Random Click -09

Setting sun at Wahiba Sands...a desert in Oman

Dragon Face

Last year at Salalah took a photograph of the mountain side which looked like a dragon bending down

Don't you agree that it does look like a dragon !!!!

Milestone Achieved

Phew…at last crossed the hundredth blog mark which is a huge milestone for me for I never expected to do so for at least next one year. But then this year did post few photographs that did the trick on the count but then personally I still feel my posts just about mediocre and I am bit surprised with the kind of hit I have got for few of the posts. Like for instance of a post titled “ Howzzz That” about the ban of DSLR cameras by Kuwaiti Government some time last year  has the maximum hits of all my blogs –2338 hits as of yesterday, similarly a post “ Rain god’s Kolevery” had 1148 hit and the reason I feel was due to fact I had used the word Kolevery in the title and at that point of the Dhanush’s song why this Kolevery D was making waves around India and the world and I am sure people who googled  “Kolevery” would have landed on to this post…hahaha. The post that I wrote from my heart was Work life Balance and this also had over 1000 hits and it did please me though I have been stating all along and even now that I am just writing for myself and not for an audience …hypocrite aren’t I one !!! Others in region of over 500 hits are generally about Salalah and the Khareef season here.

Thanks everyone once again and hope to be around and post better blogs/photographs.

Servant Maid problems at Metros

Few days back I get a frantic call from my wife saying that the house maid working in our house has refused to work henceforth and wanted to know if I had the number of the agency we had dealt with earlier for getting a new servant maid since it is next to impossible to get a maid within the locality in a day or two. Advent of IT companies nearby has taken a toll on the house owners with respect to getting a reliable and a good maid with a reasonable salary. Thereby most house owners have to bow down to the unreasonable demands of these servant maids in the event they work at your place. This incident took place at my home in Chennai few months back and I was surprised with the kind of demands and conditions being put forth by the maid who had come for the job. Some of the demands were never heard off in earlier days such as, the moment she comes home she should be provided with a glass of milk and during the lunch time she would have the same food being eaten by us …not the leftover of the earlier meal and so forth. In the present times of raising cost each family tries to curtail additional expenses but just imagine the amount being spent on the servant in addition to her salary which is not cheap. On an average for a two bedroom house a servant these days charge over Rs 3000 for doing all the work such as dusting for name sake, sweeping, mopping, cleaning utensil and washing clothes and adding to the milk and food it easily drains Rs 4000 per month. This does not end here for they require a bonus during the festival such as Diwali or Pongal and when you question them why then they immediately tell you that I get a bonus from the company I work for and similarly they need to also get paid.

Well my wife was desperate for a maid as she was feeling the strain of doing the entire house work and especially with ground floor and first floor to be cleaned each day hence she agreed to most of the terms put forth by the maid and also a salary of Rs 5500 because of a larger house. All seemed well for few days and then starts the bickering for more salary as the work load is high and so forth and to force the issue take few days off from work till the housewife is at end of her wits and agree for a raise of minimum Rs 250. Few days later similar story occurs just prior to the day of the salary but when my wife refused then servant maid stated that she is not willing to work from the next day and she wants her settlement.

The process of looking out for a reliable servant again starts and after considerable time she get one servant who now demands Rs 6000 as starting salary….and she get its as my wife is unable to manage on her own. The demand for a reliable servant is immense but then you are hardly able to find one since most of these servants have taken up jobs in housekeeping companies because of easy work, good salary and other perks there and are usual assigned to work in the IT industry that has bloomed in last few years in the vicinity.

This phenomenon is quite common in most Metros these days and it is very difficult to get a good and an honest servant maid. I remember of the times when servant maids used to come home twice a day, never demand for any additional drinks or food and would be happy to take the leftover food to their home and also work in the same house hold for ages but then such maid are few in these times and their number is dwindling fast. 

Do you all face similar issues??

Cruel hands of fate

A quote by the former Beatles singer John Lennon “There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be” does proves that we cannot escape the fate destined to each one of us. It is quite ironic that he had to travel from India the previous day and the very next day morning he is a victim of the gas explosion.

He smelled cooking gas as he entered his flat in an upscale apartment block on his return back from India after his leaving his family there for an extended vacation. Immediately called up the maintenance team from his office to check the central gas piping and the cooking range within his flat and found no leaks within the flat. He then complained to the building maintenance team and was informed that the smell of gas has been noticed by other tenants for past few days and technicians would be coming next day morning to check for the leak and rectify the same.

Next day morning, the first day of the week in gulf he was getting ready to leave for the office and he was delayed as it was past 8 am the normally he reaches office each day. Suddenly a huge blast tore through the apartment block shattering the walls and floors of few flats and his flat took the brunt of the gas explosion and in the process sustained severe burn injuries. His office came to hear of the blast through the wife of another employee staying in next block and immediately sent few persons to check the whereabouts of him and they found him on a stretcher with over 50% burns but conscious. He then asked his colleague to call his family back in India and he spoke to his father stating about the accident and that he is being taken to hospital with burn injuries and he urged he father to inform his wife and also come back immediately. 

He was immediately taken to the local government hospital and was admitted in the burn unit ICU. He was hooked up to the ventilator, covered with soothing gel and heavily sedated and was termed critical and only after 72 hours the doctors can confirm his conditions and further course of treatment started. His family and parents reached back here the next day including his elder brother who works in the Far East and they kept a constant vigil at the hospital hoping and praying for the almighty for an early recovery from the injuries he had sustained. After 6 days the doctors stated he is stable and not on the danger list but yet heavily sedated and still on ventilator and this news was welcomed by the family members and all his colleagues. On the 9^th day (on the day of Eid) late evening his body started deteriorating and around midnight he breathed his last leaving behind wife,14 year old son ,8 year old daughter, aged parents , elder brother in deep shock and sorrow. 

May the Almighty give strength and courage to his family members to bear with this immense loss. Rest in peace dear colleague