Kuwait outpaced Manama, Doha, Abudhabi, Dubai in the race to being the best business City in the GCC in a recent poll. Kuwait's GDP now stands at a whopping 55,000 USD, WOW! Kuwaitis are a brilliant lot, not much culturally inclined unlike their GCC counterparts. Kuwait's communications and transportation system rocks......Kuwait tops the freedom for press segment in GCC as well.....
Despite so many laurels, there is no gender equality. That's a disheartening shame!
Kuwaiti Men and Women wake up....please nominate a few women to the white building by the Gulf Road for starters!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Kuwait- Land of the perennial dust
Hi Haani ! Linda, the local RJ for RK 99.7 cooed as she got her listeners the latest weather update....a novice to these parts might have assumed it was Hi Honey! Funny Americans, they cant get local names right- funnier Egyptians, can't they have better meaning names ? Imagine a tall, curly haired, bulbous nosed giant with a name Haani...Hi Haani :) I haven't seen Haani, hopefully he is better looking than that big bro Hosni, we will settle for Omar Sharif!
Haani is our local weather man, a rather friendly character with an English accent that vacillates and fluctuates between Maori at best and American University of Cairo at the worst...that, however doesn't take away the useful tidbits he gives on why the weather is....
"Haani, its dusty today", Linda mews.
"Good morning Lindeh, yes it is", Haani purrs.
"The South Easterlies are blowing at 40 kms/ hour ( Lucky he doesn't call it a Kilo like his countryman my good friend Khaled does). There is a small system that has been created 20 km North of Jahra, there was a little bit of thunderstorm at 2am. Anyone who was awake at that time might have felt it (come on Haani, who do you think will be awake at 2 am)." Haani continued.
" Starting tomorrow morning we will have the North westerly winds blowing and raising more dust..." Haani was turning prophetic now.
O' self proclaimed Messiah of dust, don't you wish for better days? Can't you take a chill pill for sometime?
Haani continued.." Next 4 days we will have more dust"...Damn!
I switched over to BBC; They were discussing the Burmese Junta and the impediments in the way of foreign aid to the Hurricane Nargis zone. If Nargis indeed had an eye, someone had gouged that out. How else could one explain the trail of destruction she left in her wake? Men, women, children, cattle, crops, houses, she blew them all away....more on that later.
I could see the fog lamps on in cars on the opposite lanes and in the rear view too..I switched on mine. A pall of gloom had enveloped the city- As I drove past the Shaab Palace; where the erstwhile Father Amir lived; I said a silent prayer for the repose of his departed soul and to get Kuwait dust free ASAP!
Below is the image of the recent dust blizzard we had.....
Images of that
Haani is our local weather man, a rather friendly character with an English accent that vacillates and fluctuates between Maori at best and American University of Cairo at the worst...that, however doesn't take away the useful tidbits he gives on why the weather is....
"Haani, its dusty today", Linda mews.
"Good morning Lindeh, yes it is", Haani purrs.
"The South Easterlies are blowing at 40 kms/ hour ( Lucky he doesn't call it a Kilo like his countryman my good friend Khaled does). There is a small system that has been created 20 km North of Jahra, there was a little bit of thunderstorm at 2am. Anyone who was awake at that time might have felt it (come on Haani, who do you think will be awake at 2 am)." Haani continued.
" Starting tomorrow morning we will have the North westerly winds blowing and raising more dust..." Haani was turning prophetic now.
O' self proclaimed Messiah of dust, don't you wish for better days? Can't you take a chill pill for sometime?
Haani continued.." Next 4 days we will have more dust"...Damn!
I switched over to BBC; They were discussing the Burmese Junta and the impediments in the way of foreign aid to the Hurricane Nargis zone. If Nargis indeed had an eye, someone had gouged that out. How else could one explain the trail of destruction she left in her wake? Men, women, children, cattle, crops, houses, she blew them all away....more on that later.
I could see the fog lamps on in cars on the opposite lanes and in the rear view too..I switched on mine. A pall of gloom had enveloped the city- As I drove past the Shaab Palace; where the erstwhile Father Amir lived; I said a silent prayer for the repose of his departed soul and to get Kuwait dust free ASAP!
Below is the image of the recent dust blizzard we had.....
Images of that
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Denverion Hyderabadicus- Denver turns Roman Legionnaire
Tuesday- 15th May 2008, a sad day for Kuwait,
The untimely demise of the Father Amir- Sheik Saad had Kuwait mourning for 3 days. All Government & Educational Institutions were closed on Wednesday & Thursday as a mark of respect to the departed leader. Kuwait had surely lost one of its most glorious sons. However, I must note with chagrin and an utter sense of dismay of those business owners that refused to close down shop even for a day ( Essential Services are excused)- Kuwait Government must strongly reprimand and punish these companies that have no respect for the FATHER AMIR.
Sheik Saad's demise meant postponement of all schol activities and hence Denver had to don his Roman do this morning..Here is how my lil champ looked....I am glad I designed and created everybit- including the final touches to the footwear......note the sword, the roman helmet, the armour leather straps and buttons and don't you dare miss the medusa on both the shield and the armor....the black skirt and top were courtesy Sneha, daughter of our friendly neighbour George Philip... never mind the date on the photographs.....
If you liked how Den turned out..pl do comment..
The untimely demise of the Father Amir- Sheik Saad had Kuwait mourning for 3 days. All Government & Educational Institutions were closed on Wednesday & Thursday as a mark of respect to the departed leader. Kuwait had surely lost one of its most glorious sons. However, I must note with chagrin and an utter sense of dismay of those business owners that refused to close down shop even for a day ( Essential Services are excused)- Kuwait Government must strongly reprimand and punish these companies that have no respect for the FATHER AMIR.
Sheik Saad's demise meant postponement of all schol activities and hence Denver had to don his Roman do this morning..Here is how my lil champ looked....I am glad I designed and created everybit- including the final touches to the footwear......note the sword, the roman helmet, the armour leather straps and buttons and don't you dare miss the medusa on both the shield and the armor....the black skirt and top were courtesy Sneha, daughter of our friendly neighbour George Philip... never mind the date on the photographs.....
If you liked how Den turned out..pl do comment..
School Fancy Dress- Testing parent's creativity.
"Fancy dress! Denver has his fancy dress competition next Wednesday", my wife screamed chastising me for my 'laid-back-who-cares-a-@&%@' attitude.
"Don't you worry sweetheart", I assured her. "Leave it to me", I told her."I am serious", her tone had now turned authoritative. I laughed, reeking of pretentious indifference.
Deep inside me, I knew I had to do it - for various reasons known only to me.Come Sunday, I hadn't moved an inch.
It was only when she woke me out of the cricket reverie, I realized I had to move my ass. She stood there, my frail yet beautiful wife- OPAQUE- between me and the telly. She shoved a school circular at my nose...I read on. ....
Damn! The points for evaluation were creativity (hw creative can a 5 yr old get? surely this had to be for parents), confidence (this for the ward), presentation (this again a parent domain)....
"Why didnt they have the parents compete instead"? I wailed. I was confident that I would win this without any attire. :)
" To hell with your IPL and the Kolkata Knights, why don't you get cracking on Den's fancy dress instead"? She was screaming her lungs out; if she could spew fire and smoke- I would surely have been reduced to ashes at POINT BLANK range.
'' Knight did you say? Lets make Den a Roman Soldier" I told her. She gladly agreed- highly confident of my abilities- In retrospect might also have been a subtle realization of a lack of the creative gene in her.
In an apartment, a couple of blocks away- another wife was screaming at her husband- both the wives had the same gene pool. The husbands had to get to work.
Later that evening as the Kolkata Kinghts notched up their second win in the IPL, I overheard my wife speaking to a friend who offered to lend the armor she had designed for her son last academic year. As she ended the conversation rather triumphantly, I was happy too- cos I had very few things to design. I listed them down....
1. Armour- Mrs. PG
ARM BANDS, SHIELD, SWORD, HELMET, SHOES.....shit there was so much to do.
It later turned out that Mrs PG ditched us (ME) at the 11th hour lending some crappy piece of silver paper that she called an armour- quite in contrast to the picture she had mailed us. It took me 2 days to conceptualise, design and execute the Roman Soldiers costume.. This is how it turned out finally....
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Kuwait shuns Women.....yet again!
What a shame!
For a country sitting pretty on a mind-blowing $ 250 billions of assets (go ahead and figure those zeroes out) fueled literally by 10% of the world's oil reserves, an ever growing skyline, a smorgasbord of luxury in every sense of the word, for a country that boast of many top Women Business Leaders, a small aspiring democracy in an otherwise autocratic part of the world; - today's election results should come as a shocker! The women lost and how! Each single one of them!
Not one among those highly qualified women made it to the elitist list - the Kuwaiti Parliament. Those who hoped that times are finally changing have more cud to chew on than they could imagine- Kuwait ain't ready yet, Kuwaitis ain't ready either. The men rule! Not surprising, the old school might say. Those that attended schools in the West can only shrug their shoulders or hang their heads in shame!
A highly religious culture now sadly fragmented and redefined by libidos of wheeling bikes that stand erect and ejaculate smoke from their oversized muzzles, vigorously pumping away precious oil at the mere presence of the fairer ones, Kuwaitis could have fared much better.
If only those that leer and jeer at their women folk at every possible remembered at the time they exercised their right of franchise; If only the educated ones saw an iota of hope in their women candidates; If only the women folk of Kuwait got together to stand up for someone of their own gender.
However in the last scenario, the Mathematics would still not work out cos they would be grossly outnumbered by the dishdashas anyway in every constituency. The women candidates still wouldn't stand a chance!
Then pray why are the women candidates contesting? Sheer optimism! I salute you Kuwaiti women candidates for your guts to dare and bear the ignominy of a predetermined loss before the battle even began. Your day will come, I hope- SOON!
Why doesn't Kuwait adopt a reservation policy for Women in the Parliament ? At least a few qualified women can make the grade, and surely they could do as much if not better than their male counterparts could aspire to do.
Having seen most of the middle east sans KSA, I might even dare say that the Kuwaiti Woman is the most liberated of the lot! And why not? She is pretty, she is educated, she has the moolah and most of all she is beginning to realise her potential...
Today's loss is yours- purely yours- recognise it and set to correct it the next time around. At least!!!!
Come on, all you lovely talented and educated Kuwaiti women, don't you dare to dream? At least support those who dared to......
For a country sitting pretty on a mind-blowing $ 250 billions of assets (go ahead and figure those zeroes out) fueled literally by 10% of the world's oil reserves, an ever growing skyline, a smorgasbord of luxury in every sense of the word, for a country that boast of many top Women Business Leaders, a small aspiring democracy in an otherwise autocratic part of the world; - today's election results should come as a shocker! The women lost and how! Each single one of them!
Not one among those highly qualified women made it to the elitist list - the Kuwaiti Parliament. Those who hoped that times are finally changing have more cud to chew on than they could imagine- Kuwait ain't ready yet, Kuwaitis ain't ready either. The men rule! Not surprising, the old school might say. Those that attended schools in the West can only shrug their shoulders or hang their heads in shame!
A highly religious culture now sadly fragmented and redefined by libidos of wheeling bikes that stand erect and ejaculate smoke from their oversized muzzles, vigorously pumping away precious oil at the mere presence of the fairer ones, Kuwaitis could have fared much better.
If only those that leer and jeer at their women folk at every possible remembered at the time they exercised their right of franchise; If only the educated ones saw an iota of hope in their women candidates; If only the women folk of Kuwait got together to stand up for someone of their own gender.
However in the last scenario, the Mathematics would still not work out cos they would be grossly outnumbered by the dishdashas anyway in every constituency. The women candidates still wouldn't stand a chance!
Then pray why are the women candidates contesting? Sheer optimism! I salute you Kuwaiti women candidates for your guts to dare and bear the ignominy of a predetermined loss before the battle even began. Your day will come, I hope- SOON!
Why doesn't Kuwait adopt a reservation policy for Women in the Parliament ? At least a few qualified women can make the grade, and surely they could do as much if not better than their male counterparts could aspire to do.
Having seen most of the middle east sans KSA, I might even dare say that the Kuwaiti Woman is the most liberated of the lot! And why not? She is pretty, she is educated, she has the moolah and most of all she is beginning to realise her potential...
Today's loss is yours- purely yours- recognise it and set to correct it the next time around. At least!!!!
Come on, all you lovely talented and educated Kuwaiti women, don't you dare to dream? At least support those who dared to......
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