The past week and updated to today evening.

Incredibly, a week has passed since I last posted in the blog. A few things did transpire, and I must relate them here. I was off call this week (I mean, I am still off-call, and will remain so till Saturday), and had time off to relax and sleep. But that's not news. The TV channels all were busy with just two news items: the mysterious disappearance of Malaysian flight MH 370 (as of today), it has still not become clear where the flight has disappeared too, and it is over 10 days since it vanished, literally into thin air. Twenty-six countries are co-operating in the largest plane-hunt in the history of civil aviation, and the fate of the passengers and crew (totalling over 230) is unknown. No messages or demands have emerged, and a search of the many seas surrounding Malaysia, and additional swathes of oceans right upto the South China Sea and the Bay of Bengal have turned up zilch. 

The other news item that continues to bombard our senses is the forthcoming General Elections that are due to start within a month in India. My favourite news channel is Times Now, and this channel has almost turned off other news (barring the news about the missing Air Malaysia flight and the most critical national or international news) and begun to only broadcast news related to the Elections. It does get a bit boring as the days pass. Add to this the fact that the Indian diaspora all over the world cannot participate in the elections unless they are physically present in India.

Today was a big day as a CBAHI investigator in charge of Patient Safety had come to our hospital to review the functioning of the Patient Safety department (of which I am the in-charge director) and look at the various documents that we have made to put the processes and protocols in place. CBAHI is a monitoring organisation that looks after the implementation of all the programmes in a hospital, including Patient Safety, functioning of the laboratory, the X-ray department, the Pharmacy, the Kitchen, etc. etc.  The investigator was one Dr. Mohamed Ragab, an Egyptian doctor. My co-ordinating nurse (Jennifer Phoebe) and I were with Dr. Ragab for most of the day as we went about going over all the policies of our department. He pointed out some of our deficiencies, and we jotted them down in our notes. After going over the policies and papers, we went on a round of the various departments - including the male ward, the female ward, the laboratory, the kitchen, etc. On the rounds, Dr. Ragab asked questions of the on-duty nurses to discover what the level of knowledge among them was. 

I got through with today's schedule only around 4 p.m. After this, I went home, refreshed myself and prepared to drive to Taif - I had barely reached the back side of my house when my car stopped dead in its tracks and wouldn't proceed even when I had put it in gears. I spoke to my Pakistani mechanic, and also showed the car to a couple of local mechanics. They all were of the opinion that the clutch plate had probably given way or broken, and I would have to leave the car with the mechanic for a whole day tomorrow to get the repairs done. Accordingly, I returned to my home, delivering the car to a Pakistani mechanic Mr. Vazir. The estimated budget of this repair will be nearly SR 1000/=

Oh, the woe of it. I have decided to sell this car as soon as possible and get another one in its place. And that's that.

Nothing else to write about, so I will end here.

My car goes kaput

Yes, I sang the possible requiem for my car a few days ago. Actually, it was a day after I returned from Taif. The car refused to start in the morning, and continued to stay asleep through the day with repeated attempts. In the evening, I had an electrician and a mechanic take a look and the verdict was clear: this car would not start not because there was an electric problem, but because the engine had finally given up on me. 

I now had two options before me: either I could sell this car to scrap, or send it to Taif to get the engine repaired. I know that some of you must be thinking ... the sane thing to do is to sell it off to whoever agrees to buy it and purchase another second hand vehicle ... but the reasoning I was following was this: I am not likely to stay more than a year here in the Kingdom, so it makes perfect sense to spend a few thousand SR and repair the car rather than spend a bigger amount, buy another car, and then re-sell it at a discount a year down the line. 

The car was mounted on a carrier vehicle (known here as "Saatha" in Arabic, or "Winch" in pidgin English) and sent to Taif to my mechanic Mr. Choudhary Shabir on Saturday, the 15th of February 2014. I must wait for a week before the car would be ready for me again. (I hope).

After the car was sent away, I have had a difficult time going to and fro from and to the hospital from my home. On Saturday, I was on call, and had to walk it up once; on Sunday and Monday, as I write this, I had to take help from other doctors, workers at the hospital and even patients with whom I have created more than a passing acquaintance over the last few years. Let's see what the next three days bring for me. On Friday, I am planning to go back to Taif to get back my car. 

Until then, I am going to make a day of it, and use the walking to stay more fit.

My second trip to Riyadh - I

I had pre-registered for the 12th Asia-Oceanic Congress on Child Neurology on the 1st of this month. This was done after coordination with the powers at T'aif who agreed to provide a replacement for me when I would go to Riyadh for the Congress. After getting a positive response with Dr. Abdul Qadir, who is the second in command of the office that handles such affairs, I took permission from the hospital's medical director (also a locum doctor, Dr. Amr Hilal) and then registered for the Congress by paying USD 300 by credit card online. 

When the time came to go, however, the T'aif directorate had been unable to arrange for a proper replacement, and it looked as if I would have to forego my registration amount and stay on in Al Muwayh. In fact, this problem got accentuated to the extent that until the afternoon of Sunday (when the conference was due to start), there was no replacement to come to relieve me. Then, I discovered that the Missan Hospital had two pediatricians currently on duty. I spoke to my Asst. Hospital Director Mr. Yasser Odayany and Dr. Amr to try and get one of those doctors to replace me. As it transpired, they were able to get the go-ahead. However, my plans to leave on Sunday evening did not materialise as the driver who was supposed to go to Missan to fetch the doctor simply refused to obey the Director and insisted that he could not go that day but would go the next morning. In the end, that is what happened. 

The replacement doctor arrived at a little after 4:00 p.m. on Monday, and I was thus able to leave only on Monday evening. In the process, I missed the first day of the conference. In fact, something really bad happened to me on Monday.

Let me go back to the days when I had visited Al Bahah and Abha. On that visit too, I had had a car break-down while climbing the hilly regions of the Al Baha territory. At that time, the problem had developed in my fuel pump and I had been able to wait and then re-start my car and proceed further. This time, it was a simple act of negligence on my part that led to a huge disaster. Before starting, I was unable to take the car to a mechanic for a thorough check-up. However, the main error I made was that I did not fill the radiator and the additional reservoir with coolant or water. 

The journey was uneventful for the first 275 km, and I was breezing along with a six-hour time-frame to reach Riyadh by a little after midnight. I had already called my cousin Mufaddal Pacha, whose guest I was to be during my stay in Riyadh. He had SMSed me his address and had asked me to call him when I reached near his house. 

At about 275 km, my car started jerking. I had just filled petrol about 50 km before. I called my car mechanic Mr. Shabbir (who stays and works in T'aif). He listened to me and then opined that it was most probably some grit in the petrol which was causing the jerks. He asked me to stay in the 3rd or 4th gear and continue at a steady pace, and assured me that the jerks would disappear.

However, instead of this happening, a new problem started emerging. My car would not accelerate, despite going into the 4th or 5th gears. I was able to go to about 70-80 kmph in the lower gears, but at the higher levels, the car was unable to go beyond 60-65 kmph. I carried on in the lower gears, praying silently that no further problems would ensue, and stopped at a diner for dinner. 

After dinner, as I proceeded ahead, the problem persisted. I was about 202 km away from Riyadh. I had just passed a city, and the next town was 25 km ahead. (I know all this because a board on the highway proclaimed all these details.) It was pitch black, the time was 1:00 a.m. and there were no signs of civilisation around. At this point, my car battery failed while the car was moving and I had just about sufficient time to turn the wheel in and take the car to the side before it stopped completely. 

It was desolate. A car or truck came around once every few minutes. I turned on the blinking lights and tried to re-start the engine. Repeatedly. However, there was no response. I then called the mechanic again. He listened to me patiently and then informed me that the most probable problem was that the car's dynamo had failed. He also informed me with a heavy heart that there was no way the car could start, and it was best I abandoned it and went on to Riyadh by seeking a lift, or arrange for a tow-truck to take the car to Riyadh.

I called up the transport police on 996 and he provided me with a number; I called this person, but he forwarded me on to another person. The second guy agreed and he came after about 45 minutes from a nearby town. He was a young boy of about 23, and he knew his job well. The deal was struck at a hefty SR 600, and he then loaded the car on to his truck and we set off for Riyadh, reaching there at a little after half past three in the morning. He brought the car to a garage of a Syrian friend of his, and we parked the car inside the garage. Thereafter, the tow-truck owner left me at a traffic signal with my luggage. From there, I took a taxi and reached Mufaddal's place at day-break. 

More in my next post. Thanks for reading.

The week before Ramadan - Day 2: To Al Baha

Al Baha and Abha are two locations that were mentioned to me by the recruiter at the time of the original interview that selected me and brought me to the Ta'if region and to Al Muwayh over 19 months ago. At that time, he had asked me whether I would like to go to Ta'if, Al Baha or Abha. I did not know about any of those places, and he had then taken the liberty of "selecting" Ta'if for me ... on my behalf ... thus sealing my fate. In the event, I guess Ta'if has been okay, but, considering the climate and the environmental benefits of the other two places, I would have chosen either of the other two places over Ta'if  ... but then, there's no use thinking about what might have been, is there?

My route from Ta'if to Al Baha - 217 km

 So, here I was, about to embark on this ambitious long car drive to Abha via Al Baha. My original plan was to drive all the way to Abha, and stay there for 2-3 nights. I started from my hotel in Ta'if precisely at 45 minutes past nine, and I resolved to complete my journey in 7 hours or so, a journey of about 540 km - over half of it over hilly terrain. 

Just outside Ta'if, my journey begins

The beautiful roads

The government has created thousands of such canopies by the roadsides, for tourists to stop for a siesta

One of the mosques on the way

I reach the check-point that allows me entry into the Al Baha region

The roads go on, seemingly endlessly

My first 125 km were uneventful. I passed by places like Al Saar, Giya (the same one that I had seen on my way to Missan a month ago), and others. At one point, I came across a row of houses made to look like honey-bees' hives! These guys were selling honey on the road. I spoke to one of the vendors, a Bangladeshi by the name of Mr. Noor. He told me this honey that was displayed outside ranged in price from SR 10 per kilo to SR 100 per kilo. The quality varied depending on the purity of the honey. He said the jars behind him in the picture below were only for display and that the actual stuff was inside the hut behind him. He asked me if I wanted any, but I denied politely.

The honey-sellers

This man is taking a siesta

Mr. Noor spoke about this business

It was when the road started climbing that my trouble started. It wasn't about the fact that the roads were very steep or that they weren't made properly. As you already know by now, almost all roads in Saudi Arabia are excellent. The thing is, I started to get some shuddering movements from the car when I took it on the slope, and I had to shift down to the second gear to keep moving. After another 30 km or so, the problem worsened so much that I had to stop the car and take advice from Choudhary Shabir. He told me that he suspected the problem to be a defect in the pump and filter device that carries the petrol to the engine. He asked me to pour water over the pump device to cool it, and to start the engine again and carry on. With this first aid, I was able to travel another 5 kms, After this, the engine simply stopped. I was stranded among the hills, with no habitation in sight. 

I kept pouring water over the fuel pump, and also put a moistened cloth over it, and waited for an hour, but on repeated attempts, the car would not start. I then initiated a new line of communication with my doctor friend from the Al Baha region, Dr. Kishor Desai. He has been in Saudi Arabia for over ten years, I think. Unfortunately, he does not have or drive a car. However, he gave me some numbers of guys in Al Baha who might be able to send me a towing service car to bring the car to Al Baha. Thus, while the car was cooling down, I started a series of phone calls to governmental and private towing services. On the other hand, I kept urging the Choudhary to drop his work and come and fetch me from this place. It seemed as though both the channels weren't working. 

I even tried to stop passing cars to get some help, but it was a futile exercise. Not one, I repeat, not even one car as much as slowed down to ask me what the problem was. I was getting despondent. With a limited amount of eatables in my car, and even less drinking water, I was slowly but surely getting stressed out. And while this was going on, clouds appeared over the hitherto clear skies, and the heat reduced appreciably. 

Either it was because of that, or because my luck had finally turned, so that when I once again tried to start the car, its engine kicked in smoothly, and I was finally on my way! The place where I had got stuck was about 55-60 km before Al Baha, and I drove cautiously from there on. I called up the towing guy to tell him not to come, and also the Choudhary to give him the good news and to tell him also to not come. I passed smaller towns, then past them to bigger ones, as I neared Al Baha city.

The greenery increases as I proceed to Al Baha

... but this and the next two are artificial, LOL

 

Road-lights with the Saudi National symbol

and these are REAL CONIFERS ... on the road dividers!

It was at about half past four that I stopped at a Toyota shop to buy a new fuel pump and a fuel filter; from there, I went to a garage to get both the items replaced, and it was at five that I finally drove out of the garage and sped to Al Baha, reaching the city after about 30 minutes. 

My search for a room ended after yet another hour, and I was in Room 304 of the Al Airy Hotel after a short trip to fetch my car from where I had parked it earlier, and grab a cup of tea ... at half past six. It had been a long trip, and I was now here in a comfortable room. The journey of about 220 km had taken nearly 7 1/2 hours.

More about my evening activities in the next post.