In India, time flies so fast

A regular reader of my blog, a Mr. Khan, recently enquired whether I was all right, considering that I had not updated my blog recently. I assure him that I am fine, but completely pressed for time. There are a zillion things to do. Really. Yesterday, I visited at least five or six locations for different tasks.I left the house at a few minutes after noon, and returned at six p.m. This kind of hectic work goes on almost every day, and I daresay, will keep on at the same pace in the days to come.

Soon after I arrived in India,one of my cousins' daughter Ibriz got married (on 30th November), and my family and I attended her marriage ceremonies with tremendous enthusiasm and gusto. 

Now that nearly 40% of my holidays are over, I can look back and say that although I am busy everyday, I am still enjoying the stay as there is so much to do in a metropolis like Mumbai. In between, though, for 4-5 days, I took a break and went to Goa for some serious birding. This was with Nature India, the professional group run by my friend Adesh Shivkar and his partner Mandar Khadilkar. They had booked me for the trip in advance without any payment from my side; and not just the trip, but also my train tickets! The trip began on the evening of 4th December, when I boarded the Konkan Kanyakumari express train at CST (it left on time at 11.05 p.m.). We reached Madgaon (Margao in English) at half past ten the next morning. We were to stay at a place called Canopy's Nature's Nest, a forest resort inside central Goa, and we spent the next 2 3/4 days birding at various spots in Goa. On the 8th evening, we boarded the return trip by the same train (we left at 6 p.m.) and reached Mumbai C.S.T. at about 6 a.m. on the 9th. This was a truly memorable trip and, being the first long birding trip, it had special significance for me. I made new friends and saw over a hundred different species of birds in those 3-4 days that I was in Goa.

We (i.e. my family) is planning an overseas vacation in early January. Initially, our plans were to travel to either South Africa or Australia, but the extremely high air fare to both these places put paid to our plans (the air tickets alone would cost about INR 75000/- to S. Africa and INR 89000/- to Australia). Inshallah, we would be going to Singapore, Langkawi and Malaysia instead of the original destinations.

I guess that's about it ... will keep you readers posted about new stuff as things unfold. Thank you for reading this post.

Nine days in India ... so far.

How quickly time passes once you are with your people in your city ... I reached India on last Friday night, and the first eight days have gone by so quickly I can only step back for a little while and look back upon this period with awe. Let me retrace my journey for my dear readers.

As you know this is the fourth time I have come to India since I went to work in Saudi Arabia two years ago. I made three journeys last year; the first was in May 2012, the second was in October 2012 (when I came to India for just a week, and this was on the occasion of my father's passing away) and the last one was in March 2013. This year, I had decided to go for just one annual vacation, combine it with some optional and additional off-days and stay in India for a longer period. Well, that longer period is rapidly growing shorter.

In the past eight days, I spent two entire days in the house, supervising various repairs to my house. While the carpenters spent one whole day in my house, joining/fixing/repairing etc., the plumbers and painters took the next day, fixing a water tank above the toilet and painting some worn out portions of the "storage" area and so on. Between these two days, I also spent a lot of time righting the internet, which had conked out. Compared to the easy and fast access we have in KSA, internet in India is slow, unreliable and finicky. It was after repeated calls to the call centres that Hathway's internet service was restored. Thus, I was incommunicado for a few days.

I have also set in motion various tasks that I had set for myself before starting on my vacation. I have submitted my camera and the paraphernalia for cleaning and servicing. I have booked my tickets for a trip to Punjab to meet Nishrin's family members. I have started preparing for my birding trip to Goa next week. I have repeatedly apologised to my friends on the net for not being available for studies. I have planned mom's visit to a cardiologist next week. In this fashion, I have been busy, busy all day and half of all nights, doing this or that, planning that or this, and so on. On my extensive agenda are many other tasks, among which are a trip to Pune, at least another Nature outing, dinner parties with my doctor friends, spending quality time with my family, and planning on an international holiday with them, most likely South Africa, and many other things.

The BIG event that occurred during these days was the wedding of my cousin Fatema Moonim's daughter IBRIZ to ABBAS, s/o Dr. and Mrs. Hatim. The Mehendi function took place on Wednesday last, while the reception was on Saturday, i.e. yesterday.At both these functions, we had a great time. In particular, I had a great time meeting with so many old friends and acquaintances, as well as many internet friends for the first time. 

As I write this on the night of Sunday, I have just returned from a dinner outing with my family. We went to Curry Club, a sea-food restaurant located bang opposite Regal Cinema at Museum Circle. We had two starters, one, a Bassa-fish dish, and the other, tandoori prawns, This was followed by a Lamb Xacuti with appams and a Dum Biryani (lamb). For accompaniments, we had a soup and/or juice-based mocktails. Enjoyed the dinner very much. 

That's all for now ... thanks for reading. I have posted some pictures of my family and me on Facebook. I will try and post them here as well. Please bear with me in the meantime. Here is a sampling:

Thanks to all of you once again for your attention and kind wishes.

 

About what is happening in Saudi Arabia since November 1

I write this with a heavy heart. I feel so sorry for the so-called "illegal" expatriates who are now at the receiving end of the full force of the Saudi police and armed forces. To explain this, I would have to go back a few months in time ... nay, try and trace the root of the problem.

To be fair to the Saudis, they have had a steady infiltration of foreigners since the past several decades. Their modus operandi is simple: if possible, "disappear" from the scene when you arrive in the Kingdom for performing the Umrah or the Hajj. However, these disappearing Hajjis form just a small fraction of the problem. The bigger problem is caused when conniving and cunning Saudis sponsor people from the poor countries to come to Saudi Arabia on a free visa, then allow these people to work anywhere they want in exchange of an annual fee (which becomes their business - they don't need to work at all), and then, when a year has passed, declare these people as having "absconded" from their control and make their further stay in the Kingdom illegitimate.This happens because at the end of the year, the residence permits (Iqamas) of these expatriate workers expire. 

The poor workers continue to work wherever they want. If they want to renew their Iqama, they have to go back to their sponsor, who will then "oblige" in return for a hefty fee. Now comes the interesting part: this year, the Ministry of Interior started a "legitimisation" program where they have the right to expel all illegal expatriates, and also they can enforce a new rule whereby the employee can only work in a place that belongs to their original sponsor and not elsewhere. 

The last date of amnesty for this program was on the 3rd of November, and lakhs of illegal expatriates, whose only crime was to trust their Saudi sponsors in the past, had to leave the country. Millions of expats are still here ... and their status is illegal. Effectively, bread-earners have now become criminals in this country. Most have gone into hiding as the MOI has unleashed a huge force of policemen who are empowered to detain, arrest and set into motion all the steps needed to expel whoever they find with an improper residential status or work permit. As a result, many restaurants, convenience shops (bakalas), repair shops, etc. have closed down all over the Kingdom. In Al Muwayh, I personally know that both the Kerala restaurants have shut down, many car-repair shops have closed as well, and many small eateries (known here as "buffiyas") - where talented cooks worked their as@ off, preparing simple snacks for their customers. 

As I write this on the eve of my departure to India for my annual vacations, my heart goes out to these poor men and women who are in a state of despair - and most are, in fact, looking for a way out of the Kingdom.