Three unsavory characters I met in Kuwait

Three most unsavory characters that come to my mind during the short sojourn in Kuwait I cannot forget.

One of them was an Arab taxi driver who did not seem too well off. It seems he had made his taxi his home for every daily activity except perhaps for daily ablutions judging from the foul smell that emanated from every part of his taxi. The seats were soiled and the car as a whole bore a rundown look.
He excitedly told me that he had been to India. For Nepali girls, he explained. He had a taste for them in the red light areas of Delhi and Bombay. That was until his wife stopped his nocturnal adventures in foreign lands when she started getting a hint of what he was upto. Though I don't believe Arab men usually listen to their wives!
"I know about Gandhi", he went on. "He was a great man!" And like a lot of foreigners he believed Indira Gandhi was in some way linked to the Mahatma. I was astonished when he went on to talk about Amitabh Bachhan. This guy really picked up a lot of Indian memorabilia! And when it came to the taxi fare, his crudeness came to the fore when he demanded more than the usual rate. Because he was dressed in a flowing tunic and a turban?! (I have to admit though, I used his mobile phone to get directions to my destination when we got lost on our way.)

The other unsavory character I was in close contact was the Pakistani who ran the illegal internet telephony just a stone's throw away from my swanky quarters. Telephone calls can burn a hole in Kuwait and hence illegal internet telephony is very popular. Like the aforesaid character this guy's one room carpeted dwelling stank of urine, sweat and something very putrid I can't describe. The room he lived in was part of a larger dwelling where mostly poor Afghans, Pakistanis and Syrians dwelled. It was in a very bad state of disrepair and I feared it would fall on me any time I made that weekly visit to call home. He was always dressed in a waist coat and pajamas. When he dialled the number I gave and handed the phone to me, I could hear a taped American female voice announcing that the connection had been made. Perhaps my call made its way all the way to the US and then back home via Internet to India. But I had to agree the sound quality was not too bad though I detested coming to the place.

The most unsavory character that I met in Kuwait was no doubt my Lebanese boss. I have described enough of him, so I leave out the details. However one thing I must mention was that though he wore the same dress for days and the sweat marks were clearly visible around his armpits and neck, and probably he rarely took a bath; the fact was he arrived at office daily as fresh as a daisy! I still wonder what was the trick behind that?!
Another incident I remember was that when this shady character received a call from his native Lebanon informing him that his father had just suffered a heart attack. He just muttered, "too many cigarettes the old man smoked!" and promptly returned to his supervisory "work".