from bullets to bazookas

romance in kuwait

I was originally scheduled to leave to Delhi today, but being that my cousin Shalu, Kukku's older sister who is studying in Bangalore, will be arriving in Kuwait on the 9th of April, I felt it would be worthwhile to extend my stay till the 15th of April. The only thing exciting about Kuwait is family. I did get to go out and see much of Kuwait in the past two weeks.

I visited the Sultan Center which is located in the Sharq Seafront Market. It's an entire mall, built on an artificial island. There is a marina in front of the mall; behind it is the Arabian Gulf. Aside from the setting, it's a regular Western style mall. Close to the Sultan Center is the Sharq Fish Market. It's a large warehouse sort of space with many small stalls, and vendors sell fish of all sizes. The entire Seafront Market is a pretty sight at night. Since most of my visits are in the evenings, I only have night shots of all the sights. They're not bad actually.

On another balmy night, we went out to Green Island. It's an artificial island with an amphitheater, a few restaurants, towers from which to view the island, and Kuwait City. Aside from the views of the city, and the somewhat serene atmosphere, there is not much else to do here. There's plenty of grass, topiary, artificial lakes, beaches, etc.

It was a Thursday afternoon when we visited Messila Beach and Salmiyah before we headed to church in the evening. Messila beach is located on the Eastern coastline of Kuwait, the shores of the Arabian Gulf. Again, nothing seems natural out here. There were plenty of rocks, stones, concrete, bricks, pieces of concrete slabs, etc on the shore. On a Thursday afternoon, there were few locals on the beach. Some were barbequing, while the children played in the water; some wandered around aimlessly, and some lay asleep on a mat in the shade.

Many in India would give anything to come and work in Kuwait. It's understandable, but I wonder if they really know the situation out here. Though expatriates make up the majority of the population, they have no political input. They cannot own lands or build homes. Almost all expatriates live in apartment buildings. Most Kuwaitis have no respect for the foreigners, and foreigners are spoken down to. Kuwaiti children walk into foreign owned grocery stores, pick up snacks and leave without paying for it. The foreign owners cannot say or do anything about this. In order to remain in the country, you need a sponsorship that needs to be renewed by the company that is sponsoring your stay, for a maximum of five years. A male expatriate may sponsor his wife and children to live in Kuwait, but a female expatriate may not sponser her husband or male children aged 21 or over. If a male expatriate sponsors his wife, she cannot work for three years. In order to work, she will have to find a sponsor first. There is just so much of bureaucracy and red tape in every procedure. Not too many foreigners living here are happy about life here - especially if they have family back home. When folks working in the Gulf countries head back home to India to visit family, the general mass seems to think that these vacationers are mining gold in the Gulf. It is not at all so. If anything, life in India is so much more peaceful and rewarding - even if you are not earning as much. I have come across several expatriates who feel it was a mistake to come work in the Gulf. Of course for all the heartbreak, though you have nothing to hold on to in the Gulf, if you can manage to save up enough money, you can build a home in India, make sure your children are settled, and enjoy retirement in India. Saving is not so easy if only one member of the family is employed.

Oh, there are just too many injustices to talk about. I've been told that many of the skyscrapers dotting the city have only come up in the past two years - after Saddam Hussein was captured by the U.S. They call us the Liberators. They've put up monuments to remember the liberation. Inside monuments, there are pictures depicting the destruction that the invasion had caused. The captions under these pictures describe the Iraqis as savage invaders. I remember the invasion, and how Kuwait was humbled by the Iraqi Scud Missiles. But for American intervention, there might not be a Kuwait today. I understand that before Kuwait was invaded foreign women were afraid to walk out in the streets alone to get to work, as Kuwaiti men would drive by and assault the women, sometimes kidnapping them. The same atrocities were done to the Kuwaiti women during the invasion. This also was an humbling experience. All the lessons have soon been forgotten. Some of the foreigners who were around during the invasion, and who have gone through the hardships, now say that it was just what was needed for Kuwait. There is a word in Malayalam that describes the attitude of Kuwaitis (of course not all of them are this way, but the general attitude), and I have heard this often since I arrived; the word is Ahangari. In English, it is translated as utter pride and contempt. Several times, while walking along the street, young Kuwaiti boys walked by, mocking me with contorted faces. I am sure if I pulled out the passport, their faces wouldn't be as contorted. But I've got nothing to prove. Even with an American passport, I am Indian nonetheless.

I am also told that it is only because of the appeals of the senior Bush that there are churches still in Kuwait. I was handed a paper clipping of an article in one of Kuwait's newspapers. The article published on Thursday, March 23rd announces "No More Churches Allowed in Kuwait." "MP Fahad Al-Khannah said it is not allowed to construct temples and churches in Kuwait because the Prophet (PBUH) said, "No two religions will meet in the Arab Peninsula." "MP Badir Sheikhan Al-Farisi said "we must respect all religions and beliefs, adding that we are demanding that the West allow Muslims build mosques and temples so we must treat them alike." Such is the case with dialog in this country - as I described in the incident in my last update. This contradiction stems from something deeper. In the same article: "The presence of churches and temples in Kuwait...is in violation of Allah's book and the Sunna of His Prophet (PBUH)." ... "The scholar Yousuf Al-Sana said: 'They should be granted their rights as ordered by Islam, but with conditions.'" One thing comes to mind: "Let my people go!" "...I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Mat. 16:18). Wouldn't it be grand?

Speaking of religion and politics, I hear that Charles Taylor has been surrendered. That bit of news caught my interest. I'd like to see what happens next.

Today, I played parent and visited my cousins school to pick up her grades and new books for the next year. She's got 5th rank in her class. That blows me out of the water as I've never had any rank in any of my academic years; yet somehow, 5th rank doesn't seem satisfactory to me. I must be getting old. Soon I will be asking where the other three points went. "Why do you only have a 97 and not a 100?" She's a brilliant girl and I am sure she'll do better next year. I was about her age when I immigrated to the U.S. She has just completed her first year in Kuwait. I had to cover all of her textbooks for her with laminated brown paper. I remembered I used to do that when studying in Bangalore. In Kuwait, I've traveled back quite a bit; speaking exclusively in Malayalam, listening to Tamil and Hindi translations in church, singing Malayalam, Tamil, and Hindi songs, and reminiscing with the family about life in Bangalore and Kerala. It's all been good. It should be exciting to see Shalu once again.

Let me end this sad epic with some humor about Kuwait. I picked up the December 2005 issue of Bazaar magazine, a Kuwaiti magazine, while waiting at my uncle's workplace. I read through some of the articles and came across one titled "Celibacy In The City" written by a Mimi Ali. Of all the rants of the women, this one was a bit funny. Here's an excerpt:

"Men in Kuwait have realized that there is one critical impediment to dating - they have no way of meeting women. After all, schools are segregated, the university is segregated, weddings, parties, and all other social events are segregated. And if you walk up to a woman in a bookstore and try to chat, you will probably end up in jail. So they have adopted a two pronged technique to deal with this issue. During traffic jams, they abandon the driver's seat in favour of strolling among the cars and chatting with women sitting alone. They often hand out little cards embossed with their phone numbers and charming entreaties like, 'call me, sweet honey.' An added bonus to the titillating pleasure of these window conversations is watching them scramble back hastily when the light turns green.

"Men have also started painting their email addresses on the back of their sports cars in bright letters. You like the looks of the tall dark man in the red Mercedes coupe? Well, just send an email to 'Mr_Virgin@hotmail.com' (That is a genuine email address by the way, feel free to use it). I guess it is not a bad idea though; in other countries, you have to pay to meet your match on-line..."

There you go; now you know how romance works in Kuwait.

P.S. I promise I will put up the pictures of Kuwait as soon as I complete my stay in Kuwait. The Africa pictures are a bit more complicated. I am sure you will understand - especially after all what went down before my departure. I will sort those pictures out as soon as I get a chance.

posted by bthomas24 @ 12:51 PM