Typical Gulf senario-


Petrol is cheaper than water Payment-But of late both seem to be going up

Any building construction finishes in 3 months-may be lesser if you pass through Sheikh Zayed Road day in and day out-New bridges and roads come up virtually every day - Amazing but true

The way buildings and apartments are coming up in Dubai may be they would end up with more apartments then the population itself

Less qualified get more salary than Qualified- Irony especially for some expats- We grumble but continue anyway!

Lucky People from some Nationalities who were gardeners or plumbers back home become Vice Presidents and COO's

Companies can kick away their employees without any reason- Threat of the ban looms large like a domicile’s sword-Nobody knows when there is a ban or when there isn't -Limited and unlimited contracts add to the confusion!

Wastas (recommendation) are more powerful than money

Cleaners have more Wasta than officers -They are the eyes and ears of the CEO

Watchman has more Rights than the Building Owner -They are the virtual Kings of the basements and the Car cleaning industry-U just can't afford to antagonize them

Gulf climate changes so fast, in one hour You can see rains, dust storm, hot / humid / chilling weather - Shammal is the name expats blurt out whenever there is a wind blowing in any direction

Gulf is located in desert, still you find greenery everywhere- Municipality workers plant small Palm samplings and when they grow to some height cut it off and again start with a new one-Great way to find jobs!

Keralites learn Arabic faster than the Arabs themselves -They are 'simbly' the Kings of innovation when it comes to survival

In Gulf, time goes very fast, Friday to Friday comes u never know, its sooo fast
School Children start and end their terms when you open and close your eyes or even before Ganguly finishes his innings!

Every bachelor has a dream of getting married and buying a house in home town -Most married 'bachelors' spend time looking at the photos of the villas they have constructed back home- They are too old to live or sick when they go back to these villas

Suddenly mother and father in laws with whom there was virtually a shadow boxing fight every other day back home become the best people on earth when they turn up for 2-3 months to Gulf, but not more than that! 3 months limit is a huge boon for the daughter in laws

Being at home is more painful than being at work , but people pretend to be busy always- Landlines and mobiles are a great companion-You can get telephone lines to India but just can't reach homes any time of the day -Wives are too busy to attend the calls of the spouses or they are working -Local calls are free!

Indians appear/pretend more religious/God fearing than they really were back home - Prayer groups, samajs, meditation centers, Sat sanghs abound in plenty in every nook and corner with sumptuous Prasad’s week after week

Theatres are full of Arab nationals whenever there is a movie of Salman / Sharukh

FM stations thrive on Bollywood gossips and if it's a hit song you can hear the same 100 times a week

Gulf girls sing Hindi songs but don't understand anything

Dance Bars and Pubs are more than that in Bangalore-Most of the unhappy guys anyway spend time up to wee hours in the morning in these places

A beauty Parlor every 5 meters/ Laundry every 3 meters/ Grocery/cold stores every 2 meters/ Kerala Tea kadai/Shawarma shop every meter

Food/Grocery delivery to your home-Spoiled for choice-Even you get Kovilapatti kadalai urundai and Tirunelvlei Halwa in your doorsteps

Smashed cars are more than good cars -Number of accidents increase very month like the NSE index

TRAFFIC SIGNAL IN GULF:
GREEN : Signal to go, for Americans, Europeans and Indians
YELLOW : Signal to go, for Egyptians and Pakistanis
RED : Signal to go for others

Some inputs from KK and Friends and on 2nd thoughts added my comments where appropriate

RK