This happens only in Kuwait.

SHARED THOUGHTS – 10.10.2015

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This happens only in Kuwait.

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It’s said, “show me your friends and I will tell who you are”. In bygone days, it was “show me the books you read and I will tell who you are”.. bygone, because, books are in extinction and reading books are unheard of these days. Now, relevant to the subject, one can say, “looking at the way you drive, I will tell who you are”.

If one has been in Middle East city roads, one would not be surprised at some of the unique ways of road behaviour. However when it comes to Kuwait, a whole new world of notoriety opens up reflecting the typical behavioural patterns of the rich and young of this beautiful city state. Some are fit to be in Ripley’s Believe it or Not…and believe me, I am not joking. Folks out here will agree with me with a big five, in disgust though.

For a small city with broad well lit smooth roads and speed limits ranging from 80 to 120 kmph in most of the main roads, an infrastructure designed for 800,000 cars, it is a daily melee and a battle for the nearly 2,000,000 vehicles to find that elbow space to move forward during peak hours. In the process a resident here must have noticed all or most of the following waywardness ; some of them being unique to Kuwait, while others are applicable all over the region.

 

-       The whole wide road is an open ashtray for the oblivious smokers who can simply chuck those puffed out stubs out of the window, in one quick flick. The family is not far behind, for the little one will have no hesitation to throw out the sucked up empty cola cans or empty snack pouches.

 

-       Speed breakers are unmarked and seemingly so well aligned to the road, that one will realise its presence only when a violent jolt coupled with a wild protest from the springs stir up your system.

 

-       Line of cars patiently waiting to merge with traffic on a main road, one by one accessing, then you see the big bullies bulldozing their way right to the front and stuffing its bulk ahead of the first car to enter the main road.

 

-       Similar experience is when you are waiting in line to take the U turn..The big bully comes speeding up and goes right up in the front to take the impossible U turn, possible only because of the first car scurrying for safety..

 

-       Definitely a sight only in Kuwait. Friends are friends and any time any place is good enough for a bit of chat or catching up. A common sight where 2 or 3 friends in their fancy cars, parallel to each other occupying the 3 lanes, exchanging pleasantries at easy leisure and in no hurry, while 3 lane full of helpless watchers follow their behind. Swear all you want.

 

-       Young men on their sporty bikes suddenly manifest during weekends. One biker for each car where a girl is driving, riding parallel to the driver’s door, ogling at the driver, with endless stare for a good distance until they sight another hapless pretty driver. This is disgusting indeed.

 

-       These young men try to impress these damsels with their acrobatics and trick rides, that very often one of them fall over with fatal or critical head injuries. This is so very common.  A ward in a local hospital is filled with young men in vegetative state. 

 

-       4 x 4 big SUVs are a privileged lot. Signal or median are no hindrance. If there is a signal stop ahead, take a U turn simply by going over the median. Wherever there is footpath, it is an alternate pathway for these pathfinders.

 

-       When it comes to footpath, each of them is a legitimate car parking space, especially in high end residential areas. Fancy villas have an array of luxury cars parked on the stretch of pavement that’s in front of the villas. Often times, the length of the car is more that the width of the pavement. So the car juts out on the road, from both sides of the road, thus narrowing the space for a 2 way traffic.

 

-       The exit for U turn is a small stretch of about 30 to 40 feet. One can find about 3 or 4 cars parked here comfortably overnight, until they are ready for the day..

 

-       Permitting vehicles to use the shoulders during day time, is a reflection of excess cars on the road, that it has become imperative to permit such usage, which is perhaps prohibited anywhere else.

 

-       The pressure to restrict cars on the roads is so much, that the rules for applying for license has been amended recently, such that a new applicant for a driving license must be a graduate, drawing a salary of min kd.650.00 ($200.00 pm) and must have completed at least 2 years as resident of Kuwait. If such a license holder changes his job to a title different from the title he held, then the license is cancelled !!

 

-       If a person has a license because his visa is that of a driver, then his visa status has to be all through a Driver. Any change in job title, will render license null and void. He can then only apply for a new license only as per eligibility.

 

-       While Dubai removed all roundabouts in mid 1990s, Kuwait revels in their presence, each one of them decorated with flowering plants and greenery. There is no access to the landscaped portions though and it is impossible for any driver to even give it a glance let alone enjoy the beauty.

 

-       One such roundabout next to our residence is a very important junction for 3 major roads. Another roundabout nearby has six roads converging. There are many more elsewhere.  Conspicuous by its absence is a signal system or traffic cops to regulate traffic at most of the roundabouts.. The result is unbelievable confluence of irate, incensed infuriated mad drivers in a bizarre attempt to avoid a collision and escape from the stupidity of it all. Must be seen to be believed.

 

-       I am a witness to this madness for the past several years, as my sitting room offers a good view of this roundabout and the long stretch of crawling traffic, resembling a diamond necklace. Unfortunately what glitters here is the glow of impatience and utter frustration, day in and day out .. for how long?

 

-       Hello… where are the road planners? For a very rich and affluent city state, such dim-witted planning is unacceptable. Glaring mistakes as at roundabouts are the road signs. Yes, they are there, but in most of the cases, the road sign is after the exit and not before, making it unhelpful for a new driver. You have to know to get by otherwise you are lost.

 

-       Speed limits are a joke for the fast and furious among the locals of all age groups. It’s common to see cars whizzing past at over double the speed limit nonchalantly. During Ramadan month, close to the fast breaking time, the hunger for speed is reflective of the impatience to be home in time for Iftar. Beware, it is wise to be out of the way then.    

 

-       If per chance you are in the way, then be assured of flashing lights and tail gating so close that there is no room for the slightest error .. God save you. Even at other times, flashing of headlights demanding his right of way, is a very common feature. You can even see a car pushing you off the fast lane and immediately turning to the right to make an exit. Intolerance to see a smaller car ahead, is a common trait.

 

-       Parking signs for disabled is a tempting challenge to the well built. There is no time to waste to find a vacant parking lot. The tendency is to park right there. Often taking up more than one vacant lot.. common sight to see big luxury cars taking up 2 vacant spaces to park in a haphazard way.

 

-       If you signal to change lane, be assured that the car in the rear will pick up extra speed to ensure you do not change the lane or exit.. why, you wonder. That is what the Kuwait dust causes.. numbing of the senses.

 

-       It’s said, “If you love God, then Meditate; if you want to meet God, try texting while driving”. A common sight is that of drivers especially the fairer sex, happily chatting on whatsapp, or texting or on FB. One such damsel put me in distress with a loud bang on the rear of my car in rush hour. Yet she did not want to be disturbed. For well over 10 minutes after the hit, she was still on her mobile phone, only to raise her head slowly with a guilty smile and confessed, “sorry, I was on the phone”.

 

-       On the other hand, if a car driver ahead of you and on your left side changes his mind and wants to turn right, no problem for him, he  just turns right, cutting you completely dumb founded. He turns at a right angle. As simple as that.

 

-       For all the traffic problems, it is pure bliss to drive during summer months when half of the town is away.

 

-       The bottom line in all of this, is that the bigger the car, the smaller are the brains behind the wheels; the mental faculty being inversely proportional to the price tag of the car. Perhaps almost in all the above acts of arrogance and abuse one can see a big luxury car behind the defiance, disobedience and desecration. Openly flouting the traffic rules are embedded in the system.

 

-       Yet, for all the traffic problems resulting from disobedience of the rules by the drivers of big cars, the blame is squarely on the expat community. Columns after columns are filled with scornful rhetoric blaming expats for all the ills of the society including traffic woes.

 

-       There exists a  clear and brazen demarcation of localities for local Kuwaiti & non-Kuwaiti for the purpose of quality of roads, road markings, sign boards, street names, utility services etc. Therefore it is no wonder, that the local youth think they are above expats by status and right, in every way possible including usage of roads.

Having said all of the above, I must acknowledge that when we return after a vacation from India, or a business trip to China, Egypt, Istanbul or Vietnam, I find the local traffic a pure heaven in comparison. You get used to the familiar belief here, that anyone going slower than you is an idiot and anyone going faster than you is a maniac.

Every time we return home safely, is an accident. With all the madness and impatience and the road rage in stark exhibition at every turn, it is but pure accident that your car is not hit or rubbed or kissed by some other.

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Have a safe & peaceful week ahead.

MOHANDAS KIZHAKKE.

http://mohandas-sharedthoughts.blogspot.com/

SHARED THOUGHTS – 20.09.2015

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That 20^th September

 

The day will surely dawn

Year after year

The sun will rise as it did in 2007

That 20^th September

 

Giving hopes of a new dawn,

For our young son

 

He sets out with a bye and a kiss to his dear wife

and daughter of one, he hugged with all his heart

Uncle and Aunt bid him farewell

Until we meet again they prayed.

 

Embarking on a flight from Down Under

To the city of birth

Landing with the setting sun into the night

For a short ride to the comfort of his home

 

Every sunset gives us one day less to live,

They say. 

And they say,

Every day takes us nearer to our grave

Truer words were never spoken

For our young son

 

The short ride in God’s will

Was the unwilling ride to His abode

So swift with fleeting hasty greed

Did He pluck our young son away.

Never to see another sunrise

And we shall never see our son rise again.

 

Shock and disbelief writ large on every face

That loved and adored this young man

The script was not meant to be thus….  But alas, it was

The mother of all tragedies, they all moaned.

 

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And then I asked GOD.

 

Why him?

Why not me?

Why in such haste?

What is your plan?

Is this fair?

 

We hate you.

You are mean.

Like ants, are we to you,

You play with our lives

For your fun.

 

 

Then God replied.

 

Son, it is meant to be.

What is meant to be, is to be.

 

There is a design. A plan.

He fits into the plan.

 

You are merely actors

That should play your role.

 

He is not yours. Nothing is yours.

The script is mine. You are playing your roles.

 

 

And then I asked God

 

What shall then happen

To the daughter dear

And the wife he much loved

That they be deserted.

 

Why give him the dream

That he savoured to live

So rudely snatched even as

He thanked You to have let him dream.

 

God replied:

 

I have a plan. I have plan.

Trust me. It is a good plan.

 

And then I asked God.

 

What plan is good, that leaves us in tears

That shall never dry

 

What plan is good that has only grief

That lasts a lifetime.

 

Those You snatch unaware

Has laid a plan for tomorrow.

 

And You say, You have a plan.

It is a good plan.

 

 

God replied.

 

Son, it is meant to be.

What is meant to be, is to be.

I made you strong

That you may hold long

 

Grief begets strength

Strength is the blessing I bestow

To bear the brunt of My Will.

No questions asked.

 

Body is perishable while the Soul is immortal which never dies.

Consider yourselves as that immortal Soul

that you are all immortal if you do not think yourselves as this Body but Soul.

 

Lord Krishna, Bhagawath Geeta

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Silently, with streaming tears,

We accept His Will,

A design by the celestial,

Without a whimper of protest.

 

A design so rude

To cause life-long pain

A design that’s mocking the grieving

Father, mother, sister

 

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Son, I closed my eyes for but a moment

And suddenly a man stood where a boy used to be.

I may not carry you now in my arms

But I will always carry you in my heart.

You have given me so many reasons to be

Proud of the man you have become,

But the proudest moment for me is

Telling others that

You are my son.

I love you now and forever.

 

Author unknown.

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There are moments in life when you wish

you could bring someone down from the heaven.

To spend another day with them just one more time,

give them one more hug, kiss them one more time

or hear their voice again.

One more chance to say I Love You.

 

Author unknown

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God called your name so gently.

That only you could hear.

No one heard the footsteps

Of the Angel drawing near

Softly from the shadows,

There came a gentle call,

You closed our eyes,

And went to sleep

You quietly left us all.

Author unknown

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Have a safe & peaceful week ahead.

 

MOHANDAS KIZHAKKE.

http://mohandas-sharedthoughts.blogspot.com/