A pleasant surprise

In Mumbai, the city that "never sleeps", the city that is the "financial capital of India", the city that "is a global melting pot of people from every where, I  had a pleasant experience the other day. It is when I went to the "Passport Seva Kendra" at Lower Parel, inside the Kamala Mills compound to renew my passport. The office is located right at the back of the compound, with many towering office buildings before it as you walk to the rear. 

At the door, a couple of security guys look at the papers you have with you and verify that you are indeed meant to come on that particular day and at that particular time (your agent made sure of the date and time when he applied for the appointment online). Once they have done that, you go past their make-shift blockade into the first room where you basically submit some of the papers which you brought with you. Then you are allotted a token number, with which you go into the second room. You join a biometrics queue (section A), and when your number is called, you are assigned a "cubicle". The lady there asks you to show her the original passport etc., then takes your photo, then gets your fingerprints, then thumbprints, then asks you whether you wish to pay Rs. 35 for the SMS service that will update you on what the office is doing regarding your passport renewal. 

After this, you wait for your turn to go to a third section, which is either section B (for those who are applying for a new passport) or section C (for those who have come to renew their passport). At this cubicle, they re-check your originals (I had carried a lot of papers, but they checked only my Aadhar Card and the old passport). Then, the old lady asked me to wait for a little more time, and for the last part, I went to yet another C section counter (that is NOT Cesearean section, ha ha). Here, the lady who "manned" the counter took a look at my token, made some alterations on the screen of the computer in front of her, and announced that the task was done, and I was to collect a final receipt from the "Exit counter" just near the exit. 

And that's it. It took nearly 2 hours, but it was a smooth affair, all in the comfort of an air-conditioned suite of rooms, with properly appointed toilets, a snack bar (the food was contracted from a third party and it was a bit pricey, but it was good) and sweet-smiling staff. Everyone stayed calm through the various stages of their application. I saw just one woman all in tears in a private glass-cubicle at one point. She was arguing something with a bunch of cops and a woman official who were all trying to placate her. I never realised what was happening, as I had to move on. 

As soon as I left the office, an SMS popped up ... it said "your passport has been sent for printing". Wow! Incredible for a governmental agency to achieve this level of speed, wouldn't you agree?

Five days in Mumbai, and my emotional health improves

After just 5 days in Mumbai, I am feeling like a different person altogether! No longer am I worried about how the long days will pass - there is so much to do and so many things to look after that there is barely any time to write in this blog, let alone do all the online stuff that I used to do when I was in Saudi Arabia.

On Sunday evening, my family and I visited a new eating place called The Village - at the World Trade Center in Cuffe Parade. We ate good food, served in a buffet, but we also enjoyed playing Dandiya, dancing inside a horse costume, and observed a couple of young children break the Dahi Handi ... will post photos soon. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, I must say.

The very next day, Hannah hurt her left knee in a fall while driving home on the scooter. I took her to the ortho surgeon the next morning, and we were told there was a blood collection in her knee joint, and a possible ligament injury which should be ruled out by doing a MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). Ligaments are fibrous cord-like structures that connect bones to other bones, muscles or other tissues in the body, including skin and deeper structures. 

We went for the MRI the next morning, and the results indicate that the orthopedic surgeon was basically right. Hannah will need to rest for a month before the knee structures return to their previous state! When she spoke to her boss, the latter took it quite good-naturedly ... an attitude I would have found hard to emulate. 

I went for a walk yesterday evening to the Mazgaon Garden. It was something I used to do quite regularly some years ago, but have given up in the past few years even when I am in Mumbai on a vacation. Having said that, I found it enjoyable. Met some friends and renewed contact with them. I was unable to go today, the day I am writing this ... however, I do feel it should be part of a daily routine so as to keep myself fit. Nishrin and Inas do it almost every day.

I went to the passport seva kendra today to start the process of renewing my passport. This is a place located within the Kamala Mills compound on Senapati Bapat Marg ahead of High Street Phoenix. The internal offices are quite spacious, and one has to go through four queues before being issued with a receipt of your successful application. A task that took over 2 hours. After the job was over, I stopped at the nearby "Smash" gaming shamiana, took a look at the different adventure sports like stuff that one can play, then went out to their canteen, where I had a snack and tea. All in all, a nice experience. 

What else? I plan to get myself an international driving license in the coming days; I plan to cook some interesting food for my family; I wish to complete the job hunt for myself and take up a job wherever destiny takes me; I plan to stitch some new clothes for myself; I want to meet my old school friends and GS friends ... if I can; I have other social obligations too. Let us see what things I can, and what I cannot, do. 

Thank you for reading my entry.

Escape from Alcatraz

Although the terms "KSA" and "Alcatraz" are not synonymous, the feeling is. The whole country has a culture that reeks of controls, of restrictions, of unforeseen demands, of untrammelled inhibitions and of hesitant progress. While expatriate males working in the Kingdom are free to move around almost anywhere, expat females are restricted to hostels or homes where ingress of males is prohibited.

During the nearly four years of my existence, I felt like a free bird caged in something big - so big, in fact, that one could not see its shape or walls! My passport stayed with the Office of the Directorate of Health Affairs in Taif. Whenever I had leave for a few days or more, I went to Taif, and even further, with one trip to Al Baha and Abha, two of the many provincial capitals of KSA south of Taif. Twice, I went to Riyadh, once, for a recreational trip, and on the other occasion, to appear for part 2 of the MRCPCH exams.

Even when I was cruising along the excellent roads in the Kingdom, my mind was diverted by thoughts of being found wrong somewhere or the other and getting caught. This is the refrain among all foreigners who work in the kingdom. Not just doctors or high-ranking people, but all classes of people and doing all kinds of work. This is, believe me, part reality and part perception - a perception created by the government through various forms of overt as well as subtle sign-posting. First of all, non-Arabic speaking people are already at a disadvantage because they don't know what is happening. Then, because they are unable to understand what they are being charged for, they are unable to give an explanation or wriggle out of a spot! Finally, to add insult to injury, at times, because of the frustration of being unable to defend oneself, they end up creating a scene, and added punishment is then conferred on them for their "inquiring", "oppositional" and "irritating" behaviour. 

These unfortunate thoughts vitiate the enjoyment one may get from earning more money. Rules are the same for Saudis and non-Saudis, but the implementation is totally different, except for the more serious offences. For example, in a road accident between two vehicles, the non-Saudi will be more often declared the guilty party; in a fist-cuff fight, the Saudi will declare himself to be the victim, and non-Saudi will be pronounced to be the aggressor. Hundreds of such examples may be given. In my village in Al Muwayh, several Saudis are known to be drug addicts and even alcoholics! Yet, they roam around scot-free. I was once charged for driving my car in the wrong direction (and it was just 15 meters), while children aged 10 and even 9 are often driving large MUVs without being apprehended, although the entire local police force is obviously aware of this regular flouting of the law. 

When it comes to healthcare administration, they have a Quality and Safety Department in every hospital in the Kingdom, but traditional thinking of holding doctors responsible for every medical error pervades the minds of all administrators and invigilators. They are quick to blame the health-care provider and penalise him/her with fines and such other stuff. I remember a case where even the nurse, who was merely following the doctors' orders, was fined for giving the correct medication, simply because she was on duty at that time. An old man who once fell in the ER was responsible for levying fines on all the ER nurses for "allowing" that fall to happen! And, we all know that such incidents are unavoidable in a complex system such as health-care.

This brings me to the end of this entry. Suffice it to say that there are glaring deficiencies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, regardless of the fact that its government is employing possibly the largest work-force from all over the world.