I always wanted to live in a house with a view. In Guwahati I envied all the people who lived in houses with a view of the mighty river Brahmaputra, but because we live in the family house in Uzan Bazar, I had to be content with a view of the greenery and trees outside our house from the bedroom windows. Alas, that view is fast disappearing as more and more of the older houses (some 'Assam type') are being torn down to make way for not very pretty concrete 'RCC' structures instead. I have now hung bamboo screens on the balcony of the house to block the view of these buildings and to protect my privacy too.
When I came to live with my husband in Doha, I was delighted to find that the bedrooom had one window with a reasonably clear view of the waters of West Bay - beyond the W Hotel, and the pretty Moroccon embassy office a long stretch of almost turquoise blue waters with the posh Al Gussar and St Regis Hotel building and the white pearl shaped dome of the Pearl area visible in the distance. I have stood and stared at that view happily for long spells. The empty plot beside our building was used as a parking lot by office goers and shoppers coming to the neighbourhood.
I returned to Doha this year in July to find to my dismay that construction work has commenced on the empty plot beside us. The plot has been enclosed with barricades and the earthmovers are busy digging up the soil and I now hear the continuous clanging of the cranes through the day and night, as they dig and drive piles for the foundation of the building. I can see that its only a matter of time before my precious view of the bay is blocked by another tall building of Doha's West Bay and only hope that by that time we would have moved on from here. Till then, I am resigned to listening to the banging and clanging sounds of the pile drivers and watching the Indian company, Navayuga Cranes in action as I take my eye fill of the blue waters beyond.
The West Bay area is Doha's new part of town, with lots of fancy skyscraper buildings - the night skyline looks very pretty as these building have rather unique designs.The architects must have been given a free rein to conjure up these amazing buildings. I hear that most of them are European and many British. But was is interesting is that the construction workers are mostly from South Asia. I guess its cheap labour from India, Pakistan, Nepal etc. Wonder what goes through the workers' minds as they see these wondrous tall buildings come up in front of their hard hats and sweat and toil.... do they feel a sense of pride when they see the finished buildings and say to themselves " I/we built that...." do they think of all the effort and hard labour (it is very hard labour under very difficult working and living conditions!) that they had put into erecting these posh and modern edifices. I have watched them work on other buildings in our neighbourhood. They are bussed in shifts from far away labour camps and they toil round the clock, in the heat and dust digging deep to lay foundations and then constructing floor after floor, hoisting equipment up makeshift elevators and scaffolding, often dangling from cranes and winched up platforms at vertigo-inducing heights as they weld and instal glass windows, frames and chrome fittings and much more. I have watched them take occasional breaks to respond to phone calls ( probably from loved ones far away at home? ), or rest under the scant shade in the searing afternoon heat before they resume their work. I salute them, for indeed it is they who are building the glitzy new cities in the Middle East!
Update as on 1st May 2014
In little under two years the view from my bedroom has been transformed.
The vacant plot that was doubling as a parking lot, has been built up rapidly and the construction of the building has now reached the 21st floor and is still climbing!
Needless to say, most of the workers who have toiled night and day, through blazing summers and chilly winters to build it are from South Asia!
When I came to live with my husband in Doha, I was delighted to find that the bedrooom had one window with a reasonably clear view of the waters of West Bay - beyond the W Hotel, and the pretty Moroccon embassy office a long stretch of almost turquoise blue waters with the posh Al Gussar and St Regis Hotel building and the white pearl shaped dome of the Pearl area visible in the distance. I have stood and stared at that view happily for long spells. The empty plot beside our building was used as a parking lot by office goers and shoppers coming to the neighbourhood.
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| The view from the window last year |
The West Bay area is Doha's new part of town, with lots of fancy skyscraper buildings - the night skyline looks very pretty as these building have rather unique designs.The architects must have been given a free rein to conjure up these amazing buildings. I hear that most of them are European and many British. But was is interesting is that the construction workers are mostly from South Asia. I guess its cheap labour from India, Pakistan, Nepal etc. Wonder what goes through the workers' minds as they see these wondrous tall buildings come up in front of their hard hats and sweat and toil.... do they feel a sense of pride when they see the finished buildings and say to themselves " I/we built that...." do they think of all the effort and hard labour (it is very hard labour under very difficult working and living conditions!) that they had put into erecting these posh and modern edifices. I have watched them work on other buildings in our neighbourhood. They are bussed in shifts from far away labour camps and they toil round the clock, in the heat and dust digging deep to lay foundations and then constructing floor after floor, hoisting equipment up makeshift elevators and scaffolding, often dangling from cranes and winched up platforms at vertigo-inducing heights as they weld and instal glass windows, frames and chrome fittings and much more. I have watched them take occasional breaks to respond to phone calls ( probably from loved ones far away at home? ), or rest under the scant shade in the searing afternoon heat before they resume their work. I salute them, for indeed it is they who are building the glitzy new cities in the Middle East!
Update as on 1st May 2014
In little under two years the view from my bedroom has been transformed.The vacant plot that was doubling as a parking lot, has been built up rapidly and the construction of the building has now reached the 21st floor and is still climbing!
Needless to say, most of the workers who have toiled night and day, through blazing summers and chilly winters to build it are from South Asia!
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