Dubai Dreams: The Rough Road to Riches
Dubai Dreams: The Rough Road to Riches
Friday 9 April 2010
DUBAI DREAMS: THE ROUGH ROAD TO RICHES new book by SHAMLAL PURI
Dubai Dreams: The Rough Road to Riches, a new novel by the veteran British author and journalist Shamlal Puri looks at the hard lives of poor Indian migrants in search of their pot of gold in Dubai.
Published jointly by Crownbird Publishers (www.crownbirdpublishers.co.uk) and Har Anand Publications of New Delhi, the 333 page novel was released at the World Book Fair in the Indian capital.
It is a work that gains significance in the backdrop of the current credit crunch. It explores how the current situation in Dubai affects Indian immigrants and other expatriates working there.
“Dubai is very much in the news now and 'Dubai Dreams' is a timely reminder of the tough lives and shattered dreams of Indians who are paying a heavy price in the current credit crunch that has also touched this Middle Eastern emirate,” said Shamlal Puri.
“There was a time when all the flights used to lead to Dubai from India as Indians paid any airfare to chase their dreams in Dubai. Today, ironically, they are heading back home, leaving their shattered dreams behind.”
'This is a dramatic reminder of the travails of about three million Indians who have gone to work in the Gulf. Now many of them are facing a bleak future after their toil amid very harsh conditions in these states,” said Puri. There around 1.5 million Indians in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) alone.
“I finished the book when the Dubai crisis had hit the global headlines. So it is very topical now and has value as a historical record as well.”
The living and working conditions of unskilled and semi-skilled Indian workers in the Gulf leave much to be desired. A majority of these are young, mostly unmarried males. More than half their numbers have invariably gone from the Indian states of Kerala, while the remaining persons have mostly been from Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Over 60 percent of them have had little formal education. On arrival in their country of destination in the Gulf, they are usually fed and housed in barrack-like tenements and engaged as labour on construction projects. Now thousands have been laid off and have returned home to a bleak future.
Puri stayed in Dubai for three years and observed Indian workers and their struggles and challenges. The story revolves around the lives of Indian taxi drivers and how they cope with their tough working conditions and the tensions of their families back home in India. Part of the story also happens in Mumbai.
Exploited at every turn, the author highlights their plight and shows how easy it is for simple, honest men to turn to crime in desperation. It captures the humour and pathos of the sweltering classes in thankless, low-paid jobs.
Here is a sympathetic insight into the lives of taxi drivers who keep the transport system of Dubai well oiled. As the traffic rolls on, the drivers go nowhere in their lives with their shattered dreams.
The book ISBN 9780 9552627-2-2 (hard cover £16.99 plus postage and packing) and 9780 9552627-3-9 (paperback £9.99 plus postage and packing) is available from both the publishers, www.amazon.com and all good book sellers.
In this novel, the story is told of six Indian migrant workers who come together in search of riches. Four taxi drivers and a junior manager from South India and a construction worker from the Punjab live under the same roof in bed-sit lodgings. Overworked and underpaid, lonely without their families, they soon realize that their Dubai dreams are not likely to be fulfilled. Living expenses are high, and they have loans to repay and families to support.
The book lifts the lid off the lives of blue-collar workers in the Middle East. It captures the humor and pathos of the sweltering classes in thankless, low-paid jobs. Here is the heart wrenching saga of taxi drivers and workers who sweat it out to keep it going.
This novel is definitely worth a read by anyone interested in life in Dubai. It tells the story of the common man in search of his pot of gold. It contains a mine of information not ordinarily found anywhere else. The book has its funny moments and the author narrates the stories told to him by taxi drivers.
Shamlal Puri is an international journalist, editor and author. He has worked with the media as a professional journalist and photographer in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East in a career spanning over 30 years. While in Dubai, he observed blue-collars workers at close quarters, and Dubai Dreams is the outcome. Shamlal has published several books including That’s Life: Michael Matatu at Large and Axis of Evil: Blood Money.
During his long career in the media Shamlal Puri founded Newslink Africa, a pioneering news agency for this continent. His work has been published in more than 250 magazines, newspapers, journals around the world. He started his career on ‘Northern News’ in India where he rose to be its assistant editor. He also worked on ‘Daily News’ in Tanzania and was a senior journalist with ‘The Kenya Times’ in Nairobi and Drum magazine. He has written for ‘The Illustrated Weekly of India’, ‘Femina’, Youth Times, ‘Caravan’ and ‘Women’s Era’ magazines, among others, in India.
In the United Kingdom, Shamlal worked with ‘India Weekly’ and Harrow and Wembley Observer newspapers in London. He was also a Senior Editor of ‘World Times’ magazine in London’s Fleet Street. He has written for many newspapers, including the London Evening Standard and the Daily Nation of Kenya. He has broadcast on BBC World Service, BBC TV, Channel Four in Britain and networks in Australia and Africa.
As a professional news photographer, he has compiled a picture library of
250,000 images. His photographs are widely published globally, including in the British national press. He has visited most of the countries in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, the Far East and the Americas and now lives in Britain, devoting his time to writing.
Further details, review copy and author photo available
from Dr A. Kumar on 0207 937 7080 or by emailing us.
CP
Crownbird Publishers
15 Kensington High Street
LONDON W8 5NP (England)
Tel: 44 207 937 7080
Fax: 44 020 7938 4168
Email: info@crownbirdpublishers.co.uk
www.crownbirdpublishers.co.uk
Wednesday 14 March 2007
User contributions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
User con
AUTHOR SHAMLAL PURI invites you to read about his latest work Axis of Evil: Blood Money, an international thriller on the war on terrorism (www.crownbirdpublishers.co.uk)
SHAMLAL PURI, London-based journalist, author, broadcaster, press photographer and humourist, was born on 4 July.
Shamlal is the author of several books. His latest work is Axis of Evil: Blood Money, an international thriller set in the UK, Africa and the Middle East (Crownbird Publishers, London 462 pages. ISBN 978-0-9552627-1-5 www.crownbirdpublishers.co.uk). This book has out-scooped journalists and the international community by unearthing how poaching in Africa is being used to raise money for Jihad in the Middle East.
His other work is That's Life: Michael Matatu At Large (288 pages, Crownbird Publishers). This book is a collection of magazine articles that Shamlal wrote in a humour column in Drum and True Love magazines, Africa's best selling mass circulation magazines, for over 20 years. Shamlal is considered an old Drum hand having been involved with this magazine for over quarter of a century.
Shamlal spent his childhood in Tanzania. Even as boy he knew his vocation was to work in journalism. His first article appeared in a magazine when he was only 13. Since completing his tertiary education with a specialisation in African affairs, he began to work as a professional journalist, a field that he has occupied ever since. His work has been published in more than 250 magazines, newspapers and journals around the world. He has worked full time with the media in Africa, India and the United Kingdom. He started his full time journalistic career with the Daily News in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, under the paper's Managing Editor Benjamin William Mkapa. Mr Mkapa was elected the President of the United Republic of Tanzania for two consecutive terms 1995-2005.
In The UK, Shamlal has been variously Publisher and Editor of Newslink Africa, a pioneering African affairs news syndication service in London. He has also been the Senior Editor of World Times Magazine published in the Fleet Street of London; editor of Harambee African News Service. He also worked as an assistant editor of India Weekly published in London. His voice was first heard on the international waves on Radio Sangam, a Christian radio station, when he was only 16. He has also broadcast on BBC World Service, BBC TV, Britain's Channel 4 TV and BBC Local Radio. He has also appeared on numerous channels and stations as far away as Australia, South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Turkey and Canada.
Shamlal also worked as a sub-editor on the Observer series of newspapers in West London. He was part of the launch team of The Leader series of newspapers in Brent, West London. He was, for a while, the executive editor of AfroFun magazine.
Shamlal is an acknolwedge authority on press freedom in Africa. For some 24 years he was the Africa Press Freedom consultant for the International Press Institute producing their annual African Press Freedom Report. He is the co-author of Article 19's book on Press Freedom. He has also been a consultant on African press freedom for Unesco. He is the co-author of the annual Africa South of the Sahara (1995 and 2001 editions). He also wrote a working paper for Transperancy International entitled, Self Censorship and the Africa Media' which he presented at a conference in Brussels.
Shamlal has also been a professional news photographer, and compiled a picture library of 250,000 images. His photographs have been widely published globally, including the British national press.
Shamlal has travelled to more than 90 countries and now lives and works in the United Kingdom.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Shamlalpuri"
tributions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
AUTHOR SHAMLAL PURI invites you to read about his latest work Axis of Evil: Blood Money, an international thriller on the war on terrorism (www.crownbirdpublishers.co.uk)
SHAMLAL PURI, London-based journalist, author, broadcaster, press photographer and humourist, was born on 4 July.
Shamlal is the author of several books. His latest work is Axis of Evil: Blood Money, an international thriller set in the UK, Africa and the Middle East (Crownbird Publishers, London 462 pages. ISBN 978-0-9552627-1-5 www.crownbirdpublishers.co.uk). This book has out-scooped journalists and the international community by unearthing how poaching in Africa is being used to raise money for Jihad in the Middle East.
His other work is That's Life: Michael Matatu At Large (288 pages, Crownbird Publishers). This book is a collection of magazine articles that Shamlal wrote in a humour column in Drum and True Love magazines, Africa's best selling mass circulation magazines, for over 20 years. Shamlal is considered an old Drum hand having been involved with this magazine for over quarter of a century.
Shamlal spent his childhood in Tanzania. Even as boy he knew his vocation was to work in journalism. His first article appeared in a magazine when he was only 13. Since completing his tertiary education with a specialisation in African affairs, he began to work as a professional journalist, a field that he has occupied ever since. His work has been published in more than 250 magazines, newspapers and journals around the world. He has worked full time with the media in Africa, India and the United Kingdom. He started his full time journalistic career with the Daily News in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, under the paper's Managing Editor Benjamin William Mkapa. Mr Mkapa was elected the President of the United Republic of Tanzania for two consecutive terms 1995-2005.
In The UK, Shamlal has been variously Publisher and Editor of Newslink Africa, a pioneering African affairs news syndication service in London. He has also been the Senior Editor of World Times Magazine published in the Fleet Street of London; editor of Harambee African News Service. He also worked as an assistant editor of India Weekly published in London. His voice was first heard on the international waves on Radio Sangam, a Christian radio station, when he was only 16. He has also broadcast on BBC World Service, BBC TV, Britain's Channel 4 TV and BBC Local Radio. He has also appeared on numerous channels and stations as far away as Australia, South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Turkey and Canada.
Shamlal also worked as a sub-editor on the Observer series of newspapers in West London. He was part of the launch team of The Leader series of newspapers in Brent, West London. He was, for a while, the executive editor of AfroFun magazine.
Shamlal is an acknolwedge authority on press freedom in Africa. For some 24 years he was the Africa Press Freedom consultant for the International Press Institute producing their annual African Press Freedom Report. He is the co-author of Article 19's book on Press Freedom. He has also been a consultant on African press freedom for Unesco. He is the co-author of the annual Africa South of the Sahara (1995 and 2001 editions). He also wrote a working paper for Transperancy International entitled, Self Censorship and the Africa Media' which he presented at a conference in Brussels.
Shamlal has also been a professional news photographer, and compiled a picture library of 250,000 images. His photographs have been widely published globally, including the British national press.
Shamlal has travelled to more than 90 countries and now lives and works in the United Kingdom.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Shamlalpuri"
tributions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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