Day 2 of the Relaxation trip: Thursday, 17th April, 2014 and the next day's account in brief

Today, I woke up around nine o'clock. My legs were aching a lot, owing to the hectic evening I had spent in Makkah the previous day. I took a breakfast of omelet and chapatis at the Thara Restaurant, then drove to the Muderiya to get some answers on my vacation as well as the replacement for Dr. Yasser. To this end, I first approached one Dr. Zohair. He is the one who handles the vacation requests of doctors from different hospitals of the Ta'if region. He was quite receptive today, and after looking at some tables and charts, he gave me a thumbs-up and informed me that I could, after all, go ahead with my June vacation for the course that I would be attending in Bangalore for the upcoming Clinical exams for MRCPCH (I am planning to appear from India in September this year.)

Relieved at this news, I next went to meet Dr. Ahmed Ashraf to ask him if any replacement doctors had come to Taif. He informed me that a pediatrician from Egypt had, in fact, come to the Muderiya for placement last month, but she refused placement in Al Muwayh. Whereupon, she had been sent off to be relocated to another region, perhaps Riyadh. Now, as Dr. Ashraf told me, he had a list of about 30 doctors who had been selected in interviews all over the world, and of these, 5 of them were pediatricians. Two of these had additional neonatology experience, and would be placed in Children's Hospital, Taif. That left three possible doctors, who, when they came to the K.S.A., might get located to Al Muwayh.

Thus informed, I left the Muderiya, and spent most of the remaining day doing nothing much in particular. In the evening, I had a meeting with a group of doctors who had checked in into the same hotel where I was staying. These doctors, who regularly get  together to stay in this same hotel, come from dispensaries in the surrounding areas. While three of them were from Pakistan, there was one Dr. Farrukh from Kashmir, India. The three doctors included one Dr. Rashid, one Dr. Shahbaz and one Dr. ___ - the last one was just a few weeks away from final exit as he was emigrating to Canada. I spent a long time with these doctors, then went to my room to have the daily study session on Skype, then went to the Asian restaurant for dinner, and finally got together with the doctors again to play cards and have a general chat with them. It was at 1:45 A.M. that I took leave of these doctors and retired to my room to sleep.

The next morning saw me get up late, see a little TV, then descend for lunch. At about half past 3 in the afternoon, I finally left Taif and returned to my village, where I reached by seven p.m., well in time for the evening Skype session with my study group. Thus my three day vacation came to an end.

That's all for now.

One week in India over ... looking ahead

Dear Readers,


My first vacation in India began last Friday when I landed uneventfully at the C.S.M. International Airport on Friday morning at 9.05 a.m. I was met by Nishrin, and we drove home in an airport-taxi. On the way, we looked in on Inas and Hannah, who were both at Inas's institute (Hakim's Aalim, Versova, where she is in her last few weeks of training as a Hair-care and grooming expert). I met both my daughters with warm hugs. After a while, I went homeward with my better-half, and reached home a little after 11.00 a.m. 


The next seven days have passed in a whirl-wind, as it were, with visits to several places to do several things: at the rationing office, the travel agent (we are, as a family, travelling to Sikkim for a holiday later this month), the post office, the various banks where I have accounts, at the bank from where Inas got her education loan for the last year of her training as a hotel management student (I am clearing off that loan), various shopping areas and malls, relatives' places, and so on and so forth. For the first time, I am experiencing what many of you have already gone through when you return to India for a brief holiday. Believe me, I have now begun to understand why many of you don't find the time to call us or accept our invitations for lunch/dinner. 


It has been a hectic trip so far, but the redeeming thing is the gastronomic pleasures that I am satisfying every single day. I prepared a list of the almost 70-80 things that I miss in Saudi Arabia, and I began to visit all the outlets where I can get those things to eat. On an average, I strike off 2-3 items off that list, and I think I have already satisfied myself on over 20 of those items! The already-completed list includes pani puri, sev puri, chana bateta, batata wada, kabab with lambaa pav, idli sambar, masala dosa, onion utthappa, poha, fish meal (at Apoorva, with the family), mooli paratha and chhole (at a nice Parathas only outlet near Kala ghoda), vegetable sandwich, seekh kabab with tandoori roti, paya with roti, water melon, guvar ki bhaaji, and maybe a few more items. On the to-do list are chinese and korean items, a meal at Shalimar (Bhendi Bazaar), pav bhaji, khandvi, upmaa, bhel puri, pizza, and many more items. LOL.


My unique moments this week have been a) a visit to Nishrin's new parlour where we used to have a joint clinic-cum-parlour at the JJ Junction; she has really done the place up very nicely, and it was a pleasure to visit it; b) a visit to Marol to meet my aging faiji Zehra-faiji and fuwaji Mohsinbhai; c) a visit to meet both the maasis - one at Versova (Zulekhamasi) and the other at Borivali (Sakkamasi) d) connecting with so many people -doctors, friends, neighbours, acquaintances, and even some old patients.


As my vacation enters Week 2, I am looking forward to meeting more of my friends, relatives and others, sampling more foods, and visiting Sikkim on an unforgettable holiday.


Thank you for reading. Please do comment.