Meet this Dubai-based Indian family that beat COVID-19 blues by hiking up mountains

Meet this Dubai-based Indian family that beat COVID-19 blues by hiking up mountains

Dubai: Combating the pandemic has not been easy for many families. But the Chakraborty family in Dubai found a way out. Meet Maloy Chakraborty, 50, working as the country head with a company in the FMCG industry in Dubai. Along with his wife Meenakshi, 47, an electronics and telecommunications engineer, and their daughter Malaika, 15, who is studying in Grade 10, he has been hiking together as a family every weekend. "Earlier we used to attend a lot of parties. Our weekends would be spent with friends partying. Then COVID stopped all this. We could not attend it used to be weekend parties. COVID stopped all this." It was during winter that the family decided to get out into the UAE's wadis. "It was really about combating the pandemic year. The choice was to either stay at home or exploring hiking trails where there is not much crowd. So from easy walks to demanding ascents and descents “” it has been an adventure ride us." The trio have hiked across mountains, wadis, deserts and dams this winter. They say there are plenty of places to escape the city's maddening crowd. "You also get to learn more about the culture and