An unfolding future

Even as I write this post, I am wondering how and what my future is going to pan out/ turn out to be. I am an eternal optimist. When my family received the original MRCPCH certificate by post in India, I urged my daughter to scan it and send me a soft copy. I tweaked it a bit, removing unnecessary blank portions from the scan, then converted the scan into a picture. When I posted this on FB, I received a deluge of likes and comments. I received more than 10 new friend requests from people who are keen to complete their MRCPCH qualifications. I received congratulatory comments even off Facebook ... on Whatsapp, by calls, and through SMS messages on my Saudi phone. 

When the hullabaloo over this had subsided, I decided to introspect. I have read elsewhere that people who post about their own achievements and activities are not liked much They are perceived at best to be narcissistic and at worst to be egotist. However, sharing good news of this kind is what social media are all about, aren't they? So. I carry on in this way.

I also received my much-awaited  (delayed) salary this week. I believe this will be one of the last few salaries I will take from the Kingdom, as my exit papers have already arrived, and, as I write this, I have less than 2 months to go for my return flight to India. I am regularly applying for jobs in the Emirates, and recently, also in the UK. I hope something or the other materializes soon in some direction. 

Now to some tit-bits: 

• Yesterday, I met a few Malayali nurses in one of the small stores in Al Muwayh. They had come to our village in their dispensary-sponsored vehicle to make local purchases from a village called "Rukna". This village is 140 km from Al Muwayh! There is no other place where they can go to do their weekly shopping.
• Ramzan duties are going on as usual.
• I will be able to take a few days off from Sunday evening onwards until Tuesday evening, as a doctor from Turabah is going to come to work in my place.
• I spent a few hours yesterday night with my namesake Dr. Tahir (the ER resident from Srinagar), and we had a good discussion on various issues. He is planning to study for USMLE and wants to emigrate to the US in some years from now. 
• Like every year, the shrubs and trees are decorated with blinking lights in preparation for Eid. This festival is most likely going to be on the coming Friday, 

A week later

I completed a year and a half in Saudi Arabia last week. Now, I am a lot more here, and a little less in India when it comes to my mental state. I still watch Indian television avidly - so it's not that I don't care about my country, if you know what I mean - but I don't lose my sleep over whether Gurunath has bet money in IPL or whether Mumbai Indians are passionate or not about winning this season of IPL; I don't get overly concerned that there is a political and ideological divide between Sonia Gandhi and MMS; I hardly think about what will happen if Mr. Chauhan, the C.M. of Maharashtra has to go to the centre one fine day.

On the other hand, my heart still bleeds when there is a violation of children and women in New Delhi; I cry when I see what terrorists do when they attack innocents in some part of the country; I enjoy the shenanigans of the good people - like athletes, do-gooders, philanthropists, etc.; I am annoyed when I see cases of corruption in the execution of public welfare schemes like the MNREGA; I smile when I see a significant impact of some good planning on a measurable parameter of social improvement; I am thrilled to see a developmental project such as a much-needed flyover or a railway crossing being opened for the benefit of the common man.

When it comes to the bottom line, yes, I believe in India more than I did over a decade ago. Last month, I actually put my money where my mouth is, and have invested in a real estate project near Mumbai. Thus, my faith in India is alive and kicking.

A week has passed since I returned from Riyadh, where I had gone to appear for the second part of the MRCPCH exams. I was on call this week, and, thankfully, there weren't many calls or late night disturbances. I have begun walking for health once again, though I went only three or four times in the last seven days. On Thursday evening, two of my friends, Dr. Measser (a Syrian resident doctor) and Dr. Sheshtawy (an Egyptian resident doctor), and I, had a barbecue session in the garden of Al Muwayh. We went at six p.m. to avoid the strong heat of the sun, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable session where we barbecued some fillets of fish (prepared by me) and a whole chicken, which we had with Egyptian rice (made by Dr. Sheshtawy) and a lovely salad (brought by Dr. Measser). We stayed there till half past eight, and then returned home. I am publishing some photos of our experience. 

Starting a fire 

Fire is now almost ready to take the food

Fanning the flames to make the fish 

Barbecuing the fish

The ready fish (Dori fillets)

The vegetable salad

The Egyptian rice

In other news, an Indian Pediatrician by the name of Nandkumar Nenekar contacted me from a place called Nazran. He was given my number and name by my Peds friend Dr. Praful Shanbag, who is based in Mumbai, and with whom the good doctor is associated. He was basically touching base with me and I enjoyed talking with him.

Okay, so what are my plans? Currently, I am mulling the idea of working full-time to complete revising my Child Care book; once the MRCPCH results come, I will know whether to study again for Part 2 or go ahead with preparing myself for the final exam which I plan to appear for next year; I am thinking about registering for an upcoming Asian-Oceanic conference on Neurology in September in Riyadh (yes, Riyadh); I am continuing to walk as the only available means to get fitter; and finally, I am working towards  visiting more places in Saudi Arabia as a tourist.

That's it for now. 

In a couple of days, I plan to go to Ta'if and Jeddah for a well-deserved break.

Day 215, Sunday, 17th June, 2012

Days lead to nights, and, with Allah's grace, nights unfold into new days, as my stay in Al Muwayh continues beyond my apprehensions for my father's ill-health and I settle to complete my first year in the Kingdom. News of the demise of one of the royals of the Kingdom came in on Saturday (it was the death of their Interior Minister and deputy Prime Minister and heir to the Crown, Prince Nayef) on the TV, and a three-day mourning was being foretold. 


Patients are few and far between, on account of the increasing heat outside, and the possible flight of Saudi Arabians to other, cooler countries/parts of KSA at this time of the year. (Vacations have begun already). I am currently doing "on-call" and I was supposed to go to T'aif today to give my driving licence test with Dr. Maesser, the Syrian resident doctor, but he backfooted yesterday night and we had to keep our plans on hold until a more opportune time, perhaps in the next week.


My stay in the hospital's room on the upper floor continues till Dr. Shahid's family leaves with him, perhaps at the end of this week or slightly later. The room itself is clean, but there is the problem of my having to go outside to eat my meals, as there is neither a kitchen nor a refrigerator in my room. I have a more relaxed day, as I have to simply climb down a flight of stairs to join work, climb up a flight of stairs to go for lunch, and so on. However, on the flip side, it is more trouble after the end of the working day as I have to go long distances to access the super-markets or reach the garden where I go for my daily walks. Also, I am unable to access my own belongings that still lie within my old room in which Dr. Shahid stays with his family. And, I have to drink water at room temperatures, and food that is cold (I buy my next day's lunch on the previous night and leave it in the room with the A/C turned on, hoping that it will not spoil till noon on the following day). 


Dr. Yasser, my pediatric colleague, bought a Mercedes used car during my month in India, and has, therefore, become more "mobile". As per the news, he is shifting to a better house that is farther away from the hospital than his present premises. It was nice of him to give me a lift one of the evenings even while his family was in the car with him. He slowed down near me and offered to take me to the hospital.


In the coming months, almost 4-5 nurses from the hospital are leaving the Kingdom; of these, there are 3 Filipinos and 2 Indians. As it is, the hospital is suffering from a shortage, and their exit, unless substituted by arrival of new nurses, may cause more problems for the administration. I hope and pray that replacements are found soon.


A new restaurant that opened on the main Al Muwayh road has helped me get food for the last few days. Owned by a Saudi, it has Yemeni cooks and menu, and an Indian (Muslim Maharashtrian from Mahad) cashier/manager (one Mr. Sayed Abbas). He - Mr. Abbas - is a cordial person, and enjoys talking. He even served me a tea free of cost on our first meeting. Since then, I have purchased several things to eat, including a scrambled egg preparation that was quite tasty, and an overcooked mixed vegetable preparation that was just about passable. Along with the food, he gives a khubz free; however, his khubz is quite large, and impossible to finish in one sitting. 


That's about it for now. Thank you for reading.

Round 2 of observations

As I am up to date on the blog, let me use this chance to note down some more observations in relation to my stay in this country. I had made some observations concerning Ta'if city in my previous post on this issue. to read these, click here. Let me go ahead with some more observations concerning Ta'if. 

TA'IF:

• Truly, one can fall in love with this big, beautiful city. It is one of Saudi's tourist spots. The winter here can be very cold indeed, and I experienced a lot of chill every evening when I went out with Dr. Raid on the walk. As I was only carrying a fleece jacket, sometimes, the cold got to me so much that I had to abort the walk and go back inside the house at Mukhattat-ul-Visam. 
• The market area of Ta'if is spread over large tracts of land and is mostly centred around two major junctions: the one where there is Abbas Mosque and Abbas Square, and the one around Panda and Ta'if's heart Mall. In addition, the Tareeq (=street) Abu Baker and Tareeq Shubra has several large food shops, banks, electronics and white-goods shops, pharmacies and many other businesses. There is a huge "mobile souk" to cater to the needs of the ever burgeoning but trusting population. The Children's hospital is located in the narrow streets that connect the two aforementioned roads.
• The Gazzaz mall is located at Abbas square, and is quite near to the Keralaite area of shops where most of the Keralaite Indian run shops are located. These include grocery shops, restaurants, shops that sell odds and ends, utensils, toiletry and so on. The "Thara Restaurant" here is a famous joint for Indian cooking food, albeit, with emphasis on Kerala food, such as mixed vegetable with parathas, dry chicken, large grain rice and similar stuff. However, you won't find idlis, dosas and the like. The food here is fresh and cheap. Located next to it is a calling cabin for people to call their near and dear ones back home at rates much less than the calls that I can make with my mobile call, but more than what I can do with video calling on Skype.Each has its own advantages. This area also has laundries which will wash and iron your clothes for a small fee of SR 3 per cloth.
• The Ta'if Burj (tower) is located a little distance away from the Abbas square, and at its foot is the Ta'if's Heart Mall, popularly known by the name "Panda" which, actually, is the supermarket located within the mall. The Arabs, of course, pronounce it as "Banda", since they lack the "P" sound in their language. The mall is really huge, and its food court has to be seen to be believed. It is vast, with over 30 counters, ranging from the ubiquitous KFC and McD to the more unique counters which are specific to this country. I had a plate of rice with chicken tikkas and accompaniments of sauces, a little cooked brinjal (very frequently eaten by all Arabs) for SR 17 on one occasion. On another occasion, I tried a Fish sandwich (SR 5) from Al Baik, the biggest and most popular food chain in Saudi. It is like a Saudi-ised version of McD or KFC, with very low prices. For example, the chicken dish here will have 4 pieces of chicken legs, 6 breads (burger style), sauces and cheese for just SR 10! The food court has a skating rink in the centre for children, and large dining areas with modern chairs and tables where one can just hang around for as long as one wants.
• On yet another floor they had an amazingly big electronics store with dozens of models and huge inventories of TVs, refrigerators, computers, laptops, etc. Finally, before I move on, I must say that they had escalators without stairs - they kept going up and down like ramps which are even suitable for those who are in wheelchairs.
• On at least 4-5 days, I went to Ta'if only to surf the net, either in Abbas square, where I would sit in a garden  that is situated just opposite Gazzaz mall (see picture), or in Panda, where they did not mind me sitting for hours on end at one of the tables.
• Ta'if has broad roads, and their main road is called the Tareeq Shaher, which has big outlets like showrooms of Toyota and Mercedes cars, buiders' offices, food chain outlets, garments and jewellery show rooms, and so on.

I would now like to move on to things I saw and heard at the Muderiya Saha (the Ministry of Health) at Ta'if.


MUDERIYA SAHA:

• I will not be able to point out the exact location of the Muderiya to the reader, but suffice to say that it used to cost me either SR 10 or 15, depending on the idiosyncrasy of the dabbab driver who took me there from Mukhattat-ul-Visam. The Muderiya has a front entrance and a back one, and the offices of the guys who are in charge of the doctors who come to Saudi Arabia from all over the world are located close to the rear entrance. You are first welcomed to an outside cabin. Here, your passport and other papers that you brought from India are scrutinised; a clerical person then checks the photocopies of the certificates against the originals in your possession; finally, a medical form is given out to you to go to King Faisal Hospital for blood and urine tests, a chest X ray and a physical examination.  
• I took the necessary things with me but I was not aware that I had to take my original certificates for verification. In the event, I was lucky because the clerk did not insist on my producing them. He merely took an acknowledgement from me on each of the certificate's photocopies that I had got my originals back after verification. He then made the medical form for me and sent me on my way.
• It came as a surprise to me that the formalities at the Muderiya turned out to be simpler than I had thought them to be. It helped that both Raid and Sobhy had already prepared me for the procedures. As a result, I almost breezed through the complete cycle.
• After I had the results of the tests on Monday (exactly 2 days after I had submitted my blood and urine samples), I re-visited the Muderiya. They were very quick and I was soon led to an Egyptian doctor Mohd. Ashref, who gave me my allotment letter to go to Al Moweh Hospital. I pleaded with him to post me in Ta'if, but he refused point-blank. When I reached Al Moweh, I realised why. One of the pediatricians had just left and they needed a replacement for his departure. 

 I guess that brings me to the end of this rather long entry ... will try and share more news and views some other time. Please let me know how you found this entry. I will await your comments.