Learning a new language

I entered Saudi Arabia with almost zero understanding of Arabic, although I could fluently read the language as the holy Book of Islam is written in Arabic. On the first night, when I arrived at Ta'if near midnight, I had a hard time talking to the cab-driver who drove me to the Children's Hospital. An Asian fellow who minded the parking lot just outside the airport helped me put my request across.


From then until now, I have come a long way. I have a vocabulary of over 300 words, and am able to ask questions and understand the answers to/from the patients in about 40-50% of the conversations. Today, that is. Saturday, 24th March, was an unusually heavy morning in the OPD. On top of this, there were at least 3-4 patients whose medical problems were not the usual run-of-the-mill types. I had a tough time questioning the parent/care-taker and on almost 2 occasions, I simply dropped my head into my hands and gave up. Eventually, I had to approach one of the Arabic-speaking Egyptian doctors to make sense of what I was asking and what they were replying.


This got me thinking about how difficult it must be for a small child to communicate. For sure, their cognitive skills must be ahead of their expressive ones, and it must be as frustrating for them to convey to their care-takers that they, for example, wanted their diaper changed, or wanted water, and not milk, or that they did not want to be kissed, but just talked to. How fast do children develop! One day you find them articulating all their needs with goos and gaas, and one day, they grow up to argue with you. Isn't that a miracle of Nature in its own way? 


Arabic is spoken very differently from the way Indian languages or English, for that matter, is. While the emphasis is on clear speech that emanates from the larynx and is modulated by the tongue, the mouth and other articulatory parts in all the other languages, in Arabic, there is a greater role for the articulatory parts and the nasal passages (the nose). In fact, many words that are spelled in the same way sound totally different on account of the way their consonants and vowels are articulated. For example, some words seem to emanate from the larynx and even more nether regions of the respiratory tract - for example, the wind-pipe; at other times, the nose modifies the erupting sound so that it is heard with a distinct nasal quality. This makes the Arabic-speaking individual appear as if she/he is gasping for breath in between, or finding it difficult to speak! 


For a person like me, it becomes nigh impossible to make out what they are saying since there is hardly any punctuation in this language except, perhaps, for a full-stop. Most of the times, the words run into one another as if breathlessly speeding up to reach a target in the least possible time. And it is I, the person who is trying to understand, who begins to gasp for breath!


All said and done, though, it is a fascinating process and it is something that is teaching me a whole lot of new things.

Meandering a bit ...

Dear Reader, 


Please indulge me for a short time while I meander a little here and a little there. As I was unable to post regularly through the past seven days, I made mental notes to not forget certain things. It is with that intention that I am writing this post.


To begin, let me share a few Arabic words and comment upon them. There are three similar sounding words in frequent use: Tahweel, Tahmeel and Tahleel. Tahweel refers to "transfer"; for example, you can use the word in the context of money transfer, in the context of transfer of a patient from our hospital to a bigger one, and so on. Tahmeel is simply another word for a suppository - a bullet-like soft nosed, long object that can be inserted  into the child's rectum; it is loaded with medication that the child needs to be given. Finally, Tahleel means the act of submitting blood/urine/stools or other biological samples for laboratory testing. 


I have frequently substituted one word for the other in the OPD in front of Saudi parents; the net result is usually amused looks on the face of the already stressed parent(s).


My long walks to the Al Muweh garden have enabled me to see things and events which most employees of the hospital never get to see: I am talking about teenagers playing vigorous football on the special astroturf ground; about the resident birds in the garden - the hordes of warblers, several Siberian stone-chats, the common Hoopoe (which I saw just yesterday, and also today) ... it looks brilliant when in flight; about the spiritual atmosphere that pervades the locality especially as Maghrib time approaches - the teens leave the garden and drive away, several trucks leave the highway just behind the garden and stop outside the small mosque and the men - the drivers and their assistants spill out and walk towards the toilets and the wudhu area (rows of taps with sprinkler attachments set before a row of seats on which the men sit to perform the ablutions), and then proceed to enter the mosque in time to pray the salah; about the small tea and snack shop and its regular stream of customers (I am one such customer who has at least a cup of tea every day, and a kheema roll or a falafel sandwich on almost 70% of the evenings); and of several such things and events that are too many to list here.


I wanted to write about the kind of food that is available in the various food stalls here in Al Muweh. To sum it up in a line: not much is available, except for khubs sandwiches, falafel, dal, puris (stuffed with kheema), egg preparations like omelette  and scrambled egg, kheema, cheese and/or butter and/or cream sandwiches, etc. Most cooks are Bangladeshis and they aren't very particular about food hygiene or standard hygiene levels. However, they are far better than the hawkers you regularly deal with in, say, Mumbai, India! The items are cheap, most costing less than SR 2.00, though we have outlets where they are SR 3.00 or SR 4.00 in price. Soft drinks in cans cost SR 1.50 and other small drinks or milk-shake or curd bottles are generally SR 1.00 for 200 ml. One can fill oneself up in less than SR 10.00 on an average meal.


I am currently awaiting instructions from the Ministry on the date of my appearance for the Saudi council examinations; once I clear those, I will start the process for getting my car driver's license and for the purchase of a car. I am already insured against medical malpractice, thanks to the help extended to me by Dr. Asadullah and the executive at the Al Ahlia Insurance company based in Ta'if.


That's all for now ....