I was in the middle of a desert ten years ago. Not exactly stranded. Pampered by tax-free Gulf pay, together with occasional bonuses thrown in by a magnanimous monarch as his token of appreciation for the work we did in the TV channel I worked for, life was good with little or no room for complaint. If I rued anything, it was the predictability of a cushy existence minus any major challenges. My life was too good to be true, bordering on being somewhat surreal.