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Is Dubai Like This or a Con mail floating in the net?

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Dear All,

I have never been out of India, but have ideas to go out & see the world where is it headed..i got this disturbing, & long forward mail from one of my friends. Going thru the entire mail made me feel sad. Is this what the middle east promises all? Giving it as it came to me...
:amen:

The dark side of DubaiDubai was meant to be a Middle-Eastern Shangri-La, a glittering monument to Arab enterprise and western capitalism. But as hard times arrive in the city state that rose from the desert sands, an uglier story is emerging. Johann Hari reports for The Independent..Karen Andrews can't speak. Every time she starts to tell her story, she puts her head down and crumples. She is slim and angular and has the faded radiance of the once-rich, even though her clothes are as creased as her forehead. I find her in the car park of one of Dubai's finest international hotels, where she is living, in her Range Rover. She has been sleeping here for months, thanks to the kindness of the Bangladeshi car park attendants who don't have the heart to move her on. This is not where she thought her Dubai dream would end. Her story comes out in stutters, over four hours. At times, her old voice – witty and warm – breaks through. Karen came here from Canada when her husband was offered a job in the senior division of a famous multinational. "When he said Dubai, I said – if you want me to wear black and quit booze, baby, you've got the wrong girl. But he asked me to give it a chance. And I loved him." All her worries melted when she touched down in Dubai in 2005. "It was an adult Disneyland, where Sheikh Mohammed is the mouse," she says. "Life was fantastic. You had these amazing big apartments, you had a whole army of your own staff, you pay no taxes at all. It seemed like everyone was a CEO. We were partying the whole time." Her husband, Daniel, bought two properties. "We were drunk on Dubai," she says. But for the first time in his life, he was beginning to mismanage their finances. "We're not talking huge sums, but he was getting confused. It was so unlike Daniel, I was surprised. We got into a little bit of debt." After a year, she found out why: Daniel was diagnosed with a brain tumour. One doctor told him he had a year to live; another said it was benign and he'd be okay. But the debts were growing. "Before I came here, I didn't know anything about Dubai law. I assumed if all these big companies come here, it must be pretty like Canada's or any other liberal democracy's," she says.. Nobody told her there is no concept of bankruptcy. If you get into debt and you can't pay, you go to prison. "When we realised that, I sat Daniel down and told him: listen, we need to get out of here. He knew he was guaranteed a pay-off when he resigned, so we said – right, let's take the pay-off, clear the debt, and go." So Daniel resigned – but he was given a lower pay-off than his contract suggested. The debt remained. As soon as you quit your job in Dubai, your employer has to inform your bank. If you have any outstanding debts that aren't covered by your savings, then all your accounts are frozen, and you are forbidden to leave the country. "Suddenly our cards stopped working. We had nothing. We were thrown out of our apartment." Karen can't speak about what happened next for a long time; she is shaking. Daniel was arrested and taken away on the day of their eviction. It was six days before she could talk to him. "He told me he was put in a cell with another debtor, a Sri Lankan guy who was only 27, who said he couldn't face the shame to his family. Daniel woke up and the boy had swallowed razor-blades. He banged for help, but nobody came, and the boy died in front of him." Karen managed to beg from her friends for a few weeks, "but it was so humiliating. I've never lived like this. I worked in the fashion industry. I had my own shops. I've never..." She peters out. Daniel was sentenced to six months' imprisonment at a trial he couldn't understand. It was in Arabic, and there was no translation. "Now I'm here illegally, too," Karen says I've got no money, nothing. I have to last nine months until he's out, somehow." Looking away, almost paralysed with embarrassment, she asks if I could buy her a meal. She is not alone. All over the city, there are maxed-out expats sleeping secretly in the sand-dunes or the airport or in their cars. "The thing you have to understand about Dubai is – nothing is what it seems," Karen says at last. "Nothing. This isn't a city, it's a con-job. They lure you in telling you it's one thing – a modern kind of place – but beneath the surface it's a medieval dictatorship." There are three different Dubais, all swirling around each other. There are the expats, like Karen; there are the Emiratis, headed by Sheikh Mohammed; and then there is the foreign underclass who built the city, and are trapped here. They are hidden in plain view. You see them everywhere, in dirt-caked blue uniforms, being shouted at by their superiors, like a chain gang – but you are trained not to look. It is like a mantra: the Sheikh built the city. The Sheikh built the city. Workers? What workers? Every evening, the hundreds of thousands of young men who build Dubai are bussed from their sites to a vast concrete wasteland an hour out of town, where they are quarantined away. Until a few years ago they were shuttled back and forth on cattle trucks, but the expats complained this was unsightly, so now they are shunted on small metal buses that function like greenhouses in the desert heat. They sweat like sponges being slowly wrung out. Sonapur is a rubble-strewn patchwork of miles and miles of identical concrete buildings. Some 300,000 men live piled up here, in a place whose name in Hindi means "City of Gold". In the first camp I stop at – riven with the smell of sewage and sweat – the men huddle around, eager to tell someone, anyone, what is happening to them. Sahinal Monir, a slim 24-year-old from the deltas of Bangladesh. "To get you here, they tell you Dubai is heaven. Then you get here and realise it is hell," he says. Four years ago, an employment agent arrived in Sahinal's village in Southern Bangladesh. He told the men of the village that there was a place where they could earn 40,000 takka a month (£400) just for working nine-to-five on construction projects. It was a place where they would be given great accommodation, great food, and treated well. All they had to do was pay an up-front fee of 220,000 takka (£2,300) for the work visa – a fee they'd pay off in the first six months, easy. So Sahinal sold his family land, and took out a loan from the local lender, to head to this paradise. As soon as he arrived at Dubai airport, his passport was taken from him by his construction company. He has not seen it since. He was told brusquely that from now on he would be working 14-hour days in the desert heat – where western tourists are advised not to stay outside for even five minutes in summer, when it hits 55 degrees – for 500 dirhams a month (£90), less than a quarter of the wage he was promised. If you don't like it, the company told him, go home. "But how can I go home? You have my passport, and I have no money for the ticket," he said. "Well, then you'd better get to work," they replied. He shows me his room. It is a tiny, poky, concrete cell with triple-decker bunk-beds, where he lives with 11 other men. All his belongings are piled onto his bunk: three shirts, a spare pair of trousers, and a cellphone. The room stinks, because the lavatories in the corner of the camp – holes in the ground – are backed up with excrement and clouds of black flies. There is no air conditioning or fans, so the heat is "unbearable. You cannot sleep. All you do is sweat and scratch all night." At the height of summer, people sleep on the floor, on the roof, anywhere where they can pray for a moment of breeze. The water delivered to the camp in huge white containers isn't properly desalinated: it tastes of salt. "It makes us sick, but we have nothing else to drink," he says. The work is "the worst in the world," he says. "You have to carry 50kg bricks and blocks of cement in the worst heat imaginable ... This heat – it is like nothing else. You sweat so much you can't pee, not for days or weeks. It's like all the liquid comes out through your skin and you stink. You become dizzy and sick but you aren't allowed to stop, except for an hour in the afternoon. You know if you drop anything or slip, you could die.. If you take time off sick, your wages are docked, and you are trapped here even longer." He is currently working on the 67th floor of a shiny new tower, where he builds upwards, into the sky, into the heat. He doesn't know its name. In his four years here, he has never seen the Dubai of tourist-fame, except as he constructs it floor-by-floorOn my final night in the Dubai Disneyland, I stop off on my way to the airport, at a Pizza Hut that sits at the side of one of the city's endless, wide, gaping roads. My mind is whirring and distracted. Perhaps Dubai disturbed me so much, I am thinking, because here, the entire global supply chain is condensed. Many of my goods are made by semi-enslaved populations desperate for a chance 2,000 miles away; is the only difference that here, they are merely two miles away, and you sometimes get to glimpse their faces? Dubai is Market Fundamentalist Globalisation in One City. I ask the Filipino girl behind the counter if she likes it here. "It's OK," she says cautiously. Really? I say. I can't stand it. She sighs with relief and says: "This is the most terrible place! I hate it! I was here for months before I realised – everything in Dubai is fake. Everything you see. The trees are fake, the workers' contracts are fake, the islands are fake, the smiles are fake – even the water is fake!" But she is trapped, she says. She got into debt to come here, and she is stuck for three years: an old story now. "I think Dubai is like an oasis. It is an illusion, not real. You think you have seen water in the distance, but you get close and you only get a mouthful of sand."
 
Dear Manoharkumar

I migrated out of the UAE in 1986, but I've been there many times after that. My children went
to School there and my wife was the In-charge of the Primary Section of a School and the only
Teacher authorised by the Ministry of Education, to teach Tamil.

I used to be associated with the Indian Association there and my house was always full to the brim with
Tamil boys whom I had brought over on employment and Tamil couples for whom we were the
match-makers. Fridays were fun-filled days - carroms, cards, Tamil/Hindi antaksharis, table tennis on the dining
table, Fosters/Amstel/Heineken in sumptuous quantities - group strength of 25-30 all making noise!

The story of Karen Andrews is all too familiar. Some tales narrated by our Indian friends is absolutely
pathetic.

I guess it will apt to leave it to Ravi Ji to explain the exact situation there right now.

" Over to Ravi "................................

Yay yem
 
Well.I do not understand what exactly the writer wants to convey. It is a well known fact that economic inequalities are there in all the countries and force people to migrate to other States and Countries. Look at conditions of labour in our own India that is Bharat.The notorious slum of Bombay, Dharavi houses more than 5.0 lakhs population living in appalling condition. In spite of promises, Government after Government could not do any thing better. Take for instance Bangalore, the home of rich IT industries,there are thousands of migrant workers from Bihar, Bengal, Odisha and NE states slog for long hours day and night in brick kilns and construction sites. Their living conditions are in no way better than that is quoted in the article. In Chennai,the poor live in slums along Coovam and Buckingham Canal mushroomed without any basic comfort or sanitation.

Bangladesh are one of the most poverty stricken Countries in the world with huge population of unemployed. The poor in that Country were forced to seek work out side their Country to take what ever money they were offered. Being an Islamic Country, all Gulf Countries offer work permits liberally to Bangladeshis. In Gulf Countries Labour laws are simple and strictly enforced. Any labourer who has entered the Country legally with proper papers can approach the labour department and lodge a complaint, which will be dealt within 24 hours.

I have worked in a Gulf Country for eight years and I know some thing about the living Conditions there.

Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.
 
Dear Bala Sir

The situation in the Gulf is not the same as it was then. Things changed drastically after
major events such as :

1 . Iraqi Occupation of Kuwait in 1990

2 . Collapse of the Soviet Union in early '90s

That is why I would prefer somebody like C.Ravi Ji who still lives and works there
to give us a first-hand account. I really don't have any reason to question the authenticity
of the tales narrated to me by Gulf returnees

Let's hear it from Ravi.

Guruvethunai
Yay Yem
 
Dear Yay Yem,

Thanks. Will wait for the latest post from Mr.Ravi Ji. Though i accept what Mr.Brahmanyan says of people living near Coovam etc, we know of these conditions prevelant in our country. So if one does not like to live in Dharavi he can come back to chennai slums etc, but what happens when you sell your land etc and go to a distant land to earn and you are made to live in hell like conditions.. i cannot digest that. Thats why my query is the conditions so bad there? Thanks for your feed back. regards.
 
Dear Manoharkumar Ji

I think Ravi will respond only if there is a 'teaser' from Renu !

It's fun watching them hit out at each-other - you don't have to watch
Walt Disney - we have a Tom & Jerry right here.

Yay Yem
 
Dear All

Sorry. My post # 2 of this thread should read 1996 and not 1986 - my wife just
noticed the typo error.

Sorry again, will be more careful - I hope Dr Renu lets me go " SCOTCH FREE " !
No, Renu, I'm trying to get 10 years younger or even 'up' my weight to 70Kg

Yay Yem
 
Shri Anand Manohar,

I couldn't spare much time as before, having joined a new company on 14th July. Hardly when the time permits at night, I log in, go through some threads and post my comments.

Since now Ramadan month has begin from 20th July, I could get back home by 6pm max on some days and at 5pm on some other days of a week. And could spend some time at night due comfortable office timings.

--------------

Now, let me give my comments on the topic here.


To start with, I would say that, what Shri Brahmanyan has stated is right and stands good till today...


The freedom that we enjoy in our home country can not be expected in other countries, especially in Gulf countries. I personally don't find anything wrong with the systems that GCC Kingdom adopts. Here expats are in more population than the locals and these expats are those who are more smart/tactical/manipulative than the locals. Locals are starting to learn many such things from the expats here.

It is tough for the administrators/rulers here to streamline everything in order, maintain law and order, maintain discipline, maintain the standards and keep offering the best possible automation that could make life much easier here. A great degree of careful analyses and modalities need to be framed up to mange the whole affair, having expats survival from many many countries. These expats are much talented in their manipulative strategies, mostly learned from their home country and are into many things to go out of the way skilfully and cheat the fellow expats and the local administration.

The Labour court here honestly works for the welfare of the expats and we come across many cases where expats were bee duly compensated with their due privileges/settlement/benefits etc, by taking the company/local company/sponsor into task. The process are carried out on the spot in the labor office, in front of the authority.

It all just depends on one's education, experiences, competency etc and how one gets into job agreement. There is always an option - "take it or leave it". Once you take it, you can't act over smart later. You get fixed and you should accept it at least till your contract period is over. If you were been cheated by deviating from what you were been promised with written offer later/appointment order, you have your full right to approach and get honest support from labour department/court to get your safe way out.

Life is full of comfort here. There is no dearth of comfort of living and safety. It just depends on how much you earn and how much you save so that you can remit some good money periodically to your family back home,to buy property in your home country etc..etc.


-------------------------

The story narrated in OP, IMHO, reminds me of many cases here, in which the person at the receiving end are found to be own culprit.

For me, it is unbelievable that an educated man working for a famous multinational company in a senior portfolio would not be well informed himself about the local laws. Especially the laws pertaining to financial issues.


Dubai is off course a Crazy Word where the day begins at night!!!!

You have every thing from A-Z as per your whims and fancy. Right from dinning, discotheque, pubs, night bars, dance bars, multinational sex workers, message centers, message cum sex specialty spas. There are many pomp and shows that many are fascinated about.

Here in Dubai, one can make his/her future/life and one can easily dig his/her own grave and get buried under ground, in now time, at the blink of the eyes.

Many are doing hard work and settling in life decently. Many are giving true sense to their hard work here by contributing lot to their family back home. Many are here who are so frugal to the extent of least bothering about health, self comfort and privileges ONLY to see that one could get the sense of pleasure, fulfillment and meaning to one's struggle, such that the family back home is progressing and happy.

There were and there are hell lots of people also here, who have gone/are going crazy with this Glittering World of Fantasy here and have lost themselves to the extent of losing their identity.

Dating, Illicit relationships that comes handy here among the expats, extravaganza in living styles and show offs, the sense of "I am here and I should have/enjoy all that is available and I can some how manage to afford using my credit cards etc..etc have thrown many people on the streets and behind the bars.

Dubai is a dream world where one can make his / her dreams come true (off course to the extent one could practically achieve). It all just depends on "what type of dreams/wishes you have and how you succeed?" AND "what sort of temptations and craziness you have and how are you making all the ways and means to fulfill them?".


Employers are the same Employers every where across the Globe and Employees have their own ordeals and challenges to choose, to manage and to survive.

If you take care of yourself well, be responsible, be not get into unwanted/undesirable temptations, be not stretching yourself too much to fulfill your desires beyond your capacity etc..etc. You Are Always Safe and Happy, where ever you are and what ever may be the economical ups and downs of the country in which you are making your survival.




PS. I have expressed the above as much as I could know, understand human life and follow my own like many others. Especially human life as expats and especially in Dubai. I believe, no one would mistake me that I am being judgmental about others choice of living style and being hateful towards them. All I said was based on what I could see, come across and get to know through others. I personally have nothing to do with their life and I always mind my own business.


 
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Dear Mr Ravi,

I was wondering why yay yem was refering to you for a detailed mail on the subject. Thanks for an amazing and detailed reply.
Life is full of comfort here. There is no dearth of comfort of living and safety. It just depends on how much you earn and how much you save so that you can remit some good money periodically to your family back home,to buy property in your home country etc..etc.
Yes you are correct, wherever we go if you just follow the local laws and rules & regulations life would be much easier. There is always a talk here abt people living abroad, the comforts easy life etc. but behind all that is the sincerety, hard work and the many sacrifices one has to make either by leaving the family here and live there, or even if with family miss out on the relations and functions. Thanks again for a superb rejoinder. Cheers!!
 
Dear Manoharkumar Ji

There - you have it from the Camel's mouth.

That's generally the case - Indians will be the most well behaved and law abiding citizens abroad.
Once they reach India, they revert to their 'original behavior '. One can notice this right upon landing
in an Indian airport. The same person who was so conscious of hygiene and cleanliness just a few hours
ago while in Singapore, will start littering and spitting pan upon landing in Chennai.

The laws in UAE were always simple and un-complicated and the justice delivery system was always
immaculate. Stay within the frame-work of the law and life will be comfortable. When one tries to cut corners
somewhere, then life can become miserable.

Sure, things look like they are pretty much the same these days .

I wanted Ravi Ji's input, because he is right there just now and has first-hand knowledge of what's
happening there.

Ravi Ji - well presented - un-biased, un-prejudiced and non-judgemental.

Guruvethunai
Yay Yem
 
Dear Sri Ravi,

You have analysed the life and conditions of expats in Dubai very well. During my period of service in Sultanate
of Oman from 1982 to 1990, the conditions were little different than now. During that time Dubai used to be considered extension of Mumbai. Things are different now. Last year I spent three weeks holidays with my wife and grand daughters at Dubai and Abu Dhabi at the invitation of my sister's family living there. My nephew is staying near Burjuman Centre & Mall. My niece is in Karama both are living in Excellent accommodations. Every thing in Dubai looks modern due to well oiled Governance. I was taken to Mall after Mall and kept busy throughout my stay in UAE. I was taken on a cruise in the waterfront in the Dubai Creek.. One place I didn't visit was the Gold Souk.

Interestingly from my visits to different hotels, I found Indian food industry is doing very well in Dubai & Abu Dhabi. During my days in Muscat there were hardly one or two vegetarian Restaurants offering South Indian food.
The same was the case in Salalah.

I value your words in your post:

"If you take care of yourself well, be responsible, be not get into unwanted/undesirable temptations, be not stretching yourself too much to fulfill your desires beyond your capacity etc..etc. You Are Always Safe and Happy, where ever you are and what ever may be the economical ups and downs of the country in which you are making your survival."

As you have rightly said we should earn some savings for the future and return home after the purpose is over. However I found that I could not enjoy happiness and freedom any where else except my Janmabhoomi, After all my roots are here.

Regards,
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.

 
Dear Bala Sir

The period that you have mentioned sort-of overlaps the time period when I was in the UAE, except that I
stayed on in the gulf till 1996. I have driven down numerous times from Dubai to Azaiba, Nizwah and Salalah
through the Hatta and the Al Ain [Buraimi] routes.

It was on my first drive to Nizwah that I actually saw a mirage for the first time in my life - I stopped the car by the
road side, got out of the car - just to watch a city hanging upside down ! Terrific - I can never forget the scene.

Wadi Al Kabir and Salalah were places of exquisite natural beauty - Salalah, especially in winter, seemed more
like a Hill Station, rather than a city in the Arab desert.

Yay Yem
 
As you have rightly said we should earn some savings for the future and return home after the purpose is over.
போதும் என்ற மனமே பொன் செய்யும் மருந்து, என்று யார் திரும்பி வந்து விடுகிறார்கள் ப்ரமன்யம் சார். இன்றைய நாளில் ஒருவரின் அன்றாட தேவைகள் பூர்த்தி செய்ய அவர் எவ்வளவு உழைத்தாலும் போதாது. ஆசைகள் அதிகமாக உழைப்பும் அதிகமாகிறது. This is a never ending vicious cycle and I personally feel only a few escape out and come back and enjoy a relaxed life. (I may be wrong in my conclusions) . In most cases it is never back to pavilion. Otherwise how come so much Indian population is settled all over the world? Janmabhoomi and Karma Bhoomi is only for the few like you Brahmanyam Sir. Cheers
 
Dear Bala Sir

The period that you have mentioned sort-of overlaps the time period when I was in the UAE, except that I
stayed on in the gulf till 1996. I have driven down numerous times from Dubai to Azaiba, Nizwah and Salalah
through the Hatta and the Al Ain [Buraimi] routes.

It was on my first drive to Nizwah that I actually saw a mirage for the first time in my life - I stopped the car by the
road side, got out of the car - just to watch a city hanging upside down ! Terrific - I can never forget the scene.

Wadi Al Kabir and Salalah were places of exquisite natural beauty - Salalah, especially in winter, seemed more
like a Hill Station, rather than a city in the Arab desert.

Yay Yem

Dear Sri Anand Manohar,

You have taken me back by 30 years to 1982 . Initially I was posted in Salalah and stayed there for eighteen months till I was transferred to Muscat. Salalah is a wonderful place, unbelievably friendly weather through out the year. Especially the monsoon rains during the Khareef season was most enjoyable.Every thing in Salalah will remind us the beautiful Malabar Region, the weather, agricultural products, fruits and vegatables and the large number of immigrant Malayalee labourers.During my stay, I have visited various places in Dhofar region including Thumrayt in Dhofar Hills, Taqah the historic town believed to be the place of Queen of Sheba on the way to Marbat, the port from where Arabian horses were exported at one time. I have enjoyed my visit to beautiful beaches at Al Mughsil.

Dhofaris are different from Arabs. They have also equally rich Historical and Cultural back ground. During my stay the developmental works were in the beginning stage and I could see the beauty of old Salalah. It is said the burial place of the last Cheraman Peruman, who had converted himself to Islam is in Salalah, where he died due to sickness.

Many of us may not be aware that Frankincense (சாம்ப்ராணி) is an aromatic resin obtained from Boswellia tree,which grows only in Dhofar hills region. Frankincense was being exported from Oman for centuries to all Countries in the world. I have visited the Jebel (hill range) area of the Dhofar range where it is grown.

Yes, it is an unique experience to view the real mirage in a desert town. I have been to Nizwa. It is an ancient place with the circular fort. I have traveled further interior to the Oasis town of Ibri and stayed there over night.
Also to fishing port of Sur in the east, Sohar in north east. As one interested in History and Culture, I never missed a chance of visiting historical places with my friends and British Managers. I had seen many Forts including ones in Bahla, Nizwa, Rustaq, Jabrin but missed to see the famous Nakhal Fort in Jabal Al Akhtar.
I have uploaded photos taken during my visits to historical sites in Oman in my Yahoo flickr ac.

It is my strong belief that chances to visit places of importance will come only once in life, which we should accept with thanks.

Regards,
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.
 
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போதும் என்ற மனமே பொன் செய்யும் மருந்து, என்று யார் திரும்பி வந்து விடுகிறார்கள் ப்ரமன்யம் சார். இன்றைய நாளில் ஒருவரின் அன்றாட தேவைகள் பூர்த்தி செய்ய அவர் எவ்வளவு உழைத்தாலும் போதாது. ஆசைகள் அதிகமாக உழைப்பும் அதிகமாகிறது. This is a never ending vicious cycle and I personally feel only a few escape out and come back and enjoy a relaxed life. (I may be wrong in my conclusions) . In most cases it is never back to pavilion. Otherwise how come so much Indian population is settled all over the world? Janmabhoomi and Karma Bhoomi is only for the few like you Brahmanyam Sir. Cheers

நண்பர் ஸ்ரீ மனோஹர் குமார் அவர்களுக்கு நல் வணக்கம் ,
உண்மையான வார்த்தைகள் . ஆனால் நமது தேவைகள் என்ன என்று நிர்ணயிக்க நமக்கு சுதந்திரம் இருக்கிறது .நானும் எனது குடும்ப தேவைகளுக்கு ஏற்ப சம்பாதித்து விட்டு நாடு திரும்பி விட்டேன் . மேலும் வெளி நாட்டில் இருக்க சந்தர்ப்பம் கிடைத்தது ஆனால் அந்த ஆசையை வளர விட வில்லை.
Of Course on my return at the request of my previous Company I joined them and continued to work for another 10 years and took my retirement.

Regards,
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.
 
Thank you Bharmanyan Sir, & Yay Yem for the postings on dubai. என் அண்ணா கனரா வங்கி மூலம் சில வருடங்கள் துபாயில் இருந்துவிட்டு வந்தார். நான் மட்டும் கிணற்று தவளயாய் இருந்துவிட்டேன். ரவி சார், யெ யெம் சார், உங்கள் குறிப்புக்கள் மனதில் ஒரு சின்ன ஏக்கத்தை ஏற்படுத்திவிட்ட்து. மிக்க ந்னறி. May be this will make me to attempt to visit these places atleast as a tourist. Cheers!!
 
நண்பர் ஸ்ரீ மனோஹர் குமார் அவர்களுக்கு,

வெளிநாடு சென்று வேலை செய்யவில்லையே என்று ஏக்கமே வேண்டாம் . நான் எனது ஐம்பது வயது வரை வெளிநாடு செல்லவில்லை .இந்தியாவிலேயே நல்ல பொறுப்பான உத்தியோகத்தில் இருந்து வந்தேன். நம் நாட்டில் இமயமுதல் குமரிவரை உள்ள பல இடங்களுக்கு சென்று வந்தாலும் வெளிநாட்டுக்கு செல்ல வேண்டும் என்ற ஆர்வமில்லாது இருந்து வந்தேன். ஆனால் எனது நல்ல நண்பரும் மேலாளருமாக இருந்த அதிகாரி வெளிநாட்டுக்கு பெரிய உத்தியோகம் கிடைத்து செல்லும்போது என்னையும் நல்லதொரு பொறுப்பான சௌகர்யங்களும் கூடிய உத்யோகத்தை அவரது வெளிநாட்டு நிறுவனத்தில் அளித்தார் . இது இறைவன் எனக்கு அளித்த நான் எதிர்பாராத சந்தர்ப்பம் என எண்ணி வெளிநாடு சென்றேன் . முதலில் எனக்கு வெளி நாட்டு வழக்கை மிகவும் கஷ்டமாகத்தான் இருந்தது. அனால் எனது மனைவிக்கோ மிகவும் பிடித்திருந்தது .முதலில் சலாலா என்ற சிற்றூரில் ஒன்றரை வருடங்களும் பிறகு சுமார் ஆறரை வருடங்கள் மஸ்கட்டில் ஆங்கிலேயர் நிர்வாகத்தில் ஆரம்பித்து நடந்து வந்த வர்த்தக நிறுவனத்தில் ஒரு மேலாளராக திருப்தியுடன் பணி செய்து நல்ல பெயருடன் தாய் நாடு திரும்பி விட்டேன்.

காலம் மாறிவிட்டது இன்றைய இந்தியாவில் வேலை வாய்ப்புகள் அதிகம் . இங்கு கிடைக்காதது ஏதும் இல்லை . வெளிநாட்டுக்கு சமமாக பெரிய வியாபார நிறுவனங்கள் இங்கேயே இருக்கின்றன. எந்த வெளிநாட்டிலும் நம்மை இரண்டாந்தர மக்களாகத்தான் நினைக்கிறார்கள் . நமது நாட்டில் நல்லதொரு வாழ்கையை அமைத்து நம் உற்றாருடனும் சுற்றாருடனும் வாழ்வதே மகிழ்ச்சி . கிடைக்கும் தருணத்தில் குடும்பத்துடன் வெளிநாடுகளுக்கு சுற்றிப்பார்க்க சென்று வாருங்கள் .
தங்களது சந்ததியருக்கு நமது கலாச்சாரத்துடன் கூடிய வாழ்க்கையை அமைத்து தாருங்கள்.




நலம்கோரும்,
ப்ரஹ் மண்யன்
பெங்களூரு
 
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Thank you Sir. Appreciate your posting and those last lines.. I have done that, when i successfully accompilished the marriage of Daughter per our customs and am also do daily sandhya, amavasai tharpanams, and have strong belief in our traditions and customs.irrespective of the current trend, revere Kanchi periyava visit Mutt and seek their blessings regularly. Cheers.
 
Thank you Sir. Appreciate your posting and those last lines.. I have done that, when i successfully accompilished the marriage of Daughter per our customs and am also do daily sandhya, amavasai tharpanams, and have strong belief in our traditions and customs.irrespective of the current trend, revere Kanchi periyava visit Mutt and seek their blessings regularly. Cheers.

Dear Sri Manoharkumar,

What more you want to accomplish in life? Performing one's duty to satisfaction is the greatest gift
one can get in life, which very few people are blessed to accomplish. We have rich Culture, assiduously
developed by our previous generations, and I feel it is our duty to pass it on to our next generation.

Let us seek the blessings of the Lord to give us good health,
Warm Regards,
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.
 
Shri Brahmanyan,

I am glad to note that, you had visited many malls and interesting places in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. And enjoyed Dhow Cruise dinner in the waterfront in the Dubai Creek as well.

My accommodation is close to this creek, in Bur Dubai. And close by the creek is the Temple. At one end of the creek park (gate 1) there is Dolhinarium that is worth visiting. Have you been to Temple and this Dolpinarium? What about dessert safari with dune dashing? Could you enjoy that?

YES!!! Indian Food Industry is doing very well in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. Surrounding this creek we have Vasantham, Sangeetha and Saravana hotels. And among the leading North Indian Veg.Restaurants, we have Puranmal Hotel and Rajdhani. There is no dearth of delicious Indian Recipes in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.

Karama is similarly a vibrant place!!


As you said, people come here for certain years, accomplish their goals and go back home to settle there for once. At the same time for many its புலி வால் பிடித்த கதை. They neither could feel like continuing here nor going back to their home country. Depending upon their personal life circumstances, people just make up their mind to stay here for long years, as much as possible OR could be lucky to get back to their home country to settle down comfortably, with sense of peace, satisfaction and happiness.


Shri Manoharkumar,

As you said only lucky are the folks who could breath the air and smell the soil of their mother land, comfortably. And could have the sense of freedom and the charm of festivity. For them, Janmabhoomi/Karmabhoomi serves better. For most of the people, Dubai/foreign land is found to be the greatest paradise. Where, there is no Indian Social Stigma, no complications & annoyance by relatives and no much pain with the sense of being left alone among the crowd in one's home country. As well, many who started working here from young age and continued for long, get attached with the place emotionally. They feel much comfortable here, being well established themselves some way and being out of one's home country for years. Having been here for long, can not feel comfortable to work in a different environment in one's home country.

It is nice for the people who go abroad for period of 5 or 10 years, as the last period of their career, to fulfill certain needs/meet some challenges such that, it would be much helpful for their sons/daughters (for their education, marriage etc), then come back home and peacefully enjoy their retired life. IMO, they are the luckiest people in terms of having foreign assignment, for specific accomplishment.



Shri Anand Manohar,

Getting Lions here on Monkey's visa by cheating Lions doesn't works that much now!!! People are much smarter now a days and are carefull. All that is happening is, Lion agrees to get in here on Monkey's visa, inorder to get an aborad job, that would obviously provide some extra money and for some, provide some sort of relief as well other than money. Whether the Lion grumbles later or not is a different story, depending on each Lion.

Many are the folks who are not worried as what's their designation and what profile status is reflected in their Residency Visa. All that matters is - Total salary in Dirhams.



 
Dear Sri Ravi,

Your analysis of Gulf life is very good.
I took a boat trip not the Dow cruise (with food) in the waterfront. I had been to a Temple near the Dubai museum and Mosque. Since I have been taken by Car, I do not remember about the directions or the names of the places.

Since I had been to "Wadi Bashing", with my British Managers on week ends during my stay in Oman, I did not take the Safari.

Kids enjoyed the Dolphinarium, while my wife and I preferred to take a walk in the sprawling Gardens on the waterfront, with other family members. We had been to some other Parks and Gardens as well.

Two land marks in Dubai are unforgettable. One is Burj al Khalifa, the tallest man made structure in the world at 2,723 ft height (tallest Temple tower in South at Srirangam is 216 ft.). and Palm Jumeirah, the huge palm shaped artificial island reclaimed from sea, where the beautiful Hotel Atlantis is situated. Both are unbelievable to comprehend. Recently I saw the complete Construction of Palm Jumeirah shown in detail by BBC.

I found Abu Dhabi much different than Dubai. It looked a Compact City with multi storied buildings all around. Apart from Malls, we visitedSheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, largest Mosque in UAE. It is a beautiful work of Art, with mind blowing statistics. The woolen Carpet measuring 60,570 sq.ft spread on the main prayer area is said to be the largest of its kind in the world. We had been to Al-Ain bordering Oman and the nearby Jebal Hafeet oasis and resort.

Warm Regards,
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.
 
Where, there is no Indian Social Stigma, no complications & annoyance by relatives and no much pain with the sense of being left alone among the crowd in one's home country.
well written Ravi Sir. You have hit on the dot center. Being far away and yet you are very much in our place. Cheers.
 
Ref.: Post 21

Very well said, Ravi.

For example, I feel more comfortable here than even in India. When we returned from our holiday last year, our electric gate did not open with the remote. I somehow managed to get into my house leaving my family outside. But I locked the automatic door leaving all the keys inside. It was past 11.30 at night. We stayed overnight at a hotel and the next day, things fell in place so that we could enter the house in the evening. Apparently, there was an electricity failure (it's very rare) during our absence. The electricity people fixed it at 8 o' clock in the evening and did not expect any bribe. I can not imagine it in India.

As someone said, our home is where we are well off. That way, SA is my home?:p
 
The electricity people fixed it at 8 o' clock in the evening and did not expect any bribe. I can not imagine it in India
Well Mr.Siva, it is like this.Bribe is the birthright of every EB person ( or for that matter any Government agency) இந்தியன் திரைப்படதில் ஒரு காட்சி வரும். லஞ்சம் கேட்க்கும் டாக்டரை கொலை செய்யும் முன், “வெளிநாட்ல்யும் லஞ்சம்We இருக்கு, ஆன அதிகமா வேலை செய்ய சொல்லி... ஆனா நீங்க இங்கே வேலை செய்யவே லஞ்சம் கேக்கறீங்க!!” Thats 100% true.

We face daily power problems and we dread to call the EB as we have to pay some thing to move them from their chairs. For changing the EB meter you will have to pay for the cable (whihc they will bring from department), for TEA snacks for them if the work goes beyond certain hours etc... Bribe is the birthright of EB ,Transport department shortly called "RTO", & regional property registration department. If any body can get his work done from these depatment without paying bribe, i will call that as Miracle...

Cheers!!
 
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