Winding up: Nearly Game Over

The last four days have been very busy indeed, as I am trying to wind up my affairs here in the Kingdom. Several tasks still remain to be completed, but I am hopeful that I will be able to do so in the days to come. I visited Jeddah twice in the last 2 days, and had the occasion to meet my cousin Juzer and his family again today. This was my chance to renew contact with my ailing cousin. His contribution to my experience in KSA is immense, as he helped me find my way in the first few months. I admit I have been remiss in contacting him or in keeping in touch with him, but this is something that happens. We did manage to contact each other through social apps like Whatsapp from time to time. 

Discretion prevents me from talking about his health issues without having taken his permission; suffice to say that he hasn't completely overcome the problems that affect his health. His wife Memuna and his son Abi Talib are both extremely helpful to Juzer, as he is a bit incapacitated. 

My father's eldest sister Zehra-faiji Attarwala passed away yesterday night, so our meeting in Jeddah with each other also helped us to offer condolences in the traditional way to each other (Taaziyat),

I had work at the Insurance company (the one that has procured for me the comprehensive medical negligence policy); I had to request them to refund the money I have paid to them for the next 2 coming years.

After this, I had to go to the Indian Chancery (the equivalent of the Consulate General) to pick up a certificate declaring that I have no adverse stuff pending against my name. I hope this letter will be okay in lieu of the Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) that the new job guys have asked me to bring, because the latter will be nearly impossible to obtain. The best guess was that it may take 10 more days for the police to come back with a rock solid PCC.

I returned to Taif at eight p.m. ... and went for dinner later in the evening, before coming back and writing this entry. Do leave your comments for me.

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!

Finished Zalm duty and went to Muderiya for work

The 7-day duty at Zalm was quite routine and I was basically bored because internet was almost never available to me. Although my mobile has an internet-enabled SIM, this worked only for a few hours in the morning when locals were sleeping. Past ten a.m., the network refused to open any pages, forget about running games or apps. Thus, I spent the free time watching TV serial episodes and movies that I had on my laptop.

In fact, I completed watching FARGO - a very unique 10-episode thriller that I have had on my laptop since a few years. This story traces the fortunes of the inhabitants of a small town in Minnesota, U.S. in 2006 when a criminal lands among them. The role of the main actor who plays the bad guy was enacted by Billy Thornton. This is an amazing story and is completely based on TRUE EVENTS. I recommend this serial only for adults - and from among adults, only those who can stomach viewing violent events and blood. 

I also watched all the episodes of Gray's Anatomy Season 11 that I had on my laptop. The series is still going on, and to date, only 14 episodes have been aired. I think this series will appeal to everyone who wants to see medical stories mixed with romance, violence, etc. 

The only doctor who was helpful during all the seven days was the Pakistani ENT surgeon Dr. Rahim Baksh, whom I also mentioned in my previous entry. I went out with him on 2-3 occasions for dinner, and I also went to his home to access the net that he has there. Unfortunately, the STC router he has doesn't pick up the signals too well, and quite often, my visits to his place were not very productive. Be that as it may, what won my heart is that he always, ALWAYS agreed to let me go to his place. In fact, on my last day in Zalm, he had to go somewhere else, and he came to the hospital to hand me his house keys, and allowed me to go to his place without him being present. May Allah reward this fine man with His bounty.

On Sunday, after leaving Zalm, I went to Al Muwayh to meet my hospital and medical director, and then left for Taif to meet the important people in Muderiya, with whom I have filed my papers in request for an emergency exit. What happened there is not too interesting, but the gist of it is simple: I am not being permitted to leave the kingdom ahead of the end of my contract. I must, it seems, wait till the contract is OVER, which is about 5 months from now.