Life in Middle East - I

I have seen lot of people used to say “he was not having any financial issue, his dad is working in middle east”. During my college days, so many time I got this doubt, from India that is on north west, then why they are calling it as a middle east, I asked few elders and seniors, they told me that they would tell later, but never that day came. The term middle east is originated by British when they were ruling India in 1850. It encompasses southwest Asia, north Africa and Egypt. Now they are trying to stretch up to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Human resource suppliers for middle east mainly focusing  on Qatar, UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Yemen and Bahrain. I was under impression that really they were making huge amount of money. I was surprised, when they are paying that much amount of money, why then local companies are not paying like that. Truth is comparatively salary is higher. Pathetically this little bit difference is at the cost family and friends. Country can be rich, but are we? Every where you may get oil, but do we own? Let us restrict our view to blue collar jobs, and keep high skilled professions aside like Engineers (i.e Mehenthis in arabic) and Doctors.

No one can deny that the way the locals dealing with foreigners are unfriendly. Naturally their language is bit vocalized. Even ordinary sentence also more sounds like they are confronting with you. Most of the work force is from Asian countries. Now I am wondering that if they put the same effort in their native, they can lead better life with their nears and dears. As long as you are just going to office and getting back to house, you could not witness other part of life in the same locality. For getting family status, that is to live with family, that individual must earn certain amount of money, unfortunately human resource suppliers for their own profit and to satisfy the interest of the client, carefully restrict the salary, so as not to exceed that slab.

You can not see any love in the middle east countries, because after the age of eighteen male kids can not stay with their parents. For time being let us ignore those stringent laws, it is having its own gains and pit falls. Other factor is no sufficient college to accommodate foreign population. Getting citizenship is very difficult except few countries. In every house you can find either newly married people or family with school going kids. All together the life in middle east is something like water droplet on lotus leaf, water stays there, but that is not its place. You can not say, your life is going to be there only, but still you will be living over there. The bitter truth is even if they die, their bodies will not be buried over there, it would be dispatched to their country. More than this, how one can have such a extreme non commitment relationship.

At least I get a chance to see, lot of family men living alone over there. I noticed frustration in their eyes. Other than going for shopping, no other better recreation that too if he left with sufficient balance after money has been sent across to family, because as per their visa ( i.e Ikkama in arabic), they don’t have family status. After coming from work, they will change the dress, they will come to parapet wall in front of the building, stare at sky for some time. Sharply at 7’O clock, food will be served. After dinner they will watch television for sometime, then they will get back to the bed, next day mechanically same routine will start again. Don’t ask me then what you do?, because everyone used to do more or less same, but when you are with your family the same routine makes lot of difference.

When I was coming to Chennai by Kuwait airways, guy who is sitting next to me was very restless. I asked him, are you fine? he said “yes”, but actually he was not, then 2 hours before it reach airport, I could see tears in his eyes. When we slowly started talking with each other, he expressed that after 5 years he is going to see his wife, mother and father, that too he left his house within a week after he got married. My goodness!, it is the worst punishment that he had in his life. After reaching Chennai air port, I was waiting with him for around an hour till his family come to airport. When they met, they did not speak, simply they were holding their hands with each other and silently they were shedding tears. This scene deeply etched in my mind, I could not resist this question, is it a open jail? certainly for him it was like that only.

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