Ladybird in the desert

Growing up, we always looked at Gulf kids with envy and scorn. For they had chocolates, trinkets and other stuff we in India had never seen. Which they rarely shared or gave. We fancied them but we had no close relative in ‘Persia’ to gift us any. So we scorned their dads doing blue-collar jobs in the desert for two or three years in a row and coming home to a grand reception. They sported gold chains and bracelets and used a smattering of English words in their conversations.

Whatever, it changed the face of my village. From a place with huts or small dreary shacks in the 70s, Chandanapally transformed into a beautiful village with two-storied bungalows by the beginning of the 80s. Gone were the shit on roadsides or off the beaten track in rubber plantations as people began building their own toilets. Our modest single-storied house built with meagre salaries earned in government jobs by my grandfather and father paled in comparison.

The scorn was such that when dad began looking out for a groom for me, Brother entreated that I dont choose a guy working in the Gelf. For he apparently headed the gang that made fun of the typical Malloo in the Gulf. I did not meet any Gulf suitor anyway.

However, here I am 16 years later living my life in the Gulf – in Dubai, the pearl of the Gulf. The prejudices have made way for admiration for the desert paradise and empathy for the expatriates working here – including many from Kerala, scraping a living. Many who struggle to give a life of comfort for their dear ones back home.

Here I have the comforts of Kerala minus its sore points – no hartals, no filthy public toilets etc. Instead, I see a mini Kerala – in the people around me, in the restaurants and the availability of all possible Malloo fare under strict quality control. The FM channels in Malayalam and Tamil make me feel more at home than I did in Chennai. The newspapers that cater predominantly to Indian readers.

The icing on the cake is that there are over 200 nationalities here, giving me immense possibilities to  meet people from countries that have so far been a spot in the map.