Tuesday, July 15, 2008
A friend of mine made a profound statement yesterday. He said, “You seem to have all the comforts of Kerala out there in the Gulf and none of the crap”! Guess he was able to appreciate it living in Taiwan!
Anyway, it got me thinking and I guess he’s quite right. I have probably been blinded by the atrocious rents and the traffic blocks here…
Where else do you have the Lulu hyper market with every single one of the Kerala vegetables displayed beautifully? And get frozen version of the off-season vegetables. I got frozen ‘koorkka’ the last time I visited. Just open and fry…no washing, peeling or cooking…yummm….
Where else do you get plantain leaves for Onam and konna poo for Vishu?
And betel leaves and areca nut for joining a new music or dance class…
Where else can you shop in Malayalam and sometimes even conduct business meetings in Malayalam….
And listen to Mallu FM channels….
And get mota set (Mallu red rice and fish curry) in every nook and corner…
And watch the latest Mallu movie in the theatre…
And order food and grocery in Malayalam…
And get free Mallu movie on cable TV every week…
And have Malayalam taught in schools…
And have handsome Mallu doctors and comfortable Mallu sisters take care of you when you fall ill…
Most of these things I couldn’t get even in neighbouring Chennai for the 8 years I stayed there…
And all this without being bothered by hartals and bandhs every other day…without the dirty comments and looks (and worse) every time you step out…without worrying about getting home before it is dark…without getting frustrated with the absolute lack of progress around you…without mosquitoes buzzing around you carrying deadly virus…without power cuts and load shedding…without water shortage…without roads full of pot holes…without racing private buses…without breaking your head worrying how to save tax by investing the money you don’t have…
In spite of all this, if you still end up missing the monsoons, the greenery and the relatives, just book a ticket on a budget airline and be home in 4 hours…or get a month’s paid holiday every year with the airfare paid by the company…
No wonder so many people get permanent residence visas to Canada and Australia, and stay on here. I used to have this elitist contempt for the ‘Gulf Malayalee’ till I became one myself…
So have I inspired anyone to search for a job in the UAE and come over? I COULD do with some good friends here!!! :(
11 other wanderers:
Wow--peeled and cleaned koorka! Lady, i am sold!
Every single point u mentioned is so true.
U knw when I first came here in 1999 I was so homesick that I just yearned to go back to Bangalore...the phase lasted atleast 4 yrs.
Then gradually I got used to all the comforts of Dubai especially the food part of it:-P.
We've built a house in Banagalore but there is this strange reluctance to go back just yet.
nice place that!!
Scribblers Inc.
@ps: Excellent! So when are you coming??? :D
@reflections: So true...in fact my 4 years are still not up and I still miss Chennai a lot...but now I slowly understand how people can get stuck here for years!
@scribblers inc: Guess it is! :D Though I was talking in terms of Mallus, all those points are true for most Indians here!
yeah! and also no karunakaran!
u r rite, in the midst of the complaining we seem to forget how gud we have it here...but still miss kerala..the rains, the tea at the chai kadai, the farway sounds of the temple songs in the morning competing with the muslim call for prayers....i guess iam also appreciative of that becoz of being here...
btw, thnks for the tip on khoorka...me gonna get me some.
Tys, I know exactly what you mean.. that atmosphere is not there anywhere else..
And enjoy the koorkka...you need only that famous saucepan of yours! ;)
How lucky to have best of both the worlds.
@solitaire: Thanks for visiting...went to your blog(s)...very interesting..lots to catch up with there... :)
heard so much about the gulf and the its malayali populace from my cousins that it is high time I pay a visit myself. its nice to have the comforts of kerala in another place. If the Middle easterners can build a snow mountain in the desert, the keralites can as well request for backwaters to be built there;)that will make the experience complete!!:-)
@ancientmariner:Great idea! The way these guys are going now, they'll probably make it the 'World's deepest backwaters' or something!!! hee hee...
ya, you folks are truly lucky in that sense! :) you name it you have it. am now more familiar with stuff from kerala than from my home town.
actually when i board a srilankan airways or kuwait airways bound for chennai, miss the all permeating ubiquitous,malayalam, truly! :)
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