THROUGH MY PRISM A SECULAR MONARCH
I thought to shift your attention from DewanKhan of Badiyar, for the time being to make it more interesting for you.
In mid eighties I got a job offer from Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia.
I boarded a Gulf Air flight from Bombay.
AHLAN WAHSALAN !! For the first time I was introduced to these words with which a Crew member addressed the passengers, meaning Hello and Welcome!
At Saudi Airport my employer had sent one Jerry Vergeese to receive me who had no problem in recognising me due to my trade mark French Cut.(Most of Raina brothers sport a goatee)
I was taken to my Apartment at Al Khobar, where my office was also located. Al Khobar is located near Damam and is connected with Bahrain by a bridge which is just half an hour drive.
I was given bachelors accomodation and we were about ten people lodged in different rooms in one building.
My initial job contract was for two years to be renewed after that. I liked the place. Alkhobar is hot during summers but very cold in winters(heaters were a must)
In due course of time, I learnt some basic Arabic words besides " Ahlan " Other words to exchange pleasantries were;
KE FALAK/KE FILHAL(How are you ?)
KE FALKUM(How are you Sir/Mahra or while addressing a group )
KE FALISH(While addressing ladies)
SHUKRAN JAZILAN(Thank you very much)
HABIBI/YAAKHI(Dear friend)
Against my expectations, I could not use these words frequently. Why ?
Saudis have a demeanour which shows over bearing self importance. They are haughty and arrogant, may be because of their affluence and wealth. Saudi Arab is amongst ten top most oil producing and oil exporting countries.
They do not like to interact much with Non Saudis. They live in high walled fortified bungalows and mansions. You can not peep into their houses even from upper tier of a double decker bus.
Here, for the first time I saw MARQUES like Rolls Royce, Ferari, Lamborgini and
Jaguar. POLYGYNY is common.
Yes, they treated Kuwaites at par. During Allied Forces invasion when many Kuwaiti
refugees came to Saudi, beautiful air conditioned flats with all amenities were built for them on war footing.
There are strict laws for Code Of Conduct
In Saudi. Locals on week ends drive to Bahrain for merry making and other activities which are prohibited by law in their country. Bahrain has liberal policies.
Saudis come to this place to freak out.
Expatriates have to obtain TRAVEL LETTER from their employers every time they wish to travel out of Saudi Arab.
In Saudi Arab ISLAMIC SHARIA LAW IS SUPREME AND BINDING.
Every one is supposed to keep ones identity card always on his/her person.
This card is arranged by your employers and is known as " IKAMAA" Muslims are issued green covered Ikama and Non Muslims are given brown coloured one.
They discriminate just by seeing the cover of your Ikama.
My job responsibilities included visiting Govt. Institutions like Ministry Of Defence.
On the entrance/gate I produce my Ikamaa. The cop takes a look and then looks at me and asks, RANEENEA (he can't pronounce RAINA).I reply, AI WA meaning Yes.Then he enquires, KAAFIR ?
I reply , AI WA(I don't have any other choice).
There are NO THEATRES, NO CLUBS, NO ENTERTAINMENT. YOU CAN NOT WEAR A CROSS OR ROSARY(RUDRAKSH).AUDIO/
Such activities you have to do indoors and very secretly.
Dress code is HIJAB/VEIL for Ladies.
Only eyes visible rest fully covered even hands covered with gloves.
Males wear "KANDOORA"(white loose full sleeved long cloak). Head gear is white cloth and a black ring over it. Non Saudis are not allowed to wear this dress.
Non Arabs must wear dress which should not expose their body parts, not even legs. Males wearing gold in any form is Un Islamic.
During the course of day announcement is made asking you to put down the shutters of your shops and business establishments five times for "SALAH"
or Namaaz (prayers).
Ladies Tailors have small window through which a veiled, hands gloved lady slips in
Cloth to be stitched along with a ready made garment for measurement. In case the measurement is to be taken in person, then it has got to be in presence of the lady's husband or close relative.
One of my colleagues had a room in the apartment where I was also putting up.
His name was Muneer Khan and he was from Hyderabad. He had a Hyderabadi friend by the name of Noor Ud Din.
Noor Ud Din had been living in Saudi for donkeys years and he was knowing Arabic Language fully well.
On week ends Noor would treat us with special home made Hyderabadi Biryani.(We ate in a common mess of the Apartment). Noor was a short, stumpy, long bearded man in his forties.He was a MUEZZIN(one who calls people for prayers from a mosque) He was MUEZZIN of TAMIMI mosque which belonged to Sheikh Tamimi.
Noor would tell us very funny and scary but true inside stories of These Arabs.
Noor had a free access to the local house holds by virtue of being a close associate of Sheikh Tamimi, otherwise I have told you that Saudi Arabs do not care whatever country you belong to or whatever religion you follow. They consider themselves the superior most human race and other Arabs and races inferior to them .Expats, (Americans, Europians, Asians and others ), they say are " Our Servants because we hire them"
Coming back to Noor Ud Din ( Noor) he told me ;
" There are so many Sheikhs like Tamimi who practice POLYGYNY. Besides their many wives they keep concubines in their HAREMS. Tamimi's youngest wife is two years younger to his youngest daughter.
Tamimi is in his eighties and she is in her teens. The wife got sexually attracted to Tamimi's son due to obvious reasons. Once Sheikh caught them red handed and what followed is any body's guess"
So many such horrifying stories.
On one week end one of my friends and his wife came to see me .Within ten minutes while we were chatting about half a dozen Saudis barged into our apartment. They asked in broken English, " Who is this lady. This is a bachelor accomodation and what is this lady doing here ?" We had a very tough time in establishing every one's identity and convincing them.
Later Noor told us that they were "MUTTAWA", Cops in Mufti. They keep a watch and serveillance on all expats all the time. Uniformed Cops are called "SHURTAA". Immediately I recalled ,
At Damam Airport I was in a queue and in my front was one South Indian gentleman. Every one was being checked and frisked. This South Indian was carrying a small box containing " BHASM"( Ash of incense and other stuff collected after doing pooja or worship. It is considered sacred). The cop on duty opened it, smelled it and called other cops. One of them tased a speck of it. The South Indian explained to them that there is nothing like drugs and that it is a sacred ash.Upon knowing this they yelled at him in Arabic language, abused him and embarrassed him. To further disgrace and make a fun of him they crushed it under their feet. Then came my turn. I carried Swami Vivekananda's photo in my wallet. Very rudely the cop asked me, " Who is this fellow in saffron ?" I gathered my wit and answered, " My Grand father " Cop said, " O Baba ! Yalla, Yalla " ( go, go )
Now back to my apartment at Al Khobar.I had a doctor friend ,his wife was very beautiful (I don't wish to name him ). They would often buy stuff like milk and grocery from a nearby store . The owner also would visit his shop occasionally where he would meet this doctor couple.
One day to the deadly shock of the doctor, The Sheikh asked him very seriously, "How about exchanging our wives ? I shall wait for your response and action within three days. " When I saw my friend packing his baggage to leave the country at an earliest, I asked the reason and he confided in me.So many similar scary facts ! By sharing these experiences I do not wish to discourage you from going to Saudi Arabia. There are so many people who have been working there for many many years.
What I realised is that it was "MEA CULPA"__My fault. The country is alright.
I was not cut for it.
I truncated my contract just after eighteen months and took a flight back home.
P.S THIS WRITE UP IS ABSOLUTELY FROM MY MEMOIRS AND HAS NO ANNOTATION WITH SOCIO ECONOMIC, POLITICAL OR DEMOGRAPHIC SYSTEM OF THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA.
What is secular and where is The Secular Monarch ? Hold on. I am not done yet. Please watch out. It is to be continued...
Like we have Bull fights and Cock fights , Saudis past time is "Hawk Fight" Hawk, a bird of prey and a symbol of open hostility is used to demonstrate the superiority of one whose Hawk wins in the fight.
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