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.

2010…. unforgettable year that was

As the curtains to the year 2010 is about to fall in about few days time I think back of the various events/incidents that have occurred during this year around the world and so too in my personal life that will remain in my thoughts throughout my lifetime.

 I can still remember welcoming 2010 along with my friends and neighbor in my flat drinking and dancing on the New Year eve last year and now the neighbor is not around… he is very much alive but as mentioned in one of my earlier posts he had a stroke and has left Oman as he could not continue his work due to lack of speech and difficulty in moving around. Life is uncertain and there are no doubts on that aspect as it is being proven to mankind now and again on a regular basis.

My mother who was severe diabetic had some sort of stroke in January and was bedridden from then on. She was an active woman all through her life till such time her eyesight (retinitis) was affected couple of years back. She still used to move around on her own even after her knee fracture and used to watch TV sitting just about couple of feet away from the screen. Once she was bedridden she was totally dependent on my father or the nursemaid we had hired for everything and this broke her heart and lost her will to live. She finally passed away on 31^st May , a relief from the misery she was undergoing each day of her life. Me and my immediate family miss her a lot…. Rest in peace Amma !!!

The world this year has witnessed the ravages of the nature in an unprecedented magnitudes killing scores of people around the world and billions of dollars losses to the affected countries. 7.0 Magnitude earthquake in Haiti, 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile, Volcano eruption in Iceland throwing up tremendous ash cloud which covered the whole of Europe thereby all air travel was canceled on the fear that the fly ash would crash the planes, Volcano eruption in Indonesia towards end August  created similar fear in South East Asia. Pakistan floods the worst in last 100 year leaving nearly 1/5^th of the country underwater and losses of staggering US $ 20 Billion. At the same time wild fires in seven regions of Russia due to searing summer heat created huge loss and toxic fumes to envelope most parts. A Severe snowfall over Europe this winter shut down most European airports. The surface transport also was affected due to snow on railway tracks. Both these created an utter chaos in Europe as travelers unable to reach their destination prior to Christmas with flights and surface transport not operating. 

There has been severe climatic conditions right through the year in various parts of the world and possibly cause of all these events could be because of the global warming. It is stated that the Arctic ice is melting slowly and its impact would have far reaching consequences to the very existence of the world.

One of the worst man made disaster in the history of the world is the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Explosion in British Petroleum’s oil rig at Deepwater Horizon in Gulf of Mexico in April and the ensuing oil spill in the Gulf from the ruptured well head far reaching consequences to the eco system of the world and it was by far the biggest story of this year since millions of gallons of crude oil was spilling into the sea for over three months till the well head was capped some time in end of July. BP was embroiled in one of the worst litigation cases on this account and their CEO was asked to leave with huge severance package…must have been very relieved to take the package and leave the mess created !! 

There has been quite a few mining accidents around the world in China, New Zealand and Chile this year but the rescue of the miners from the Chilean mine will always remain in our thoughts for the effort put in by the nation and the world community. Cave in on 5^th August at San Jose Gold and Copper mine in Chile’s Atacama Desert trapped 33 miners nearly 2500 feet below the ground. The fate of these miners was unknown and rescuers were frantically drilling boreholes and sending down probes to check for survivors. 17 days after the collapse one of the probe came back with this message "Estamos bien en el refugio, los 33" (We are OK in the refuge, the 33) from that day onwards Los 33 became the nation number 1 priority and all out efforts were taken to rescue these miners. The initial bore hole was widened to send food, water, medicine and clothes to the trapped miners in addition to a video camera and a telephone line so that there could be communication with the relatives and the rescuers. Finally a bore large enough for an upright man to be lifted up reached the refuge shelter and the miners were brought to the surface after staying 73 day below the ground….. Worldwide people watched these trapped miners being brought to the surface and they were all instant celebrities and almost all of them were offered gifts from so many companies and clubs around the world in addition to the book deals and movie deals about their experience below ground.

The Football world cup this year at South Africa  had few success stories like  Waka Waka song by Shakira , Paul the Octopus an Oracle  who predicted the winners of the games, Vuvuzela a wind instrument similar to trumpet creating a very irritating noise famous.

  

Also 2010 saw Aung San Suu Kyi get her freedom from house arrest after 15 long years and I wrote about this in my earlier post. France expelled Roma gypsy from their country even though they are from European Union. Wikileaks posted sensitive US military documents on the net and scores of other sensitive documents for public to read and this created uproar in most government. The arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in London on a trumped up sexual assault charge filed by Swedish government stirred up web wars wherein hackers brought down few financial domains who had black listed Wikileaks. Not to forget the incidents and various scams in India…Commonwealth games scam, 2G scam, Encounter scams in Gujarat , Maoist problems in North and eastern part of India and so on… list is endless

We have seen quite an eventful year ……… goodbye 2010 as the eve of 2011 is approaching in few days time.Wishing all my friends and relatives a very happy New Year 2011 and I hope that the coming year has move positive events that will be remembered and lesser natural disasters!!!!

Delayed flight

I was flying from Salalah to Muscat for a meeting by Oman Air flight WY 906 scheduled to leave Salalah at 13.30 hrs on Wednesday 15^th December 2010. Check in formalities were completed one hour prior to the flight and everything looked normal.. the hustle and bustle of the passengers in the departure lounge as we waited for the gate to be opened and as usual the gate opened for boarding at 12.30 hrs and we entered the boarding hall after surrendering the counterfoil of the boarding card. The hall was full and overflowing and we expected that we would proceed to aircraft by 13.00 hrs but alas there was no urgency on the part of Oman Air staff to open the door for the passengers to proceed to the aircraft. No information about any delays was mentioned nor did the milling travelers in boarding lounge had any inkling of impending delays. Restlessness started setting in and the passengers started questioning the ground crew the reasons for the delay and we were just informed that the tire inspection is underway on the plane. By 14.00 hours we were informed that this flight  has been cancelled due to technical snag….. as per the information gleaned from some staff at the airport were came to know that the there has been some issues with the tire and a replacement tire would be flown into Salalah from Muscat by 18.30 hrs and only after the replacement this flight would take off…. So a delay of over 6 hours

 Once this announcement was made an uproar erupted in boarding hall as many passengers were transiting through Muscat to European destination and some to India and they would be missing the connecting flights. People who had contacts (Wasta) with the ground crew were the luckiest people as they could reorganize their onward flights almost immediately. The Oman air staff at Salalah had a tough time resolving issues of the transiting passengers who were flying onward by Oman Air flights but others it was really sad nothing was being done by them.

As I reside in Salalah I returned back home as there was no point waiting at the Airport for the next 6 hrs. On returning back to the airport later in the evening for the same flight we were informed that our flight would take off prior to the regular flight at 19.20 hrs but then our flight was cleared to leave for Muscat only at 19.50 hrs. Further there was no announcement made for the refreshments for the passengers of WY 906 in place of the dinner/ lunch which is normally served on the flight ( The food which was bought for the lunch got spoiled and could not be served. In such cases it is the responsibility of Oman Air to make necessary alternatives to serve dinner on the flight as they are charging the passengers accordingly. There was no word of explanation or apology even by the crew members on the flight regarding the dinner and they went on to serve us just some nuts !!!!!. A lame apology by the co-pilot in broken English towards the end of the flight just before landing to Muscat.

We have no choice but to fly by Oman Air only as it is the only airline plying between Salalah and Muscat. It is an experience that I would like to forget for I have had better treatment from the airlines in my travels during the past few years with them. I only hope that Oman Air personnel have more understanding of the passenger’s needs and address those on priority in the future.

A new brand of cigarettes………The electronic ones

Normally when you have the urge to smoke, you light up the cigarette and drag on it and then blow out blue/grey smoke in content ,but then the new generation cigarettes…… the electronic cigarette does not require a lighter, does not spew out smoke…. For those of you who want to blow smoke rings you need to use the conventional cigarette not this one. A friend of mine, a heavy smoker gave me this advertisement and wanted me to find out if this cigarette is available in Salalah. His reasoning is that he is addicted to have a cigarette in his had most of the time and needs to keep puffing almost continuously and hence if he uses the electronic cigarette he would reduce the risks to his body as the electronic one is flouted to have so many advantages over the conventional cigarettes. You can know more about this product as you go through the advertisement of VIP electronic cigarette pasted below

Electronic Cigarette and E Cigarette UK Shop

The Electronic Cigarette provides the genuine taste and experience of smoking. Tobacco or menthol flavored vapour is inhaled instead of dangerous tobacco smoke. Inhaling the vapour from the e cigarette presents the same taste as a regular cigarette and delivers an instant nicotine hit to satisfy the craving.

The UK smoking ban does not restrict the use of an electronic cigarette in public places. You have the freedom to get your nicotine practically anywhere without bothering anyone else. It is 100% legal to use in pubs, clubs, restaurants, work vehicles and even offices. There is no tobacco smoke, no tar, no carbon monoxide and no passive smoke!

Satisfy your smoking urge with the electronic cigarette today!

   Components of an Electronic Cigarette

Nicotine Cartomizer
The cartomizer stores a flavoured nicotine liquid. When you inhale this becomes a vapourised type of smoke.

The cartomizer refill is also a micro heating element. This component known as a vapouriser, rapidly heats the flavoured nicotine liquid to produce a smooth tasting vapour. Each cartomizer is comparable to 40 regular cigarettes.

Rechargeable Battery
The rechargeable battery powers the cartomizer allowing it to heat the nicotine liquid. VIP lithium-ion batteries fully charge in around 2 hours.

Looks and Feels Like a Real Cigarette

The lastest design of electronic cigarette looks just like a conventional cigarette and even features an LED in the tip which glows red whenever you inhale. Vapour is inhaled and exhaled to mimic conventional cigarette smoke. The vapour also delivers a nicotine hit to help control those addictive cravings. The electronic cigarette, electric cigarette or e cigarette is the ONLY alternative to offer the same hand-to-mouth action and incorporate a realistic substitute for smoke. By understanding the needs of smokers, VIP Electronic Cigarette is now one of the most popular brands of e-cigarette in the UK.

Legal to Smoke Electronic Cigarette Anywhere Smoking has been a popular pastime for many years, but the health risks of tobacco cigarettes affect non-smokers in the form of passive smoke. This is the main reason why smoking is prohibited in most public places. The new electronic cigarette simulates traditional smoking and you get the same taste through vapourized nicotine, but without the tobacco toxins and passive smoke. You can use the e cigarette in public indoor places without breaking any laws. The E Cigarette is Up To 85% Cheaper than Tobacco Tobacco costs have dramatically increased over the last 10 years which has forced some people to quit, cut back or even resort to purchasing smuggled tobacco cigarettes. Using an electronic cigarette is cost effective and can save you a lot of money. Each ecig refill is equal to around 40 regular cigarettes. If your regular brand of tobacco cigarette is £6.30 per pack and you smoke 1 pack per day, you can save around £1900 a year.                                          By using the electronic cigarette no more filled ash trays to be emptied and cleaned, no more odor lingering on the clothes and rooms, considerable money saving and so forth. After seeing all these advantageous listed above I am sure most smoker in this world may want to shift to electronic cigarette.  Downside to this is that many non smokers may also take up smoking of these cigarettes as the health risks are much less to the conventional cigarette………. Only time will tell the results of these Electronic cigarettes