Birthday Wishes!

I celebrate today my 31^st birthday surrounded by my family and friends. Even my phone didn’t stop since last night with well wishers sending messages through blackberry messenger, twitter and facebook, so I thank each and every person for making it such a special day for me. I got to enjoy a lovely baby blue cake with my family. Considering the special occasion, this post will be a "special edition" one. Hope you enjoy it.

Normally you get to have a wish when blowing off the candles, and so I made a special wish this year. I wished for having the ability to read people's minds. Silly, I know, but I wanted that, and so I got it. You might not believe me, but just read on and you tell me if this was fantasy or reality. After a sweet nap I decided to go get me a cup of coffee, on the way I started hearing people n cars around me talking but without moving their lips. I pulled up on a traffic light and a brown old car pulled next to me with an old man driving it. He would be the first man I heard his mind as he started thinking: (I will write all the thoughts in italic if you don’t mind) oh Allah, I wonder where my son is? I have to talk to him about his lifestyle, he needs to get a job and help me out, my pension is not enough, and the bank is not giving me any more chances or extra loans. The signal light turns green, the cars move and I lost the thought line. I reach the coffee shop and I start hearing the guy making me my cup of coffee: Someday I will be on the front page of the newspapers as the police arrest me for killing my manager, how dare he keeps hassling me day in day out, he's not even Bahraini, could it be that he thinks Bahrainis are superior to him and he takes it out on me? He hands me my cup with a smile and I leave, with that his line of thought is cut short. Next I decided to go take a walk in a mall I think people with happier thoughts might be there. At the gate I'm attracted to the thoughts of a security guard standing by the door: God I need a smoke, I need to shake off my nervousness so that I can approach that girl selling make up, she is so cute when she smiles, but will she even accept me? I'm just a security guard at a mall, and I keep seeing guys in suits approaching her, I don’t have a chance compared to these guys, it's hopeless. I approach the girl selling make up pretending to buy make up for some girl, but just to hear her thoughts: why does the security guard keeps on ignoring me? Maybe he's not interested in me maybe my hair is messed up tonight, or is my make up not right? I need to go freshen up as soon as this guy buzzes off. Okay, I decide it's time for me to buzz off and give those love birds a chance. I sit down next to a lady and start listening to what she is thinking: where is he? He told me that he wants me to meet him here so that we can go somewhere to be alone. God I hope my husband doesn’t suspect anything, I told him I'm coming to the mall to shop. What if my boy friend's wife suspects as well, I hate her so much especially when she didn’t pay me any attention when she held that dinner. Oh here he is. I decide to go over to the cleaning guy over in the corner:  मुझे आपकी बहुत याद आयी। ज्यादा कुछ नहीं  हम खो गये हैं. Ok that didn’t go too well, so I decide to head to my car, but I accidentally bump into a guy walking and I hear him thinking: I wonder how much I will make in my pocket after I convince my work to buy from my friend? He promised me 10% but I think I deserve more; it's very hard now to convince my boss after that auditor joined. I think my boss should give me a big bonus this year, I'm already doing my job and his, that stupid lazy bum. This wish is now annoying me. I head to my car and start heading home, when a taxi guy happens to pull next to me in traffic: This khaleejy guy is so stupid, I'm ripping him off and he is just so happy that I will drop him at some cheap bar, I even promised I will get him a girl to sleep with, I just hope no other crook gets him before I clean his pockets. I look at the khaleejy guy and he is thinking: wow I heard that Bahrain was liberal, but this is amazing, I feel like I'm in Vegas, I just hope the money I stole from my wife will last the week end at the rate I'm spending now. I'm starting to hate this wish, and I'm looking for a way to block all these thoughts out of my head. I reach home thankfully with my brain still intact. I run to my room, only to be greeted by my mom: oh there he is, thank you god for delivering my son to me safely, I know he is old but I still worry, I love him so much, he is the only one left by my side. He is the reason why I'm still alive. I give my mom a kiss on her forehead and head upstairs to my room. I'm not surprised that I'm not able to sleep thinking about all those people and their thoughts. I never imagined what I would have experienced today. I finally sleep and when I wake up the next day I find out that I am not able to read anyone's mind; thank God for that.

This post was inspired to me, so I have to give credit to this person. I know I'm not good at storytelling but it's an attempt to paint a picture that not everyone is happy and not everyone is who we think. Now you should ask yourself, was that a fantasy or was it reality. In the spirit of suspense, I will let you guess. Finally I would like to state that I'm a firm believer that all humans are good in spirit, but are corrupted by internal or external influences.

The characters in this story are fictional; or are they!

oh and happy birthday to me.. RIP Marilyn Monroe

Litany of Hate!

On the 21^st of February I headed, like thousands, to the rally that was called to support the King and his government. It was a great scene of strength to all those who have kept silent for far too long. We went there with hope in our hearts. We went there asking for the world to witness our solidarity and unity.  On the way I was listening to the Bahraini radio where lots of people were calling and showing their pride in participating. As for me I had a pride in participating in a rally that would show unity between the two major Muslim sects in Bahrain. I could say one thing; Epic Swindle!

Many might not agree with me when I say that on the way back I felt disappointed at what I have witnessed. Don’t take me wrong, I do feel proud at standing my ground with my fellow Bahrainis at what could be considered the biggest rally any of us witnessed, but the speakers raised a few eyebrows. Furthermore, what's the deal with the "national unity" thing? I thought it was the name of the rally, but I was stunned when the organizers declared that we were all inducted in a new party or political society unwillingly. Forced baptism? It sure felt like that to me. I don’t mind with people creating new political societies that suit their political alignment, but please do not try to force a political view or spectrum down my throat. We were all called over by my king and country to serve, and I heeded the call like all of those who participated. What I didn’t expect was that it turned out to be a gathering led by Dr. Abdulatif Almahmood; now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the honorable university professor, but I do reserve my right to disagree with his appointment as a leader to the sunni community, because that is what it looked like. Actually I don’t want a sunni leader, nor do I want a Shiite leader, or any religious leader in the country, simply because we already have a leader in his majesty the king and we should all turn to him for leadership. Religious leadership only will serve as clear indication to our nation's division down the religious lines. I stand behind the crown prince and refer to myself as a Bahraini with absolutely no sub division or reference, like a "sunni Bahraini" or a "shiite Bahraini" or any o the like.

I have lived my life here in Bahrain acknowledging that we live in a multi cultural society, our neighborhoods, schools, hospitals, and places of work are all a melting pot of this Bahraini culture. For God's sake, I have many shiite friends and NO ONE has the right to take them away from me. I have to acknowledge also that times have changed but that shouldn’t mean that we should just surrender hopelessly down and go silently into the dark night, we should at least make an effort of fighting those who will divide us into sects, colors and classes. I don’t want Bahrain to be Lebanon and neither does any sane human being. We don’t want to be like an African nation that is rife with civil wars. We don’t want the Nazi party to come back to life in any shape or form. What we do want is to be able to live in peace together, to try and tolerate each other and give enough freedom of expression but with clear limits as to not to offend another. We want to be able to drive to schools, universities and work places not worrying about our safety on the way. We do not want to worry about to which sect does the person sitting next to me belongs to.

I do not question the good intentions to those who spoke or those who organized this gathering, nor do I question their national pride or their want to serve, but I do reserve the right to disagree on the way it should be done. Just like in any democratic country we see the socialists, the liberals and the conservatives all working towards the same goal but through different means. That is how a healthy society should behave. I encourage the establishment of more political societies that would involve the young into their structures, but let those young minds choose to which they belong. We should have societies based on political ideology not on color or creed. This political awareness should eventually be the catalyst to a better society. We should also encourage the culture of debate and non-offense based freedom of speech.

These are my thoughts, and not influenced by anyone else. I have listened to those who spoke and to those who have disagreed within the crowd, and have slept those nights thinking about what have happened in the gathering. I have developed my point of view and this point of view is not engraved on stone, rather I am a human being that knows how humans can be corrected. I try to keep an open mind to all those who give their views equally but do defend my brain from the filth that some throw at us. What I will do next time there is a gathering is to research more who the speakers are and what will be the agenda of the gathering; imagine being in a gathering where the speaker suddenly announces us part of a new communist party! That should be a funny episode indeed.

Now, more than ever, is the time to stand behind our leadership and drive through just like being on a ship in the middle of a tempest. Finally don’t let those with forked tongues take over our minds with their litany of hate.

Is Anarchism the New Black?!

First and foremost I would like to congratulate Egypt on its recent milestone in its long and illustrious history, but c'mon people, not every country are Egypt. Believe it or not, I had to escape to the desert just to have some peace and quiet to be able to write this piece. I'm talking about noise coming from young men who abused the chance to show support to His Majesty by skidding and showing off their newest and loudest cars in a residential area. I have to write about the on-going struggle to reclaim our residential area sometime.

Imagine being in the middle of the last part of a circus when all the jugglers, animals, clowns are out and you not knowing where is the exit. I find myself stuck in the middle regarding the new wave of protests in Bahrain. On one hand there are the protesters who felt very emboldened by the recent victory of Egypt's protesters to mount their own version of revolution. I definitely do not support them in any way, shape or form. On the other hand, there are His Majesty's supporters who in majority I relate very much to, but I would like to refer to those who mindlessly would like to show their support but in an uncivilized way. I would like to think of myself as someone who belongs to the majority of Bahrainis who support the current government but would love to see more improvement in all aspects in Bahraini life. This doesn’t mean that we would go to the streets and demand all our wishes to come true by force, simply because there are tools set up by the constitution to initiate any change or improvement we deem possible.

The daily ritual of checking twitter, facebook and Aljazeera is becoming tedious by the moment. You can almost feel that the media moguls are rubbing their grubby little hands in glee planning ahead where their next revolution is going to happen. It's become clear that the recent revolutions, with the exception of Tunis, are supported by the global media. Mind you it's not to benefit the population but rather to help raise their stock points. I'm not much into conspiracy theories so it is futile to argue this previous point, but it does remain arguable. I also cannot argue that some Arab countries have become obsolete and a need for change is just what the doctor would prescribe, but Bahrain is another case altogether due to so many reasons like its importance to the fifth fleet, it's daily refinement of oil to the global market, and that those protests are sectarian in nature just to name a few reasons to distinguish Bahrain from the "Arab Spring".

Since 2002, the King and the government have been insisting on one shared focal point, which is to embolden the Bahraini citizens. That would mean that it is up to the citizen now to have the knowledge and tools to improve his/her life standards. That brings up an important aspect, knowledge. You as citizens need to know your rights, your obligations and the tools to use, no one is going to go out of their way to install this information for you, and it is your first duty as citizens to seek this kind of knowledge. I constantly hear people complain about things that would be within their power to change like their economic standings. Bahrain is not an oligarchy, we are not ruled by business men who twist the country to fatten their bank accounts, we live in a free opportunity country where all can have their chance even more with the newly set up "Tamkeen" which free market economies would look at as a kind of an advantage tool. I should like to mention that none of the GCC countries have so many tools to help entrepreneurs, so you see it cannot be a simple economic demand on part of the protesters. This reasoning also goes out to those who support the King; the best way to support His Majesty is to make his reforms a success and not a simple footnote in the history of Bahrain, by participating and helping the government and the parliament lead us into an even better future, not by jingoism.

Finally we all need to turn our minds on after being mesmerized for so long by the images we are fed from the media and dust our books, be it physical or electronic books and know our rights and duties to our beloved country. His Majesty realizes that in order to have a bright future is to involve all Bahrainis with the process of decision making. Long past is the time where a single man can decide for a nation, simply because nations are much smarter than they used to be back in the dark ages. Sectarianism and jingoism will only lead us to the path of a beloved cousin by the name of Lebanon. I can certainly go on and on, but finally I salute you Your Majesty.

"And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

John F. Kennedy 35^th President of the United States

 *graffiti by Banksy

Moving to better pastures (maybe... I hope)

My nephew suggested I should start using wordpress, and I thought it shouldn't hurt to give it a go. So far I'm kinda overwhelmed by the amount of options and tweaks there are, but for now its blogger dot com for me.

Anyway, I would like to touch on a subject of the utmost importance to all of us.

Telecommunication, damned thieves. Well I guess I just summed it up for you and I can stop my rant, but I wont. I will only try to discuss Bahrain's telecoms business because frankly I feel jealous when looking at other countries telecoms offers and secondly I don't really know whats the deal outside, well apart from UAE who have the worst cellular coverage this side of the century. Seriously though, give it a thought, how come not ONE telecoms company in the world suffered when the economic crisis hit? hmmm I wonder why!

At first there was nothing, then God created earth, the trees, the animals, sent Adam & Eve down, and gave them Batelco! That was maybe the believe of so many of us, there was always Batelco. A company with a monopoly so big, that they didn't even need to advertise much, after all where else are you going to get your telecoms itch scratched? Even their employees were so arrogant, that they would treat you like you are asking them for a favor or some charity. A clear case of how arrogance can be so contagious, maybe a good example for a psychology researcher. I still remember that, in a very twisted way, I always enjoyed my trips to Batelco outlets (to pay my bills obviously). Standing in those long lines I would observe the looks on those so called "customers", they looked more like a pressed crew on a pirate ship more than willing happy customers. You can clearly see tension on everyone's face, because simply put, everyone's got an issue with Batelco. You see an old man pleading with a customer service employee, a woman raising her voice in protest over the astronomical figure of her bill, a young guy biting his nails thinking how to structure his payments, and the defeated person who walks out with his head bowed realizing that he just got squeezed out of every penny he got to satiate this horrible monster, and finally the arguing guy who just found out that you cannot win in any way shape or form. I even remember back then at the time of the monopoly a person would try so hard to be close to a Batelco employee, like they were celebrities, and they were. I believe that this company got so rich that they started buying and investing into other telecoms companies in the region, and all thanks to the helpless population. Its not just personal and commercial use I'm talking about, Batelco have entrenched themselves so much that even the newly introduced telecoms companies have to go through it one way or another. Highway robbery I say.

Then came MTC Vodafone (later Zain) like a breath of fresh air, or so everyone thought. To be honest, I know some individuals who have told me blatantly that they would rather be robbed by the new service provider rather than be treated fairly by Batelco! People registered to MTC by the truck load, and the funny thing was when they would intentionally go to a Batelco outlet just to smile and inform them that they will not be continuing with Batelco anymore. It was a blessing that came down from heaven with angels and trumpets, but like all things in life the honeymoon has to end at some time. MTC Vodafone became Zain, as if to tell you people that you will cough up your money but in style. Even after the introduction of Viva as the third mobile provider, Zain still has the worst services in Bahrain. Zain just rolled over and let everyone step over its dying corpse, you can even feel it on the faces of their employees, who at one point were considered to be the happiest in Bahrain. Along comes Viva, the Saudi behemoth, with its untold riches and its single minded policy of "if there is a problem, throw enough money at it until it disappears". Now you may think that we as Bahrainis do not have a problem nowadays, on the contrary, a look at Saudi Arabia's telecoms services will put shame to ours. People keep telling me that the newly created TRA (telecommunication regulatory authority) is the one that is holding down the telecoms companies from offering better, cheaper services to the public. I wouldn't blindly believe this statement, but I will take it with a pinch of salt. The way I see it, its just in your head, changing service providers has little or no effect really. Sadly we are still left helpless, with no say as to how we want our services, and at the mercy of vultures.

I have to leave you now to go pay my land line bills to Batelco, my mobile and internet service to Viva, and finally my blackberry mobile to Zain. Adios!