Thank God It's Wednesday!!

From the air, Riyadh looks like a giant IC chip. What caught my eye from the window seat of the otherwise lousy flight I was on were glittering lights in almost every direction. You can see lights running on for miles on end, that too in a straight line. Some of these lights are from the powerful street lamps and others are from all the snazzy buildings. But they are all arranged in geometric fashion, and where you see the lights coming to an end, that’s where the city ends too.

Like I said here, Riyadh is an interesting place. There are quite a few things which you wouldn’t see elsewhere. For starters, all restaurants have a singles section-which is where unfortunate rudderless souls like me have to sit. But only men here, no single women (now THAT would hv been something, a singles section where single men and single women could sit, eat, chat, and if things went well, ….hmmm…very interesting concept.)Then there is a family section, which is where the man comes in with his masked wife and kids. I hear that inside the family section too you tend to have cabins. So even if you are married and in the same room as other women, then too you wouldn’t get to see anyone but your own wife..yea that sucks! As for restaurants which have no family section, well, families just cant enter. So you have a lot of men coming and buying loads of food and getting it packed to take away. Then there are malls which are strictly meant for families and I guess for women. But no stags allowed in there. If they are not family alone malls, then I guess they have days reserved for women and family. On those days we single men wouldn’t be allowed in. I still have to get this thing confirmed. But yes, there are family only malls!! And it doesn’t stop with malls. You also have parks with the same principle. No singles allowed in here either. But who would wanna go in a park in the evenings and then see black all around?? So that’s not such a big deal.

The other day, I went to a snazzy complex. It doubles up as an office complex cum shopping mall. Had actually gone there on work, to meet a guy from another company, but then we went down for lunch in the food court. And the place was swarming with people and yes, many women :-D There were the ones with their hoods on, but there were quite a few who literally let their hair down. Their hoods were off, and they had the prettiest faces. I guess it’s the deadly combination of very fair skin, jet black hair and sharp features. And some of them know how to make themselves look good. Their abayas have some art work on them. That’s their way of being trendy. But that’s not all. Beneath those cumbersome things, you can see jeans, tights, sneakers, and even knee length boots. Now I wasn’t leering at them to be able to report all these things. It was just the way they walked. You could see that they wanted you to see. Some of them dye their hair blonde, others brunette, others leave it black. But really fine hair. Unfortunately they had another section of the food court for themselves. We were stuck with other men! But the bottomline is that there ARE some very good looking women out here. They are just like works of art in a gallery – see, but do not touch.

Then you have Salah.

I guess people here take their religious life very seriously. Am not going to speak about that though. But what is interesting about this is how it impacts everybody’s daily life. Muslims pray five times a day, and each time it goes on for about half an hour. And when that happens here, almost everything comes to a standstill. And that includes all the shops too. So if you are in a shop and its time for prayer, then you are either locked in or asked to leave the place. They have to down their shutters for that period of time. It doesn’t matter if you are at a restaurant, a barber shop, or an internet café. No work can take place then. You can walk around though, or if you have a car, drive around. It’s just that no transactions can take place then. So if you wanna go shopping, then you have to keep the prayer timings in mind. Else you will have to wait quite a while for the shops to open.

I am sorry that I haven’t been very regular on the blog scene. Work has been quite a bug here. Its been bugging me no end. Things are hectic, and by the time its time to leave the office, you still aren’t done with the work! That’s why I’ve been missing from your blogs as well. Will make up, I promise J

What would you like to hear about next time though?

Still alive people!!

In other news: I was thinking of coming over to India and change to my work permit and then return for good. This was until someone in power here reminded me that my business visa could be extended and asked me to be ‘sensitive to the client’s needs’- read “you cant go home now!” . So I am gonna be spending a very merry Christmas here. Yes I know its gonna be fun. And yesterday was a very happy day for my family..my second bro is now a dad! A baby girl :-) When I talked to him over the phone, he was still coming to terms with becoming a dad. All he said that was she looked so fragile…guess its entirely something else to see a part of you in front of you, and realize that you have given life to someone else, someone of your own..this is one of the best things in life, and yes, it’s free too!

Shain