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Tag Archives: Saudi Arabia
The Rising Of A Failed State (First Part)
August 20, 2018 Sami Naik	1 Comment
Just an opinion as a prelude, when states fail their people, people then fail their states.
The victorious political party has a fixed period of time to win their people's trust and act on the promises they spoke in their speeches. When the government fails, the nation looks after the other party who can do their work better than the current one. Time passes by, decades crosses, economy goes down and corrupts, the environment pollutes, societies lose morality, rich people invest money on survival, middle and lower classes frustrates and blames, and refuses and abuses, and fights and ignites, and doubts and shouts, and daydreams and screams, and cries and dies.
On the earth, the national deludes but in the grave, the national complains. We are not sophisticated people, we are colonized people. We do not rule, we are ruled. We are a nation who follows and revolves around 'Cipher'. We are a puppet who is functioned by the other pair of hands. We have been played by the people in the supreme power for more than a century. The power is a supreme authority which can manipulate great minds. So when the extreme power strikes its spell like the beauty attracts to a man, the greatness turns in to greediness. The acts hold wrongdoings clean and cleam. The nation is further deceived and colonized.
A group of people with the right set of mind with an ideal vision in favor of the nation especially the poor are robust against disgust. They struggle without snuggle, raise their voice for change and whisper the hopeless ears that 'we are the avengers to bring bad people in power to the highest court of justice and punish them, we are the masons to build and hold the broken wall, we are the defenders of solidarity and contributors to prosperity, we are the rescuers of the rights and advocates of the political revolution, and with the nation lost and frost we want to be the reason for the change in nation's fate and fortune'. It is extremely painful to survive after being repeatedly deceived, the existence with such suffering only waits for the call of Azrael. It is highly likely to build a belief that there is still a helper offering a helping hand to change his/her fate and fortune. With new people in power on the same chairs, there is nothing but hope. And hoping is believing.
After George W. Bush's declaration of War on Terror, things have gone further wrong in Pakistan's way. With former General Parvez Musharraf joining hands with Bush on War On Terror and making the biggest blunder in Pakistan's political history in the 21st century, Pakistan achieved nothing but suffered heavy losses physically and economically. The casualties are counted to at least 60,000 people and financial loss of more than a $100 billion in supporting what Bush began. But here is to admit the ugly truth that many of Al-Qaeda biggies were caught from Pakistan including the big bad news, Osama Bin Laden. After all these years of hiding, where was he finally found? In Abbottabad! In a compound which was located less than a mile from the Pakistan Military Academy. And Abbottabad is hardly one hundred kilometers away from the capital. More to the embarrassing mess, according to Bin Laden's wife, he was living or hiding in that compound for five years! Oh boy oh boy oh boy!
(I will additionally recommend the readers to read a very interesting article from the mid-2007 issue of Foreign Affairs, A False Choice In Pakistan by Daniel Markey focusing on post 9/11, War on Terror and policy/relation with Pakistan and Pakistan's internal issues and conflicts, even dangerously doubting on them if they are the trusted allies of the US.
Also, check another detailed report from the directory of the Federation of American Scientists about the political instability of Pakistan by Alan Kronstadt. This research was published in 2014.)
Pakistan's further stress towards the motion of building or shaping a political harmony is their relationship with Saudi Arabia and Iran. After decades of the brotherhood with Saudia, Pakistan is observed to be inclined more towards Iran in the recent times. Back in 2015, when the Kingdom called for the military support in the Yemen fight against the Houthis, Pakistan declined to support giving the impression that Iran was backing Pakistan for this. The Houthi rebels are the movement of conflict with the Zaidi ideology of the Shia sect heavily backed financially and militarily by the Iranian government. As per the 2012 report from the US official site, most of Yemen's 35% Shia population is of Zaidi sect.
Pakistan under the new leadership also has to make an impression with the other Muslim countries that they are not dealing with the devils especially after signing billion dollars energy deals with Qatar and Russia. 5 Arab countries broke the ties with Qatar last year but Pakistan made an agreement with them before in late 2015 worth $16b to provide Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for the next 15 years. With Russia, Pakistan made an agreement of constructing Karachi-Lahore pipeline for the LNG transportation worth $2b also in 2015 and before this agreement, both Pakistan and Russia had signed a defense cooperation deal in late 2014 with Sergey Shoygu becoming the first Russian defense minister to visit Pakistan since 1969. This energy deal was also the countries' first in 30 years. Knowing the fact that Iran and Russia both were backing Bashar al-Assad in the war crimes against his own people, Pakistan still went for it. From September 2015 onwards, Russia began heavily bombing in Syria.
Pakistan being a Sunni-dominated country has a 20% Shia population which disembarks them from the ground neutralities. The country would have to be someone's proxy in the unwanted war. When Saudi Arabia launched Islamic Military Alliance (IMA) in December that year, 34 countries were involved which stretched to 41 later. All the participating countries were Sunni-dominated countries including Pakistan. With that understanding, all the Shia-dominating countries including Iran were not the part of it. To avoid the situation get worse, Pakistan hosted Iranian president Hassan Rouhani after a few months to reassure that Tehran is not an anti-Shia body. Saudia later on appointed the-then retiring Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, Raheel Sharif as the commander of the IMA.
(NATIONAL)
With Pakistan already suffering from the international politics, the country lost its accountability in the province of Balochistan. The insurgency by the Baloch Nationalists against the government is decades old but the recent phase of the growing tensions began from 2005 when Shazia Khalid was raped at the Sui Gas facility. It is widely believed that she was raped by an army officer but when Parvez Musharraf declared on the state channel that the culprit in the army uniform is not guilty, Nawab Bugti led the violent uprising. Years passed but the fight didn't stop.
Besides, a ruinous political unrest was witnessed in past few years. The Model Town Tragedy of 2014 badly affected the reputation of the governing body with the police killing several Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) protestors. Media broadcasters aired the shocking footages of a vandal, Gullu Butt, smashing windscreens of many parked vehicles by using a club and strangely leading the police squad attack the protestors. Furthermore, he was seen hugged by Tariq Aziz, SP of the same area. Butt was later arrested and then bailed out prompting heavy condemnation of both PAT and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Tariq Aziz was later promoted as SSP Discipline and Inquiry in Lahore police HQ after Butt was bailed out. The-then Law Minister of Punjab, Rana Sanaullah, defended the police operation.
On the other hand, after no response from the government on the demand of probe of election fraud in four constituencies for 14 months and no response from the supreme court despite fraud allegation from the additional secretary of the Election Commission of Pakistan Afzal Khan, Imran Khan accused Nawaz Sharif of rigged elections and led a massive anti-government protest called Azadi March beginning from 14th Aug to the next 126 days. The slogan 'Go Nawaz Go' went popular nationwide and among the Pakistani communities living across the globe from this event. But the use of this slogan dropped many cents of morality among the few anti-government lobbies that some of the pilgrims from Pakistan chanted the slogan during the pilgrimage and in the two holy cities.
THE DISTURBED GEOGRAPHY
Pakistan being one of the most insecure geographical places for the outsiders and one of the suffering regions by terrorism, met severe tragedies in the last few years indicating that the country has been under alarming target by the terrorist organizations. Among the few to mention and reflect the level of security crisis; Karachi airport was attacked by 10 militants of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and 36 people were killed back in 2014. Imagine the security situation of Pakistan's other domestic and international airports when the country's largest and busiest airport met this unfortunate event!
Sectarian clashes in the country have met tremendous hatred and grown concerns despite reinstating brotherhood for umpteenth times. The Afghan gunmen from Jundallah killed at least 45 Ismaili Shia passengers during open firing inside the bus in Karachi in 2015.
The shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar has been one of the most significant historic sites where a million visitors show up every year. Last year, a suicide attack (believed to be orchestrated by ISIL) killed at least 90 people and injured 300 others during the Sufi ritual after the evening prayer.
Months later, a series of terror attacks by ISIL and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar resulted in 96 casualties collectively in three different cities on the same day. In 2016, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar were also responsible for killing at least 75 and injuring more than 300 people in Lahore's Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park. The motive behind this terrorism was to kill the Christians who were celebrating Catholic Easter on that very day.
But the biggest tragedy amongst all the terror attacks was the Peshawar School Massacre when six gunmen affiliated with Tehrik-I-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attacked the Army Public School by open firing on the school staff and children between the age range of 8 and 18. 149 people including 132 school children were killed that day becoming the world's fourth deadliest school massacre ever. This event ripped me because this fact just couldn't accept digest me or accept my mind that a terrorist can open fire on children. I wish the murderers rot in hell, Amen.
DIGGING KUFR
Safeguarding the minority community has also been the talking point in Pakistan especially after the War on Terror. Also, the minorities have been socially ill-treated and there have been cases of church attacks, burning temples and killing them.
Minorities, who comprised 23% of Pakistan's population back in 1947 which has now dropped to 4% in recent years, have been in remote position due to non-acceptance, unrecognition or intolerance by the Muslims in the surroundings everywhere. The case of the non-Muslim communities of both Hindu and Christian faith are highly sensitive. The Hindus in Pakistan in the early 90s had to suffer the wrath after the historic Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, India was demolished by a large group of Hindu Kar Sevaks in 1992. In retaliation, more than two dozen temples were destroyed in one single day in Pakistan. Hardly two dozen of the temples for the Hindus remain in the country.
The Christian community has also suffered a series of setbacks in recent years. Over 40 houses and a church were set ablaze by the mobs in Gojra back in 2009. But a few months before the 2013 general elections, a twin suicide-bomb blast killed over 100 people and almost 250 injured at All Saints Church in Peshawar. Two years later, Lahore witnessed a bombing each at two different churches on the same day killing at least 15 people.
The case of the Ahmadi community is also very sensitive and plasters a dark and controversial image in Pakistan. Unnecessary to detail them but the community who were the advocates of Pakistan Movement, who supported Jinnah's Muslim League for the establishment of a new Islamic state, who were one of the most prosperous and educated people after the independence, were victimized and targeted of their beliefs and killed in heavy numbers in 1953 and 1974. 2013 onwards, numerous events have crossed of their deaths. If the transgender can get their rights, why not Ahmadis? Because of their belief? As Imran Khan has given his support to the blasphemy law but the treatment of Ahmadis in the new hands of changing politics will be a sensitive observation.
RAPES AND HONOR KILLINGS
No nation can progress whose government is not able to protect and safeguard the women and children. This decade has met unfortunate events of honor killings and rapes, most of these occurring in the Punjab province. More than 70% of violence against women in Pakistan in 2014 occurred in Punjab with almost 30% increase in the cases registered Punjab as compared to those registered in 2013. In 2015, 1100 women were murdered in the name of honor. The Human Right Commission of Pakistan has listed more than 450 cases in 2017.
Alas, honor killings, unfortunately, is a tradition in Pakistan running for centuries. Elders of the family actually kill their women if she doesn't obey and accept the marriage proposals, or find her speaking to a man, or committed with someone. There have been so many cases. I was shell-shocked when, in 2008, the three teenagers were buried alive by their Umrani tribe for choosing their own husbands, the politician Israr Ullah Zehri defended the honor killings in an open national parliament and willed to continue.
Most of the rape cases came to the attention from the rural areas where the local village council itself ordered the women to be raped. Yes, you read it right, rape order direct from the council. What eats my brain is that why and how the village cases have not come under scrutiny, why the women in rural areas are still the targets of rapes and honor killings? Four years ago, one village council ordered the gang rape in Muzaffargarh district, that was the very district where Bibi Mukhtaran was gang-raped back in 2002. So what changed there? Nothing.
January of this year observed a few rape cases of under 18, the most infamous being Zainab Ansari's rape and death who was only 6 or 7 years old. A 3-year-old girl, Asma, was raped and murdered in Mardan.
With the ruling parties changing in the National and Punjab Assembly, many human rights organizations will have a careful observation on the number of cases reported, registered and the treatment towards the women and children during this tenure.
(Sincerely thanks for reading. This blog will be continued in the next and final part publishing soon.)
1953 Lahore Riots1974 Anti-Ahmadiyya Riots2009 Gojra Riots2014 APS Massacre2014 Jinnah International Airport Attack2014 Lahore Clash2014 Model Town Massacre2014 Model Town Tragedy2015 Karachi Bus Shooting2016 Lahore Suicide Bombing2017 Sehwan Suicide BombingA False Choice in PakistanAfzal KhanAhmadis in Pakistanal-QaedaAll Saints Church BlastAPS MassacreArmy Public SchoolAssad's RegimeAyodhyaAzadi MarchBabri MasjidBabri Masjid DemolitionBaloch NationalistsBalochistanBalochistan CrisisBashar al-AssadBin LadenChristians in PakistanCOASDaniel MarkeyDeadliest School MassacreElection Commission of PakistanFederation of American ScientistsForeign AffairsGang Rape in MuzaffargarhGeneral Elections 2018General Parvez MusharrafGeorge W. BushGo Nawaz GoGullu ButtGulshan-E-Iqbal Park BlastHassan RouhaniHindu Kar SevaksHindu Temples in PakistanHindus in PakistanHonor Killings in PakistanHonor Killings in PunjabHouthisHuman Rights CommissionHuman Rights Commission of PakistanIMAIMAFTIMCTCImran KhanImran Khan PMImran Khan Prime MinisterImran Khan PTIInsurgency in BalochistanIranISILIslamic Military AllianceIslamic Military Alliance to Fight TerrorismIslamic Military Counter Terrorism CoalitionIslamic Movement of UzbekistanIslamic State of Iraq and the LevantIsrar Ullah ZehriJamaat-ul-AhrarJundallahJune 2017 Pakistan BombingsKarachi Airport AttackKarachi BlastLahore Church BombingLahore Church Twin BlastsLiquefied Natural GasLNGMiddle East CrisisMinorities in PakistanMuhammad Ali JinnahMukhtaran Rape Case 2002Muslim LeagueNawab Akbar BugtiNawab BugtiOsama Bin LadenOsama Bin Laden Hiding in PakistanPak-Qatar LNG DealPak-Russia Defense Cooperation Agreement 2014Pak-Russia Energy DealPakistanPakistan Awami TehreekPakistan GovernmentPakistan Military AcademyPakistan Political InstabilityPakistan PoliticsPakistan State. Islamic Republic of PakistanPakistan Tehreek-e-InsafPakistan's Loss in War on TerrorPakistan's Role in Middle East CrisisParachinar BlastParvez MusharrafPATPeshawar Church BombingPunjab Law MinisterQuetta BlastRaheel SharifRana SanaullahRapes in PakistanRigged ElectionRussia Barrel BombsRussian Military Intervention in Syrian Civil WarSaudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia vs IranSchool ShootingSergey ShoyguShazia KhalidSit InSui Gas FacilitySyrian Civil WarTariq AzizTehrik-I-Taliban PakistanTerror Attacks in PakistanTTPWar on TerrorYemenYemen Shia PopulationYemen WarYemeni Civil WarYemeni ShiaZainab Ansari Murder Case
Life In KSA
December 3, 2017 Sami Naik
GLOBAL MUSLIMS
"Saudi Arabia! Learn from UAE. See how they improve their living standard, enhance opportunities, provide social entertainment, invest money in public interests and recreation activities. When will you join the other countries this millennium? You don't even let women drive on the roads. How backward you are? Grow up!"
"Alright alright! We will allow women to drive but will allow them to drive by next year because we have to establish driving facilities for the women and train them first. Also, we will try our best to adopt general measures to avoid traffic accidents. We will further allow women to work in the shops and offices, even on stalls, fairs and as cashier too.
Let's add some entertainment for your amusement. We will decide to bring WWE wrestlers including John Cena and Big Show for your best luxury because most of you are fond of wrestling. But our sincere apologies, we will not add wrestling divas, we cannot go that far. I hope you understand.
In addition, considering your enthusiasm in comics, we will plan to stage a globally recognized international convention like Comic-Con. No no no you can wear costumes and fashion accessories in love of your favorite characters. Yes, you can become cosplayers. And don't worry, we will invite well-known celebrities who will mesmerize you all. You will have the moment to meet and greet them, shake hand and even take a selfie with them.
This is just a beginning, and we do realize how music has been a significant part of our culture. So we will treat our locals to listen and watch the performance of their favorite, Mohammad Abdu, to your cities. We will experiment some other musical interest in the future. How about Jazz music? We can organize that for you in an industrial city. And how about inviting the world-famous musicians? We can start from Yanni and bring the musical phenomena of team Yanni near to your cities. Why not? We can bring him and his team.
Indeed all you people are fond of watching the Western and Arab films but do you know that our Saudi people are not behind of cinematic talent. There are many talented filmmakers and actors. We shall consider organizing film festivals and bring theatres close to you.
We never focused on attracting tourists to enrich our history and culture before. Like other countries, we are not behind in attracting the tourists and we will earn the global reputation. We do realize there are numerous sites which can attract millions of visitors. Let's work on few of these. We will invest heavy money in such places. If things work as per the plan we will begin issuing tourist visas too. Just wait and see."
"Astaghfirullah bro! How can you allow women to drive the car? This will bring fitna and raise the opportunity for gender mixing. The woman will have every chance to drive by herself all alone which will lead the men's society to stare her and raise concerns about the reasons for her driving.
She will be at ease to hang out with other girls (or maybe boys) and walk on the streets like stray dogs.
Students at Effat Women's University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 2009; photograph by Olivia Arthur from her 2012 book, Jeddah Diary
No need to let them step out of home for huh work? Why does she want to work when her brother, father, and husband is earning? What could be the reason for going out for 'work'? And what kind of 'work' does she want to do? They should stay at home, learn to cook food, produce offsprings, teach their children and obey every word what her husband or parent wishes or commands.
How can you consider inviting kuffar and their inventions to the holy country? Wrestling discourages peace and encourages viewers to fight. So what if you didn't invite wrestling divas due to the obvious reasons as hellfire is already approved on them, the male wrestlers also promote nudity and shamelessness.
Comic books lead the readers towards mental illness and make them think and develop a theory that superheroes actually exist. By believing the fictional heroes, they will stop believing in our beloved messengers, their message and the true warriors of Islam. Do you know there are nauzubillah (I seek refuge in Allah) so many Gods in comics? How can you let them wear improper dresses and make them shake hands of the famous kuffar people? May Allah guide you.
Music? The voice of Shaitan? The world is near to end. Oh, Muslim Ummah! Do you know you are fulfilling the needs of Western countries? Do you know you are inviting evil by encouraging people to listen to their music? Seems like you have lost your credibility as a Muslim country.
You should realize that they are enemies of Islam and by investing your money in advertising their culture and fashion, we will be manipulated and one day they will occupy our holy land. They will marry our Muslim women and produce offsprings who will tweet/retweet their false religion. Auzubillah Auzubillah. May Allah have mercy and guide you to the right path. Amen."
Arabic MusicBig ShowComic BookComic ConComic Con ArabiaConventionDaffy DuckDriving In KSAEntertainment in Saudi ArabiaFitnaGender MixingGlobal EconomyGlobal MuslimsJazz MusicJohn CenaKingdom of Saudi ArabiaKSALiving StandardMadain SalehMohammed AbduMusicMusical HeritageMusical Shows In Saudi ArabiaMuslim UmmahMuslimsMuslims Respond Change in KSANWOSaudi ArabiaShaitanTourist Visa for KSATourist Visa in KSATravel and Tourism in KSAUAEUnited Arab EmiratesWoman Driving in Saudi ArabiaWorld Wrestling EntertainmentWorldwide MuslimsWWEWWE Saudi ArabiaYanni
Skirting the Ushaiger
I happen to notice a small fire in the woods by a few scores of lumberjacks in the forest where I live as an expatriate. This is an incident occurred in the heritage village of Ushaiger which is situated 200 km from Riyadh. Ushaiger is one of the oldest towns in the Najd region. According to social media and few websites including Okaz, a model named Khulood walked the village in a short dress breaking the strict dress code implemented by laws in the Kingdom.
Although I see nothing wrong with a girl wearing a short skirt and traveling to any sites (besides religious places). But I have to forward few of the points towards the incident happened in the heritage village.
1) KSA's strict dress code on women has to be applicable and under such law, she should be treated as per the law. And let me clarify that this is not my opinion.
2) Like seriously, who wear short skirts on historic places??? This is absolutely silly and beyond any common sense! Tourists in Arab countries like KSA and Jordan wear track suits, track pants, long shorts etc. Even the female Westerners travel to such places wearing an abaya (loose over-garment) to maintain the dress code as per the law.
3) The reactions on the social media sites are mixed. Some have demanded to arrest her or kicking her out of the country. Few considered her act as brave and there is some number of people who consider it welcoming with freedom of expression. Those who want to read the reactions on Twitter can hashtag with the name Ushaiger in Arabic.
In a country where the women are not allowed to drive, the coming years can meet the demands of change and accept the freedom of expressing. But will take a lot of time to accept this.
Being a staunch supporter of personal freedom, my opinion is that the local sharia laws have to cut loose the grip, ease the environment and make it welcoming. There was a time back in the 80s and 90s when the ladies in the Kingdom have to hide their hair and wear plain abayas. Now it has become a fashion and has nothing to do with the religion. Gender mixing is already seen in the public places. So the social environment is not to be confused with Islamic principles. You cannot judge on the basis of the dress if the lady is provoking and abusing her religion or if she is a Muslim or not. What about the mannequins in the shopping malls displaying much shorter dress than the one in this incident?
What happened in this incident was a silly display of show-off but this act will raise a lot of eyebrows on the Ifs and Why-Nots across the Kingdom.
Al-UlaDeiraDeira DistrictDeira District of Al-UlaDress Code in KSAExpatriatesExpats in JeddahExpats in Saudi ArabiaFreedom of ExpressionHeritage SiteHeritage SitesJeddahLife In KSAModel KhuloudNajdNajd RegionOkazSaudi ArabiaShariah LawShort SkirtsUshaiger
Hankering in the Wrong Queue
April 23, 2017 Sami Naik	3 Comments
http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/non-saudi-applicants-cause-ruckus-career-fair/
Click the link above and read the article. This news is presenting the precise situation of the construction of depressed multinational circumstances in an economy struggling to escalate employment opportunities among the citizens in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
University Of Business and Technology (UBT) organized a job fair where 40 companies offered some 3000 employment and training opportunities. To utilize the chance, Saudis, as well as expats, reached the door knocking but while they entered and arrived at the fair, the non-Saudi job applicants realized that the offers were limited to the Saudis only.
UBT didn't bother to mention in their event program that only Saudis will be considered for the jobs. Result? 1000 non-Saudis or expats showed up who were eager to work with the recruiting companies within 48 hours! 48 hours!!! I didn't witness the show but like other readers and observers, imagine the peak of misunderstanding. The non-Saudi candidates would have been in the queue and when their turns finally have come, they would have been immediately rejected or informed on their faces that they are not entertaining the offer to you expats! Now read their faces and do the maths yourself. After this, the expats would have become a hurdle or an obstacle on the path of job-seeking Saudis going towards the recruiters.
With the growing tensions among the expats who are students or seeking jobs, this event can be observed in many ways:
1. There is a tremendous demand of expats from the field of business & technology who are willing to join and boost the economy. If one job fair can unintentionally fetch 1000 CVs in total from two different companies then imagine the total numbers.
2. At the very same time and location, 4000 Saudis are reported to show up which again shows how much is there a potential to generate the economic measures.
3. The article repeatedly records that the representatives of the recruiting companies in the job fair were 'surprised' and 'shocked' to see so many expats applying for the job. Their state of getting shocked and surprised is the sign of negligence and ignorance which falters the people responsible in the ministries and the administrations that they fail to notice/observe that the sweat and the blood of the expats are playing the most dynamic role in the economic progress of the country.
4. Another very important point which should be in focus after being surprised and shocked, most of the developed and developing countries who progress in their economy, do not consider the color, race, religion and the country where the job seeker belongs to. Because the candidates of any diversity are welcome to join the firm, considering the impression that they will benefit the company and the economy of the country overall. And that is how the teamwork is done.
Considering or prioritizing one national over the other in KSA or any part of the world builds disputes and rifts, brings cultural and ethnic misunderstanding, causes depression and theorizes a protest for the justice. Ignoring an individual on his/her nationality instead of considering his/her qualification, experience, work efficiency and compatibility will always bring a wrong impression. How would an expat aim to stay in the kingdom and think for the goodness if he/she is rejected for his/her not being a Saudi? And if being Saudi is must then the nationality should be granted after a minimum stay of 5 Islamic or Gregorian years. There are thousands and thousands of cases where an expat like me is born and raised here. On my 33rd year, a guy like me, after all the life spent here, is clueless about his future after reading and listening all the rules and observing the tensions created by those rules for the expats.
That is not how the country is led by prioritizing the locals and completely ignoring the expats or firing them from the jobs. A wrong example is created globally to the observers because of most of the people in America, Europe, Australia or even in India, are working and studying together as a job seeker who is eager to fulfill his/her dream/ambition to become something and a student who is aiming high with no distinction and divergence.
5. With the state of being shocked and surprised also indicates the hatred when one stated in the article, "We don't know how they got in and who let them in". This sounds like if the organizers forgot to fix the notice board outside the job fair that "No Beggars And Dogs Are Allowed". Shoo Expat! Shoo!
Being born and bred here in this country, being a son of my city, Jeddah, I advocate for the employment of the Saudi men and women who hold a lot of promises in their chosen fields. I do wish that the citizens, like the expats, should boost the economy by their contribution. But but but not by cutting or firing the expats from their jobs to replace us with the Saudis but by creating employment opportunities, so the citizens and the expats can together help and stabilize the economy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
May Lord bless the King and the Kingdom. Amen.
I AM SAMI NAIK
Business and TechnologyEconomic DevelopmentEconomic StabilityEmployment OpportunitiesEmployment RateExpats in JeddahJeddahJob FairKingdom of Saudi ArabiaKSALife In JeddahSaudi ArabiaSaudi GazetteUniversity of Business & TechnologyUniversity of Business and Technology
My Selfish Diary
My Selfish Diary: Romance Catoholics
April 21, 2017 Sami Naik
In the kingdom where I breathe a confound alfresco, the personal and working life of the born-and-raised expats like us are at a question mark; and being the custodian of our fates, us millennials borrow some time to think on the brink because the bettering dreams turning into shattering dreams is a realization that the hope is hopped in our recession.
Although, beneath the line of soliloquy, an expat like me try to focus on plethoric theories to heal the gashes of the unwanted past and favor the time to catch a train of well-wishes. No matter how cruel how pollute the world becomes, do good and have good and leave it on God.
My best friend Liza and I are devoted cat lovers since childhood. Being sensitive to the most innocent and loving creatures in the world, we have lost our pets in front of our eyes but strived to make the better of few of the cats who caught our attention. I have come to various incidents in serving, rescuing and paying my last respects to the cats in my life. Once my family pet 21 cats at home due to the birth of few of the cats helping in multiplication but we didn't give up during our never-ending financial crisis. We gave our pets a combined respect and sent each of them to a German lady who served animal welfare and care. May Lord bless that lady. It was a decade ago, now who knows how many of them are…
Liza with her family moved out from the kingdom for good. She has settled in the Pacific and eight months later has returned back for mere a month to meet her parents and kins. My sin is that when she was leaving, I couldn't meet her. But when she returned, she was busy to schedule our reunion for the sake of our old friendship saga which originates since we were hardly a year old.
Yesterday night (18.04), when Liza had an outing with her family, spotted a pair of beautiful adult cats in their cat tree but to a major surprise, there was no individual on the street keeping the pets. Which clearly meant that someone dropped such adorable cats in their tree on the street and left for God knows what reason. Liza was agitated and mutilated at the same time due to the fact that she herself cannot do anything about the cats because she herself is staying with her family.
Liza messaged, sent the pictures of the poor and sought if I can look after these but I excused for having 10 cats at my own home; the numbers enough to refuse the others. She was very perturbed and distressed repeatedly thinking about the fate of those cats. The cats were silent and weren't leaving more than few inches from their tree. I advised her to ask someone at this hour of time if anyone, by any good luck, can foster these.
It had been hours and during midnight, at my usual routine of playing FIFA17 at PS4, Liza messaged me and asked for help all of a sudden. My eyebrows grew more hair to learn what on earth had come up as late as 1.30 am. She responded that she want to drop those cats to someone who has agreed to foster the cats at this hour of time. *Yawn*
When the world is sleeping to wake up early for the prayer, for the work, for waking up the kids for the school, there are some rare breed of inhumans, I mean humans, in some very interesting part of the world who are eager to rescue the cats and drop them at the safest place possible.
Being a huge comic books reader, I realized that I have learned more humanity and aimed to do better things in life than I was ever taught in school. Serving for good has boosted my enthusiasm and helped me follow my omens. At such a time when I used to lie on my bed, I decided to help her and rescue the cats.
To reach as quick as possible, I drove the car in haste and completely forgot that there was a speed breaker in one of the area streets where I use to drive daily towards my office every morning. The car badly hit the speed breaker and the reason of installing such thing was completely fulfilled. I cursed myself and patiently drove the next moments. In 15 minutes, I collected her from her cousin's residence and this is how Liza and I reunited and saw each other again.
My car is driven on the sleeping streets occupied by the sound of silence. The city of Jeddah gives you freshness when you drive towards the seaside especially at midnight but here the rescuers were very fresh for the purpose. Unluckily, she forgot the spot where she was hanging with her relatives an hour ago as the place was very unfamiliar to her plus she had no internet on her cell phone. Also, was I having the luxury of losing the lifeline of the cell phone as I didn't charge the battery due to an unexpected twist at the eleventh hour. All she knew was that the place is nearby the seaside. After a 15-minute drive, Liza called someone and collected the instructions of heading towards the destiny where we realized that we were going precisely opposite.
At King Abdul Aziz Road, I was supposed to take u-turn just before Al Manar Car Wash but instead, took u-turn after Stars Avenue Mall and drove towards Tahliya Park and Salaam Park situated in the Andalus district. The time was running and so were our heart beats because the presence of the scared cats at the spot was at risk.
I drove back and reached the spot where she had witnessed those cats. To our utter good luck, the cats were there in their tree. The pair were so scared that they weren't popping out of their tree and had severely low cries. When Liza lifted the tree, the cats neither popped out nor hit the paws to her. They were lying inside the tree, no movement. She easily dropped the tree in the back seat and we left the spot.
We thanked God that they were safe and had no sign of abuse. I don't know the class or the breed but the cats were very beautiful. The rescue attempt was half done and there was every possibility that while I drive the car, the cats may release themselves from the prison of the tree and get panic. The whole destiny while returning back, the cats made not a single attempt of escaping from the car again indicating how frightened these creatures were.
Now that 'someone' who agreed to foster this ongoing midnight was never met by Liza nor did she know where was she living. She had the coordinates but had no internet. I had the internet but didn't have enough battery in the cell phone to follow the next coordinates. So she was unable to send me the coordinates, nor was I able to match the address on my app. There was no shop nearby and I was still expecting a razor paw or a love bite on my neck coming from the back seat.
The madness prevailed us to type every single unit, letter, and punctuation to form a coordinate on my app which was very bizarre. The idea didn't make any sense but we had to act swiftly because the time had crossed 2 in the morning, the foster lady was waiting, the petrol of my car was alarming, and the paws on my neck was anytime incoming. Soon as we typed the whole address and clicked for the directions, the mobile lost its life and slept.
Liza suggested stopping the car at any shop so she buys the card to charge the internet because we had no other option. The card was bought, the internet began working on her cell phone, so were the coordinates. I drove on Liza's directions and guess what! the destiny was a couple of kilometers away from my own home.
We reached the destiny and I parked the car on the corner. The cat tree was removed from the car and one of the cats did panic and struggled to pop out and escape the situation. She controlled and carried the weight; and disappeared into the building. Ten minutes later, she returned with a huge smile on her face and the rescue attempt was complete. We together declared "We Did It". It was a joyous and emotional moment. We felt extremely, immensely, and supremely blessed. No matter how many bad deeds we have done in our life but there are some good deeds we are manifestly proud of.
God is the witness that in the humming chore of sleeping homes where the residents borrowed time to fulfill their dreams and wake up for their offices, schools, prayers and different purposes, there were two passionate cat lovers who considered no unwillingness and gave the pair of poor cats their new guardian who may/will treat them better than their former guardians. They were not our pets nor were we anything to them but it was the concern which clouded with the chance of rescue.
I dropped her back home and the time was around 3 in the morning. It was an unforgettable night. Perhaps if I had not helped her, she would have increased her blood pressure or killed her brain in developing theories or over thinking all the possibilities and plausibilities over the situation on that street; and at the same time, I may have felt guilty not to help her and the cats while struggling to sleep. Our nights were abnormally lengthy and we surely slept in our homes in peace after a very long time.
Animal LoveAnimal RescueAnimal WelfareBest FriendsCat LoveCat PawCat TreeJeddahLife In JeddahLife In KSASaudi ArabiaTom JonesWhat's New Pussycat
The Green Passion
September 23, 2015 Sami Naik
The place where I open my eyes… The place where my father was allowed to earn his livelihood, to bring his spouse and make his family…. The place where their people allowed to have my own national school and complete my education….
The place where Prophet Mohammad (S.A.W.) was born… The place where Islam was born and the God's message revealed… The place where earth's two of the three holiest mosques Masjid al-Haram and Masjid an-Nabawi are protected by those who call themselves it's custodians…
The chosen nation whose chosen leaders not only serve their people but the entire Muslim brotherhood by providing you the best possible service in your Umrah and Hajj… Whose leaders invest billions and billions of dollars in holy mosque expansions to facilitate our prayers and worships…
It has been 85 years when King Abdulaziz announced the country as a kingdom. There is no such example where the religion and its followers are served in that massive capacity with token of respect… And today we celebrate this day with love and respect…
May God bless my Kingdom of Saudi Arabia….
May God bless my King, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman ibn Abdulaziz al Saud…
ExpatriatesExpats in Saudi ArabiaHajjIslamJeddahJeddah FlagpoleKing AbdulazizKing SalmanKing Salman ibn Abdulaziz Al SaudKingdom of Saudi ArabiaMadinahMakkahMasjid al HaramMasjid an NabawiProphet MohammadSaudi ArabiaSaudi National DaySaudi National Day CelebrationUmrah
My Selfish Diary: Chasing the Time
May 29, 2014 Sami Naik	1 Comment
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on" (Robert Frost)
Chasing the Time…
The title says it all. We all earthlings are chasing the time, questing for happiness, hiding our tears, hoping for peace, begging for mercy, seeking a justice, digging our graves, listening to the whispers, silencing the outcry, watching the cruelty, praying the pardon, facing the warned….
But above all…
We are chasing the time…
And this chase continues and time keeps defeating us again and again and again.
There was a home where I came to my senses, and I began completing my tenses. I began learning how to eat and wear the clothes, I began reading how to become able to life by …….. passing your academic exams. I began searching the lost soul of wisdom. I began dreaming high where the guardians forbid. There was a home where I celebrated my birthdays as the years went by and never realized that a year of my life existing on earth had its final say. There was a home where I came to an age of enticement and abide.
But there was a home where I never came to understand, I never came to realize that all my life was a 'bloody LIE', deceived by my own, humbled by a beast within me, truth never exposed or juxtaposed, cries never listened but heard… Yes… there was a home, missed by miles. Held my nerves, breathed and carried on.
There was a home I lived for two decades, where I began to talk, where I began to read and write my name, grew up, succeeded and lost….. Then all of a sudden in 2004, I lost my home… I lost my world… I lost my shelter… My eyes saw it destroyed, had no power to stop… Held my nerves, breathed and carried on.
"The truth is you don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed" (Eminem)
Indeed justification of life is unpredictable. And that is what happened when I lost that 20-year-old home. I had never expected what was coming in next 10 years. My family in the Kingdom then faced the most expensive outcry of breathing the alfresco i.e., the home I lost was not the last I moved. We were bound to change our residence three more times in next 8 years.
It was 12,000 SAR yearly rent of my 20-year-old home, a decade later I recently moved to my 5th home with a yearly rent of 26,000 SAR… For the first time in 30 years, I left the area where I grew up because of recent house-shifting crisis. And for what reasons?? Lemme blog out…
It was a perfect FML script written by someone above the rainless clouds. So allow me to speak a chapter of a turnaround in one expat family.
For years, we fed a cat since the day it began shouting from the back base of our building. It began climbing the stairs and sensed the familiar scent at doorsteps. It became a routine and soon all neighbors realized the cat-human real-life bond in their building. It became a disturbance, kids of our neighbors got scared and routinely began shouting all over the building.
Time passes by and natural phenomena began to reveal from the cat's belly. It became a threat for us as we knew from our old experiences that cat never bore less than two kittens at a time. She gave birth to six kittens down the backyard of the building. Three of these died earlier but the rest also began to tweet the mother. Neighbors blamed the running circus on floors of building on us and warned they would kill all of these creatures if we didn't manage to keep these stay away from the stairs. So we were bound to pet four kittens last year and they grew to adult age. This re-state of keeping cats as pets was not that expensive like before but of course, money talks.
Now let's walk the talk. This last residency was a fly drown in a glass of water. In the beginning, the man to whom we signed the contract, left the building in few days and we realized that there is some years-long rift between him and his brothers. We kept receiving threats from his mental brothers to leave the spot but threats were harmless. Once one of them took my brother to the counselor and things were not that same. It was hard to consider another shifting of residence in such an expensive living environment.
A couple of months ago, my mom left to India after a long waiting state of applying for the visa. Soon she left, a couple of cops marched our doorsteps in few days to leave the building asap. It looked alarming situation but we were confirming from the owner of the building. The day came when the owner gave the painful briefing to leave the building in not more than a week. A week!!!!
The owner was in a very sorry state with the explanation that his brother registered the property case on his brother in court and a short notice issued to evacuate the building in a week. The quarrel was blundered between the brothers but the most to a gash and suffer were we the tenants. With heart in our mouth, here began Wacky Races between the tenants of searching their next residency with a global-warming acidic yearly rent to confront.
"Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor" (Sholom Aleichem)
Due to big-money rent pay involve in every 'House for Rent', the option to leave our area of 3-decades-stay become mandatory. It was the most disappointing search due to the reason. I was observing where the world is meeting its end, where are we going, how things are getting expensive, how life is getting complicated. With all our efforts to make a flat our home, we somehow began struggling to look for a new flat to pretend it a home and chasing the time again.
Then comes another painful time when we paid our final goodbye to our first ever car. 1982 model of Mazda 929 was our very first car bought back in mid 90's. My father, myself and my brother learnt driving and the vehicle became the base of our normal routine with millions of golden memories. Last decade, it couldn't afford the strength enough to stay long with us with many problems. It became a patient with regular medic visits. Later on, we bought Chevrolet Optra 5 years ago. We became used to of it. Then I bought Hyundai Veloster last year and then this Mazda became a history. Dead for a long time, the goodbye was very emotional. The dead car was in such a shape to bring a feeling as if a long-run loyal and faithful horse is finally giving up life to its owners.
Father has his final goodbye to a car which stayed almost two decades with many golden memories
As the days passed by, the short notice period came close to our throats. The cruel the nature of terrible fate was the absence of a wife/mother at home which was enough to break us badly. The quest of shelter continued and survival of the fittest finally met in last remaining 120 hours (almost close to Aaron Ralston's fate).
"Often when we lose hope and think this is the end….GOD smiles from above and says, 'Relax, sweetheart, it's just a bend, not the end!'" – Unknown
Living in Faisaliyah district, once questing in Bawadi district meeting a disappointment and returning back with a kind friend helping me in my quest. I was about to take a u-turn to my home with a mourning face to end another day in grief unfinished business, struck a hammer on my brain to take my chance near to Al-Salamah district with few remaining minutes to Maghrib prayers. The questing session in Al-Salamah looked fade with no sign of hope as usual until our eyes met a building with a signboard 'House for rent'. 'twas like if the most beautiful girl offered me her life…..
Anyhow the location was observed and was far beyond than a level of satisfaction. This home was bought with no waste of time in taking the decision at 26,000 SAR (after bargaining btw). The next challenge was……….. shifting without mother!!!
To our good luck, when shifting was to be done, the weekends were about to began with the most possibility that our friends will help us in such critical situation. And that did happen, saying a humble 'Thank You' wasn't enough nor was I able to make words or phrases to express the support I received from them.
A large vehicle was too expensive and unaffordable. So the camel of a carriage was one of our friend's pickup. So expectations of numerous rounds of shifting were already expected, and efforts of more the time-consuming on moving and dropping objects at a pace were on the count. We had enough friends to help us on that particular weekend of exhaustion and combustion.
The real session was taking all the home stuff from top floor to base. Plus the packing especially the kitchen accessories required mom's assistance. In her absence, my father and brothers had to repeatedly co.ordinate with her on Skype, through a video chat she had to view every inch of shifting stuff and decide what to reject or not. Thanks to technology which made it lil easy to co.ordinate our complicated home shifting without her presence but presence.
The interesting scene was of cabinets of the kitchen. The newly bought home had only one cabinet. Buying the new was within our financial reach, the only idea brought things to accept reality was to take the existing cabinets with us. My father proposed this idea and my brother seeking permission from the owner, he gave his consent. Within few minutes, the owner called and gave us consent to take all the cabinets (he did permit to show his anger for sure on his brother's case filing attempt). Opening the cabinets, you need a special mechanism to un-wall. Our pickup friend helped out, with other friends altogether put the heavy labor of hours to take household shape in our matters.
Under 48 hours my father and our friends had unscrewed all major furniture and fittings, every single piece was poured down from one stair to another. Housing in 2nd floor, a friend proposed an idea that each of us must stand on each corner of stairs down till the pickup and movement of objects can be made faster in different hands at a time. The plan worked, energy saved, morale boosted. In almost three days, the whole of household items was moved. Physical exhaustion had its peak.
Not one but four tenants were shifting the same day… absolute madness!!
The view of home shifting in the building was an absolute madness. It was expected that moving of tenants within a week will make things look abnormal but one brother's fight for power and hunger for money messed the whole situation with the funny part that he himself was the tenant of this building. They were four brothers in all once living in this building, the rest you may understand…
The day shifting began, was the day of presenting household items in shape of an open exhibition. Not only were we moving our stuff with a pickup waiting outside, also were three other tenants joining the household labor parade with two trucks parked and congested the place with no cars to move a big space. The 4-tenants open exhibition produced a dozen labors plus ourselves bringing down the items, and a lively atmosphere of children of tenants playing outside. It was an outcry.
"Once you say you're going to settle for second, that's what happens to you in life" (John F. Kennedy)
With the beginning of a new week by night, we introduced all of our four cats to the new home. Naturally, they didn't accept the change. Confound and feeling betrayed, sniffing and wandering. With new home installed on the ground floor, guests of Al-Salamah were about to face their toughest challenge, meet the local cats of Al-Salamah. The local salamah.fm began to invite the outbreak outside our home, as the local cats surrounding outside the netted balcony looked like the White Walkers of 'Game of Thrones'.
Tabby a.k.a. Chipku.. Recognize it in a picture above
With all the cats struggling to accept the change, one of these could not qualify and met to its disaster. Rebuilding a new enthusiasm of unpacking, screwing and placing all the items, we fell mentally disturbed towards the nature of this cat. Unnaturally it went shouting for 12 straight hours. The next morning my father began shouting that it was hitting his head on the wall and walking like a blind. He was right, that cat dramatically lost his eyesight, he wasn't able to see or understand what lies ahead of its walk anymore.
In few hours, we met another sign of horror from it, the cat was now not even sensing normally. Shaking, moving its head, lying like a dead, eyeballs getting wide and not attending us like before. We rushed to the vet clinic where the doc stated a temporary brain injury by perhaps a hit on its head allowing blindness. Brain injury meant it would not last for long. We could not hold tears and return home hopeless.
The other story broke in India when I came to know that mom had a terrible sprain on lumbar spine which pulled her nerves. She wasn't able to walk or sit. Therapy was going for weeks. She didn't inform us due to our shifting crises. My mother could have completed her therapy in India with a genuine delay, but yet again the local Kingdom procedures of iqama renewals made her return to Kingdom soon. These surely were the hardest times of life at a very wrong time.
My brother and I began cleaning the brain hit cat. It was kept in balcony alone for days due to the fact that it went crazy with other cats and was a possibility to spread its problem in other. The cat wasn't able to move or walk. It passed its urine on its own body, in addition of bags of dust and litter already occupying its skin. We realized that further dirt will increase chances of increasing the disease or such a massive pain will kill it severely. We put the cat on bath by pouring water on it, lice-shampooed its body, brushed and combed it. Cleaned and washed the balcony. Mom had advised us to manage Zamzam water for its drinking and wiping it while praying some supplications.
Things worked as the cat struggled to survive and tried to bring things back to normality. In these days, Alhamdulillah it is active and can sense normally but lack the eyesight. On the other hand, my mother began walking and returned back to the city. How strange the life can be, she left to India in one home and returned in the other.
More stories and incidents will enter my life. Until now this is one critical chapter really needed to blog off. The reason behind writing this blog isn't a personal diary to open. My purpose of narrating a sudden panic in life is to tell the reader how a common man in the Kingdom gets hypnotized of a situation when a second person indirectly kicks you and makes your life miserable. How a citizen becomes an expat.
While reading the whole, one will realize a socio-economic issue is persistently prevailing. Being a common man, I am not physically tortured but wounded with a burning fate trying to escape. The man who filed the case was no one to me, and life of the whole family got messed. The one who will collect family iqamas indirectly made mom's health at risk but with no intention. Had there no such rules, my mother had fully and quickly recovered in India. The doctor who stated the cat suffered the brain injury was incorrect.
Last of all, I would like to thank my friends who helped us in our critical times of home shifting. Although I don't write names in the blogs but I should mention due to their efforts. I would like to thank Moizuddin Bhai for helping us out in the unstoppable quest for new residency and supported/guided us when required. I would like to thank our friends Faizan, Alpha, Taha, Maroof and Rizwan who helped us in home shifting and worked day and night. In the end, I would like to especially thank Waqas and Umair, without whom this amount of work would neither have been finished nor the shifting would have ever been possible. May Allah bless you all.
It is all about only one person to rely on, cheer, motivate and make him/her powerful to survive the life and make him/her run with time. YOU. Believe in yourself… Time will pass by and will never stop and we all will grow more and more and more. So
Always look on the Bright Side of Life (Monty Python)
CatsExpatriatesHome ShiftingJeddahMazda 929Saudi Arabia
Heavenz to Baha-way (Part II – Racing the Lifeline)
May 26, 2014 Sami Naik	2 Comments
It took me three months and four days to finish the unfinished business of completing an incomplete story of my memorable trip to Baha. To the readers of this blog, this is second and last part of 'Heavenz to Baha-Way'. Kindly read the first part here before you jump to an incomplete story.
The connotation of annotation rhymes with agitation, due to the fact that all our comforts turned into discomfort. Our rest in peace turned into wrest in pieces. Outside the village and beneath the sun heat, here lied our graves of intention. The mood went bood as the car determined never to vroom.
The street, where the car was parked, was narrow. The only solution was to turn the face of car somehow back towards the ascending slope. One sat in the car and the other two turned things into wings. It was a comical sketch. We moved half way towards the street joining the main road as almost dozen fellow Pakistanis kept staring us moving the car instead of helping -_-
Anyhow one Saudi gentlemen helped us by charging the battery. His son's face was like a pumpkin brutally smashed sitting in…. Things didn't work and directed us to ask any driver who could take us to one of mechanic at nearby places. We thanked and wished him. Call to Jummah (Friday) prayers and we rushed towards the masjid (mosque) close to us. The namaz (prayers) had began and I was performing wuzu (ablution) in haste.
Embarrassment began as the masjid was full of worshipers, and I couldn't find the prayer rugs. At the entrance of masjid, I was about to lose the first rak'ah when I heard the chapter he was reciting was about to finish. The only solution was to open the left gate and make space. As the imam (the one who leads the prayer) finished the surah (chapter), I was still trying to open the gate. The f***ing lever of the door leaf was stuck -_- and the worshippers behind me (who were about to lost the first rak'ah) were slapping my back to move ahead instead of hindering.
It was absolutely embarrassing situation. They were so enraged but were obviously not in position to curse me at the entrance. So one stretched his face like a flamingo to check if space was inviting, then ran behind. But one fat guy was a flusher he just moved ahead of me to look for space as Imam called Allahu Akbar and fell in ruku (moment of bowing in namaz). I was still trying to open the gate and the fatty moved his body by force between the two. He couldn't bow as his ass hit the wall and it almost tickled my rib but tried to control. I had lost the rak'ah unfortunately, so I gave up and prayed the same place where I stood.
After I finished my prayers, I didn't see the fatty but my fellow travelers who perhaps performed ablution as faster than me and entered the masjid. I moved ahead, stayed in masjid and prayed to cross this miserable car battery situation. Life was at peace for few minutes. In masjid, I realized many of the worshipers were either Pakistanis or the Arab teenagers supporting their grandpas looking exactly octogenarian. I saw one Pakistani smiling in prayers when he saw a fellow Pakistani crossing him and leaving masjid.
15 minutes later, I left masjid and wished the matter goes solved asap. Almost 100 meters away, I saw my fellows standing at each side of the road. Till I reached to them, they found a Saudi to whom they convinced to help us. The driver left with him and the debutant traveler stayed with me for the next hour.
So the introductory phase of hi-hellos were carried out as it was my first meeting with him. He noticed my book-reading habit in the car and informed me that he has a group of book-readers and embarking the group meetings in cafe to initiate plans to develop the habit into a source of more intellectual community of learning and sharing. It sounded very interesting and fresh but I will ponder to join the group due to my working commitments. Have a lot of things to do and not easy to manage time. But I do wish such initiative proceed and succeed because I don't see such formation of group on basis of book reading. Rare groups like these will take time to rise and develop but surely will grow because I have faith that there still are people who are loyal to books.
We were standing behind a shop for half an hour when shop-keeper advised us to sit in the shop without any hesitation. In the shop, we saw an old man eating his heavy lunch of traditional rice chicken. The first-timer bothered to inform the old man the situation and requested our comfort in shop for a while. He not only granted us permission but forwarded his lunch to join him. Series of bother words began between us. Then he gave us Ghandooresque chewing gums. The old man told him to open the fridge and chose the drink whatever he wish. We had no answers of such gesture, such humbleness, such height of hosting.
Further hosting was propelled though contacting our poor fellow who told us that the Saudi guy (with him) is trying to reach every unit of mechanic shop as much as possible but are usually closed after Jummah prayers. He further stated that he is calling to his friends and relatives close in the limited circuit for the least possible favor they could deliver. It was beyond our imagination that an Arab will touch the hosting height to such level to the expats living in the Kingdom due to the bitter fact that you cannot expect such behavior from most of the Jeddawi Saudis that he will serve an expat to that level. I am sorry to say but I have seen more rudeness in Saudis of Jeddah as compared to small cities. I tasted the same hosting experience in al-Ula and now al-Baha surprised us well.
He came back with him and charged the battery as we thanked the old man of his humbleness and service. Now we met this Saudi guy. His name is Meshaal and is a well educated guy and chemical engineer by profession. He surely was never a destitute because he was the man with Tahoe. Charging the battery for almost 5 minutes and racing at rpm between 2 and 3, the vehicle was still silent without even a miss call. After couple of minutes, our car showed some sign of survival and all of a sudden, it began working. Phoooff Alhamdulillah, the misery had its last say probably but one thing was sure, the car will be stopped in Jeddah. All the excitement of revisiting the forestry area of Thee-Ain shut the doors of our intentions.
Mishaal the savior (left) with globetrotters
It was time to thank Meshaal and his generosity took our heart. The hosting and gesture of friendship towards non-Arabs or expats like us imparted that people of such qualities will perhaps be found in small cities and we never bothered to claim to Meshaal that few people in Baha like the old shop owner and he are the best examples of hosting and we will hardly meet any Saudi of his caliber in Jeddah at least. All what he could do was smile. He gave the bandana of his local football team to our friend who own the car. Before he left, we did ask him to do one last favor…….. we asked him "which road shall we take for Raghdan forestry?" :P
After all what happened with the car and the fact that the car had a limited lifeline and will stop breathing anytime, we were eager to take the risk….
Meshaal left the scene and we drove towards al-Baha while keeping in mind that the car will never go off until we reach our home back. Oh boy o boy!!!! to reach Baha city, one has to drive to the most beautiful heights of the mountains. Colors of heaven flowing a sharp contrast on the pile of rocks, henge of stones and blade of grasses. The wonderful nature and a dramatic change in weather was inviting. The temperature which was 33 degrees 10 minutes ago in Thee-ain ridiculously dropped to mid-10s due to reaching the heights.
There are many corners at the heights with a limited space where the cars can be parked and families can have a proper sitting. We also stopped the car… no no no!!! we didn't off… just kept in on for few minutes, so we can hang out in this cold air and enjoy the weather modeling in front of camera. Baha is located on a tremendous height elevated at over 7000ft. It took half an hour to reach al-Baha.
Ascending the heights of beautiful mountains, we found the noble tribe of hooting baboons from Hamadryas. Like I told you before in my Thee-ain blog "Rocky Doodle in Centuries-Old Ville", these baboons belong to the baboon species from Old World Monkey family to be mostly found in the Horn of Africa, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
Time to look for the forestry of Raghdan and we followed the navigation. There are many hill stations in the city and by locating the spot, one of hill stations attracted us. It was very cold and the view was hallucinating with the angels riding the dark clouds. I was loving this cold atmosphere in such a beautiful surface of sphere. Then I noticed that there was a route on mountain to climb. The sleepy slept in car and the rest of us decided to leave him with the car on hold, keeping in mind that now if the car stopped… it will be a huge FML to bear. The risk was taken and off we go.
The route on mountain was actually made and I counted like 21 storeys which I comfortably climbed. The kingdom of greenery was installed on the mount reminding me the Hobbiton area of the rural Waikato town of Matamata in New Zealand. My excitement and joys knew no bound, I was like escaped from unbearable chaos or unaccountable babel. Seems like days of glory were back. I feel fresh afresh, pathetically unwounded. We could not hold our patience and efforts to lift our courage to move ahead what was inviting above our heads, plus the fate was lying with the car engine on safe mode without any jerks. We left the spot furnishing a moment to remember for long.
Drove back to modesty, a humble sketch of greenland and darkness of clouds dancing on your heads. But during our driving way back, we did oppose to run straight and were forced to stop at a spot which was quite appealing. A tower of stone shaped like a resting pyramid with a proud history of thousand-year-old myth. Rolled to the other side was more of hullabaloo. A small hole like a cave can deserve and the space inside wasn't more than couple of meters. All what my eyes saw inside was hmmmm ahmmm a mattress with Saudi national emblems on the cover!! I simply didn't understand the whole fuss. What the eff is the mattress doing inside a rare tower of stones? But the point to admit is that whoever designed that tower is an architect of remarkable caliber.
Tower of Stone
The Inside View of Tower
Tired and exhausted, descending down the sliding stairs of mountains from Baha till Thee-Ain village with no strength of photo-shoots at any stopping. The driver had gone drunk off his sleepy eyes contesting a showdown on the sliding road at minimum 80kph. Twice I woke him during the coronation of enemies on opposite road (about to kiss you). I threw my words on him to stop and sleep for a short but he had some other dreams on waiting list unapproved -_-
Alhamdulillah we descended safely but we were hungry now and located the desi restaurant where we ate the last time we came . Last time we ate chicken karahi and mutton karahi on that site, and was the delicious karahi I ever ate. After long search of the restaurant's whereabouts, we found a desi restaurant and showed them the picture of that site from the previous Thee-ain blog I posted. They were surprised of attending such a bunch of special customers with committed hunger reserved for that particular place and so passionate to pic a glimpse of it.
Chicken Karahi & Mutton Karahi
Alas we came to know from this restaurant that it finished the business. We could not hold our strength to defeat hunger and intended to eat the same food at that site. I wasn't surprised of the quality of deliciousness of karahi we ate later on but it satisfied my zeal and filled my stomach. On this particular moment, I really missed the two of our globetrotters who were with us in last Thee-ain visit.
It took further more hours of wait to reach Jeddah as the vehicle was humbled at mere 120kph, even when there was no sign of flashing meadows. During the returning drive was a short moment of rich black clouds with a lightning heritage of hiding the moon to seduce the earth in an earthly manner. It was very black-and-blue above with a terrific eye-catchy glimpse. Very Godly nature, sparking the beauty on the bearded clouds of wonders. The stars were praying and the clouds were playing. Watching those clouds above, my ear drums were tuned to Enya's 'May It Be'. Ah the beautiful scene!! the clouds kept trying to hide the moonlight but the beauty kept exposed, I felt like if Anne Hathaway is about to get undress in front of my eyes. Sumbuddy stop me!
Back to Bedlam…
The Globetrotters
Al-BahaChicken KarahiHamadryas baboonMarble VillageMutton KarahiSaudi ArabiaThee-Ain Village
My Selfish Diary: A Starving Patience
April 5, 2014 Sami Naik	4 Comments
(Yawnnnnnnnn)
Je me baladais sur l'avenue
Le coeur ouvert à l'inconnu
J'avais envie de dire bonjour
À n'importe qui
N'importe qui ce fut toi
Je t'ai dit n'importe quoi
Il suffisait de te parler
Pour t'apprivoiser – [Joe Dassin – Champs Elysées (1969)]
11.30 am Thursday…
Thursday is half day… mmm full day…
Half asleep and full snoring…
Itching my ass and dust on my bed…
A rumbling routine and mumbling routine…
Sumbuddy aching my ears to WAKE UP!!!! Ahhh it is not my harlot in scarlet, it is our confound abba (father) in twilight. Now what??? yeah prayer time… so lets pray and worship Facebook…
I am the face of book on hat-trick to get blocked for past few years. I am one of the profiles who receive boring notifications but fold my legs on the sofa when receive a message in inbox. What is inside???? Nothing… it was just a fucking 8-ball pool game invitation!!!!
Good morning Jeddah. My beloved city where I was born, where I was raised from boyhood to adulthood. The food and sea of this city is the pride specialty.
Mornings and Evenings, I walk the lines in awakenings…. in city of happenings…. driving in the shelter of persuasion and embracement that the automobiles will be at peace but not piece… but tragically it is tantalizingly a no-holds-barred match at every space of road…
Every vehicle in Jeddah is experimented not with the driver's capacity of capable driving but overcoming the feasibility of meeting the ditches in the road. I am a proud citizen to be one of many who encounter and flounder.
Hail the morning of Jeddah. My city is half-awake till call of prayer for Zuhr. The cars parked are washed with the washer half-asleep. Breakfasts are done for hours with no fixed timings. Building constructions are performed by unskilled labors.
Traffic are jammed, minor vehicle-hit accidents have made the roads congested. Cafeterias are noisy of orders and frying eggs but salons and stationary are dull. Banks are crowded and govt offices carry long stinky queues. Translation offices have problems in their scanners and printers. Nurses in medical institutions are coming on time and patients are long waiting for the arrival of doctors.
Educational sites are over-crowded with every size of life-appetizers and transports whereas industrial areas suffer more of heavy trucks, breaking the traffic signals and bounding the other vehicles to cross any side resulting into hours long traffic jam. Malls in morning are bunk places and malls in evening are over-crowded with more walks and talks, entering the shops, gimmicking the individuality, asking the prices and walking away.
In well-popularized malls, morning witnesses many foreign customers than evenings. Most of the flock of feminine are famines in self-presentation, very cosmetic-bluffed, powdered more than a clown, eyebrows furnished like Groucho Marx and contesting their slimness with the hockey stick or HB pencil.
As a customer, they are worst than the Chinese. Few of them don't even know to whether pull or push the door of boutique outlet. As the trip ends and comes out of mall, their outside world is more cruel with the reception of world's most cheapest wannabe boyfriends and freshy bunkers/bonkers. Oh world!!!! where are you moving towards????
A city/country with tremendous potential and source, but outspoken when it cannot meet the criteria of world's social and moral customs. Within the binding of living culture lies a stinky ego in the alfresco. Ex-pets and local-pets are fragmented/tormented to each other by abiding the rules & laws, which are sometimes confused with religion, sometimes barred with gender-mixing and sometimes unjustified with social life and employments.
When I take a look at history of human civilization, making of warriors and empires, rising of arm forces; I come to realize and make my firm belief that there are only and only 2 ways when the greatest nations in the world are build;
1. Either by ruling over the others or
2. By building the empire/nation on your own.
What part are we, what land are we?
What soil we fertile, why curse we missile?
What proud are we, then why hopeless are we?
May we all realize and correct our mistakes, admit our sins and ask for repentance, sustain and maintain with words of wisdom under the guidance and protection of Allah.. Ameen.
May my prays and wishes come true, but that is a further stage, what about now. We suffer the duffer and praise the bluffer. The animals exemplify how human they are, we tend to qualify how animal we are. The brothers fight under plight and we smell more nonsense when we realize their bizarre reasons, is that what we live to listen for?
The world we are living is the place where your newspapers are absolute lawyers of liars and social networking websites are truth-speakers. The world we are breathing is the place where the educators and thinkers (influenced to many millions of viewers, listeners and readers) are non-believers to the existence of Allah but the poorest and the beggar of His blessing is the most religious and faithful to Allah. Just take a moment and think about it!
We bullshit the utter nonsense that science and technology has exceeded the limit of serving humanity and easing/comforting the life. Really?? Then why we suffer more diseases than before?? Why the young generation has become more frustrated than before?? Why people are complaining more of heart diseases, increase of sugar level or blood pressure than before?? If condoms are the gateway of safe sexual intercourse, then why are there more cases of HIV than before? Don't irritate, just think about it!
With time goes by, our minds are controlled with the installment and persistence of fixed jurisdiction throughout the world. We are bound to think to the limit, not crossing the limit and thinking beyond. This is the soup in the bowl, this is bread in the plate, now have your meal. We are the most common creatures to accept what is said and done. We confess what the majority decides and declare a person either he is truth-speaker or a liar, a leader or deceiver.
When we come to the conclusions after summing all the united states of confusions and distortion, everything goes messed and wrong. Clashes between different schools of thought begin, historic sites are put on demolition, peace is pieced by unrest strikes and violence of riots, oil prices increase, demand in stock decrease, frustrations of gentlemen makes them genitalmen, children read guns and shoot books, animal cruelty is enjoyed, places of worship become favorite spot of terrorism, clapping hands become a sign of celebration, playing foul games and illegal affairs with opposite sex count in resume of honor, history becomes boring and adult movies become interesting, ancestors are your demons and girlfriends are your angels….
Just a month ago, Economist Intelligence Unit's Worldwide Cost of Living survey placed Jeddah, the 9th most cheapest city in the world. Are you kidding me??? Life is getting expensive, food is getting expensive, even the cost of breathing or living is getting way expensive than ever. I lived my first 20 years of life in a 4-room flat which cost us 12,000 SAR a year as rent from 1984-2004. To this year 2014, we have changed our residence thrice with an extraordinary rise of 9,000 SAR a year. Bring this economically ill statistician to me, so I can interrogate his qualifications with ease.
Like I said above that "The brothers fight under plight and we smell more nonsense when we realize their bizarre reasons". The owner of the building we reside had a years-long running dispute over property with his brothers. The case is now subjugated and won by one of brothers who was hungry of snatching the whole property from them. And as result, the court has short-noticed to evacuate the building within 10 days. I repeat, within 10 days!!! Can you just imagine and calculate the sudden rise of mountains on the heads of all living/existing tenants?? The brothers were fighting for property but we are the one losing the shelter and facing the sun heat. So is it really easy to look for your new home, shift your belongings and migrate to a new home sweet home within 10 fucking days???? With me, my fellow neighbors have also experiencing painful situation. May we all tenants overcome the situation, get new homes which bring blessings to us and our families Ameen.
Sometimes the burden of chastise is shouldered by the salted amount of foul hands which sweats the half-wit bullied-wicked game to demoralize you. Not every local is cruel or a hunter-man. But lack of education and early fragrance of money and power to rule (not lead) put most of the locals in immortality and make the non-locals feel as frantic. People responsible for the welfare of this country should adopt measures to ease both locals and non-locals, so they can serve and make their own life and also of their family and kinsmen here.
Turning back to my life, I keep myself low-profile. Besides my work, I am a globetrotter, I like traveling with few of my fellow globetrotters and enjoy lifetime experience of visiting amazing sites in Saudi Arabia. Of course there is a temporary break now. I walk the work and decide what to do, eat what I want as food prepared at home or outside with friends, download and watch the movie I want, read the book I want. (Comfort yourself, overcome the complicated situations) When I drive my car, I keep my ears unnoticed of possible sounds of horns to enter my eardrums by playing the songs on my mobile connected by blue-tooth to my car because I don't want my ears to listen traffic noises. Every month, I am notified on my mobile that I violated the traffic rules by over-speeding. Fine! I pay and I don't cry.
Like hundreds of time, myself and driver of other vehicle come to terms to cross a road or street, I indicate him by hand to go first. Reply! he raise his palm of gratitude. Scores of time also, the pedestrians walk in front of my running car and begin losing the edge whether to move or back up, I point them to forward your steps. Reply! they smile and raise their palm and run.
Why am I speaking/telling what the fuck do I do? You don't give a damn innit? But just notice my last 2 paragraphs, isn't there something you find you don't behave like me? Are you still at ease in your life? With all my miseries I personally and emotionally have suffered in my life, I adopt my own measures to live my life freely. Imagine if you are working with your own decisions; eating watching drinking reading listening whatever you want to; paying your installments, fines, penalties without panicking for no good reason, like how many tensions you overcome and breathe your life.
What if you really give the fellow driver a chance to drive the road first, what if you let the pedestrian cross the street before you race. You are on your own benefit of what you did for yourself and your life. Simply the angel on your right shoulder write good notes about you and mark your safety for right-doings. What if I tell you to get attracted from the beauty of a girl/woman crossing from your sight but do wish her that she get a loving and caring husband? I know this will sound funny, but trust me its magic.
I dream and imagine that I live in my own mansion near the sea shores, no greed of money and power but blossom of happiness and merriness. Sounds of sea waves fell high on my ears, seagulls caws and squawks. Listen the soul refreshing songs which I loved the most. The girl to whom I have loved the most join me in my prime. And I enjoy a joyous wonderful cold weather and spend a wonderful moment of life with her.
Ahh that feeling!!!! Einstein was right… "Imagination is more important than knowledge".
You may say I'm a dreamer, But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us, And the world will live as one
Economist Intelligence UnitExpatriatesFacebookJeddahResidence in JeddahResidential problemsSaudi Arabia
The Breezing Ula (Part I – An Old Town)
December 25, 2013 Sami Naik	4 Comments
Couple of weeks ago, the blogger was in al-Khobar. I visited Jarir Bookstore in al-Rashed Mall to look for a proper reading masterpiece but failed. My eyeballs glanced and paused at an eye catchy handbook. The handbook was about 'Madain Saleh' with scores of attractive pictures and detailed account over its history and civilization. I was already planning my expeditional tours in upcoming vacations and had visited the place TWICE before but couldn't complete the whole site in exploration within a frame of limited time. This time I attired my expeditional vision to finish the unfinished business in the city of al-Ula where the history and ancient civilization speak and where Madain Saleh is nearly located.
I have finally taken the vacations to avoid my mental adversity of working and the plan has been framed. My fellow musketeers are ready for a 2-day trip to the city of al-Ula. The chosen transport of legitimacy is my Hyundai Veloster 2014. The plan is simple and fair. We will leave our city at midnight, reach al-Ula by morning and visit few historical sites. We will stay in a hotel till next morning and at last visit Madain Saleh before we depart back to Jeddah.
By road, there are two ways to reach al-Ula from Jeddah. Either you reach the mark via Yanbu, with a travelling distance of 692km and reaching in approx seven and half hours if driven at an average of 120kph, OR you chose reaching the destiny via Madinah, with a travelling distance of 750km and reaching in approx eight and half hours at the same average speed. The choice is yours, just set the navigation and choose your route which ease you more. I preferred the Yanbu one.
Driving at 120kph, things didn't look normal to me for a long run. My hand palms were tickling to press the accelerator hard and cross the limit. I knew that Saher 'the vehicle speed detector' was installed in our way but where exactly? I guess we crossed the Saher and I should break the 120kph barrier. So once I increased the speed to 140kph, mr. Saher welcomed me for a photoshoot -_- FML!
Our destiny forwarded towards the beautiful night-view of Petro Rabigh and futher on Yanbu Industrial area where the immense use of lighting in an absolute dark night attracts. We stopped by a side to take pictures of Yanbu factories.
Another embarrassing moment almost to happen was that my car began losing all its petrol. We had crossed more than 300km and realized that something conjured my understanding that I will regularly find petrol stations. I was trolled by a huge absence of the stations and speed from 160kph was brutally cut to 40kph at around 5am. The weather was cold and pleasant, the temperature dropped from 27 to 19 degrees celsius , but our blood temperature almost broke the mercury.
At the last hiccup, we finally saw a closed station on our opposite road with a masjid and store. It was Fajr prayer by then. Temperature had further dropped to 14 degrees celsius. One musketeer slept in the car and the other decorated the dinner at the engine of car. We had butter chicken and a packet of bread to eat. Two more guests joined and waited for their turn with shivering meows to grab the attention. The petrol was filled and ran towards the destiny.
The sun rose, street lights got off, beautiful landscapes brought freshness to me and the mountains as usual touched the heights of sky. A lone warrior ran towards the mark early in the morning with unwelcomed speed breakers at the entry of each small towns and villages. Shops began to open. The smoke revealed from the laundry shop, customers were seated in the cafeteria and ful tamiz (fava beans and Afghani bread) shop, salon opened with the barbers sitting on customer seat watching TV, septuagenarian Yemenis and Egyptians sat on their bamboo bed and goats ate grass.
We now have entered the city. Let me brief you about al-Ula. The city is Saudi Arabia's northwestern part. From Madinah, it is located north 341km far. The city is the closest to Madain Saleh (22km). Al-Ula is very much about God-gifted natural mountains. It has many sandy mountains bordering from the east such as Mount Almojder and Arezikea Mountains from the west.
Al-Ula is 825m above sea level and the climate is moderate. The temperature doesn't rise more than 45 degrees celsius in summer but is very cold in winters existing in December and January with the temperature of 9 degrees celsius. The average rate of annual rainfall is 250mm.
To more attraction of interest in knowing Al-Ula, the word "Dedan" used in Bible Old Testament is the biblical name of Al-Ula as well as used in Assyrian and Arabic writings. Dedan means 'low ground' and people belonging to Dedan were called Dedanites. In Bible, if you read all 36 verses of The Book of Ezekiel – Chapter 27, you will understand that the chapter was about the roster of trading routes and partners of the city of Tyre. Tyre is modern Lebanon and Dedan were their trading partners dealing in precious clothes used in chariot as referred in verse no.20.
If you visit Madain Saleh and ancient historical places, there is huge probability of confusion over the mentioned Kingdoms in very informative plates installed on the sites i.e. Lehyanites, Dedanites, Nabateans. Let me try to clear the confusion which I suffered the same on my own primary attempts of research. Actually the Kingdoms of Leyanites (Lihyans) and Dedanites (Dedan) are the two who ruled the city as Lihyans were the original settlers to Al-Ula. According to Arab genealogists, Lihyan tribe are from the Adnanite Arabs (west and central arabians and opposers of Qahtanites of south arabian) from Ismail. This tribe is still surviving, settled in the desert between Makkah and Madinah.
This ancient city was capital of Kindoms of Dedan and Lihyan from 6th to 2nd century BC. From the 2nd century BC, the Nabateans took charge of the city until 106 AD when the Romans conquered their capital, Petra. So the Nabateans made Hegra (the modern Madain Saleh) their second capital and we musketeers first stepped to the oldest town of the city before booking a room in hotel.
Like I said before, this is the 3rd time I travelled this city for research and exploration which has become my passion to know what lies beneath the country where I was born. The significance of travelling by road towards the city is rare and strange mountains. Your eyes are always forced to stare at them. Most of the mountains are of unusual shapes. I am precisely not into orology and due to the fact I have no words to describe the nature of mountain. I didn't even know if I am supposed to feel blessed or in contrary, considering a wrath of Allah with the understanding that a sound wave struck the region by Allah on the idol-worshipers of Thamud region according to the Holy Quran?
The plan to first check-in hotel was abrupted as the old al-Ula town known as Deira District appeared to the screen first. So we made our mind to explore the world of Deira and then move to hotel. So what is all about Deira. This Deira district (which was once a city) is nearly 700 years old. According to wikipedia sources, "The city of Deira was built with the re-usage of stones of the Dedan and Lihyan ruins. al-Ula now became the major settlement of the region again until the modern times. A railway station was built for the Hejaz Railway in 1901-08. The railway line was built through the western part of Al-Khuraiba some twelve kilometers to the north of the old medieval town which is believed to be the site of the old Dedanite and Lihyanite town. In the 20th century, the new town center was established besides the old town and eventually the people left the old buildings. The last family is said to have left in 1983, while the last service in the old mosque was held in 1985. Both the ruins of the medieval town and the site of the Liyhanite settlement now lay within the limits of the modern town."
Exploring Deira city was exactly like our trip to Thee-Ain village in Al-Baha. You may click here for the details of our trip.(https://saminaik.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/rocky-doodle-in-centuries-old-ville/) A very quiet place with renovation work under process. Glad to see Saudi Commission for Tourism & Antiquities working with local contracting company for the development of cultural heritage to attract the tourists and create awareness. The cement is supplied from Tabuk Cement Company.
No humans to shelter, no stopping of helter skelter. There is easy foot stepping towards the 1st floor and ceiling in many of houses. As similar case like Thee-Ain village, ceilings are made of bamboos and juniper trees. When we entered the city and walked inside the streets, we felt little creepy and mysterious place. Stiff walls and few small store rooms. Numerous walls are arrowed and doors are numbered. Passages are broad.
Walking through the passages and streets, I separated myself from my fellow musketeers and tried to focus on the language of silence of 700-year-old civilization. This place was once a trade route to Mesopotamia, Syria and Egypt. I could listen the truck lorries and labors shouting, lifting heavy sacks and shifting materials. With the understanding that it was a proper Arab community living scores of years here, this place dramatically went wild and alive. An Arab social and cultural fantasy was in front of my eyes and all of a sudden, it was 'Sami in the Arab wonderland'.
My mind played Shayne Ward's "Breathless". Near my sight sat an old sexagenarian Yemeni drinking a traditional huqqa (hookah). I turned my head towards the other side. Two meters far, I saw a bamboo table decorated with dominoes game and two Ismaili Egyptians sat on their wooden chairs playing the game. From the door close to the game, entered a teenage boy with a wooden tray carrying traditional koshary shai (tea) and a plate of ful medames with sliced hard-boiled eggs. The boy's friends shouted at him to join the gang who have found a snake and were eager to tease it.
My clothes got little wet by the vapours dispatched from the garments handed by the old ladies standing on the ceiling in order to dry it. To the bottom of very same building, oped a wooden door and came out two young Syrian girls in their twenties in black veils going to a madrasa. One carrying school bag was plumpy but the other one was attractive with two copies in her soft hands decorated with coiled bangles. She placed the copies on her upper chest, kept an eye on me. When I gave her the same look with a paroxysm of smile, the fatty began whispering in her ears and both laughing. That Syrian schoolgirl surely was daughter of that old lady on the top, who caught me staring her and all of a sudden began shouting with agony :S In panic, I edged towards the wrong way and hit with a milkman and his bicycle. I dropped my mobile and 'Breathless' met an end with a pin drop silence…
In very few houses, I saw old Lihyanite and Arabic scriptures. More to a mystery were very weird looking graffitis specially star of david with a minaret :S Weapons were also graffitied on the walls. After wandering like a vagabond, I found a large wooden gate. Entered and I found a masjid. It was in extremely shattered shape. Don't know how old was that masjid but I found a 'Tat' fan hanging on ceiling.
Overall, this old town is consisted of 1032 houses and is formed of two lanes named al-Hilf and al-Shaqiq. Each house carries two storeys. Each first storey was built out of stones carried from the ancient site of al-Khuraybah and allocated to receive the guests. While every second storey was built out of mud brick and used as living area. The whole town was designed to make the defense easy. Many houses were built attached to each other forming fortification around the city. The town originally had fourteen gates that were opened in the morning and closed in the evening.
Al-Ula was a major station along the pilgrimage route from Damascus to Makkah. Pilgrim caravans used to halt at al-Ula in order to obtain provisions and water. Some of the pilgrims used to leave a portion of their baggage with people of al-Ula and then collect on upon their return. Those were the golden days because one cannot expect or rely on a person you don't know to leave his property and receive it back from him. Syrian merchants used to travel as far as al-Ula to sell supplies to pilgrims.
To be more accurate with the history, Islamic history compulsorily lies here. Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) during his ghazwa (war fought by Prophet Muhammad S.A.W.) against Tabuk, made a temporary stay in this town and prayed in Masjid al-Izam. Izam means bones and is known due to the fact that Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) designated mihrab using a bone.
This heritage village is not only a town of 1032 houses and a masjid from Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.)'s era. This ancient town also has a castle. The castle was built back in 6th century BC to defend the town and renovated many times. Lihyanite inscriptions and Nabatean coins were found in its archaeological strata. The area is 180 square meters and 45 meters high above the town level. Till 2009, it was difficult to ascend the top of castle due to deterioration of stairs. Saudi Commission for Tourism & Antiquities implemented the project to restore the stairs. Now there is an access to reach the top of the fort and enjoy an amazing view of the whole ancient town of al-Ula and the farms in the surroundings.
Now the castle is known as Musa bin Nusayr Fort. According to the historians, famous Islamic commander of 7th Hijri, Musa bin Nusayr, lived and died in it. The castle has walls covered on the top surrounding the top of the mountain with the openings to monitor and shoot in the wars fought in the past. Many informative plates are installed for timeline education. The water could be supplied to the castle from a well dug in the rocky area down the mountain. We found that well close to the graveyard.
It is almost 2pm here and temperature wasn't touching 20 degrees celsius since we arrived the city. It was impressive and very convincing to observe that renovation of half of the town has been almost completed. The passage and streets have been cleaned and lanterns are hanged on the ceilings. Electricity work has been done and signboards are installed on the streets. That specific half, most of the wooden doors have been closed. So in near future, I see that happening in the remaining half. We are lucky to enter the rooms, use the stairs to go to the upper floor and ceiling of many houses. We even sat on the top boundaries and also jumped on the rough surfaces. We walked on the bamboo and juniper trees used for ceilings. These exciting stunts might not happen but I am glad to see that Deira's Old Town will be alive with a lot of tourist attraction very soon.
Off from Deira district hungry and exhausted. Time to look for a hotel and eat lunch, so we can reboot our system and hunt for more sites. To our major surprise, we have found a hotel for a day for only SAR.120!!! Gosh rates in winter in al-Ula are cheaper than expected. About to look for food and have just found that I forgot to bring the charger of my laptop -_-
Would love to read your feedback below and you may ask me questions related to my trip. Stay tuned for the next chapter under 'The Breezing Ula'. Until then, good-bye.
Al-UlaAl-Ula CastleBanu LahyanBook of EzekielDedanDedaniteDeira DistrictLihyanLihyaniteMadain SalehMusa bin NusayrNabateansSaudi Arabia