I find it deeply problematic when Gulf kids, blame their entire being on the precarity of the regions migration politics. That is the social contract your parents signed up for and trust me you are far better resources than many others, to study overseas. The basic reality is of a comfort zone in the Gulf, where folks have not reskilled for passport country, Gulf or the west, lack of reading and a lazy existence.

It is essential to navigate the choppy waters with the right set of skills, and to humbly embrace the precarious of the situation. It was hard for my parents to move back after a quarter of a century in Oman and still find the adjustments not conducive. But such is life.

I have accepted his reality long back, and am fortunate to work in the Gulf. Generational shifts happen and the golden days are over. However the Hindu Banias were around in 1780 as well. The oil has lasted for five decades, a blip on the historic timeline. I don’t agree with the total negative sentiment of his Foreign Affairs Article but I do agree about the necessity of a new language to articulate the present and the future of absence and separation, and Permanant Transience of the Khaleej. Prof Deepak Unnikrishnan has made a career, distilling the pathos on his US Green Card and his NYU AD salary. Such a contrast.

We need to learn Arabic as well, appreciate the local culture than living in our community bubbles, attending church and Masjid every Friday. We live in a flux, evolve or perish.