SHIKHA DUGGAL
The way women were preserving their modesty and respecting the cultural traditions in the middle east is what took Konda fame Irra Mor’s fancy on her last excursion. She could see piety and devotion even in Dubai!
Expressing their religious beliefs with a sense of evolvement charmed Irra as a woman herself. To know an outline of visiting the modern city full of ambition with its multicultural melting pot thriving, she expressed, “After a long haul — my parents allowed me to travel out of the country. I chose Dubai, the magical place of United Arab Emirates.
Due to some reasons my outings were getting called off or else I would have travelled to Russia before. Spent six days in Dubai and it went as expected: perfect blue skies and picture-perfect beaches. Something I noticed out of the blue moon was their elite restaurants!”
Expounding on what she really noticed, “I love Japanese cuisine — and the Japanese restaurant that we stopped by had some flamboyant techniques to keep us entertained on its lounge area with tall skyscrapers lightening up your mood. I call them the elite restaurants because most of the stewardesses will interact with you so elegantly and perform.”
So with an international population over there, the food styles available in the city made Bhairava Geetha fame experience a humbling and high-end experience. She calls the beaches of Dubai the drawcard now — “There is a vast coastline for you to explore there. Afternoons are the best time to be there soaking perfectly in the sunshine! A few of my friends from Dubai joined me. Interestingly, you are never too far away from getting your tan on. Something I distinctly remember from the time spent on the beach was also the French Villa he hung out at.”
She very well observed how the place was boasting a lot about its entrepreneurial culture, and she not seemingly being shy explicates her observations, “I overheard a lot of conversations and discussions that made me register their business sense. They are making money on every meet-up! Businesses are being set up there every other second. Work discussions were being discussed way beyond to my imagination and if you are street-smart, you’ll know how to work around those for your own business ventures if any. So keep an eye!”
She couldn’t visit the new Dubai frame and was slightly dejected about it because she had heard so many hankering details about the new monument that she didn’t want to miss. Nevertheless, she still experienced the cultural aspects of an upmarket.
“Sheeshas are always going on, “Habibi’s” will be singing, there is Arabian coffee, relax in the majlis: all this represents the culture of Dubai. Mainly, what women wear! The city is filled with stores of abayas, so many varieties of it. And, colorful! When you pass by a passerby, he/she will have such a strong fragrance that hardly goes away from your senses. The Arabic calligraphy or the geometric patterns they use in their monumental structures are all elements of their culture.”
This reminds her of Rajasthan immediately. Her distant cousins have their homes there and Irra could connect its folk culture to Dubai. Even Rajasthan had the culture of the kingdom if we date back to a few centuries. Now there are forts, even Rajasthan has deserts — defining similar cultures according to the actress.
Another interesting facet that she remarked in Dubai was, “There is this new custom of taking your own cooks with yourself to the city. I was stunned too! Frankly speaking, I am not a millionaire. So, I prefer Airbnb and Dubai offers you 4-bhk apartments to stay which is cool. Coming from the new generation, it makes sense to me to not spend all my penny on a boutique hotel.”
Coming back to her spirit of being an actress first and handling hectic film schedules, the traveller inside her always leads her to Hrishikesh for rejuvenation and it’s her sincere feeling. “You can reset your life there! The spiritual seeker in you will be awakened as soon you come in contact with nature over there. I go into deep meditative states when on the river banks. Whenever I have been to Hrishikesh, my spiritual growth has only increased.
The hills, the temples, or the ashramas will keep calling you! And the way I keep myself connected to my hometown that’s Agra is my way of recalling nostalgia in my life and it’s important for me. I re-live my childhood memories once again, with my sister even if it’s having panipuri with her, and will continue to do so because the “connect” has to be maintained no matter how famous you become in this industry.”
