Qatar Travelogue- Part 2

I am happy to welcome you back to my life in Qatar. As promised in a previous post, I am resuming my effort to write about my travelogue to Qatar. Doha is a very beautiful and organized city, yet I could not visit any of those excitements here. The tight schedules of my husband’s job made me sit within the four walls of our apartment. Hopefully I can have a look at excitements like Qatar National Museum and Doha zoo among other places. Though, I couldn't see it, the places I visited here were had a lot of excitement to offer. As mentioned in my first travelogue post, I have visited Villaggio Mall, Landmark Mall, Doha Corniche and Dahl al Hammam Park.

Villaggio Qatar is a very big and beautiful shopping mall situated in Aspire Zone of the west end Doha. We visited the mall on a Friday that made it more exciting. On the way, what attracted me the most is torch tower and a very big stadium. I hope you remember me mentioning about a torch shaped light, I saw during my landing in Doha My husband told me that it is Khalifa International Stadium. The stadium along with the torch tower and the nearby park gave a scenic beauty to the Villaggio. The interior of the mall with a sky painted attractively on the roof, appeared as if we are standing in open air. There are canals and ice skating grounds arranged inside. People could walk along the canal and they also could enjoy boating. I never could imagine a mall with such an interior.

There is good theme park inside the mall- the Gondolania theme park. Children were playing there. The shops are of different types. It has a place for people of all budgets. I could see people of Asia, Africa, Europe and North East Asia there. Post the accidental fire that claimed 19 lives, one area was closed with a very big board with painting suited with the rest of the interiors. Even in difficult times, the Qataris show a great attitude that decides there altitude. Hailing from among the richest people in terms of per capita income, Qataris are rich in their culture as well. They are really friendly and supporting people.

Now back to Doha Corniche, extending for several kilometers, it is a waterfront promenade set up along the Doha Bay. Parallel to the promenade is Corniche Street that connects Doha Airport with the fast developing West Bay. Being a popular place for walkers and Joggers, a walk in Corniche is very appealing. The view of dozens of skyscrapers along with Sheraton hotel makes it enchanting. These lighted skyscrapers are proofs for the current economic boom in the country. While I started walking, my eyes were busy searching the lighting arrangements on those high buildings. The pyramid shaped Sheraton hotel and the nearby park were added a special appeal to the beauty of Corniche.

The Museum of Islamic Art was the great attraction that caught my heart while I was enjoying the brisk walk in Corniche. When I saw this board, the first thing that encountered my thought was the term Alchemy. Arabs began the science of Chemistry and named it as Chemistry. Being a chemistry graduate, my curiosity compelled me to visit the Museum. But I could not. Even though, I couldn't make a visit to the Museum, I am sure about the historical and scientific excitements I can have inside it. I am here in this place for four months and now I would love to learn about this country.

Hailing from the largest democratic country of the world, I often believed that democracy is the best political system, but the experience in Doha was quite different. The development process in Doha has a direction and the ground for that direction is human welfare. The government is careful about the safety and welfare of even expatriates. In democracy, what often directs the politicians is their personal interest. After satisfying the interests of the governing party, if they are doing something for the country, there appears the opposition party to prevent that development. They do not want this development to happen within the rule of their opponents; they want to defeat the ruling party in the next election in this ground.

There are several similar negatives associated with the current so called democracy. Even though the term democracy refers the rule of the people, the fact has no relationship with the theory. Indians are suffering under democracy. In India, we do have a lot of resources in comparison to Qatar, but Indians are not able to enjoy its fruits under democracy as Qataris do under Monarchy. Hopefully my next post could be a comparison between the cultural and political traits between India and Qatar or between Democracy and Monarchy. Qatar has offered me a great opportunity to rethink about the system of democracy and the relevance of people like Anna Hazare in India. In the meanwhile, I have diverted my thoughts from places like Dahl Al Hammam Park and Katara cultural village. I will write about them later as my next post will be on the cultural and political traits of Qatar.