You would not believe it. But I don’t expect you to. One can only experience it here in Kuwait. It gave me the feeling of being part of a downtrodden, third world country, where no laws and sense of accountability prevails. Situations are deliberately created in order for the high and mighty in power to impress their authority on the populace.
Upon arriving in Kuwait and having taken my apartment, I wanted to apply for a telephone line, but was told that I need to wait for my residence formalities to be complete. And lo and behold, once that was done after a great wait for two months, I like an obedient alien went to apply for my long overdue copper talk connection (Telephone). I was asked to go back to my apartment and get the Box number written in some code on the MoC Box (Ministry of Communications) in my building. Once I got that, I was the unfortunate one to live in Salwa area, where all the exchange points and the cable is full and I was told that until a new cable is put in, I would not be able to get a telephone line. The obvious answer to when this could be possible was, :INshalllah a month or maybe six months” I know what this means. I can easily multiply the figures by a factor of two or three.
Thanks to the great planners at MoC. Unfortunately I learnt that all the planning engineers in the past were expatriates who would do their due duties on time with more care and concern for this country. However they were sacked some time back due to the Kuwaitization drive and of course, one can understand the plight of the department and in reality see the results. Hey boy, you cant apply and get a telephone here!! Even Kuwaitis are standing in queue and we don’t have a line for them. As if I would be paying lower or came from a Lesser God.
Anyway, me being myself, I decided not to give up. Started flipping my wings around and none could help. The wastas were at very high levels and for a trivial thing like a telephone line they could not be wasted!! Finally as God would want it, help came in the form of a Guardian Angel, who came in and in a days time, get me the necessary signatures with “No Objection” imprinted on my otherwise colourless application form.
And thanks to him, today I have a telephone connection at my home. Without which I was a faceless stranger, anyway. Would this change anything… I guess I have to wait and watch!!!
