Umarah asked if Dubai really feels like a foreign country considering the fact that there is a huge population of people from India/Pakistan who speak the same language.
I think that’s a very good point. And that’s also very true. The most widely spoken language in Dubai is Urdu/Hindi. Even those who are not from South Asia can understand it to a good extent so you almost never have to speak in any other language. Plus you see desi people wherever you go.
So from that perspective it doesn’t feel like you are in a different country a lot.
But if you consider the fact that there is no power shortage in Dubai, no crime in Dubai, no food shortage in Dubai, no fuel crisis in Dubai, traffic in Dubai is saner (I am not talking about traffic jams, I am talking about sanity of the traffic), all the famous brands of the world can be found here, and so many other factors, it doesn’t feel like home at all.
That’s why I call Dubai best of both worlds.
Of course if you are from Europe or USA then you will feel entirely different.
Bearing in mind the rents in Dubai, only hi class people can think of having a good residence. That is where we think of our homeland as the best place to live. I like Abu Dhabi more than any other emirate in UAE as it has that foreign feeling.
I will not agree with that… posh areas of Karachi have high rents as well… unless you own your home or live with your parents, it’s hard to find a decent place to rent in Karachi. The places where rents are low are not really worth living. Same is the case in Dubai. There are places in Dubai where rents are low but you won’t want to live there.
Hi,
This blog posting was printed in the gulf news a couple of days ago:
http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/05/19/10214452.html
Well done and keep it up.
Aaron
Thanks Aaron, good to have some extra traffic.
Ahlan Umar: think you’ve perhaps missed a vital intangibility. It isn’t language – but mindset, perceptions & thought processes, which substantially differentiates Indians & Pakistanis (from India/Pakistan) and 2nd/3rd generation Indians/Pakistanis in the GCC.
The latter, I know, are quite different in ways of life.