Angrej Singh is a man who wears many turbans.
He is a security guard, building maintenance officer, singer, performer, poet and screenwriter. And that’s just on an average week.
On shift, he is the mild-mannered officer looking after the residents of a Jumeirah Lake Towers building in Dubai. Once the uniform is shed, however, Singh turns into a music star with a growing body of work.
His is a story of hard work paying off. In the span of his nine years in Dubai, Singh has used the money he's earned and his spare time to compose and release 10 Punjabi pop songs, with accompanying music videos. And he has also written screenplays for three short films, and these have been screened on some of India’s leading Punjabi television stations.
He has also performed across the UAE, including a 2019 set at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium and at Dubai’s Bollywood Parks and Resorts this February.
With so much achieved already, Singh should be a local star. But his social media presence is scarce and only those keenly attuned to the Punjabi cultural scene know of Singh.
"I like it this way, to be honest with you," he tells The National at the end of his maintenance officer shift. "Many people in my job, my colleagues, don't know anything that I do when I leave the office. I also don't go around telling them to hear my work or follow me. I like to keep things separate. I do the art works for me, not for fame or fortune."
How to release a hit song for under Dh3,000
That purity of purpose is matched by Singh’s steely resolve. His nights are spent writing the next song or screenplay, while putting aside his own money to fund the project. Over time he has devised a plan to create the best possible song for an affordable price.
“I write the song and then send it to one of the four music directors in India I work with. They email me back a demo copy and once satisfied with the idea I hire a studio in Dubai to record my vocals. Then I email it back to the director who finishes the songs,” he says.
“Once the song is done, I write the script for the music video and send it to a team in India who does all the exterior shoots, while my singing parts are mostly done indoors in Dubai, because of Covid-19. I shoot that either professionally or on my mobile phone. The Indian team then edits and through another Indian company, the song is released digitally and on the radio.”
And what’s the cost of such an internationally collaborative project?
"About Dh2,500 per song," he says. "That's not very expensive because I pay in Indian rupees. After I send money to my family, the rest of my salary goes to the music and film."
A Punjabi folk ditty about Russian revolutionary, Vladimir Lenin
It is money well spent. Singh’s tracks are a mix of catchy Punjabi pop, powered by signature Dhol drums, and expansive ballads that make good use of his high-pitched and quavering vocals.
The accompanying videos are charmingly earnest and incorporate live shoots, animation and stock news footage.
While the tracks are radio friendly, Singh’s lyrical subject matter is anything but.
Ever hear of that Punjabi folk ditty about Russian revolutionary, Vladimir Lenin? Or that chest-clutching ballad about water pollution? Well, that’s the point, according to Singh.
I learned so much here because the country is multicultural and there is law and order and people live in peace
"I don't want to write about love, romance and parties. I don't want you to cry in your drink," he says. "By doing that I am not really contributing anything. I want to talk about subjects that are not discussed in Punjabi songs. Like the song Lenin, for example. And nobody really talks about water pollution in Indian music generally, so I wrote Polluted Water to make people take notice and think about it."
Leaving his mark on the UAE
Next month, Singh will return to the north Indian city of Amritsar to reunite with his family and capitalise on his growing fan base and the industry contacts he accumulated during his UAE stay.
In typical fashion, he plans to hit the ground running. “I want to enroll in a drama course and I already contacted a few institutions. I want a professional degree,” he says. “I also have four songs that I wrote and are ready. I also have written a screenplay for a feature film that I hope can be seen in the cinema.”
While one can't help but hope Singh achieves all of his dreams, he says that’s not really the goal. More than the fantasy of a red carpet film premiere or a chart-topping single, what gets him up in the morning each day is another opportunity to engage in his passion.
“Yes, I would love to have money and have the freedom to travel to any country I want. But that is not real satisfaction for me,” he says. “My happiness comes from doing what I love, which is art. This is my satisfaction and if the money comes after then that will be great.”
For this reason, Singh views his nine years in Dubai as nothing but successful.
“I learned so much here and at such a pace that it is unbelievable. That’s because the country is multicultural and there is law and order and people live in peace,” he says.
“I may not leave the UAE with a lot of money in my pocket, but what I will take with me are the songs and videos I made from here. These are my mementos of the UAE. I will never forget this place.”
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
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On sale: Now
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RESULTS
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
THE BIO
Mr Al Qassimi is 37 and lives in Dubai
He is a keen drummer and loves gardening
His favourite way to unwind is spending time with his two children and cooking
The specs
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The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry
Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm
Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Company%20Profile
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Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
Rating 3 /5 stars
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Schedule
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'Cheb%20Khaled'
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Titanium Escrow profile
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
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