January 2, 2024

 The first day back at work was exactly as I had predicted it would be. Generally slow. However, I was put under pressure by the Security department at around 10 AM and they informed me that someone acting alone or in alliance with others had been stealing strips of Copper from our yard. The yard was under my management- but of course security is not under me but them. I did not initially understand the aggression or the blaming as they took me out to the yard to show me where the thieves has managed to place pieces of copper through the wired fence into the outside open desert. Presumably to be picked up on the other side by an accomplice under the cover of darkness. All very suprising, and yet not that surprising. Copper is very prone to pilferage at every level especially when the London Metals Exchange places a high sale price for it. Roughly sells these days for 10 USD per kilo. So, if you get 25 kilos out the gate it is a clean 250 bucks. Believe it or not, it is enough money for some even in a place like Dubai. I cannot imagine this type of activity would reach the levels of materiality because at some point there are weighing machines that take stock of what we have- not every day but let's say once a month. So, at some point, we would notice the difference between recorded and actuals. If someone were to steal small amounts every day for 30 days, we are looking at an exposure of $7500- not good, but hardly anything to incite such drama. I could, for example, point to far more material losses in other areas- but I won't go there. I realised later that the security guys had been read the riot act following this incident, and they were simply trying to deflect some of the blame to my department. Perhaps, for example, we should not let the bare copper lie open in the yard. It is a different matter that it had been that way for around 40 years. I will have to now deal with this but will get to it when we get to it.

 Aside of work, I also was reflecting on last night's gig- especially on the 20-minute drive in to work this morning. I may have mentioned in passing that I was really happy with the wall of sound produced with the instrumentation. Aside of the vocals, the sound was glistening, full and lush. If only, we had had a vocalist of some quality we would have sounded better than any amateur act, band or solo that I had yet seen in Dubai. There is something there that I need to explore further. The fact that just two people ( Ranojoy and I ) are able to create an orchestral band sound of such sophistication is not to be ignored. Two keyboards and the occasional Electric Guitar is a format that is extremely portable. Two people, and one vocalist are easy to manage to keep together not to mention to get to practice regularly. We may have a new formula, and a bite-sized one at that, for a performing act. Yes, it is not a real band so there is no room for improvisation or dynamics. We also cannot pick songs with complex and varied time-signatures. But does the typical audience care? They want something to sound good to either groove to or dance to. We can develop a repertoire for popular material spanning Rock, Pop and Bollywood- the essential triad of genres that appeals to the well- heeled Indian diaspora. Even for non-Indians, if we remove the Bollywood portion, it could still work. I mean we could definitely play " final countdown" for example. All we needed was a good vocalist. What do I mean by good you ask. Someone who has a pleasant voice, can sing high notes and is comfortable with English, Hindi and in general pop singing- i,e not into classical or old-style mellow songs which don't work with a loud electric soundscape. Preferably a lady, since the high notes are a given and it also adds some textural diversity to the sound. I could already sing so it would make for a rich palette. A Lady was preferable but certainly not compulsory. We could also appoint a male voice, as long as it met the criterion. And then, we could hit the road in Dubai. My initial thought is to charge a fee for house parties or even bar concerts but then donate the funds to a named charity. If this takes off, it could push a lot of the uber wealthy Dubai expatriates to indulge us gainfully.  I am particularly excited about the simplicity of the format. When you have a full band, you have to worry about sound men, mixing consoles, the drumset logistics, multiple egos and so much more degrees of variability that invariably ensue. It is almost impossible to put something like this together. And even if we did, it is a low chance that charity would work as a motive for all members. But neither me nor Ranojoy are in any position wherein we require to make money out of this. Not for now. Maybe post-retirement- but that is still 10 years away. The vocalist is a problem- if we get a good one, he or she may want money. We could pay the person and donate our share to charity. That may also work- but the best option is to get another well-to-do singer who simply wants a hobby. Usually, such people are not good enough to perform at the level I am targeting- but we could get lucky- one never knows. In the US there is a surfeit of Indian talent that is happy to perform without cash. This is a subject I want to discuss with Ranojoy sometime after he returns from his holiday. Maybe I am dreaming- but just maybe I am on to something here. Since we are two and have minimal PA requirements, we can keep the tickets moderately priced. Say 50 Dirhams. Even if we get 50 people, it would raise some change. The key would be to scale this beyond the bengali community- which is not hard to do in a growing and cosmopolitan city like Dubai. Final Countdown is equally loved by Russians you know- even the ones fleeing the war zone in their homeland to resettle in Dubai.