The Biz Kids

The cover story (The Inheritors, wknd., October 30) was an interesting read. It was fascinating to learn that many years ago expats came to the hardly-known Dubai and set up flourishing businesses here. I was thrilled to read about the upcoming Gurdwara. It just goes to show the spirit of equality and fairness in our leaders. I believe that no matter what people say, Dubai is a wonderland. Rajesh Mehra, Abu Dhabi

Guest-friendly Rooms

This refers to the article in wknd.’s new Travel section (The Adventurers, wknd., October 23).  The article by Pratibha Umashankar was enlightening for women. It is nice to spend your hard-earned money performing adventurous tasks and doing the things you always wanted to do, but never had the time in the past. It must be really, really difficult for working women to manage both the home and their career with the same ease, but then, career matters more than the family to some. Living life to the fullest is the new mantra. This will surely add new meaning and a make difference to a womens lives. How about starting something similar but just for the men out there? We could call it Men On Merryland, or MOM?  Amruth M Das, Dubai

Stopping Short at Success

I thoroughly enjoyed Khalid Mohamed’s column in last week’s wknd., (What’s next for Tabu, wknd., October 30) but  I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness when I read the article. Tabu  is one of my favourite actresses, but she didn’t cash in on her success, as the author pointed out. Although she was absolutely delightful in Cheeni Kum and The Namesake (who else could have played Ashima Ganguli so well?), we the audience have seen less and less of her in recent years. Nowadays we have to make do with ‘Barbie dolls’ like Katrina Kaif for actresses, when what we want, and miss, is a powerhouse of talent — like Tabu. Sharon  D Souza, Abu Dhabi

Horror At the Movies

Following the advice of  the  Things To Do column (wknd, October 30), my friends and I hit the theatre over the weekend and bought ourselves tickets to the movie Autopsy. Anyone with a polished  sense of what qualifies as ‘good cinema’ must  stay miles away from this extremely cheesy horror fest. The movie was all about blood, blood and more blood — so much so that the poorly etched plot seemed to drown in all that blood and gore. Throw in some bad acting, yank out some organs, add some sinister characters and you have Autopsy. The movie was so bad that a tortured couple who were seated in front of us got up and left in the midst of a particularly harrowing scene. They left in such a hurry that they forgot their tub of fresh popcorn. The results of this Autopsy  scream ‘stay away!’ Sofia Ahmed, Ajman

Flying High

I found Salma Al-Baloushi’s story really inspiring (Verbatim, wknd., October 30). Her family must be so proud of her achievement. It was amazing to read about how she learned to fly an airplane and the amount of hard work and dedication that you have to put in before you can call yourself an accomplished pilot. I hope Salma Al-Baloushi and Aisha Al Mansouri are the first of many talented Emirati women pilots to enter the aviation world. Kudos to these two women. Rakshanda Sharif, Sharjah

Feeling Crabby

I read Rahul Sharma’s column (Food for Thought, Smash and crab, wknd., October 30) with great interest. It’s clear that Mr Sharma is passionate about food and writes very well on the subject, so much so that his column made me rather jealous of his love of shellfish. I had a rather nasty experience with shellfish a few years ago in the US which resulted in a lot of pain and a panicked rush to the hospital. After lots of worry, the doctors told me I was allergic to the stuff and that I should stay well clear. It was devastating news at the time, but I’ve since developed new favourite foods. Reading Mr Sharma’s column brought back fond memories of dining out on delicious crab and succulent prawns. I remember the Sri Lankan variety with great fondness. I miss the taste of the crab meat and the experience of smashing open the shell, but I don’t miss the stomach ache and all medical bills that come with it. Tahir Zahoor, Abu Dhabi