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How I got to Dubai

Do you believe in fate? Many of don't but when we attain a respectable age (like I have) and look back at our lives, we see patterns that could not have come from anyone else than God.

The hand of God has touched me several times. But most of them refer to the time I was in India and is not relevant to this discussion.

Let me tell you when the hand of God touched me here, in the UAE.

It all starts out one night. A late night. A very late night.

I am in Bangalore and normally go to bed latest by midnight. But on this night I am up at 3 am surfing the net on a week day!!!!

I check my e-mails even at late hours because I deal with US servers and they are (-)12 hours from where I am in terms of time.

I see a mail from a guy in Delhi.

Delhi!!!!!!!!!!!

He says he is a software engineer. Needs my help in screen capturing the login sequence on the local ISPs screens in shell mode. (It sounds very technical but in those days in India we did not have the TCP/IP accounts that we are now used to but used to see black DOS screens. This was called a "shell account").

I humor him and 5 minutes later he has his screens. He is ecstatic. We chat. We become friends. He tells me his life story.

The next day he asks me to hack into the VSNL server. I am shocked. But also intrigued.

"How do I do it?" I ask.

He is a Whiz Kid at computers and tells me what to do. In the process I learn what 'Telnetting' into a server is and Unix commands such as `cat' etc. (If you know Unix, you will realize that there is a pun here).

So with a pounding heart I telnet into the local ISP at Bangalore, India. If caught, it will embarrass me no end because I am a well known figure in my city.

I am astonished to see the Unix C prompt. This means that the server is not secure. (Remember that I am talking about the early 1990's).

With a trembling hand I enter the command………………

Cat etc/pwd.

I have my Dos screen capture software enabled.

In seconds the screen starts rolling at high speed. The Dos software is capturing all the data.

I log off.

I have a log file of the ISPs members. More than 10,000 of them!

Amazing! Astounding! Astonishing!

Fast forward to February 1998……………………

I am in Dubai for the first time. The thrill of being in Arabia hits me. But I am all alone at home. There is the computer and the internet access line. My daughter has thoughtfully left me her password so that I can log in whenever I am bored.

I am bored this morning. I wonder whether I can get into the local ISP as easily as I did in India. I am stunned when I can see the screen rolling with data exactly as happened in Bangalore.

I quickly disconnect.

I return to India and one night, I telnet into the Dubai server. I extract the list in the same way as described above.

Fast forward to April 1998…………………..

The wife is upset that I visited Dubai without her. The son wishes to see DSF (The Dubai Shopping Festival). So I bow to their wishes and book all of us on a flight to Dubai. I have mentally decided to look for a partner in Dubai. I have the Dubai e-mail list with me. It has around 10,000 e-mail IDs.

The list is a text document that I can query. I decide to search for all companies with the name "Computer" in them and give the appropriate command.

There are 154 companies with the name computer in them.

I decide that I will individually e-mail all of them.

Back breaking work.

At the 140th address I tell myself "enough!" But something compels me to bash on.

I finish all 154.

Within a week the responses are coming in.

Within 2 weeks I am down to a shortlist of 4 companies.

In 3 weeks I am down to two companies. One in Abu Dhabi and the other in Dubai.

I decide on the Abu Dhabi company and go to tell the Dubai company that I will not be able to join them; I have an appointment for 5 pm to meet their MD.

That day (Murphy's Law!!!!!!!) I can't get a taxi in the Al Khan port area of Sharjah.

"To hell with it" I tell myself. "I won't turn up. He will understand". But a little voice tells me that I must go to the meeting. Soon a taxi comes. I reach his office at 6 pm. I am one hour late.

Khalid, the MD, (a UAE local) is sitting all alone in the office. Before I can say a word he say "Hi Parakash! Come in! I was waiting for you! I have a lot of exciting plans for the business that I have not told you about!" and before I can utter a word he starts off.

I am spell bound.

I hear myself saying "Khalid, I have decided to join you". I am amazed. When had I decided?

I join Khalid and do very well. Khalid becomes like a brother to me.

One day, I am alone in the office reminiscing about the past. I see the shortlist of 154 names on my computer.

"Where was Khalid" I idly wonder.

When I look, I am shocked.

Khalid's was the 152nd name in 154 names.

Had I stopped at 140, I wouldn't be here.

My family leaves for India without me. My passport is being processed for a residence permit.

The rest is history. I set up a web design / web hosting company in partnership with Khalid. I will return to India only in the year 2004 but I do not know it then.

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