Still coming??

I last posted sommin on this blog sometime in August of 2005. The no. of views to my profile were about 80 something. From then till now I dunno how but the views have managed to crawl upto 219 views. (not impressive, I know, smartie) But considering that I have also probally never posted anywhere on any others blogs. [space/] Thing is as I had said sometime ago on this blog somewhere, I have a lot to talk about but the issue is shall I a blog them??

Oman FM -1

I was driving to home from office one evening listening to a good selection of jazz (the ONLY good thing on Oman FM) when my bliss and the jazz were interrupted by this gracious lady whose interview you’ll have the privilege of reading. Excerpts of an interview on Oman FM live on air. Interviewer: Laxmi Kakandeth (LK)– An Oman FM radio host Location: Salalah, in the Khareef (autumn) festival when tourists flock to this beautiful place for enjoying the scenic beauty and temperatures of 18-22 Celsius (whereas the rest of the Gulf burns with temperatures over 42 degrees C. Interviewee (I): Stanley – An American on visit to Salalah, Oman. The interview starts after a music ‘break’ i.e. some shitty songs are played in intervals of every 15 minutes then the blabber starts. LK: “Welcome back after the short break and we with us Stanley. Hi Stanley” I: A short “Hi” LK: “where are you from Stanley?” I: “I am from Texas” LK: “ Have you been enjoying the weather? I: “Yeah” LK: “Tell us which places you have been to”? I: “Been to some nice places – Ain razat, the spring water and the Jabals” LK: “WOW! It must have been beautiful isn’t it?” I: “yeah it was” LK: “what did you do there?” I: “Enjoyed the beautiful scenery and took some photographs” LK: “REALLY? That must have wonderful isn’t it?” I: “yeah it was since I am a photographer it was good” LK: “OH WOW! I see the camera, so you’re a photographer Stanley? What all pictures did you take?” I: “Quite a few” LK: “Can you share some of your pictures with us? We are trying to get the best pictures of the beautiful scenery around us” I: “yeah” LK: “I can some shopping bags, did you shop a lot?” I: “ yeah, a little” LK: “What all did you buy?” I: “A rug, some pots and other antique kind of stuffs” LK: “REALLY? Do you buying these things?” I: yeah it’s different. LK: “Tell me, whats so different about these things in Oman. Why do you like them more?” I: “because I cant them anywhere else” LK: “REALLY? That’s so wonderful. You get so many good things here that you will not find anywhere else.” I: “yeah” LK: “It was good talking to you Stanley, you have a great time here and send us your pictures” And we are subjected to shit like this EVERYDAY. Can you believe it? If I were ever allowed a sin, I would most certainly strangle this lady with my bare hands – ‘LIVE on air’. Life’s a bitch. REALLY!

Dignity of labour

Today I saw something that reminded me of how cruel humans are, especially those who harp on the dignity of labour and how modern they are. These are the same people that claim to keep Muscat one of the cleanest cities in the world. They employ cheap labour (mostly from India) on a salary of about OR. 45 a month ($ 116) and stuff them all in extremely pathetic living quarters which aren’t good enough for animals. 6-10 people habitate in a room of 5mx5m and there’s a toilet for every 20 people. Anyways that’s not what I was talking about. I am talking about something even more cruel than that. And I am talking about the Muscat Municipality. I saw 10 of those same men cramped in the backside of a double cabin pickup (which cant hold more than 4 people or 2 goats - and I say this by experience). The opening of the rear side was covered with a steel mesh giving an appearance of a cage. The men did look literally as though they were caged in that pickup. The pick up drove through the city with the foremen and driver (both Omanis) sitting in the front side enjoying the air-conditioned ride without a concern for the poor souls at the back. This is the same municipality that banned the use of the pick up’s as taxis a few years ago citing the danger and discomfort it causes to the occupants, replacing them with the minivans and yet the municipality subjects its own men to this horrendous journey. Shame on them.

Mirinda will do.

I was at a Chinese restaurant last night with my wife and 15 month old son. We were sitting opposite an Omani family that consisted of the couple, two teen aged girls and a boy of about 10-12 years. The restaurant was fairly quiet except the clinking of cutlery, which made their (our?) tête-à-tête rather audible. During the course of their meal, they ordered soda drinks. While the waiter, an Indian and not so common sight at any restaurant of any delicacy here, stood asking them their choice of beverage, the father said "Mirinda will do", pretty fast which sounded more like Mirinda wundo, confused at the lingo, the waiter asked him atleast four times and on all four occasions the guy said the same thing. Finally having understood what the guy wanted the waiter left to bring the order. The father, then haughtily explained to his family what he meant upon which the son also repeated the sentence twice and the family had a good laugh about it. I understood the sentence the moment it was uttered and also the meaning behind it. It was meant as a jibe towards the malabaris (keralites) who speak similar irindagulom prattle. I admit I am not particularly fond of Mallus myself but I would also never ever insult them (or anybody) in front of my son or teach him a racist behavior of this sort. I will leave it to him to make up his mind on any particular race he chooses to like or dislike. This chap on the other hand took pride in being able to make his family laugh and teach his son that he poked fun of some ones language forgetting that he is eating food made by them and being served by those very people. How disgusting. Flashback 30 odd years ago when the same Omanis had to eat from leftovers and had to travel miles in search of food, water or work. The least you could expect from descendents of that generation is a little mannerism. I will also admit that Omanis in general are lot better than the other Gulf chappies save perhaps the Qataris, whom I find to be very down to earth and humble. The rest all are scumbags of the highest (lowest?) order.

Male brain, Female brain

Umm... No comments.

Moron or what?

What would you call this ass hole? He is from the US of A and his tshirt says "save a human, Kill a Islamofascist". was posted in omanforum.com, a forum that I am a moderator of.

King Fahd is dead

No big deal to many I am sure. But as usual my curiosity gets the better of me and forces me to think why did it take that long to annouce his death? He was rumoured to have been brain dead since long and bed ridden even longer. His clown prince... ooops errr crown prince Abdulla has been running the kingdom with full authority albeit without the title of a king. If he is brain dead, he is dead. Period. But another issue is that us Muslims dont consider brain dead as dead. What if he lives? Removing him from the machines would mean human intervention. That is all right but gimme a freakin break. the guy was nearing 90s. Had his share of fun and power play. Lets move on. Oman declared 3 days suspension of work (1 day for us mortals in the private sector) and mourning, meaning which, no official celebrations, flags flying at half masts and radio and tv reciting the Holy Qur'an. But Saudi A itself will not have any mourning period because of strict Wahhabi Muslim tradition that unquestionably accepts God's will. Then why Oman? The washington times ran a story on this some time ago here - washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050531-115115-5608r.htm.

So much out of touch, its sad

Havent being blogging much (not that anybody would have missed my stupid blogs anyway) but I did feel to write down my thoughts but they were mostly sensitive stuff that perhaps would have had me (and anybody reading my blogs) banned for life. So I made up mind to not write anything sensitive (or better not write anything at all) unless I have the written permission from the Big man himself (and that too in writing). But life is not about serious stuff only and there is so muc to write about. I discovered a great new blog today of a journalist in Doha. Boy has he some anger in him. I bookmarked him and I will also put in all the blogs that I like list as well. I was away from my own blog for so long that I didnt know how to publish my own blog. Now that I figured it out, I will.

News today

Not much to write about today except: Oman has now decided not to issue business visit visas. Our PRO came back today with 2 applications. We can apply for express visas (valid for 3 weeks) though. How thoughtful. And they want people to come and do business here. I shant say much as the less said the better. Remember post it notes? Those little yellow sticky notes, so useful that you cant think how life would be without them. Forget your PDA’s blackberries and appointment notes – those little wonders are so good they make sure you don’t forget anything. They are celebrating their 25th anniversary this April. Can you believe its 25 years since they were invented? Makes you wonder even after 25 years you cant get the glue on the damn things to last more than 2 days! They come in various other bright colours these days. And Dell, the computer maker who revolutionized branded PCs to tailor make it to the customers needs had just launched a 24” TV monitor. It can also be used as a PC monitor and you can see Tv as well work on your PC at the same time. But wait, how can do these 2 things at the same time? And guess the price? About 600 rials!! I can get a 29” flat screen for that money.