Yes, indeed. But let me not get ahead of the story. I spent Friday at my home, rather aimlessly, as I was basically gearing up to go to Ta'if the next day, ahead of my MRI appointment which was on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. in the King Abdel Aziz Speciality Hospital (known popularly as KAASH).
On Friday, I had breakfast at one of the Pakistani restaurants located behind my house on the highway. I was hoping to eat trotters, but as that was not available, I had goat's liver cooked in spinach. Back home, I cooked a little, but mostly, I surfed the net, did a little buying on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) via icicidirect.com, slept, played games on my mobile, and went for a brief walk in the garden. In the latter part of the evening, I connected with my web-site's webmaster and administrator, Dr. Rajesh Bijlani, via Team Viewer, and he initiated the steps to rejuvenate my website. A few things were missing, so we ended rather soon.
On Saturday morning, I had a lazy morning and a light lunch, and started for Ta'if after tea. I reached without any problems at half-past six, and checked in into Ahle Saif Hotel, where Munawwar Ali, one of the helpers, had reserved one room for me as I had intimated to him my arrival on Saturday evening. I had no difficulty in selling off my Samsung S3 (the new one sells for SR 1299, and I was able to sell mine for SR 850). This sale was crucial, as I was to give money to my car repairer, whose money was still pending. I had dinner at the Asian Restaurant ... an easy affair of kheema with rotis. The guys who work there all know me, including Salim, the one who heats and serves the food at the front counter and the Indian guy who serves the food to me at the table (I forget his name at the moment, but will add it as soon as it comes back to me). Back in my room, I saw a movie on the laptop (The Dark Knight Rises), and went off to sleep.
On Sunday morning, I went to Thara Restaurant to have my usual breakfast of Puri-Bhaji, and took out an order of two plates (8 pieces) of Idli sambar. Soon after, I drove to the office of the Health Directorate (the Muderiya) to meet Dr. Ahmed Ashraf and request him to help arrange for another Pediatrician to join us at Al Muwayh, since Dr. Yasser is on the way out next month. He and I gel well together, and he often goes out of the way to help me. When I told him that my salary had got obstructed due to a mistake on my part (read about this in an earlier ENTRY), he immediately began to guide me about this, then actually got up and escorted me to the relevant office on the second floor, spoke to one of the guys there, and gave me assistance on what I should do next. He even spoke to Ali, Al Muwayh's liaison officer, who informed him that he had already completed the formalities and assured me that my salary would be joined to the next month's salary and given to me on the 25th of the current month. I was completely re-assured, but after Dr. Ashraf left, I spoke once again to the in-charge of the salary section. He (Mr. Gadi) looked me up on the computer on his desk, and told me that my salary was already cleared and I could pick up a cheque from the cashier's office on the first floor.
I was stunned. OMG, I thought to myself. I ran to the cashier's office, and was asked to meet one Mr. Abdurrehman. He checked his records, told me yes, the money was there, and he could issue a cheque, but he needed me to go back to Gadi and get some necessary paper. Back to Gadi I went, and he obliged me with the needed paper, on which he scribbled a lot of Arabic text, and I went back to Mr. Abdurrehman with the same. He asked for my Iqama, and copied my name as it was on the Iqama on to the cheque, which he then got the signature of his senior officer on, and he handed it to me with a smile. He even told me where I could find the branch of the bank (ANB) the cheque of which he had issued to me. I got to my car, and drove straight to the bank, and finally encashed my money a little before noon.
I deposited the major portion of this money into my own bank account, and then transferred most of it to India through the Transfer department of Al Rajhi bank (Tahweel-Al Rajhi) on Shubra Street. After this, I went to Chaudhury Shabbir's car repair garage, and handed over his balance amount. After this, I travelled to KAASH to see where it was. Having located it and memorised the way to reach there, I went to have my lunch at the Asian Restaurant (this time, I had trotters and roti), then returned to my hotel room for a siesta. By 3:15 p.m., I left for KAASH, reaching there a little before 3:40. I handed over my MRI appointment form to one of the technicians, and he called me in at a little after 4:00. The doctor was one Dr. Khalid, a Kashmiri Indian. He guided me about the procedure, and escorted me to the scanner. I was told that there would be a lot of noises as the machine went about recording images from my left shoulder, the area that has been paining since a long time, and over which I have already taken many medicines and different modes of physiotherapy (including infra-red, SWD, TENS and Ultrasonic therapy in addition to passive and active exercises) for the last three weeks.
The MRI got over in about 20-22 minutes. After this, I was told to return for my report after 4-7 days. I left the hospital's large premises, driving back, first to the car garage, where I handed over a coat that Shabbir had left behind in my car during the last repairs, then, to Panda, where I hung around, visiting some shops like Xtra (which sells electronics) and the Food Court (where I had a spicy fish sandwich from Al Baik, and a sugar-free "banana-chocolate" small cup from Baskin Robbins). It was after Maghrib that I returned to my hotel, and here I am, writing about the last three days as the evening changes to night.
All in all, it has been an eventful last three nights, and am I glad ... I got my salary!
Thank you for reading about me and my stupid antics ... be blessed. Do leave your comments. Thanks.
P.S. I connected with one Dr. Hadi Shaikh from Aurangabad. He found me through some comments I had made on one of the web-sites, then looked me up here and there, and stumbled upon this blog. He says he was so impressed by my honest and simple writing style that he decided to send me a friend request on FB, besides messaging me. I requested him to give me his cell number, and when he did, I called him up and had a good 15-minute talk. Dr. Hadi turned out to be a bibliophile and wishes to interact more and more with me over the coming weeks and months. What can I say? Thank you, Allah, for a memorable connection.
On Friday, I had breakfast at one of the Pakistani restaurants located behind my house on the highway. I was hoping to eat trotters, but as that was not available, I had goat's liver cooked in spinach. Back home, I cooked a little, but mostly, I surfed the net, did a little buying on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) via icicidirect.com, slept, played games on my mobile, and went for a brief walk in the garden. In the latter part of the evening, I connected with my web-site's webmaster and administrator, Dr. Rajesh Bijlani, via Team Viewer, and he initiated the steps to rejuvenate my website. A few things were missing, so we ended rather soon.
On Saturday morning, I had a lazy morning and a light lunch, and started for Ta'if after tea. I reached without any problems at half-past six, and checked in into Ahle Saif Hotel, where Munawwar Ali, one of the helpers, had reserved one room for me as I had intimated to him my arrival on Saturday evening. I had no difficulty in selling off my Samsung S3 (the new one sells for SR 1299, and I was able to sell mine for SR 850). This sale was crucial, as I was to give money to my car repairer, whose money was still pending. I had dinner at the Asian Restaurant ... an easy affair of kheema with rotis. The guys who work there all know me, including Salim, the one who heats and serves the food at the front counter and the Indian guy who serves the food to me at the table (I forget his name at the moment, but will add it as soon as it comes back to me). Back in my room, I saw a movie on the laptop (The Dark Knight Rises), and went off to sleep.
On Sunday morning, I went to Thara Restaurant to have my usual breakfast of Puri-Bhaji, and took out an order of two plates (8 pieces) of Idli sambar. Soon after, I drove to the office of the Health Directorate (the Muderiya) to meet Dr. Ahmed Ashraf and request him to help arrange for another Pediatrician to join us at Al Muwayh, since Dr. Yasser is on the way out next month. He and I gel well together, and he often goes out of the way to help me. When I told him that my salary had got obstructed due to a mistake on my part (read about this in an earlier ENTRY), he immediately began to guide me about this, then actually got up and escorted me to the relevant office on the second floor, spoke to one of the guys there, and gave me assistance on what I should do next. He even spoke to Ali, Al Muwayh's liaison officer, who informed him that he had already completed the formalities and assured me that my salary would be joined to the next month's salary and given to me on the 25th of the current month. I was completely re-assured, but after Dr. Ashraf left, I spoke once again to the in-charge of the salary section. He (Mr. Gadi) looked me up on the computer on his desk, and told me that my salary was already cleared and I could pick up a cheque from the cashier's office on the first floor.
I was stunned. OMG, I thought to myself. I ran to the cashier's office, and was asked to meet one Mr. Abdurrehman. He checked his records, told me yes, the money was there, and he could issue a cheque, but he needed me to go back to Gadi and get some necessary paper. Back to Gadi I went, and he obliged me with the needed paper, on which he scribbled a lot of Arabic text, and I went back to Mr. Abdurrehman with the same. He asked for my Iqama, and copied my name as it was on the Iqama on to the cheque, which he then got the signature of his senior officer on, and he handed it to me with a smile. He even told me where I could find the branch of the bank (ANB) the cheque of which he had issued to me. I got to my car, and drove straight to the bank, and finally encashed my money a little before noon.
I deposited the major portion of this money into my own bank account, and then transferred most of it to India through the Transfer department of Al Rajhi bank (Tahweel-Al Rajhi) on Shubra Street. After this, I went to Chaudhury Shabbir's car repair garage, and handed over his balance amount. After this, I travelled to KAASH to see where it was. Having located it and memorised the way to reach there, I went to have my lunch at the Asian Restaurant (this time, I had trotters and roti), then returned to my hotel room for a siesta. By 3:15 p.m., I left for KAASH, reaching there a little before 3:40. I handed over my MRI appointment form to one of the technicians, and he called me in at a little after 4:00. The doctor was one Dr. Khalid, a Kashmiri Indian. He guided me about the procedure, and escorted me to the scanner. I was told that there would be a lot of noises as the machine went about recording images from my left shoulder, the area that has been paining since a long time, and over which I have already taken many medicines and different modes of physiotherapy (including infra-red, SWD, TENS and Ultrasonic therapy in addition to passive and active exercises) for the last three weeks.
The MRI got over in about 20-22 minutes. After this, I was told to return for my report after 4-7 days. I left the hospital's large premises, driving back, first to the car garage, where I handed over a coat that Shabbir had left behind in my car during the last repairs, then, to Panda, where I hung around, visiting some shops like Xtra (which sells electronics) and the Food Court (where I had a spicy fish sandwich from Al Baik, and a sugar-free "banana-chocolate" small cup from Baskin Robbins). It was after Maghrib that I returned to my hotel, and here I am, writing about the last three days as the evening changes to night.
All in all, it has been an eventful last three nights, and am I glad ... I got my salary!
Thank you for reading about me and my stupid antics ... be blessed. Do leave your comments. Thanks.
P.S. I connected with one Dr. Hadi Shaikh from Aurangabad. He found me through some comments I had made on one of the web-sites, then looked me up here and there, and stumbled upon this blog. He says he was so impressed by my honest and simple writing style that he decided to send me a friend request on FB, besides messaging me. I requested him to give me his cell number, and when he did, I called him up and had a good 15-minute talk. Dr. Hadi turned out to be a bibliophile and wishes to interact more and more with me over the coming weeks and months. What can I say? Thank you, Allah, for a memorable connection.
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