Behavior in public places

Each person’s behavior  in public places differ and few of them quite jarring. Couple of incidents which happened during my recent travel comes to my mind. On my return from India I was relaxing in the executive lounge at Chennai airport enjoying my glass of beer and suddenly there was a shattering laugh and loud talk by two British travelers which made the entire lounge to jolt up. These travelers were so drunk that they hardly gave any thought of their fellow passengers trying to relax in a quite atmosphere and the decibel was going up with each gulp of their drink. I was surprised by this behavior of these westerners for generally they behave quite dignified in public…. Probably being in India made the difference !!!! I am sure they may not have reacted this way had they been in their home country. 

The other incident which also happened the same day is breaking of a queue. A popular southern cine actor, thought that he was far superior to all those people standing in the queue for the emigration was sent ahead of over 25 persons to the emigration officer… who rightly questioned as to why this preferential treatment… for all are paying passengers but of no avail !!!

I also read on the net that a woman was arrested for talking very loud over her mobile phone throughout the train journey on a complaint registered by the fellow passengers who had to bear the high decibel level for over 15 hours of travel.

In spite of being educated many people do not have the Etiquette to be followed in  public places and it does show them in bad light among the fellow human beings. World has to learn a lot from the Japanese… even in the worst of the situations after the devastating earthquake and the tsunami the populace in Japan showed that etiquette's of public places have to be maintained in the true spirit… there was no chaos in the relief lines and the population were standing in a queue waiting for their turn to get relief materials. Had it been any other country in the world I am sure there would not have been an orderly queue.. only chaos would have ruled the roost and the might would have walked away with the goodies leaving the meek to beg for the same.

So friends next time you are in public areas have some consideration for the people around you and act accordingly in a proper manner… never talk loudly over your cell phone, put off your mobile or in silent mode when you go for a show in theater and so forth… list is pretty long and I am sure each one of you know them.

Cheers!!!!

 

No chivalry is present these days..........got to live with it as it is !!!!

Days of chivalry and honour has passed right from the time that the mankind started using guns instead of swords !!! But then in wild west even with guns there was chivalry…. No unarmed person would be gunned down. But then these days these rules are not being followed and the surprising part is the Americans openly admit to have shot dead an unarmed man… that is Osama !!! I know it is  hard to digest the fact that any leeway has to give given to Osama , being the Americans most wanted man for last 10 years on account of being instrumental in destroying the twin towers at USA… the very symbol of the land of the opportunity.

But then being shot down by the special forces when he could have been apprehended and tried then hanged or shot would have had a greater importance then what has occurred now. It is quite natural for the Americans to say that it was the commander on the field who took that decision but then please do not forget that the entire presidential team including President Obama was watching the action live !!! and he could always have stopped the field commander from executing OBL and bring him as a prisoner to be dealt judiciously by the USA……. This would have earned them laurels instead  of the label of killing an unarmed man !!!

I do agree with sentiments of thousands of people around the world who have lost loved and near ones to the act of terrorism but would they pull a trigger and kill an unarmed man …. Naaah I do not think so !!!!

Well the worlds most dreaded terrorist has been now rid off by the Americans but then will this put an end to the terrorism…. No it would not and there are possibilities of an escalated activities of targeting the west and this is one of the reasons why the Americans have shut down their Embassies across this region……. A fear of retaliation and I am sure this would continue for a long time. !!!!

Well let us hope that at least with one head of the hydra has been cut off ,there would be a immediate reduction in various terrorist activities being sponsored by Al Qaida till such time they start flexing the muscles under a new leader. This sounds good for the Americans and the west for Al Qaida did not target India,,,,, it is the off shoot such as LET, JEM etc. The black ops against Osama has given rise to clamor from the Indian politician for actions against the terrorist organizations behind the Mumbai attacks………. We can only talk but not perform actions similar to that taken by the USA….. for we are not that technologically advanced and I do not think that an average Indian soldier would kill an unarmed person…..

I know what I have written may have no sense… no beginning or an end but then I wrote what flow through me in last few minutes !!!

People who read the post I would welcome your views and thoughts of the entire OBL operation….!!!

Can you believe it ............ seems more like a conspiracy theory !!!!!

The whole day all most all news channels have been focusing their news regarding the elimination of Osama Bin Laden by the American special forces.. the seal team !! Wow a great achievement to finally punish the person who was responsible for the 9/11 attacks on the Twin towers killing over 3000 innocent people. But then me being an average intelligent man it makes me wonder the actions taken by the USA in this operation….. is it really true that the person killed was OBL??? If it is a fact why wasn’t the body paraded to the world instead of being buried in sea by the American forces. The normal practice of the seal team is that they would not leave one of them behind even if they have died in action but taking the body of Osama Bin Laden raises lots of questions… why??.No clear answers to these question and many more put forward by various journalists and we need to let our imagination fly high and conceive a plausible theory of this operation.

There are too many loop holes in the versions being told today by the American authorities and denied /accepted by the Pakistani’s  …… or is it a ploy by the Obama administration to garner enough support within the United States for the re election coming up this year !!! I am sure each one of the persons reading this note would be intelligent to understand and contemplate the pros and cons of this story.

The united States says that it is purely an US operation , then how come the helicopters flew to the place without alerting the Pakistan air force or was the radar conveniently switched off with prior information from the US !!! Everything at this stage is speculation and we got to believe what is being fed to us… typical of the media and the politicians.!!!

Here is the clip of the speech given by President Obama about the death of Osama Bin Laden.     

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNYmK19-d0U

A figurehead of terrorism had been eliminated after a span of 10 years and am sure it is a sigh of relief for most people in this world but then as some famous personalities have told in the media that this is not the end of terrorism … it is just a transition of the leader and the war against the terror will never end till all the heads of the Hydra are cut off !!!!!

This note is just my thought of events today and I am an ordinary person trying to live a peaceful life in the world … but then when bullshit is being reported it really irks me for most media and politicians thinks that an ordinary man can be fooled at their whims and fancies……..

Got nothing more to add !!!!!

E- Friendship …. Is it the fashion of the present generation????

Most people active online are having net friends, chat friends , E- friends whom they have never met in their real life and this trend seems to be even more with the younger generation of these days. Is friendship a scarce commodity that we cannot find it in real life or just that we are interested in friendship which has no attachments. Well in my case I have been working away from my family and family for a considerable amount of time and after a long hard day’s work I do not have the time and energy to socialize and hence my getaway is the social networking site chatting with friends made on the net and also with family/ friends from back home. After sometime it had become a regular habit of going online and playing poker or mafia on face book and chatting with various girlfriends I picked up in these games. It was becoming addictive and one fine day nearly year back just deleted poker and mafia games and friends except for couple of them who made me feel comfortable.

Looking back I had been browsing social networking sites like ICQ, yahoo ,IFF nearly 10 years back and till date I have retained two friends of that era who still care for me anytime we chat and vice versa…and we have never met in real life. Each of us on the net search for a soul mate  with whom you could be friends to share intimate details which cannot be shared with your better half for in real life you hardly find such a friend. And in case you do ever meet up with your net friend in real life the whole illusion of soul mate shatters!!!!

I still have never been able to figure out the reason for looking for a friend on the net in social networking sites? Is it because the net friend is just a computer screen in front of you instead of the real person and you are able to discuss the weirdest fantasy without being embarrassed for you may never ever come to face with the person whom you are chatting!! Or is it because the person is withdrawing to himself/herself wanting only imaginary friends or is this quest of friendship a sort of escape mechanism from our day to day mundane routine?? I have no answers to it!!!!

It is a well known fact that there are predators and weirdoes on the net who are stalking people and yet I am amazed that women on the social networking sites quite trust their online partners giving out personal details, mobile phone numbers and their personal details. People need to be careful for it could lead to unnecessary complications.

I still keep in touch with few online friends I have made over the period of time and I am proud have been their friend for they have been a pillar of strength during the harrowing times I have gone through and even today. I have been very lucky to find such friends on the net…. Whom I will never meet in my lifetime!!!!

Corruption …. Is it a Symptom or Disease

Anna Hazare has caught the imagination of the educated public in India and has led a massive protest to force the government in Introducing the Lok Pal Bill which has powers to take action against the corrupt public officials. Does this mean that there would be a end to the corruption in India… no it will not be for, Corruption  cannot be rooted out of any society even the developed western nations whom we hope to emulate for people are not saints.

 A lively conversation by a friend of mine on the Face Book made me ponder the reason for corruption being rampant since my friend had answered that it was because the people were greedy !!! Yeah quite possible for corruption takes place when each one of us are greedy. Now take the instance of a common man likes of you and me wants to register a property in India, we would undervalue the property so that we pay a lesser registration fee to the government and to facilitate this process we pay a bribe to the Registrar to over look the under valuation and in the end it is a win-win situation for both parties and at that point of time we do not give lectures of corruption etc… why so????Greediness. 

Corruption is almost inevitable when the policies are left to discretionary power of few individuals whether in the public office or in private sectors and to root out this we need to change the system and the operating procedures thereby having no loopholes to bypass the same. Here is an example of the system being in place….earlier in case we needed passport urgently we needed to pay a hefty sum to the middlemen usually travel agents who in turn used to pay good amount of money to the public officials in Passport office to speed up the issue of a particular passport. This led to various issues such as criminals and terrorists getting Indian Passports at their will. With the introduction of Tatkal services , online form submission and physical presence of the person applying for passport most of the avenues of taking or giving bribes have been closed and system has been operating good without the stamp of being a corrupt office. There are so many examples in all walks of life and if I start listing each one of them then I think I need to keep writing continuously for a long time.

Corruption also takes place when a person wants certain services before his/her turn for which he or she is willing to pay the additional monies or give favors. In other words the person giving bribe is an equal party to the crime and he or she cannot hide behind the fact that without the bribe they would not have got the requisite service … again it is the persons greed which has prompted to give bribe !!! The recent elections in Tamilnadu the candidates to get the votes were wooing the voters by offering freebies like Cash, Color TV, Laptops , Mixer and Grinders, Concrete houses for hut dwellers and in one case Nano Cars …..so much money being spent by individuals to get into the seat of power. Is there any action being taken by the government or the public to put end to all these acts?? No … it goes on as usual. 

Where there is corruption there is greed and where there is greed there is corruption and today they are seen in the entire world… though most media state it as a third world problem. Corruption and greed has no boundaries of nation, religion, race and is a global phenomenon varying only in the quantum of it. I doubt  if we could stamp it out altogether from the society but then if all of us make a conscious effort to root out this evil practice then we will be able to minimize the corruption. 

I end this piece here with the conclusion that Corruption is not a disease for it cannot be eradicated totally …. But a symptom governed by human nature…Greed!!!!

Agony , Ecstasy , Anger ...range of emotions in play !!

Last few weeks has been pretty interesting around the world and there has been different emotions at play in various parts of the world. A sense helplessness and doom prevailed over Japan in the aftermath of combined disaster.. the earthquake, then a tsunami hit and finally radiation worry from the battered nuclear reactor. The Japanese people true to their culture went about picking up their threads of life slowly and with immense discipline and an orderly fashion which has never been witnessed before in any other community in the world. We have a lot to learn.

 In sporting arena India beat Srilanka in thrilling world cup final played on 2^nd April and lifted the World cup bringing tears of joy to the God of cricket Sachin Tendulkar and millions of cricket crazy Indian fans… coveted trophy which was eluding him till the end of his career(he has played in six world cups so far).

 

Terry Jones a controversial evangelic Pastor from USA who had been threatening to burn the holy Koran for over a year finally did so on 20^th March 2011 . This incident has been condemned by people from all parts of the world including the President of United States of America. Little do I understand the need for doing such a thing and what has he personally achieved in return…a 5 minutes of fame !!!  While there has been little violent reaction in the rest of the Islamic world to the stunt by an obscure Florida pastor, at least 24 people have been killed in Afghanistan in recent days, including seven United Nations employees.

Three weeks  the imposition of no fly zone in Libya and the air raids there Colonel Mummar Gadafi is still holding fort at Tripoli and the western parts of Libya though quite a few senior members of his group have either defected abroad or joined the rebels. There has been an impasse there and nobody seems to know where this conflict is going to go. The war goes on for the western alliance.

Protests in the Arab countries began in early this year bringing change of regime in Tunisia and Egypt . Immediately violent protests rocked the Gulf nation of Bahrain which led to death of quite a few protestors and the protest was squashed by the ruler with the help of Saudi armed forces. Protest also rocked the port city of Sohar in Oman where Lulu supermarket was vandalized and burnt down. Ruler of Oman announced various reforms as demanded by the protestors such as salary increases , 5 day working week in the private sector, removal of some corrupt ministers as claimed by the public and yet there seems to be no end to protest which keeps taking place in this country and the demands are pretty much silly in many cases. The latest protest for change in regime are taking place in Syria and Yemen and it has been pretty violent with lots of deaths.

India is witnessing a different kind of protests these days with Anna Hazare a social activist is galvanizing the public of India to fight against the corruption by forcing government to enact a strict anti corruption act as envisaged in Jan Lokpal bill that has powers to deal with the corruption in public offices. Millions of people from all walks of the life in India are now joining this movement demanding that the government to introduce this bill, which various successive governments could not do in last four decades.

Fools Day

1^st April each year is known as all fools day and in my younger days when at school most of us used to play pranks on classmates and friends and when they are fooled immediately let out a loud chorus ….        ” April fool”.  Harmless pranks were most enjoyed by people all over the world on this day and was considered as fun. Times have changed  considerably and these days there are hardly any children or people who celebrate the Fools day on April 1^st … quite surprising isn’t it.

While browsing the net I found couple of images for pranks being played on April fool’s day and I found them to be funny but then cannot call them harmless pranks if done in real life. Enjoy the pictures

Extreme competition ... Cricket world cup semifinal today

This afternoon as I walked into office I was surprised to see complete darkness and all lights switched off …. Not on account of the Earth hour and the seats empty and no conversations on the phone or within the office. For a moment I wondered if a holiday has been declared and then it struck me that is a world cup 2^nd semifinal between India and Pakistan is underway and hence most employees are taking extended lunch break or afternoon off to watch the live telecast.

Die-hard fans of Indian cricket in our office have been planning for this day immediately after India beat Australia in quarter finals ... wah bhai kya bahana soocha hai!!!! One of them has loose motions from 1pm this afternoon the other has a site meeting hence would switch off the phone and so forth….LOL. Some Indian companies have declared half a day off so as to allow their employees to watch the match in peace.

Entire India would have come to a standstill and this match is being termed as Mother of all matches as it is with our arch rivals Pakistan. The general feeling is that even if India does not win the final it is ok as long as they have beaten the Pakistani team. What a sentiment man… it’s too much for me to comprehend this sentiment. I believe that India should do its best in all matches irrespective of the outcome and am sure if this is the attitude then we would have an interesting match at hand.

All the best to the teams participating in the Semifinal ………………….Chak de India ……….Indiaaa Indiaaaaaaaa

So much protests here.....Is it good ????

We from India have seen so many protests during our life time and have got used to the same but then protests in Oman is something new and I can vouch that no one expected this to happen in years to come. But then it happened and in fact the early glimpse of these were during late January 2011 in the Ministry area and also in Oman Air at Seeb airport  and these both were termed as one off instance. The protest gathered momentum after the incident at Sohar and after that it has been free for all and at any time. The latest one was by Shell petrol and today it is back to normal.  Government has given in to most demands by the protesters and now it is the turn of the Omani’s working in the private sector to organize the protests so that their demand are met. Most demands by them are quite legitimate such as increments on regular basis, taking on responsibilities… hope it is with accountability !! and so forth.

Some demands such as lesser working hours(similar to Government employees working timing)  and 5 days a week does not gel with private sector companies since they need to work 6 days a week to ensure they meet the bottom line. So also the construction and contracting industry since the time lines for the project are pretty tight and the same can be achieved only if they work minimum of 6 days for 10 hours. All over the world the average working hours per week is considered as 48 hours and if this criteria is followed then I suppose the daily work timings will be roughly nine and half hour without considering the lunch break in the event of 5 day week scenario which seems to be inevitable ….. this does put in lots of tensions on the expat workers who have to work the entire office hours and also work on Thursdays as usual without getting any benefits.

Now you must be wondering as to why an expat has to work on Thursdays without benefits while everyone else are enjoying their week end…. Well it is because he has a Damocles sword hanging over his head all the time and he would not like his boss to label him .. not a hard worker ( well most Indian companies I know say that people who really work hard are the ones who put in long hours of working ) A wrong sense of judging a person’s capabilities.

Beyond a point these protests would be meaningless and ignored like it is being done in India and the very reason would get diluted and nobody is going to care....  Is that what you want !!!!!

Redundancy ……. How much do you provide ?????

Most people have a definite plan of action in their lives plus a redundant plan B in the event the main plan does not work out for whatever reasons thereof. Similarly is the case with most projects in this world especially if there is a potential to harm the environment and human lives. But then my question here is that how much redundancy does one plan in this case…. Is it one two or three????.

The current events in Japan has really raised this question in my mind and I would like all person reading this note/blog  give their comments for I am still confused. The designers of the Nuclear Power plant at Fukushima Daiichi did have three redundancy systems in their reactors to prevent the condition what is prevailing now and yet each one of them failed…..main power to the cooling system failed due to earthquake, then the tsunami took out the backup power generation system, cooling system to reactor by using water from condensed steam failed to provide sufficient water to immerse the fuel rods and finally pumping of sea water to cool the reactor failed. 

This only goes to prove the Murphy’s Law “ When shit has to hit the fan … it sure will “

Being in the field of engineering I know that we normally provide one redundancy or maximum two but now for critical operations in most parts of the world are surely going to demand multiple redundancy so as to achieve a failsafe mechanism in the face of all odds… quite a challenge to most designers and engineers .

There is going to be a huge amount of money spent for these redundancy which may never be operational …. Your take on this please !!!!!!!

Fury of Nature.... continues this year

As 2010 ended we had all prayed that natural disasters be a thing of past for this year .. 2011 but then it was not so with flooding in Australia, then the earth quake in New Zealand and a combined jolt in Japan.. a severe earth quake measuring 8.9 on Richter scale plus a devastating Tsunami. Mother nature is takings its revenge against the atrocities the mankind has committed on this planet and the occurrences are sudden and immense. The mankind cannot take things lightly for these are indications of future events that are going to take place on this planet !!!

Increased movements of Teutonic plates , global warming leading to melting of ice in Arctic and Antarctic,unusual climate world wide only are an example of what is in store for us in the years to come. God help mankind and hope that the world population does not take this for granted for i am sure all of us are going to be sorry for our actions which has percolated to this levels


I leave you all with two pictures of the natures fury unleashed in Japan... RIP to those who have lost their lives in this disaster and i am sure Japanese people are resilient enough to pull through this difficult times. Thinks of what each one of us could do to appease the the anger of this nature !!!!

North Africa and Middle East protests ….The Jasmine Revolution !!!!

Unemployment, poor living conditions, inflation  and lack of political freedom spurred the protests against the government in Tunisia . We in India have seen similar scenes quite often in India but then it have never been culminated to such a extent that the government collapses and the country is in disarray . The catalyst to this movement in Tunisia was due to a self immolation by one person in December  2010 and in January 2011 within a span of less than a month the president of the country Ben Ali  who held on to his power for over 20 years had to flee to Saudi Arabia leading to a regime change there.

Within another 30 days another massive anti government protests in Egypt which started as a peaceful demonstration at Tahrir Square, Cairo and other parts of Egypt took an ugly turn when pro Mubarak supporters clashed with the protesters and in the end jolted the rule of Hosini Mubarak which he held for over 3 decades leading to a regime change.

Libya also witnessed anti government protests from the mid February onwards and is now blown to a fully fledged civil war between the government forces and rebels looking for a change of regime . Libyan episode has till date seen over 7000 deaths and is still going on with armed fights between pro and anti government  forces. Migrant labor from most Arab world and third world countries are fleeing the country through the Tunisian border and through sea and air helped by their respective governments.

Meanwhile in other parts of the gulf such as Bahrain, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Oman, Algeria, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia inspired by the happening in the Tunisia , Egypt and Libya also had protests against the government in various magnitudes and the “ Arab leaders started shaking in their boots “ as stated by the famous Middle East foreign correspondent Robert Fisk . Some of the gulf countries ( Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait) immediately channeled lots of funds to be distributed among its population to appease the protestors so as to avoid any violent incidents and also have stated that necessary reforms will be in place to address the issues raised by the protesters

In Oman the violent incidents that happened in Sohar (looting and burning down of a super market by the protestors) was orchestrated by outside parties as per the authorities but then even this day there are still over 1000 protestors camped in the square and we as expats are not able to comprehend what is going to happen. Similarly at Salalah, the southern city of Oman people have put up tents and are camping in front of Wali’s office from last Friday awaiting for their demands to be met by tomorrow as informed by some local Omanis, in spite of the benefits been announced by the Sultan immediately after the Sohar incident. Army has been deployed along the border to UAE and in Sohar too. The latest news from Salalah is that people have noticed movement of Army to the region too. . An uneasy calm is prevailing in the region and it is wait and watch time before it turns to a full blown confrontation.

A sea of change is happening in the Middle East and the whole world is watching with bated breath the future of the region and its impact to the global economy. The media which has played a major role during the protests termed the protests as Jasmine Revolution… may be an analogy to waft of smell from the Jasmine flower spreading around  similar to the protests that is spreading country to country in the region !!!

Last year was termed as the Year of Calamities , I only hope that 2011 is not termed as the Year of the Protests as similar incidents are happening in China as well and in other regions of the world. Looking forward to a peaceful end to all these protests since it is the ordinary people like you and me who have to suffer and put up with hardship in the event the protests turns violent.

Care and affection among female siblings !!!

One evening while the family was just sitting and discussing general issues happening in our lives my younger daughter stated that she has more rights on her elder sister than me…. For a moment I was stunned with her statement and I started telling her that I have more rights as I am their father but then thinking back after sometime I concluded that each of us have rights over one and another ….me as a father and she as a sister and these two are quite different and unique.

Most sisters always have a special bonding throughout their lives especially when they are twins or if age difference between them is small and in my daughters case it is just an year. They share all secrets among themselves ,both me and my wife would have no clue until one of them blurts out the secret by mistake. My sisters who are three years apart share similar relationship and the bonding is very strong in spite of difference of opinions at times.

Seeing all these I feel bad that I have no male sibling with whom I could have shared a similar rapport ……but then not all relationship between brothers are as strong as between sisters.

Your thoughts on this !!!

Flip side of Valentine’s day celebrations

Always wanted to know more about Valentine's day and the reasons for why it is being celebrated as Lover's day and i found that there is no relevance to the centuries old tradition of feast on the February 14 and today's celebrations

History…….

From 276 AD February 14^th has been celebrated by Roman Catholic Christians as a day of feast for Saint Valentine . Historians state that there has been more than one Saint Valentine (derived from Valens meaning worthy, powerful) and till the 14^th century there has been no romantic link to the day of celebration. In the 14^th century Roman Emperor Claudius II wanted to expand his army and he found that young men who were married we reluctant to join the army and hence brought out a directive that no young men should marry. However there was a Saint Valentine who was marrying the young men in secret and when the emperor learned of this Saint was immediately caught and was sentenced to be executed. The evening before the saint was executed he wrote a note to his beloved … jailer’s daughter whom he had healed and befriended and the note read “ from your Valentine”. This I suppose was the start of the tradition of exchange of cards, gifts between lovers .

Present times….

As I grew up 14^th Feb has been just an another day except that Roman Catholics used to have a feast on this day in the honor of Saint Valentine. During the last 10 years with the advent of electronic media (TV & Internet) a immense hype has been created around the Saint Valentine’s day and the present generation has lapped up the same and added a new dimension to the day.

Peer pressure of the youth  today has diluted the traditional Valentine’s day celebrations of love and affection between intimate companions. It is a status symbol among the younger generation to have a partner on this day and celebrate the day so if you notice most of the couples may just be a casual acquaintance or someone with whom they have interacted over the Internet in a social networking sites. I do not mean that all couples celebrating this day are not following the traditional ways.

Today the Valentine’s day can be termed as a day of one night stand for majority of the couples…..With so many social networking sites couples married or single meet each other and generally make it a point to meet on this day and invariably leads to one night stand without any commitments especially when one of the partner is married.

Valentine’s day is a money spinner too in India and approximately 10% of the global Valentine’s day sales are in India. Roses has been replaced with mobile phones and other expensive gifts and most shopping mall all over India have a whopping sales during this period and gift giving ritual seems to be more prominent among the younger generation in India unlike the other parts of the world. Some not so good news of Valentine’s day are the suicides being committed by young couples due to restrictions to their love and rapes. 

In spite of  Moral policing by some political parties ,honor killings, suicides and rapes it does not seem to deter the younger generation from celebrating this day and Valentine’s day has entrenched itself in India’s popular culture.

Ali Baba …………….

A fictional character from ancient Arabic literature made famous by the story Ali Baba and forty thieves in One Thousand and One Nights wherein he outwits forty thieves and takes home the treasure they had hidden within a cave. Most Arab friends I know use the term Ali Baba in their speech and it means a thief. Now you must be wondering why I have chosen this topic out of the blue…well last couple of days I have been hearing of thefts in various houses of my colleagues which has taken place during the last two months including two of them in the building I stay. Last two years in Salalah I have not heard of such incidents taking place there but then Muscat is different in all aspects I suppose.

One friend who was in Salalah for over 3 years was owning a Harley Davison motorbike relocated to Muscat and within 3 months of coming here the bike was stolen from his house and even this day he is running pillar to post to claim the insurance money. Another colleague who stays in the next wing of the building I stay went out with his family for weekend shopping and when he returned 2 hours later he found to his surprise his locked front door ajar…burglars had pried open the door and stole the jewelry and money kept in the cabinet… poor guy lost over 300 Riyals!!!

Once upon a time it was prided that one could leave ones door open and go and yet not a item would be taken….times have changed Muscat for now even a locked door is not safe. 

I have added two more locking arrangement to the main door to deter such incidents from happening and moreover as I am proceeding on vacation I need to take extra care and I do not want to come back and see my flat empty.

I fail to understand the reason for increase in such incidents in the capital and how the culprits do not get caught. I only hope the authorities take stringent action to apprehend the culprits engaging in such activities and make the city of Muscat safe for both Expats and locals.