We oohed and aahed as we saw images of the hotel on Google.
The Atlantis
sat gracefully on the topmost frond of The Palm in Dubai. Everything about it spelled
“Posh”.
We are not
posh people and by ourselves we would have never chosen to go there.
But we had
won the prize last year and our time was running out. We had to use the holiday
voucher before May 2014.
...
“You must do
all the water sports at the hotel” suggested Mala.
“And don’t miss
the Dubai metro and the food at Appa Kadhai” said Bharati.
“We loved
playing with the dolphins at the Dolphin Bay when we had been there” said
Giusi.
“Good to
know that you will be visiting us in Dubai” said my brother.
...
The smartly
dressed bell boys rushed forward to take our bags with broad smiles and
directed us to queue up at the check-in counter.
When our
turn came, a handsome young man named Charles took our booking details and got
busy at his computer to verify them. We left him to do the formalities and
turned around to take in the beautiful displays in the lobby. We chatted in our
native Marathi dialect as we kept one eye on the young man at the counter. On
hearing us, he suddenly stopped his work and looked up. Then he gave a broad
smile.
He asked, “Are
you from...”
“Vasai”
completed my husband.
The two men
laughed and shook hands. It doesn’t take long for one Vasaikar to recognise
another. Then we did what Vasaikars do when they meet other Vasaikars for the first time.
We
shared:
Which part
of Vasai we came from
Which part
of Vasai our parents came from
We tried to
figure out:
If we knew
anybody in common
If we were
distantly related
We
concluded:
Charles’
aunt and I went to the same school.
Wow! We had
succeeded in establishing a common link.
Charles gave
us a wonderful room with a view. He also gave us his phone number just in case
we needed any assistance. And he wished us a pleasant stay.
Somehow
meeting Charles made our stay in the hotel a
memorable one.
