Dubai: It’s carnival time for all those planning to attend the public reception of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Dubai International Stadium on Monday.
Friends, family, office colleagues are pooling cars, arranging buses and travelling in huge numbers. From Al Ain alone about 15 bus loads of people from organisations such as NMC, Al Faraa group, Art of Living Al Ain Chapter are plying 3-4 buses to Dubai each. Social organisations such as World Malayali Council, Nair Samajam, Tamil Sangam, Indian Social Centre are some of the groups plying at least four buses each with a capacity of 50 people each. A strong contingent of 10,000 people, many of who have taken half day or full day leave are coming to the venue.
There is anticipation, excitement and thrill almost as if people were getting a change to meet a rock star. Gulf News spoke to a few people to know what they expected at the event.
Manju Ramanan, group editor of Femina, Filmfare, Salt and Pepper, said: “I have been a journalist in Baroda and chronicled Modi’s evolution as a leader. My mother who worked in a HR job often told us how young Modi used to visit her boss Makrand Desai. Waiting for his appointment, Modi would often have a friendly banter with the staff. So there is a sense of identification with the man. I feel he has great control over his rhetoric which is peppered with his vision as a statesman and practical wisdom. He writes poetry in Gujarati so one can get a glimpse of the artist and the visionary in his speeches.”
P.P. Valsaraj, who works with the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority, said: “It is a matter of great pride for us that an Indian Prime Minister has been invited to the UAE and important bilateral agreements will be signed. We are a group of 50 friends and are going to meet at the stadium. We have printed saffron T-shirts with Modi’s photograph and want to be part of the history that is going to be made at the stadium.”
Madhu Goel Arora, managing editor and publisher, Saffron Media Works and Vikram Arora, CEO of Saffron Media Works, said: “We were thrilled to receive a formal invite from the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi for the event. Both Vikram and I are great fans of Modi. I think he is a great orator and I cannot wait to sing my country’s National Anthem with 50,000 people in the Stadium. I think Modi is an excellent orator and he would be making important announcements about the outcomes of his meeting with the Rulers In these two days, things which will mean positive strides for entrepreneurs like us.”
Rajan Maryan, executive, Al Ain, said: “I am immensely proud of this moment and cannot wait to attend this event. I applied for a day’s annual leave much in advance and together with my other compatriots from Indian Friend’s Cultural Association we are about 400 of us coming to Dubai. We have organised eight buses and all the buses will leave at around 12 noon from Al Falah Plaza. We have great hopes from Modi’s visit. We hope that he will make the process of repatriation of bodies of Indian expatriates to India much easier, he will do something about the insurance and pension schemes of expatriates like us and look into the issue of reducing airfares in government carries like Air India Express which at the moment get tripled during summer vacations.”
