Enjoying a few days' leave

The truth of the matter is that although I am entitled to get more than 35 days of leave (leave that I am legally entitled to, and which I have earned with hard work and performing duties outside Al Muwayh over the last 3 years), there is a severe shortage of doctors of all specialities in the Taif directorate-governed hospitals. The situation for Paediatricians is extremely dire. There is just one Paediatrician in almost all the hospitals in the region, except for a few; even there, one of the doctors is on annual leave - in most cases. Thus, when I applied for 7 days' leave, the Muderiya was able to grant me only two. They arranged for one doctor from Turabah - one Dr. Mahmood. He requested me to adjust his leave in such a way that he would arrive to replace me on Sunday evening, and would like me to relieve him on Tuesday evening. I agreed.

Accordingly, I was relieved of my duties for two days. Yesterday evening, the good doctor arrived at five p.m., as he had promised. I arranged with one of the brothers working in the hospital to take me to Taif when he went there after his night duty. His name is Rakan and he is a Saudi. He picked me up around half past twelve, his brother actually the driver. 

The journey was completed within an hour and a half - at an average speed of 150 km/hour, the range being between 130 and 172 kmph. These Saudi guys can really drive! At one point, he did not get the right of way, and he forcibly stopped the car driver whose car was blocking his way, and shouted a string of bad words at the poor Egyptian who seemed to be at a loss for words. While he drove at 160+ speeds, my heart was in my mouth, and I kept praying silently for him to reach safely to Taif.

In the event, we had a safe but eventful journey. These guys live about 30 km before Taif in a city called Hawiya. They dropped me at a desolate junction before going their own way, I finally got a Pakistani guy to drive me to another junction on the way to Taif. From there, a Saudi fellow, driving his private car unofficially as a taxi, took me to my destination to the hotel where I would stay for the night.

I have stayed at Ahle Saif hotel so many times I cannot remember! I reached the hotel at a little after 2 a.,m. I spent the next hour settling into my room, then going down to purchase a few things, and then I retired to my room, where I finally fell asleep at about 5 a.m. 

Waking up at a half past ten, I continued my work from where I had left it earlier. I went to the Bab-al-Rea market to buy trotters and some vegetables, to the Indian market to buy stuff like curry leaves, salted cashew, "garam masala", a few bulbs of garlic, snacky stuff and a few other things. I had completed my purchases by half past two. I slept for a few hours in my room, then went back down a little after the Maghrib prayer and, after buying a few more things, I returned to my room and packed my things. By 7:15 p/m., I checked out and went straight to the bus stand (SAPTCO) in a hired car. I returned to Al Muwayh by half past eleven in the night, and here I am, completing this entry at mid-night. 

Post-script: The Saudi taxi driver who took me to Taif had a harrowing story to tell. Apparently, his siblings are almost all affected with some complex disorder. His one brother is fine, like him. His two other brothers are in the Taif Psychiatric Hospital since many years for a chronic psychiatric disorder; his three sisters, all adults, are physically disabled and at home. His father is no more. He earns money through his taxi driving in Taif, although his family lives in Riyadh. When I expressed my regrets, he simply said "Alhamdolillah" That was something. My salute to him.

That's it for now. Thank you for reading this post!

Days 61 and 62, Sunday 15th January and Monday 16th January 2012

Thus begins my 3rd month in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Having lived for 51 years and 8 months in a democracy, one is rather unnerved by the term "kingdom". One always associated kingdoms, kings and queens with nursery rhymes (Old King Cole, etc.), fairy tales (Once upon a time ...) and period movies (the typical Dharamveer types in Hindi and Shakespearean movies from Hollywood). One is, of course, aware that there are several monarchies in this world, and Saudi Arabia, if at all, is one of the better ones, since they at least have the welfare of their subjects at heart.


King Abdulla, the grandson of the first monarch King Abdel Aziz, is himself in his nineties. Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries to have a surplus budget, and the king has recently announced a SR 2000 dole to any Saudi National  who is between the ages of 18 and 60, is a male, and is unemployed. Various sources have confirmed this bit of news. In fact, this is one of the reasons why the Al Rajhi Bank's Branch No 436 at Al Muweh, located just opposite where I stay, always looks crowded with customers.

In addition, and I have heard this, too, many times: each Saudi family gets money each month for each of his son's education and upkeep. What more can one ask for? The net result is that an average Saudi youth does not have to struggle to earn money or be active. This is unfortunate but true. A circumstance that is beneficial to people from all over the world, as they cannot meet their requirements for talented, learned and scholarly people, and have to harvest non-Saudis from all over the world - both for the high-professional jobs, and for the lowly jobs which they will not do - such as sweeper, cleaner, etc.

Both the days passed off rather boringly. I was waiting for Ali, the liaison officer, to appear and hand me the promised and much desired residence permit (the Iqama).  Dear reader, so sorry to say that this did not happen.  However, and here is the good news: On Monday, I did speak to him on the phone, and he told me that the iqama was ready in the Muderiya. He also informed me (through Dr. Shehab, who was the one actually speaking to me, since he and I don't speak the same language) that he would ask Dr. Ahmed Taib, our ER doctor in charge who was currently in the Muderiya, to pick up my iqama and bring it around the next day to the hospital. 

I then spoke to Dr. Taib and confirmed with him his having picked up the iqama. He said he would bring it with him to the hospital the next day. Read  the next entry to see what happened next.

From the standpoint of where I was on Monday evening, a rosy tomorrow beckoned me. 

Day 22, Wednesday, 7th December, 2011: The Otaibis

I am, to be honest, overwhelmed by the love and attention showered on me by you, my dear readers, in response to my entry of the previous two days. I am convinced more than ever that I am not alone, and that your good wishes and prayers will see me through these difficult circumstances. Inshallah, I will emerge a better human being, a better Muslim, a better Indian, a better doctor, a better husband, a better son, brother, uncle, etc. and a better parent. 


Not a day passes by when I don't think about my life back in India. It is a very different life here, and when I think about it, not all of it is bad. I mean, one can't get the amenities that one usually takes for granted in Mumbai - over here - but also, one is free from the hectic pace, the pollution, and the humdrum existence that is  the bane of the urban Indian. I do have to wake up by six, yes, and I do have to report for work before eight, but once this is done, the work at the hospital is so slow and so less that one actually wishes there were more sick children in Al Moweh! 


Patients in this town are not very literate. Almost all Saudi women abhor breastfeeding, and this may, in part, be due to the fact that their social milieu is such that they cannot stop child-bearing even for a legitimate lactational contraception (for the non-medicos, this means that when a woman is lactating, she cannot conceive another child for a variable period of from 6-12 or more months, i.e., till she is still breastfeeding ... although this is not a fool-proof method of contraception). Also, the cosmetic side-effects of breastfeeding may be on the minds of the Saudi men, who, I am told, are very conscious of their spouse's physical attributes and do not desire that they "spoil" their innocent looks with a thing like breastfeeding, which is known to lead to the transformation of breast shapes into a more pendulous and large size, with darkening of the nipples and areolae. Thus, most mothers start bottle feeds from day 1 of the baby's life in this town, and perhaps all over the country. Indeed a sad state of affairs.


Natives of Al Muwayh and neighbouring towns are Bedouin Arabs (or baddus, as they are more commonly referred to), and many belong to one or the other tribes, though I have seen that most patients who come to me belong to the "Otaibi" tribe. This also becomes their surname, and hence, I can readily identify their tribe while recording the full names of their children. As a rule, although they are less literate than what we desire them to be, they are assertive, aggressive, and sometimes argumentative when it comes to listening to and agreeing to the doctor's advice. Most come in their own cars or pick-ups, and are impatient to be done with the consultation so that they can get back to their lives as soon as possible. Above all, they are all extremely mindful of timings of namaaz, and will, if still within the hospital, join the staff in the afternoon prayers.


In keeping with Muslim tradition, the mother of the child will rarely, if ever, directly speak to me, and if asked something specific, will look either at her male companion (either the father or the elder son or her brother, as the case may be) and reply to my query. Because I am still naive in Arabic, sometimes, they will gesticulate or speak with their actions to convey problems like abdominal pain, or watering from the nose, or eye discharge, etc. The situation can either become hilarious or tense, depending on their perception of my level of understanding, competence and ability to deliver the right remedy for their kid's illness. 


Their ignorance of medical stuff prevents them from realising that a cough and cold are simple illnesses, that they need not always ask for X-rays and blood tests for such simple illnesses, and that the child does not always even need anything more than a simple cough and cold remedy, and certainly not antibiotics. These, along with my language problem, sometimes leads to situations where the parents leave unsatisfied and/or seek out Dr. Yasser, my Egyptian pediatric colleague, for a second opinion or reinforcement of my plan of action.


There was nothing remarkable about today, except that, at the end of the working day, I forgot to bring back my NatGeo jacket back with me home ... a situation that could, and did, create problems with me over the next two days when it would be a holiday for me, and I would be unable to retrieve my jacket until Saturday morning. In the evening, I went out to purchase provisions, as I have tentatively invited Dr. Narendra to my place for dinner on Thursday. Also, I plan to do some serious cooking, with 3-4 dishes so that I do not have to worry about the food for the next week. 


That's it for now.