The poor guy fell over a mean number of three times per run, but picked himself up with astonishing speed and was valiantly zooming towards another certain crash in no time at all. He skied much better when I gave up trying to teach him – whatever my calling turns out to be, a ski instructor is not it.

I hadn’t realised how fond I was of this place – the hordes of raucous teenagers in fluorescent gear showing off, the hiss of gaudy skull-embossed snowboards on icy patches, the camaraderie and warmth of fellow-skiers in a freezing environment. Dubai will be missed.

The writer is an 18-year-old living in Dubai

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

THE LIGHT

Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger

Rating: 3/5

Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face

The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.

The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran. 

Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf. 

"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said. 

Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer. 

The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy. 

 

Paatal Lok season two

Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy 

Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong

Rating: 4.5/5