Bahrain....Garden of Eden???

Al Khamis Mosque (1st Mosque to be established in GCC, 7th Century)

A tiny pearl adorning the Persian gulf, this entire country covers only 706 sq km. but every inch is full of life for one and all.

I wanted to fill myself on historical facts about Bahrain before writing this post We constantly live in this ignorance of GCC (referred to as Gelf ) lacking historical background and crediting the other middle eastern country as a mother of all mankind (Mesopotamia).
Bahrain has been constantly inhabited by humans since ancient times and has even been proposed as the site of the Biblical Garden of Eden. Influence by Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, finally under the Arabs, this island became Muslim.

Dilmun was the first civilization dating back 4000 years, highly sophisticated craftsmen and even warriors; fell to droughts and the plague, dying in many numbers, resorting to mass burial. Our visit to the Bahrain Archeological museum witnessed huge burial mounds, well restored in its premises showing sign of staunch religion until the last rites.

In 1st century, Alexander the Great, named this tiny kingdom; Tylos. It prospered as a centre for pearl diving and trade. Unfortunately, in the whole of the 2 floor museum one does not see any Greco remains. Just wondering, is it to do with religion?
Tip: when u visit Bahrain, do not forget to visit the pearl diving village, it is very authentic, still practicing age old pearl diving and fishing methods.

Bahrain was never incorporated into the Roman Empire; it did become a centre of Christianity that survived until 835. Christianity left its traces in Muharraq (the old city), Christian names, like the village of Dair (ie parish), Samahij (used to be the name of a bishop) remain until today.
Bahrainis were amongst the first to embrace Islam in 629. Prophet Mohammed ruled Bahrain through one of his representatives. I guess I got my answer to the above question
Other than Dilmun and Ummayad rulers, one does not see any other relics or remains in the entire small country, we saw forts, houses and palaces, dating 300 – 400 years back, when the country was called Awal.

Did u know that even Bahrain became the British protectorate in 1861, however gained independence in 1971, later becoming the founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)? Now u know!

Linking to the modern days, Bahrain is a very active centre of Trade and Commerce, much more organized and ambitious compared to its other GCC brothers, building well on its limited monetary backing.

One of the fascinating structure is the Bahrain – The Saudi causeway, this 40 Kms stretch into the azure vibrant sea connecting Saudi with Bahrain is a beautiful experience. One sees a Mc Donald’s Bahrain all painted bright and colorful with a Bahrainy flag, and on the other end is Saudi Mc D, all in green with its glossy green flag flying high! Two extremely opposite cultures, both very hospitable, very genuinely GCC.

Bahrain has lived up to its name, which literally means two seas in Arabic, it is a tiny island just by its size and rest let its history and modernism talk.

What did you do this Valentines?

Read this only if you have time. A old time pal wrote to me:

We started off, long long time back, all starry eyed, love for each other.

He said, ‘catch them young, see them grow’, I thought it the sweetest thing; it gave me strength to follow my dreams. I led on, thinking that I was the luckiest.

We got married; leaving behind all that I had known: my good old self, friends, parents seemed easy, I had him.

I tried my effort best to win over his family. There was no reciprocation. They don’t share the enthusiasm and zeal in life. Life proved me wrong. I thought I would expect some solace at his end, but he never had enough time to confront it. For the first time in my life, I felt lonely.

Temporary defenseless gave me a blunt attitude and obviously a ‘bad name’ in my extended family. I did not mind that until I knew that he knew, it was not true. I still don’t know if he knew at all.

Times changed, giving yet another chance to see myself doing what I wanted to do. It was away from all the black noise that I heard back there. but life was yet going to prove me wrong.

Now, it was always about him, he wanted this, that and I played along, I thought it was love. When they say love is blind, they are right. When they say Love keeps you youthful and glowy; I beg to differ. It’s the expensive cosmetics that do!

I was struck in a mire of being a super woman (it does not exist) who could multitask, juggle fabulously between hectic work schedules, great get-togethers and even meticulous cleaning up after it, while he only played a proud guest.

BTW, our so called ‘friends’ find me dominating. It’s my loquaciousness that awes them I guess. It is an art form, not all know how to entertain. I AM WHAT I AM. (copy right : Shruti Chamoli) I don’t talk to influence or intimidate, if that’s the message, I think it’s a case of poor assessment.

And I also cant fathom, what is with people, all healthy discussions are called arguments, arguing means pulling down, raising voices, nagging, commenting on personal lives and throwing some non sense phrases. I call it, diffidence. Simple: when u can’t defend your point in a discussion, you play nasty. (Something like everything is fair in love and war! Which war are we talking here, dont know!)

Coming back to my master. Time management is always an issue, never seemed to have time enough for himself. Whenever he has time, he sprinkles me with some love and attention! (I get happy!!)

Bringing up any issues means blabbering to the walls. ‘I don’t have time for all this, just shut up’ he would scream.

Yet another favorite statement: ‘Married life is not hunky dory as it looks in the movies, it’s boring and mundane’ : means you can’t have any expectations; just dump them.

BTW you could do anything to make your master’s life effortless; but hey you are supposed to do it anyway, so no doughnuts for you!

I am sick of feeling unwanted! I thought, last night.

This Valentines, I call it a new life. Shruti’s blog header says so much and I want to add something more: I DO WHAT I DO, I AM WHAT I AM.

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I call her a die hard optimistic with an attitude!

What are you? Hope u have a great Valentines!

An Indian Rendezvous

Its indeed rare to find such articles and that too in the local dailies of GCC countries, read on:

The following article was written by a Saudi national and appeared in the local English daily Arab News, Feb 3rd, 2007;

Over the Haj holidays, I surprised my kids with an announcement that I would be taking them to India for a short holiday. My distinct memories from having visited the country with my parents when I was a child had left me with impressions of cultures and civilizations that one reads in history books. And then there was the Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. And wanting to repeat that experience for my children, I decided to give them a taste of India by planning our trip to encompass different regions of the country – Chennai, Delhi and Agra and Mumbai. In the days preceding our trip, friends and acquaintances of both my children and myself were somewhat alarmed and bemused and quizzed us with the same question: "But why India?" And why not, I would ask them. Their answers were somewhat patronizing and sympathetic. India, they would say, is dirty, crowded, and backward and we'd be sure to catch one of many diseases.

I would patiently explain to these naysayers that I wanted my children to see India firsthand, and not to take in the impression that unfortunately a lot of us Saudis and others have of that country. And I wanted to expose them to a diverse culture that they had not experienced before. And I thanked them for our health concerns, but assured them that we would be taking all necessary precautions. I was adamant on this adventure though, but to be on the safe side I must confess that I did call upon the Indian Consulate in Jeddah and inquired about any specific medical precautions that we would have to take. "Drink only bottled water, and eat only in the hotels you would be staying in" was their soothing reply.

As we spun through Chennai, Delhi, Agra and Mumbai, my kids were amazed. And they loved it. The hustle and bustle of Chennai with its serene shorelines dotted with resorts and retreats offering world-class service, the grandeur of the Presidential Palace in Delhi, the beauty of Marine Drive in Mumbai, topped with our visit to the majestic Taj Mahal had my children chirping in unison that it was the trip of a lifetime.

The preservation of historic monuments, unlike our own, were some of the things they marveled at. And from our observations, we were pleasantly surprised to find parts of India cleaner than our own city. Their roads, although crowded, were not run down as ours, and the Indians seemed more prosperous than imagined. In a conversation with the vice president of marketing in the chain of hotels we were staying at, I remarked that I was amazed that five star hotels, once known to be the haven for only Westerners and rich Gulf tourists were primarily being occupied by Indians today. Over thirty percent of our population is now middle class..." "Yes, that translates to over 300 million", she said with a bemused look at me as the force of that staggering number dawned on me.

Three hundred million! And here we are, not even twenty million Saudis, and many not anywhere near middle-class. What right do we have to thumb up our noses on India, a country on the move upward? Yes, we drank only bottled water, but also ate in local restaurants. We witnessed wealth and we saw poverty. We learned about their great history and we observed massive new projects in the works, designed to make life easier on the Indian. In spite of their diverse cultures and religions, India is tolerant and moving forward, and not bogged down by what we witness in KSA, intolerance and rigidity on the part of a few who seek to impose their views on the rest of us. Indeed, India...I have to salute thee. And thanks for making my children's' visit a memorable one.

Did u happen to read or learn of any such instances??

Made in China!!

China not only floods our markets with all the low cost yet some times very useful and durable products, but also has been a favorite among the foodies.

Yes, I am talking Chinese food people!! Many of us just love Chinese food, some get it home delivered as their staple diet, some indulge in it each time they can and some like me experiment with each possible dish in vegetarian Chinese!

I know it can sound funny, but Japan and China do have a lot of variety for even vegetarians. Many types of vegetables in different sauces and my favorite tofu.

Did u know that Japanese call it tofu and in China it’s called Doufu? I dint know that! But it is of Chinese origin for sure! It’s made by coagulating soymilk, and the curd is cut into big square pieces! It’s is like cheese from curd, quite confusing, eh?

Now went to a restaurant called Royal Gulf Chinese, I went to the one in Fahaheel (my local area) and though the exterior were not very promising, the interiors were really very exotic! As if we were in china, eating at a local’s restaurant!! The food prices are on the upper end, probably due to high quality in service and off course food.

BTW, as per the Chinese astrology, I am a monkey, so no wonder u can see me jumping all over the place! In many cases, though I don’t believe in Zodiacs, these Chinese thing actually works out to be true,… astrology in china dates back long long years and so we cant negates its precision.

Ok coming back to food, I also went to another Chinese restaurant in Holiday Inn called the Tang Chao, very authentic ambiance and extremely reasonably priced. I ordered the same dishes in both places, and guess which one would I have preferred?

Both the restaurants gave excellent customized vegetarian menus and very good service, but there was a very important factor, very dear to Chinese, that was missing in one of them, it’s the Chinese way of decking cutlery and linen.. I know many of you would say, well that don’t matter, but in the true Chinese spirit it does!

Gulf Royal Chinese did not appeal to me when it came to both as other than the ambiance I could not feel any China around, though I would still rate its food as comparatively superior to Tang Chao. Tang Chao on the other hand not only had the ambiance but the music that filled your ears took you to a small Chinese village, rice plantations and lots of children playing around! And the smells were that of a Chinese household, very woody and warm.

It made all the difference. Food is not always everything, i guess!

What magnetizes you?