If you’ve been in the country for long enough, you’ve probably come across the word Vaasta. It basically means you have a connection with the inside and your work will be done above the system. You will be allowed to jump ques and formalities.

I have seen people pass driving test in the first try and without the first try also. I have seen people get away with really serious crimes because they have ‘Vaasta’ with the sheik family. If you are close with the right people, trust me things can be done in a jiffy.

Usually Vaasta works well on tier 1. When you try to use your Vaasta for your friends, it usually doesn’t turn out well. It might also fuck up your impression with the person. So be wise on where to use what and for whom.

How to make Vaasta? Now this is a tricky question. As an expat it is not easy. The usual source of Vaasta is the Local Sponsor for your business. More affluent your sponsor is, more favors he can pull in for you. So don’t be surprised when you see big firms having sheik family connections. Its pretty normal.

So the point here is. Vaasta is important and don’t mess with people having Vaasta. Can get you into shit !

I am not very sure what the purpose for fining cars parked in reversely is. Apparently, It is an abuse of parking space. I do understand its a  pain in the bottom when someone wants to reverse park in heavy traffic. But still how is reverse parking an abuse of parking space?

Rules are getting stranger by the day. I am not sure if having laws like this would be appropriate in any first world country. I am of the strong opinion that somewhere in the law making process the expats should be involved. As more expats will be impacted by a law than the locals.

I am not saying, expats make laws. But atleast take their opinion.

I watched the movie ‘Barfi’ Yesterday. The movie is about a deaf and mute guy who find happiness in the smallest of things. The movie made me think. Is money everything? Is there more to happiness….

My quest for money started because of sheer paralysis that lack of money brings to your life. I worked myself up till I could cover my own expenses. After all the money, was I happy? I don’t know. People do say, I killed the child in me through the process. But every one grows up ye ?

I am sure that I can work like a dog now and make lot of money. Everything comes at a cost of something. I’ll be trading my immediate happiness here. Will I be able to buy back all this lost moments later ? Will I be healthy enough to live those moments again? I don’t know.

There is a lot more to happiness than that meets the eye. I think its going to take a while before I actually find out what makes someone happy? What makes someone keep going through? What makes it all come together? What makes it all worth it !

Lately, I was looking into Dubai Financial Markets. I was looking into details of how I could buy and sell shares of Dubai Based Companies. First of all, there is very little information out there. Second, the trading volumes are really low. Not a lot of people involve in stock markets. Third, the broking fees are fucking high.

The normal broking fees is 0.275 percent of the amount + 10 Aed or 75 Aed which ever is higher. Based on the high broker fees, I need turnover at least 30,000 AED to justify the brokerage fees. A little too high if you ask me.

If you observe the graphs you’ll notice that the index has actually gone no where so far. Some companies have trading volume of like 10-100 shares. Either no one wants to buy or no one wants to sell.

I think from my preliminary analysis it was quite clear. I was better of with Indian markets. The scope for growth and volume is higher. The broking fees are less and the system has more transparency.

UAE is the 7nth largest producer of Oil. We rank 17nth in term for GDP per capita. All this numbers suggest that people in Dubai have a lot of money. The local population comprises of 16.5% of the population, rest is expats.

The oil income goes to the government. This income is used for infrastructure. Majority of the big construction companies are owned by locals. Same with any other major industry. So basically the flow of money here is making Jobs for expats. This expats are keen to save and send the money to their country. They know sooner or later they have to settle there.

So a good part of the wealth is controlled by locals. Locals like to spend on luxury goods, the luxury goods store owner is again a local. As far as the needs of expats are concerned a lot of people are already doing it.

I am not sure what kind of business would thrive here. I am not sure if this is the rite business environment. I am not sure if this is the rite demographics.