I spotted a dinosaur!

Well, almost.

I don't mean that literally. If you actually believed the headline, I'll pray to God to help you.

It's somein I keep saying in mails to my sis, even in some of my posts, that it's easier to spot a dinosaur than to get a cab in Qatar. I think I returned from the main road today just as I was about to spot one of those long-extinct creatures.

One hour, two long distance phone calls, a couple of smokes, counted the squares on the pavement I was standing on eight times over, tried counting the cars that whizzed past, 18 I counted, until two crazy freaks came racing in their cars at lightning speed, and messed up the count. Still no cab.

Unluckily today, none of the Egyptians or Keralites or Syrians or Iranians, driving around after their work hours to pick up bystanders and earn a few extra bucks, came around.

I kept telling myself, be patient, be patient, controlled myself from pulling my already falling hair out of my scalp.

This is really the way to do it. You have to force yourself to be patient here, until patience begins to come naturally to you.

It's pretty surprising, there is, except the cabs which are few and hard to get, absolutely no mode of public transport in Qatar.

Owning a car is a must. And it's funny how strict they are in the driving tests. They ask you in the test which part of the engine is where! They actually open the bonet and ask you that.

People fail in their tests, two-three four times before passing. Some just give up.

Yet, this small country of 850,000 people has one of the highest accident rates in the world. The joke here is that till the 80s these people were riding camels, then suddenly you gave them these sleek machines and they went crazy.

That apart, I don't want to get a car here. One major reason for that is, a wise man once told me, that those reporters who don't have cars come up with the best stories. There was logic behind this. He said while you're driving, you'll always be focussed on the road and won't be able to look around. On the other hand, while you're being driven around there is more scope for you to see around you what's happening. It goes even better for photographers.

Also I think a car would bind me until I pay the entire instalments off, which I really don't want.

Anyway, from October 1st, the goverment is coming up with 50 luxury buses which would ply around the city of Doha, where 70 per cent of the entire population of Qatar resides.

Hopefully that would make things a little better.

50... they should be enough, right? Yeah, I think so. Everyone has a car here. Almost everyone. So for a few like me, 50 should be more than enough. Not that I'm gonna wait especially for the buses, but sure, if they come before a cab, why not...

What routes they're gonna take, how much will a ticket cost, what kind of passengers they're targetting, is still unknown.

All that is known is 50 new buses from October - Qatar's first step into the world of group public transport.

And it's first step towards making its 'bus stops', which exist at some places, a little more useful than being just a sudden neat curve along the pavements of the four-lane roads with an erected signboard reading: 'Bus Stop'.