stranded in the middle of a world class city.
good morning qlers
yesterday i went to the toyota service centre for my car's scheduled service. usually during such situation my wife gives me a lift back home but at present she is out of the country so i was left all alone to face the situation.
after giving the car i went out to the road and waited eagerly for a taxi. i waited for more than 45 min without even the sight of a taxi. being stranded on a remote island would had been much better than my situation. i was completely drenched in my sweat and was already feeling dizzy, than all of a sudden a car winked at me, a nissan sunny, but at that moment it appeared as the best vehicle on earth, a life saver for me, and the driver was no less than the best super hero on the planet. as soon as i got inside the car, the super hero said "i will take 15 riyals". i swear, if he would have asked for 150 riyals i would have given him the same without bargaining for a penny.
as soon as we started, the super hero asked me"are you indian" i said "yes" he asked "kerala" i said "no,delhi" at this point he got emotional and next he cursed all the keralite in doha,than GCC and went ahead to curse all the keralites in this planet, living or dead. his words were like cluster bombs and perhaps more stronger than nuclear weapon. i tried to calm him down but at the same time i was anxious to know the reason behind his emotional outburst. as soon as he completed his cursing and abusing he said that the keralites get into the car for their travel and they threaten the driver. they remind the drivers that this transport system is illegal, and they will report to the concerned ministry and get them deported.so ultimately they enjoy the ride and get away without paying the 15 riyals most of the people who threaten these drivers claim to be CIDs or officers in MOI.
i was surprised and at the same time i realised that this is a city but it is the rule of the jungle here, big predators devouring the smaller preys, and the smaller devouring the smallest. it is very difficult to believe that the capital of a country which is supposed to be the power house of the world has a non existent public transport system. i want to know how do people survive here without a vehicle. especially people who come in for a smaller period for visit, business or sports. i believe all visitors here would not be comfortable driving rented cars here because of the death race situation on all roads.
I can't be arsed to read the whole diatribe :)
@ tinkerbell, nice one! :)...
i go around just fine without my own car.
but doha being a world class city? now that's news to me
Frankly, if I were stranded in the hot sun I would believe the driver even if he said he is an alien and this is his spaceship. (ya ya ya ya just take me home, thank you). Hot sun and mirage - heat can really mess your mind.
britexpat- might be dude, but the way he was cursing them, he seemed to be really hurt.
he seemed to be genuine in his outburst;)
Will meet soon. Hope there are few good, but I never across them.
If you'd said that you were a Keralite, then he probably would have slagged of the Dehiites/Delhiers/Delhiwallas ... :o)
ok we all agree that illegal taxis are a blessing in disguise in the current scenario. it is surprising that even after rescuing us from our miseries, these poor drivers are harrassed by fake CID and MOI officials.
in the pre asian games era things where not that bad, there were those pathan driven orange taxis and the population of the city was much less.
gadarene- i did the same thing, i took my super hero's mobile number during the first contact and called him up during the evening when i went to collect my car.
And I experienz many good things. To me they are nice. Maybe you should meet my office eh?
I have also experienced many things from them...They are very mean...
Mismial.. Why you say this about Malbaiz. Nice people work to my office.
Malbaris are very cheap guys, Cheating a poor driver...
ok no bashing ....but let meee tell u a truth...private taxis are such a good blessing in disguise...
once me n my hus got stranded in Gharfa health center afternoon tym during summer month.....waited abt 30 minuts no legal taxi....
fianlly we got illegal taxi .We would given him 100 Qar also for saving us from that hot sunny summer afetrnoon
"world class city"??? "powerhouse of the world"???...excuse my surprise but when i read the title,i thought the post would be about someone stranded in NYC or London or K.L. or Bombay even but here?!
A suggestion if i may,it seems that like a lot of expats here,you have bought the outer facade this place offers as reality instead of actually bothering to scratch a little below the facade to see the true reality of this place & often it requires an occassion,like the one you just had for it to dawn on people what the reality of the situation is,better late than never i guess!!!
Next time you drop your car off for service & your wife is out of town or can't pick you up,do what the rest of us do,call one of the millions of private taxis in town & have the guy meet you @ the service centre,drop your car off,get into the cab & get home,no waiting,no wasting time,no getting drenched in sweat,etc. do note that it will cost a bit more than 15 bucks though,comfort doesn't come cheap in this town!!! reality bites eh!!!...
the QL cycle is starting once again ;)
Seriously...what an experience for you! As for your question then I can answer from my own experience. When we first got here we hit a rough patch and for 7 months my husband hadn't a car. It was a major trial for sure, Alhamdullilah ala kulli haal, but somehow thanks to our friends and the kindness of many Qatari strangers(Whenever we even attempted to walk some place they'd stop their LCs and give us a lift!) and known taxis we survived.But like I said it was tough and my hubby, God bless him,faced what you faced many many times! Today,Alhamdullilah, we are way passed that stage but do remember it from time to time.. fondly!!
Right, Rizks. Qatar is incompetent when it comes to services for the public, because the public is only 250.000 people. The other 1 million and four hundred thousand people should see for themselves.
jervis you malbari ? :)
and the nationality bashing begins....