I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

Mr. Visveswara Bhat’s article Noorentu Maatu in Vijaya Karnataka Kannada daily is one which I do not miss. All the articles are inspiring. It could be about Shubhashini Mistry, a series of articles on Richard Branson’s life and many more. At the end the article inspires me and also teaches what life is all about. Hats off to you Sir. Continue the good work.  And please do not write about politics. J

Let me come to his recent article I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced. Let me begin the translation of his Kannada article to English :)

Nujood, a ten year old girl stormed a court and started demanding for meeting the judge at any cost. Anybody seeing her could easily realize that the girl was in big trouble. The lawyers present took her to the judge. The judge asked “What do you want?” Nujood replied “DIVORCE”.  The whole court stood shocked. 

Judge: “What? Divorce?”

Nujood shook her head and said: “ I married 3 years ago. Am studying in 4^th standard. I do not want this marriage. I need divorce”

Nujood’s background

Nujood was born to Ali Muhammad in a place called Saana (Yemen). Her dad was a rogue who drunk daily. He had married Shoya (Shoya was 14 years then). 4 years later he married another girl. Shoya gave birth to 16 kids in 18 years One of them was Nujood. Ali forced his kids to go for job at a young age. He lived with the income which his kids generated. He never allowed them to go to school. When two of his daughters were kidnapped he didn’t even bother to search for them. His two wives were mute spectators.

Nujood was a different girl. She somehow managed to go to school without father’s knowledge. One day father got to know this. Nujood was fortunate that father didn’t kill her on knowing this. He decided to get her married to Fayaz Ali who was 30. Nujood was 10 then.

Yemenian law allows a girl to get married once she attains 9 years but doesn’t permit sexual relationship until the girl reaches puberty.  

As expected life at Fayaz’s house was horrendous. She was sexually abused and exploited countless times. She had to undergo torture from her husband and in-laws. Nujood went into depression. She feared her husband’s sight. Every day was a nightmare for Nujood.

Nujood once on her visit to her house, sought help from her mother and step-mother. They did console her but were helpless. Father threatened her of dire consequences and asked her to go back to husband’s house. Looking at the burnt wounds and the state of Nujood, Step-mother suggested her to come back. But she couldn’t do that as her father will never let that happen.

Finally Nujood arrived at a decision. She decided not to go to her husband’s house. Husband came to take her. She refused. He used force to take her but she stood firm. At the end she landed at the court looking for justice.

Shaada Nazir, a lawyer took up Nujood’s case. The court hearing began. The judge asked Nujood to go back to her husband and assured that she won’t be sexually exploited until she matures. But she refused. All she wanted was Divorce. Finally the court on April 15^th, 2008 gave her divorce after three months of hearing.

The aftermath

Nujood’s story shook the entire world. She had become a topic for discussion. When asked about her future plans she conveyed that she wanted to become a lawyer and take care of her parents. The law of Yemen which permitted girls to marry after 9 years was severely criticized worldwide. In Feb 2009, the Yemen government was forced to change marriage laws. Both girl and boy had to attain 17 years to get married now.

The courage which Nujood showed won her many accolades including the Woman of the Year award conferred by Glamour magazine (US) in 2008. She won praise from Hillary Clinton, Condelezza Rice and many more. Money flew in from different countries for her education.

The Present

Nujood wrote her autobiography. With the money she got from the book, she has built an apartment for her parents and taking care of education of her sisters and brothers.

She proudly goes to school daily :)   

No doubt there are many such Nujood struggling in many countries. She is a hope for others.We all have problems of some kind or the other.  But probably not greater than the problem that Nujood faced.

Whatever be the problem let us face it head on and work out a solution. Every problem has a solution. Instead of exaggerating our problem we should focus on how to overcome it.

Nujood’s story is truly inspiring. Thanks Mr. Visvesvara Bhat. Keep churning out such stories. :)

Story of Appreciation

This is an internet forward which i received from my friend Naveen Bhat. Carries a nice message on many simple aspects of life which we often don't give importance to.

One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company. He passed the first interview, the director did the last interview, made the last decision.

The director discovered from the CV that the youth's academic achievements were excellent all the way, from the secondary school until the postgraduate research, never had a year when he did not score.

The director asked, "Did you obtain any scholarships in school?" the youth answered "none".  The director asked, " Was it your father who paid for your school fees?" The youth answered, "My father passed away when I was one year old, it was my mother who paid for my school fees.

The director asked, " Where did your mother work?" The youth answered, "My mother worked as clothes cleaner. The director requested the youth to show his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect.

The director asked, " Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?" The youth answered, "Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than me.

The director said, "I have a request. When you go back today, go and clean your mother's hands, and then see me tomorrow morning.

The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to the kid.

The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly. His tear fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so wrinkled, and there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother shivered when they were cleaned with water.

This was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes everyday to enable him to pay the school fee. The bruises in the mother's hands were the price that the mother had to pay for his graduation, academic excellence and his future.

After finishing the cleaning of his mother hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother. That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.

Next morning, the youth went to the director's office. The Director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes, asked: " Can you tell me what have you done and learned yesterday in your house?"

The youth answered, " I cleaned my mother's hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes'

The Director asked, " please tell me your feelings."

The youth said, Number 1, I know now what is appreciation. Without my mother, there would not the successful me today. Number 2, by working together and helping my mother, only  now I realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done. Number 3, I have come to appreciate the importance and value of family relationship.

The director said, " This is what I am looking for to be my manager. I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life. You are hired."

A child, who has been protected and habitually given whatever he wanted, would develop "entitlement mentality" and would always put himself first. He would be ignorant of his parent's efforts. When he starts work, he assumes that every person must listen to him, and when he becomes a manager, he would never know the sufferings of his employees and would always blame others. For this kind of people, who may be good academically, may be successful for a while, but eventually would not feel sense of achievement. He will grumble and be full of hatred and fight for more. If we are this kind of protective parents, are we really showing love or are we destroying the kid instead?*

You can let your kid live in a big house, eat a good meal, learn piano, watch a big screen TV. But when you are cutting grass, please let them experience it. After a meal, let them wash their plates and bowls together with their brothers and sisters. It is not because you do not have money to hire a maid, but it is because you want to love them in a right way. You want them to understand, no matter how rich their parents are, one day their hair will grow gray, same as the mother of that young person. The most important thing is your kid learns how to appreciate the effort and experience the difficulty and learns the ability to work with others to get things done.

Narayanan Krishnan - one of the CNN Heroes 2010

I got a mail from my friend Kiran requesting me to vote for Narayanan Krishnan who is one among the CNN Heroes 2010. Decided to find out more information about this gentleman and was amazed to know.

Following is the the interview which he gave for CNN. Take time to read and also vote for him at http://heroes.cnn.com/vote.aspx. If Krishnan wins he will get $100,000 in addition to the $25,000 that he gets for being shortlisted for the Top 10. Akshaya Trust needs all the monetary support it can get to build on Krishnan's dream. Let's help him get there.

Narayanan Krishnan was a bright, young, award-winning chef with a five-star hotel group, short-listed for an elite job in Switzerland. But a quick family visit home before heading to Europe changed everything.


"I saw a very old man eating his own human waste for food," Krishnan said. "It really hurt me so much. I was literally shocked for a second. After that, I started feeding that man and decided this is what I should do the rest of my lifetime."

Krishnan was visiting a temple in the south Indian city of Madurai in 2002 when he saw the man under a bridge. Haunted by the image, Krishnan quit his job within the week and returned home for good, convinced of his new destiny.

"That spark and that inspiration is a driving force still inside me as a flame -- to serve all the mentally ill destitutes and people who cannot take care of themselves," Krishnan said.

Krishnan founded his nonprofit Akshaya Trust in 2003. Now 29, he has served more than 1.2 million meals -- breakfast, lunch and dinner -- to India's homeless and destitute, mostly elderly people abandoned by their families and often abused. "Because of the poverty India faces, so many mentally ill people have been ... left uncared [for] on the roadside of the city," he said.

Krishnan's day begins at 4 a.m. He and his team cover nearly 125 miles in a donated van, routinely working in temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit. He seeks out the homeless under bridges and in the nooks and crannies between the city's temples. The hot meals he delivers are simple, tasty vegetarian fare he personally prepares, packs and often hand-feeds to nearly 400 clients each day.

Krishnan carries a comb, scissors and razor and is trained in eight haircut styles that, along with a fresh shave, provide extra dignity to those he serves. He says many of the homeless seldom know their names or origins, and none has the capacity to beg, ask for help or offer thanks. They may be paranoid and hostile because of their conditions, but Krishnan says this only steadies his resolve to offer help.

"The panic, suffering of the human hunger is the driving force of me and my team members of Akshaya," he said. "I get this energy from the people. The food which I cook ... the enjoyment which they get is the energy. I see the soul. I want to save my people."

The group's operations cost about $327 a day (approx 14500Rs per day), but sponsored donations only cover 22 days a month. Krishnan subsidizes the shortfall with $88 he receives in monthly rent from a home his grandfather gave him. Krishnan sleeps in Akshaya's modest kitchen with his few co-workers. Since investing his entire savings of $2,500 in 2002, he has taken no salary and subsists with the help of his once-unsupportive parents.

"They had a lot of pain because they had spent a lot on my education," he said. "I asked my mother, 'Please come with me, see what I am doing.' After coming back home, my mother said, 'You feed all those people, the rest of the lifetime I am there, I will feed you.' I'm living for Akshaya. My parents are taking care of me."
For lack of funding, the organization has been forced to halt construction on Akshaya Home, Krishnan's vision of a dormitory where he can provide shelter for the people he helps. Despite the demands and few comforts his lifestyle affords, Krishnan says he's enjoying his life.

"Now I am feeling so comfortable and so happy," he says. "I have a passion, I enjoy my work. I want to live with my people."

If you want to contribute to his noble cause, visit http://www.akshayatrust.org/

Professor Sandeep Desai... Man with a mission..

A day back my sister told me about some professor which Salman Khan had mentioned in his tweets. The tweet was "Prof sandeep desai ka jawab nahi .kamaal karte ho yaar prof saheb"

Then i tried to find out what's all this about and was excited on knowing about this man Prfessor Sandeep Desai. Thought of communicating this to all on how one can make a huge  difference on his own rather than blaming the system for everything. The cotents are from Times of India. 

As the train leaves Churchgate station, a deep voice announces in chaste Marathi, "Vidya daan sarva sreshtha daan aahe. (Donation towards education is the greatest donation.)" Standing amid the crush of commuters in the humid second-class compartment, a middle-aged man with a rucksack follows up his opening aphorism with a one-minute speech on how a small donation from commuters could help rescue the poor from the scourge of illiteracy. He proceeds to deliver the same speech in fluent English and Hindi and then extends his donation box. 

Professor Sandeep Desai has been following this unusual routine for the last five months. Every morning, he boards a Churchgate-bound train from Goregaon and does the gruelling commute back and forth between the two stations to collect donations for his half-constructed school at Nanar village in Ratnagiri district. "I do this for six hours daily," says the former engineer who used to teach at the S P Jain Institute of Management and Research. 

Desai's social service began in 1997 when he quit his job and took up other assignments to fund Shloka, a free English-medium school for children from the Goregaon slums. "After Shloka, which we started in 2005, we began our second school at Ratnagiri for poor rural children, but the construction got delayed due to a shortage of funds," he says. That's when he decided to collect money directly from the common man. "The response has been great. In just five months, I have collected over Rs 4 lakh," he says. 

The professor says it isn't just about money—he actively looks for teaching volunteers as well. "I want people to be aware that if India has to progress, every child from the slums and rural areas has to become literate," he says. During his collection drives, thus, Desai invites every commuter to become a vidya sevak or volunteer who can teach at his schools. "So far 15 people have volunteered," he says. "The volunteers are free to teach whatever subjects they want, but we insist that they teach for at least 10 hours a month." 

On an average, Desai collects around Rs 3,000 every day. "I usually begin after noon and end by 6 pm. Commuters are usually reluctant to open their purse during peak hours," he says. Initially he did feel awkward passing his hat around. "The first day I could not even make a speech till the train reached Andheri. But an inner voice told me that I was not begging for myself but for a greater cause that will change the lives of thousands of poor kids across Maharashtra," he says. 

Desai accepts donations from 50 paise to Rs 1,000 with equal humility. "I go back and do my accounts till the last denomination and deposit the money in the bank account maintained by the trust," he says. His contributors range from youngsters to senior citizens. "Once, two cops who got into the train to catch hold of some card-playing commuters heard my speech and donated some money. This school, when it comes up, will be a living testimony to the generosity of Mumbai commuters," he concludes, as boards another Borivli fast.

Actor Salman Khan was among the many people who came forward to lend a helping hand. The actor tweeted on Sunday, "Prof Sandeep Desai ka jawab nahi. Kamaal karte ho yaar prof sahib," The actor has not only donated money for the school but even tweeted the bank account number of the school so that his fans can contribute. 

"Salman called me up and he took my bank account details. He has told me that he will contribute," Desai said, adding, "I have been inundated with calls and emails from across the world offering financial aid." 

But, according to Desai, he felt the "biggest" difference when he got into a train on Monday morning and was about to deliver his one-minute speech in Marathi, Hindi and English on how commuters could help rescue the poor from the scourge of illiteracy. 

"People recognised me immediately and began donating money even before I began my speech. The response has been overwhelming and I collected Rs 8,200 in just three hours," Desai said. "I think I can now fulfill the dream of my mother who was a school teacher. She too wanted to start a school in her village," he added. 

In 2001, Desai founded the Shloka Missionaries, a non-charitable trust, along with two other trustees in order to spread literacy among the poorest of poor in India. "We realised that though many poor students were highly intelligent, they failed in English and science. This was because they could not comprehend the medium of communication," he says. 

Prof Sandeep Desai can be contacted on 9322757030. His bank account details: bank account no 002210100040149 bank of india goregaon east branch.  Do visit  http://shlokamissionaries.org/ 

Hats off to the person. Do conttribute something to this noble cause on this joy of giving week. Also i extend special thanks to tweet of Salman Khan. The classic example of power of a celebrity using twitter. :) 

Teacher's Day

I happen to see a write up from Mr. Girish Aithal, who has an IT experience of 20+ years at various levels. The views conveyed by him match with the views i have on what a Teacher should be. I sought his permission to post it in my blog and he readily obliged. His article follows:

 

 

Being a teacher myself and taught & being taught by many teachers then and now, I thought of putting across some of my thoughts in this context. What I would expect from a typical teacher are:

• Don't teach, inspire people instead! Make them think. Ask a practical question before introducing a new theory. E.g. If you are teaching chemistry, ask what happens to the water temperature if some salt is dissolved in it - does it remain the same, increases or decreases and why? Where do you find practical application of it? That will make the students think and inspire them to learn more and ask more questions.
• Reduce your ego! The amount of ego we have is inversely proportional to the amount of knowledge we possess and directly proportional to the no. of weaknesses we have. If we make a mistake, I don't think there is anything wrong in admitting it in front of the students (irrespective of their ages) for there is no "know-all" person in the whole world.
• Never underestimate students' capability; they are smarter than you think they are (again, irrespective of their ages). They also do have their senses and thinking capabilities. Let's respect it.
• Everybody does mistakes. I don't believe in punishing students for their wrongdoings unless they are repeating it many times. E.g. If some students arrive late to the class everyday, you can try to pleasantly embarrass them by asking rest of them to clap or stand-up when they come in late. Chances are that they come late to the class from next day is very less. Try it! (I had a headmaster in my elementary school, who used to whip with a rope for even very small mistakes of students. I still remember him not with respect, but still with that fear! I don't think anybody would like to be remembered that way. :-)
• Give lot of practical examples and real-life stories. There's nobody who is not interested in listening to stories. If it's a science subject, show practicals in the class. We had a science teacher in 9th std, who used to bring lot of apparatus from the lab to the class to show practicals. He was a real inspiration to many of us.
• Walk the talk (which many of us fail to do) before 'preaching' anything to students. If you expect them to be in the class on time, you better be in the class on time always. All other reasons are just excuses. If you want them to be clean, make sure that you erase the board every time before you leave the class. If you commit something to them on a particular day, stick to it.
• Do socialize with students - talk about their life, games, movies, outings, etc. It will help them open-up. They will be more interactive in the class and there will be less trouble makers
• Never gossip! Even though this looks silly, I've seen people gossiping (about students, other faculty, their relationships and many others which I can't mention here) in schools & colleges. In certain cases, I've seen higher authorities taking decisions in professional colleges based on gossips without even bothering to verify the facts, which is really unprofessional.
• Read, read and read a lot. Read subject related stuff; read outside the subject area (e.g. technical / related magazines, websites, management related contents, etc. which indirectly help in getting to know more about the subject and the profession) and 'read' about current affairs. Take it from me, this will help us while teaching our subjects.

I think if we treat students as one among us, everything will fall into place. 

Disclaimer: These are just my thoughts. Any resemblance or similarity with any situation or person is purely unintentional.

 

You can access his blog at  http://gaithal.blogspot.com/2010/09/teachers-day.html 

 

I thank Girish Aital Sir for a timely write up on this.

 

37% of Senior Citizens are living alone !!!!

Since a month we have all seen many kinds of paadayatra :) Today morning i happen to read an article in the news  paper. It was about Senior Citizens taking a paadayatra in some city and observing a protest day in some other city. I gave it a thought and the result: off course my views on it:)

And then i began to flip the pages further and i found a very nice article “Cousin who, uncle who? we are a  nuclear family”

The connection between these two news item must be obvious by now:) Number of nuclear families are having a direct influence on the plight of the senior citizens.

I want to quote a dialogue from Munna Bhai MBBS here. Sanjay Dutt enters his room in the medical college hostel and he says “ भाई यह कैसा कमरा है... छल्लू होते ही ख़तम होगय !!! !!!” . For most of today’s young generation this quote holds good. The family begins and ends with the nuclear family :)

Let me go back how i used to spend the vacations during school days for 2 months in April, May and a mini vacation in October for Dasara. Summer vacation - grand parents place was the perfect destination. A village called Hedathale near Nanjangud (which is 45 kms from Mysore). My cousins, too, came from different places and we used to spend the time together. We played all kind of funny games, went around the village, ate the delicious food prepared by grand mother. Some times our pranks used to land us in trouble and my grand father used to get complaints from his neighbours “Your grand kids did this did that”. I remember in one such instance we were tied to the pillar in the hall for 3 hours :) Me and my cousin Ramu had this habit of feeding the cows in excess whenever our grand father went to sleep. He would later notice that the stock feed was getting emptied quickly. He would then come and take us to task :) My grand father was an exceptional Chess player. Defeating him in Chess was one hell of a task. The annual fairs were a real treat. Grand mother telling us stories of her times and sometimes scary stories would make our sweet sleep terrible :) Directly or indirectly we learnt lot of lessons during such visits. My grand father is 86 years old now and grand mother 76. They will be coming to my place this month end and am doubly excited to have them :)

Now coming to the present generation. How many of them will have such an opportunity. How many of them visit relatives place and stay for even a day. In short the families have become nuclear. The hectic city life style that provides little time for family, the advent of countless television channels and computers have all indirectly contributed to the growth of nuclear families.

Most of the young generation work in city living parents alone to manage on their own. Many go abroad as well. And their parents tell with pride that their son is in UK, daughter married to a guy in U.S but internally trust me friends they know what an ideal situation for them would have been. They would have toiled hard to make you stand up on your own. They would have dreamt of playing with their grand son, grand daughter. And suddenly they find themselves alone. A phone call a day and fortnight visit if the son or daughter is working nearby is what happens. There are genuine cases where parents don’t want to relocate to cities but given a choice most of them would love to stay with their son.

This has lead to the emergence of Old age homes and the day won’t be far when after attaining 60 years we will begin a new life by getting admitted to a school. School ??? Ya there will be queues to get into the best of old age homes :)

So friends what’s the solution? Ensure you take your parents to wherever you go to work.  Even if you work abroad you can take them. Spending few thousands on expenses for your dad or mom shouldn’t be a problem. Devote time for them. In case if they prefer to stay in their native do visit them once a week. Take them around. Go to a movie. Have fun with them.

Let us not leave them alone. They are our parents after all and are the reason for our existence.

P.S: Girls who are on the verge of marrying or those who have married, i have a request for you– Don’t insist on staying separate from your in-laws after marriage. :) Believe me their presence will be more than useful to you as well. Instead of some maid taking care of your kid they will take of their grand son or grand daughter with utmost care. :)

God and the Law of Attraction

I have chosen an interesting but also a controversial topic to write this time. I will make an attempt to convey the views which I have on god and link it with something called Law of attraction.

We have numerous religions and they all have evolved over time. It has branched out like a tree wherein if we trace back to its root we all belong to one family. All religions have undergone transformations in their own way. Any religion for that matter has been divided into numerous sects, sub-sects, sub-sectⁿ (to the power of n) over the years.

In this world there exist both good and bad people. I believe the concept of god in most of the religions evolved as a result of showing the people at large what good is all about. It is an attempt made at showing the ideal path of leading life. All religions have stories of victory of good over the evil. The mythological stories always conveyed a bad ending to bad people. In a way the concept of god has also ensured in creating a moral fear among bad people.

Having made this assumption let me take my views forward. As the concept of god and the associated rituals of each religion started gaining more prominence among the people, it had gained a firm footing in the society. The divergent views among a religious community led to the divisions. And today we have so many divisions that it is next to impossible to trace our origin.

I am not going to debate on whether god really exists or not. But I do believe that in some way the existence of a super natural power does more good to the world. I will try to prove this with another concept called Law of attraction.

We all accept the fact that we need to always entertain positive thoughts, we need to be optimistic always, we need to have a good degree of confidence in whatever work we do and so on. The bottom line of this is - any individual who entertains positive thoughts and converts those thoughts to positive action is a winner.

I will use the following quotes from great philosophers to put it more precisely what I conveyed earlier:

Every thought of yours is a real thing – a force

If you see it in your mind, you are going to hold it in your hand

Thoughts become things

What you attract is what you get

Now let me come back to the concept of God. What do we do when we visit temples, church, or mosques? We all pray god for good things. A student appearing for an exam will pray for an easy paper and a good score, a candidate appearing for an interview will pray to get the job, a patient who is about to undergo a surgery will pray for a successful one and so does the doctor. What is happening here? We all are entertaining positive thoughts and it gives us a certain degree of confidence to face the exam or interview.

How many instances have we all seen where in a doctor has given all hopes on the patient surviving but the patient gets back to normalcy in double quick time. It happens because the patient believes he can overcome his chronic health condition and lead a healthy life. Most of the motivational speakers around the world have had such kind of a similar background. I can give few examples here: Cathy Goodman (was diagnosed with Cancer), Morris Goodman also known as Miracle Man (he was completely paralyzed, spinal cord crushed)

Since whenever we pray god we always entertain positive thoughts there is no harm in believing that god exists. We have all heard of miracles happening in and around us. We have heard people saying that I performed this ritual at this temple and I got cured of this disease or I got a job or I go married and so on. What is happening here? Again the law of attraction works. Someone says visit this temple and do this. You follow his words. In effect you start believing that since you have visited the temple whatever your problem is, it will be solved and you start putting more effort because you know it will happen.

Sometimes it may not work out the way you want to. What is the reason for this? Either you are still negative with your thoughts or could be due to lack of effort.

It is also true that people who don’t believe in god are also successful because of their inner positive strength. Though they don’t believe in god their mental thoughts are always positive and end up converting those thoughts to actions.

To sum up my views, it doesn’t matter whether you believe in god or not, be positive and attract positive thoughts. I strongly believe that what we attract is what we get.

Be positive… The law of attraction always works.

4 simple steps for Stroke identification

I got this forward from my school friend Lakshmeesha K V. Many might have received this forward. I just thought of sharing it in my blog. It reads as follows:

During a BBQ(A term for a get-together where food is cooked outdoors, over an open flame), a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics).She said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes.

They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid(name of that lady) went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening

Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 pm Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today.

Some don't die, they end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke... totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking four simple questions (STR):

S * Ask the individual to SMILE.
T * Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)(i.e. It is sunny out today.)
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
S * Ask the person to 'STICK' out his tongue. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other, that is also an indication of a stroke.

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

The Betrayal of Bhopal

I just watched the discussion The Betrayal of Bhopal (Bhopal Gas tragedy) on NDTV hosted by Barkha Dutt. Earlier on the day of judgement, CNN IBN had telecast half an hour program on the plight of the victims of Bhopal gas tragedy. I just couldn’t believe that such a thing could ever happen in a civilized society. We have seen natural disasters happen which are beyond ones control but to see man-made disaster leading to the deaths of 20000 to 30000 spanning over 25 years whose impact continues to haunt future generation is unacceptable by any stretch of imagination. Looking at this worst industrial disaster of the world, a sense of helplessness, despair, disgust, anger targeted at the entire system which includes me had marked its presence.

Many of the younger generation are not fully aware of what transpired on that dreadful night, the aftermath and the present. I will make an attempt to present before you the same in a series of articles.

Rajkumar Keswani, a Bhopal journalist (he was present in the debate with Barkha Dutt), wrote a series of articles about the risks which Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal possessed in 1982. At that time, UCIL was the Indian subsidiary of the U.S. company Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), which is now a subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company. He had also reported about the double standards in setting up similar factory and safety mechanisms in US and Bhopal. That same year, US experts sent by Carbide found 61 potential hazards, 30 of them major. Only the hazards of company's identical plant in the US was fixed. The factory was in total disrepair: by 1984, because of revised safety protocols, the siren warning system had been disconnected, the refrigeration unit and vent gas scrub –which would have cooled and neutralised the gas– had been shut down and Tank 610, containing methyl isocyanate (MIC), was filled above capacity.

On the night of December 2, 1984, water entered Tank 610, setting off an exothermic reaction that blasted 40 tonnes of MIC into the air. People in neighbouring areas were only woken by a burning sensation in their eyes and lungs. Never having been told how to react in the case of a leak, families fatally rushed into the streets to escape the gas. Many fell dead as they ran; others succumbed at hospitals, which were overwhelmed and had only received instructions to administer eye-drops. About 3,800 people were killed on that night; eventually the death toll of that night's exposure would reach 15,000-20,000. The number of the injured would reach 5.5 lakh. The number of children exposed to the gases was at least 200,000. Thousands have died since, many permanently maimed. The genetic and psychological scars threaten to take their toll on generations to come.



Investigations in the affected areas have revealed that 70 per cent of the children born before the disaster continue to suffer from respiratory diseases and 55 per cent from affected eyesight. Children born after the disaster have not been spared. Doctors warn worse effects remain to be seen. Parents are likely to pass on genetic aberrations caused by inhaling the noxious fumes to their children -- through breast milk and genetically. The terrible incident threatens to engender a generation of 'Carbide children', who will carry forward the toxic legacy of their parents in the form of genetic disorders. After the accident, many pregnant women suffered miscarriages, while others delivered still born or malformed babies. More than half the children exposed to the gas in their mothers' wombs died. Many others were born with deformities.



Warren Anderson, CEO of UC arrived in Bhopal a few days later. He was arrested in Bhopal, and then taken to UC guest house. A magistrate was present in the guest house and he was permitted to leave (granted bail)–in the Chief Minister's (Arjun Singh was the Chief Minister ) special plane (Mr. Anderson was treated as VVIP). He left the country and never returned to face trial. The United States government declined to extradite him.



In 1987, the Indian government summoned Anderson, eight other executives and two company affiliates with homicide charges to appear in Indian court. Union Carbide resisted, saying the company is not under Indian jurisdiction.
Negotiations over compensation dragged on for years. In 1989, having estimated 3,000 deaths, the Supreme Court approved a settlement whereby Carbide would pay $470 million–for every last dead cow to every last dead child. When the government discovered that at least five times the number of people had died, they spread out the same amount with its accumulated interest. The family of each dead person received, on average, Rs 63,000. Most people with permanent injuries received 25,000. Many received their compensation nearly a decade after the disaster, without interest. Many claims were denied.

Compare this compensation with $5 billion (ten times the amount), which Exxon paid after the Valdez oil spill near Alaska in 1989, where no humans died. We all know about the oil spill which happened a month ago along the gulf of Mexico. President Obama visited the site today and has asked BP to compensate for the loss irrespective of what the cap put by the government in case of mishaps. Can you ever imagine an Indian Prime Minister saying this?

I have many things to convey on the issue and will be covering them in my next post.

Decision making - Heart vs Mind ....

In our lives we are all faced with a decision to make at some point of time. It could be as small as deciding where to go for a vacation or where to go out to dine or it could be as big as choosing a professional course like medical, dental or engineering or choosing a job or choosing your spouse. I am going to talk about the latter part which involves taking big decisions and how our heart and mind helps us in evaluating and choosing an alternative.

Having set the context let me tell you something about the role of the heart and mind. Let us say you have two options A and B. Let me convey this in a lighter vein. Your parents are searching a bride for you and they show you two girls x and y (Girls please don’t mind that I am using variables x and y). Your task is to choose between two girls. You have met them, interacted with them and have a fair idea on what the girls are. This task is done by our mind. It logically analyses things and construct a meta-data based on different parameters. If the differences between parameters being compared are huge then decision making is obvious. Say girl x fares very poorly in comparision with girl y on some parameters of your choice. Hence the decision making becomes easy and mind says yes. The parameters could be whether you want girl to be career oriented or not, or you want her to stay with parents and so on.

Now consider a scenario where it becomes extremely difficult to decide whom to marry. On some parameters x is better and on some y is better. You have a choice. Your mind has analyzed things but has failed to break the deadlock. This is where your heart comes into picture.

Your heart can’t lie. It knows what it wants. Just close your eyes and I am very sure, one choice will be in front of your eyes even if it’s higher by a small percentage. Go with your heart.

The same scenario can be applied to other cases as well. You are undecided between medical or engineering course. Listen to your heart. Go with it. Don’t look back in regret at any stage. Things will work well.

Now that you have listened to your heart in saying yes to x, it’s time for your mind to take over. And this is where you need to play a major role. Your mind will be in a state where it starts supporting whatever your heart has decided. You need to entertain thoughts which support your final decision. It is not going to be an easy task for sure. Never regret the decision which your heart has taken. But if you fail to do this you will be in trouble for sure. The confusion will again return and you will end up making your life miserable.

One more critical fallout of a decision making process is that you might let down few of your closed ones. It might be parents, sister or brother, relatives or friends. They might have their own choice. They will be disappointed that you didn’t go with their choice. How to manage this? You have made a decision. It’s your life and you are responsible for it. Just tell them that given the scenario you have taken the best decision. If they support you well and good if they don’t support then also it’s well and good. Just move on.

Another consequence of a decision making process is the guilt factor which sometimes shatters your confidence level. This kind of situation arises mostly during relationship break-up. Let us say you have arrived at a decision of saying no to a relation. They will question your decision and ask you to reconsider. And this is where the guilt starts creeping in if you are not strong about what you have decided. How to overcome the guilt? Well it is not an easy job but one way of looking at it is by asking your conscience. Ask yourself whether the decision was taken with the intention of hurting others or with the intention of keeping someone happy. If your answer to this is positive, then the question of guilt creeping in doesn’t arise at all. In extreme cases few loved ones will stop talking to you completely forcing you to think about what you have done. But if your conscience is clear then just get along with it.

To conclude mind analyses things logically and strives to arrive at a decision. If the analysis leads to confusion then ask your heart for answers. No wonder the saying listen to your heart when in confusion holds well all the time.

Law of the Garbage Truck

This is an Internet forward which i received from Praseeda, ex-student of Information Science, NMAMIT, Nitte presently working at TESCO, Bangalore. It conveys a nice message with a short story through an anonymous person.

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.

My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us.

My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly.

So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'

This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally.

Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets. The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.

Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so… ‘Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don’t.’

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

Have a blessed, garbage-free day!

My thoughts on Marriage :)

Marriage - An interesting topic to debate on any given day. The first thing that comes to our mind when we talk on marriage is whether its arranged or love :) I am going to discuss both but my main emphasis is not on which is better but on how to live to ensure a happy relationship exists to the extent possible. The information has been gathered from multiple sources and I will leave it to your assumption whether it also includes my experience or not :)

And also the reason I am writing this is to have clarity on my thoughts about marriage and I welcome all suggestions :)

Marriage can happen either way – arranged or love. Let me talk about love marriage now. I will discuss two variations of love marriage. Let me begin the first one. In some cases they say love happens at first sight. You look at someone and your instinct says I want to marry her. And let me tell you in such scenarios the girl or the boy will always be good looking else I am very sure what I refer to as instinct will never tell you the same when you look at not so good looking boy or girl :) Ok fine, now let us assume a guy’s instinct says yes and he proposes. The girl might take some time before saying a yes or no. Now what happens in this waiting phase? The guy is convinced that the girl is made for her and decides to wait. The girl starts thinking from all perspectives and tries to arrive at a conclusion based on her interests and the guy’s capability to take care of her interests. If the differences are less and not that major she might say a yes soon leading to marriage. If there are many differences or conflicts of interests which are substantial things take more time. What happens now? Since the guy made the initial proposal he starts to compromise a bit to ensure things go fine. Let’s say the girl wants to stay separate from in-laws after marriage. The guy though reluctant might relent to ensure he marries her. So the process of compromise or sacrificing your ideals or value system sets in. The guy starts to yield more than the girl since he made the initial proposal. (If it girl proposes first she will yield more) And it more or less becomes a pattern. The guy justifies these compromises saying it is worth for the love. After more analysis the girl says yes and they finally get married. Now let us consider post marriage scenario. The pattern of guy compromising has set in and it continues for a while. It’s all good for a while before the frustration sets to creep in. The guy starts wondering why he has to yield all the time. The ego sets in. He begins opposing. The girl who has hardly compromised till date starts complaining that her husband has changed and he is not the same as he used to be. No way can she accept her husband’s changed approach. Conflicts occur frequently since both of them are not in a position to manage. And eventually things spiral out of control leading to unhealthy outcome.

Now let me dwell on another form of love marriage. In this guy and girl are initially friends. The relationship begins with friendship. There will be constant interactions and you get to know more of each other. After a while either of them might feel that their interests are similar and begins thinking in terms of love and marriage. He or she might propose and the other party might say a yes or no. In this scenario it may not take much time to decide as they already know each other. It might end abruptly as well. For example the girl might say a strict no conveying she never looked him from that angle and she always thought you as the best friend :) or it might end positively. Let us say it ends positively. Now consider post marriage scenario. By this time more or less the platform for a good life has been laid as they were friends before and know in and out of each other. Compromises will also be there but it will be evenly balanced. In this way the relationship is more secured and the probability of leading a good life is high. I am not saying things will be hundred percent fine. All I am trying to convey it the failure rate will be low.

Now let me come to arranged marriage. A guy goes to see a girl and if the girl is good looking and if he feels positive with whatever little interaction he had with the girl he will say a yes for marriage. Post marriage if the differences are fewer things will go smooth. If the conflict of interests is more, then both will make an attempt to compromise. This is more because of societal and parental pressure. They somehow ensure things don’t go out of control. And it continues. The success rate of marriage judged in terms of getting divorced is less but to what extent the quality of life they lead is open for judgment. It all depends on the extent to which one has compromised. If the compromise is balanced they will lead a good life.

Now what’s the best option? Personally I would prefer the second form of love marriage (initially friends where in you get to know each other and then decide to marry) to arranged marriage and the first form of love marriage (you look at girl and instinctively feel she is your love) comes last in my priority.

Irrespective of the kind of marriage the essential thing in sustaining a good relation is the art of compromise. Nobody here is made for each other. Everyone will have their own interests and perspectives on many issues. Hence it is highly essential to balance these conflicts by compromising. Things will go wrong when this balance on compromises is skewed to an extreme (Either the guy compromises too much or the girl). And one more essential aspect is giving respect to your spouse interests. It implies not imposing your viewpoint or thoughts or actions on the other. I really feel that giving respect to the person as they are and compromising whenever situation arises is essential to the success of any kind of marriage. I know it is easier said but giving it a try won't do any harm either.

That’s it folks. This is my take on marriage. Any suggestions you are most welcome. If you don’t want to discuss it in blog you can mail me anytime :)

P.S: I am still a bachelor :)

Think twice before reacting aggressively….

Let me set the context of this week’s blog.

A person X is a good-hearted person working in a professional organization who always thinks about the welfare of others (Others will be referred as Y) and does things to ensure they are benefited in some way. But circumstances might force him to take a decision which to some extent may end up doing not so good to Y. This might be because of the professional ethics or discipline or due to the kind of values the person X believes in and certainly not with a bad intention. Now the others will obviously be critical of person X and wouldn’t mind taking out their disappointment in some way or the other. The fact which you need to remember is person X has done good many number of times to Y and situation has forced him to take a decision which goes against the wishes of Y.

Two incidents which happened over the last month made me think on this. One such incident I experienced it while the other my friend underwent in a different context.

A month ago one of my student was pretty upset that I had not given him the required marks to clear the paper in the autonomous exams of VTU. He applied for paper seeing and I made all sorts of effort to convince him that it is just not possible to give marks for the sake of it. As expected he was upset and then lodged an official complaint with the higher authorities that I have been unfair to him and partial to someone else. His allegations were verified and they found it to be untrue. The student then applied for challenge valuation and got less marks than what I had given. Initially I was pretty upset with the behavior of the student for whom I had taught 3 subjects and he didn’t think twice before taking such a step. Later I took it in my stride and decided to ignore this by giving the benefit of doubt to the student. Well I want to assure that student that I won’t act in any vindictive manner :-) It’s a different matter that many from that semester have stopped seeing me face to face :-):-) Its fine with me and I guess many of us are used to these kind of situations in this profession.:-) We are here to do our job and we will do it in a professional way.

I will narrate another incident which my friend underwent. He was close to a family (relative of his) for almost 3 years and they trusted him a lot. And again because of circumstances he had to take a tough decision which resulted in relationship getting strained for a while. After a month or so he again made an attempt to set things right but it was misinterpreted. He was criticized and was never given a proper chance. All the good work of his for almost 3 years got washed away and every action of his was now being scrutinized by one and all.

These two incidents clearly illustrate the fact that irrespective of any number of good things you do for someone, one not so good thing which was unintentional, he or she suddenly becomes bad. I am very sure many have experienced the same.

How would you handle such situation? The more you think about it the more you are going to get perturbed. One can just ignore and get along with it as long as your conscience is clear.

There can be also situations where you are at the other end of it. A higher authority or a relative or a friend might have to take a call which could be of some discomfort to you though he/she might have done many good things to you. I have an advice. Just relax and give it a thought. Think about all the good which that person has done to you. Think from his perspective why he had to take a tough decision now. Bottom line is - think as a whole. The percentage of goods will always be on the higher side. If you loose your cool and react aggressively relationship will not be the same anymore.

No matter in what position you are in just think twice before your decision could spoil a relationship. It takes a lot to build a relation and one can never afford to loose it for a minor incident.

Gratitude…. We know what it is but we often forget to express it !!!!!

How can I express my gratitude for all your help?

Gratefulness, appreciation, thankfulness, acknowledgement, recognition, thanks-giving…

We are all pretty much aware of all these things but how often we thank people who have really made our lives better in whatever little way possible is the question which I want to address today.

Let me be consider what I have done on this. Well the answer in terms of percentage is very negligible.

Most of us have seen Autograph movie which has come in all south Indian regional languages. It was an interesting subject which touched many and no wonder it did well at the box office. I happened to see that movie again and it made me think.
I went into a shell and listed out few personalities who have had a positive influence on me in some way or the other. It included my relatives, my school teachers, my friends, my colleagues, my students and many more. And then from that list I started checking how many of them I have thanked for all their contribution in some way or the other. And as mentioned earlier the percentage was very negligible.

Then I thought how I would feel if someone on whom I had a positive impact would write a thanks-giving letter to me. Well it is obvious I would be elated and treasure that letter. And I have treasured those since I joined this profession and big thanks for those who have given. I don’t think many would disagree to this observation of mine. It certainly makes you feel good. And am not talking about someone praising you for the sake of it or with some other intentions. A genuine thanks-giving or expression of gratitude is what I am referring to.

I decided to express my gratitude to all those individuals who have had an influence in shaping my life. The list which I referred was endless. I couldn’t do this at one go. I felt the need to clearly specify in what way they had helped me and thank them for the same.

I have taken a pledge that I will take up this task twice a month - A thanking letter to two individual or two entities for their contribution. As part of this initiative this month I have decided to write a letter to my school St. John’s Boys High School, Mandya where I studied from LKG to Tenth standard. I tried to recollect all the faculty members of the school and I was pleased that I could do a good job of recollecting. Many are still working there and you won’t believe they still remember you and what you were as a student. Hats off to them.

I agree that nobody expects gratitude of this kind but i believe if it comes they would certainly be happy. I know many might think why I am writing these things which are personal in nature. Well I would be glad if after reading this blog if at least one of them does this. Trust me friends it will be an interesting exercise and you will certainly feel good recollecting those good old days and thanking them in some way.

Giving life to someone

Life is precious. We all are aware of it. There are millions of people who are struggling to lead life because of want of organs and kidney tops the list. In recent years there has been effort to create the awareness on organ donation but not on a scale where it could make a huge difference to many struggling lives.

I happen to read a story of a 19-year-old engineering student from Jharkhand studying at NITTE college of Engineering(NMIT), Bangalore, who has in her death given a new life to a patient on dialysis.

She was brought to MS Ramaiah Memorial Hospital on March 2 in a critical state with sudden loss of consciousness. She was diagnosed to have massive intra cranial bleeding which prompted immediate surgery to remove the blood clot and decompress the brain as an emergency.

However in spite of all the efforts, the doctors suggested that there were nil chances of her survival. She was declared brain dead. Therefore, after the consent of the family members for multi-organ donation, her organs (two kidneys, a liver and two eyes) were donated.

A resident of Vijayanagar who was diagnosed with an end stage kidney disease and had been on dialysis since June 2009, got a new lease of life after he received the cadaver donor’s kidney from M S Ramaiah Hospital. The kidney was transplanted to him at BGS Global Hospital. The girl’s liver was sent to Christian Medical college, Vellore. Her eyes have been sent to Minto Eye Hospital, to help patient in need of them. Hats off to her parents who took this decision.

Most of the deaths in India do reach a stage of Brain Dead. Brain dead patients can donate kidneys, liver, eyes whereas normal dead patients can only donate eyes and bone marrow.

Brain death is a legal indicator of death that refers to the irreversible end of all brain activity (including involuntary activity necessary to sustain life) due to total necrosis of the cerebral neurons following loss of blood flow and oxygenation. An organ transplant is the moving of an organ from one body to another or from a donor site on the patient's own body, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ. Organs that can be transplanted are the heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas, intestine, thymus, and skin. Tissues include bones, tendons, cornea, heart valves, and veins. Worldwide, the kidneys are the most commonly transplanted organs. [Taken from Wikipedia]

At least 2,00,000 people in India need kidney transplantation every year. But, roughly, one per cent (2000 patients) receive the organ for the transplant.

What could be more gratifying for you and your closed ones when your organs can give life to a struggling person. You may not be there to see the organ transplant but the fact that you will be giving life to someone will definitely make you proud. I just want to make an appeal to take a pledge to donate your organs after your death and also make an effort to educate the elders and relatives to donate multiple organs in case of brain dead or dead. You can go to a local hospital and pledge your eyes to begin with. Life is indeed precious. Please do consider it.

An insight into Kuwait – II

I would like to present a few more interesting observations on my visit to Kuwait.

Being an oil rich country and plenty of money people here move to west provided they know English well. There are lots of US Schools across all level. Many say US is a waning super power but I don’t think it is. They have so much presence all over the globe that one cannot stop admiring their strategies in World Diplomacy. All the gulf countries have American troops stationed as well as air bases. US has established universities across Gulf and most of the Gulf countries recognize degrees of US and that encourages people here to move to US. This definitely boosts US economy because of the amount of spending power these people have.

There are lots Indians working over here in Hotels. They are paid well. Most of them go once per year to their home town during July August. The summer will be at its peak during these months and not many visitors come to Kuwait. Many locals proceed to Europe to take a break from the summer.

Many Indians are working in the government sector as well. There are good number of Indian entrepreneurs who have built their empire in Kuwait and they mostly employ Indians. There are associations like Kannada koota, Tulu koota, Shirva association, Konkani koota, Canara Welfare association, Bunts koota and many more. They conduct regular programs and it binds them being far away from home land. Indians cannot buy any property here but salaries are tax free. In the entire Gulf Dubai is the only place where other country citizens can buy property.

Indian government shares a good rapport with the Kuwait government since ages. In 1950s Kuwait people relied heavily on selling pearls to Indian people and that was their main revenue. Oil driven economy was absent then. Japan started producing artificial pearls and they began flooding the Indian market making it impossible for Kuwaiti to sell pearls which had a huge impact on their economy. Nehru then Prime Minister took a decision to ban the import of Japanese pearls to assist Kuwaiti. Till 1960s Indian currency was the currency in use in most of the Gulf countries. That speaks a lot about the relationship between India and Gulf.

I had mentioned that 2/3rd of the people here in Kuwait are expatriates. The population of Kuwaitis is increasing and they are finding it difficult to get jobs here. Kuwait Government is initiating measures to provide them jobs. For example, Banks have to mandatorily provide 50% jobs for Kuwaitis and this percentage in all likely will be increased shortly. These days’ people from other countries are finding it difficult to get to Kuwait to work here. Strict measures are in place to control the flow of expatriates.

It is not the case that all are born rich here. 25 - 30 % are very rich and the rest have decent employment. The lifestyle is such that whatever they earn they spend it. Because of this spending power the economy is strong.

We pay 50 Rs per litre of Petrol. Any guess how much it costs in Kuwait. A mere 10 Rs per litre. No wonder one can find a million vehicles on road here. Power is generated in excess using the oil produced locally. Water is generated from desalination. All the other items are imported.

On the last day of our visit we went to Udupi restaurant with Mr. James Tellis to have lunch and it was really good.

With this I conclude my write up on the visit to Kuwait. It was a great experience. Thanks to Mr Ramesh Karnik sir who accompanied me and was a rich source of information. Mr Satish Chandra Shetty, Indian entrepreneur in Kuwait (Managing Director of Oriental Restaurant & Confectionery) was with us for most part of our visit and was extremely helpful.A special thanks to him.

An insight into Kuwait

Its been 5 days since my arrival in Kuwait. I was pretty keen on this visit as it provided me an opportunity to know more about the middle east countries. In fact the visit enabled me to know more than expected. I would like to share my thoughts over here.

Kuwait is an oil rich country. The country has world’s 5th largest oil reserves which contribute close to 80% to the government revenue. They have the highest Human development index in the Arab world (31st in the world, India has a rank of 134). The per capita income is US$60,800 (Rs 28 lakhs appr) making it the 5th richest country in the world. It has a population of 30 lakhs and 60-70% population comprises of expatriates from Asia (Indian population in Kuwait is 6 lakh), other Arab countries and Palestinians.

Any gulf country whether its UAE, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Kuwait have all excellent infrastructure in terms of 6 to 8 lane roads, huge buildings, uninterrupted power supply, very good per capita income and Kuwait is no exception. We met few Indians who have worked the hard way to set up industries over here and have employed many Indians. You can find lots of Asians (Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Indonesians, Malaysians) working across different levels. But majority of them are employed by locals here for jobs which include house maids, hotel waiters, chefs, cleaners, drivers. At a lower level an employee earns some 100 KD(Kuwaiti Dinar) per month which is roughly equivalent to 16000Rs in India (1KD= 160Rs). A mid level employee earns 200-400 KD (32000 – 60000Rs). Majority of them work here for 9 to 10 months an year and take leave for few months to return to their country and come back. Very few come with their family (low and midlevel employees) to Kuwait as the cost of living is very high over here. I just went through a newspaper and got to know that a MRI scan will cost some 30000Rs which is exorbitantly high.

The country for a population of 30 lak has 10 lak vehicles. You can hardly find any bikes. Infact I just found 4 two wheelers during my stay here. Cars and SUVs dominate the roads. All are high end vehicles. Sometimes I wonder how companies like GM or Chrysler can file for bankruptcy given the number of high end cars in Gulf :-)

Kuwaitis speak Arabic. Islamic laws are in place but it is not certainly as rigid as UAE. People here say the country is liberal next only to Dubai. Kuwait gave permission for women to vote a few years back and last year a few women got elected to Parliament. On the Valentine ‘s day I read an article in a local daily conveying that its not wrong to celebrate Valentine’s day. That’s a good progress. Alcohol is banned in Kuwait.

Kuwait was completely annexed by Saddam led Iraqi forces in 1990. They also set most of the oil wells on fire before US intervened to help Kuwait. I was discussing the issue with one of the locals here and he made an interesting comparision between Kuwait and Iraq. Both are oil rich countries. When it comes to sharing of revenues with the common man Kuwait is different from Iraq. Saddam never gave it back to his citizens where as Kuwait did. Saddam had a 1 million army for a population of 3 crore which is very huge (Indians for a population of 100 plus crores have 1.5 million people serving in navy, army and air force). He gave an account on the poverty in Iraq when he said that during the invasion of Kuwait a soldier of Iraq barged into a shopping mall and was struggling to open a perfume bottle. At the end he broke the bottle and smeared it all over his body. It might be an isolated incident but it did convey a silent message.

Coming to the cost of living factor, a tea / coffee at a decent hotel cost 50 – 60 Rs. Lunch ranges from 200 Rs to 1000Rs. Phone calls are costly as well. Per minute call to India is around 35Rs. Hotels don’t serve water. We need to purchase water every time.:-)There are good number of Indian restaurants which are good and economical as well.

We visited Kuwait Towers which is a symbol of hope for the people of this region. It is stunning. One can have a spectacular view of the entire city from the top of the tower. The city sleeps late and the shopping malls will be opened till midnight.

These are my few observations on Kuwait. Thanks for the patient reading..