Blurred Lines On A Foggy Night

There is something eerie when you are not blind yet cannot see, or cannot see clearly. Like in a dark room, or when the sun flashes suddenly in your eyes and you’re left blind for a few seconds until your eyes adjust. That feeling of helplessness. Feeling powerless to what is surrounding you. You end up freezing in your place, rubbing frantically at your eyes. Hoping to get your sight back. You panic for a moment with the instincts of a prey on a tree full of hawks. It is an instinct that we as humans are born with, and is instilled in our minds from our human heritage. This instinct does not only affect our eyes though. It affects our mind and spirit just as our eyes in the face of confusion and disorientation. Our instinct then kicks in and freezes us and our thoughts.

Imagine a person who stands under a heavy waterfall. How the force of water hammers at him endlessly until he is on his knees and is unable to stand. This is our personalities in the face of endless challenges and struggles with coping up with the chaotic times that we live in. we stand confused and paralyzed like lost children wondering where is the ceiling and the floor. The greatest of challenges facing us in these times must be the ever continuous questions about morality. It is the fact that we were always taught by our parents and our guardians which is right from wrong, yet we grow up and are forced to unlearn all that was taught to us in hopes of surviving within society. It is a great difficulty to go against all your beliefs and values and even more difficult to dismiss those beliefs and values as being wrong and replacing them with the exact opposite.

Just take a long hard look at the faces of those around you on the road, at work or anywhere among the crowds. You will see the lines of hardships covering the faces of those that pass you by. Lines that were drawn by facing those questions of societal survival on a daily basis. The empty looks of those who wonder in hopes of finding distractions or better yet, finding the answers to the chaos in their minds.

The lines of society are ever shifting and ever illusive. It is set by those who remain silent when they see the road leads to chaos. We as humans face questions bigger than ourselves, and if we wish to reach an answer then we must evolve to become just as big as or even bigger than those questions. In the meantime, we must bring up every ounce of strength we possess and endure the waterfall. Open our eyes as wide as we can, and look upon the lines that separate sanity from insanity.

Dancing Stars

Tonight I was sitting in a coffee shop alone, reading and every once in a while lifting my head to notice faces around me. Observing a gesture, or noticing a smile. Those who are alone are not really alone. They are in the middle of all that is going on around them. Tuned to all the sounds near and far. But that is not the reason I write tonight.

A few little girls were waiting for their drinks next to me and talking about things that I did not pay attention to. But she stood next to me and started demonstrating to the other girls how she would dance. I looked up when I noticed her beside me dancing. She suddenly stopped, blushed and said "I'm sorry for dancing." I smiled and replied to her "it's ok, go ahead." What I really wanted to say though was little sweet girl keep on dancing. Dance to the world, dance to the stars and let your dancing be your words. I wanted to tell her to never stop dancing, never let your feet stop moving, for when you stop you declare your surrender. You raise your white tattered flag. You admit the end of the reasons that bring you joy.

Sweet little girl, don't listen to those who would sit you down. Who would aspire to see you helpless. Rather be the everlasting shining star that shines to end darkness, that in the far distance guide those who lose their way. The star that brings good fortune for the unfortunate.

Dance little girl, and let the world see your dancing. Whirl around and stomp your feet in protest or stop and fade off into the encroaching emptiness of darkness. In the end, I wish your life be a wonderful dance.

Try Harder Or Walk Away

Throughout our lives we face choices, dilemmas and situations where we need to choose between two. That is what basically life is all about. Choosing between doing good or bad, happiness or sadness, or even if you have enough power, between life or death. But it seems that the most important choice we have to do on a daily basis these days is should we eat that beautiful piece of chocolate or should we resist the temptation.

Regardless of the choices you are presented with, there is a more important choice that I feel has the power to always change our lives, and that is when it comes down to humans and the relationship between humans. Be it man and woman or a group and another group. These choices are the most important for both ends. For us making the choice, and for the ones who are being chosen. I do not mean the dilemma or the situation where you choose between two men, or two women. What I mean is when you are presented with a choice between trying harder to reach out to another human or to walk away and give up on reaching an understanding with that human. That is always the most important choice anyone can make in life. To give someone a chance in your life is always a better option. To give life a chance is always the correct answer to any question. We naturally do not tolerate much from others, regardless of who the other is. It is only the level of that other person's importance to us or to our lives that dictates the level of patience that we need to apply in order to not take that dreadful decision to walk away. So how about we apply that same level of patience to all that we know or meet. Think about a very important person in how much you have tolerated from and compare that with another and try to see what your reaction will be in both situations. You will notice that there is a big difference between the two, and you might even give an excuse that the first person is very important in your life be it personal or work related or otherwise but still very important as to not lose. But why do we have to categorize the importance of humans? Are we not all important to ourselves and to some? Is that "not so important" person so low as to not be important to anyone else? Clearly that measure of categorization is flawed.

It is pride that dictates the level of patience. Pride in who to give our time of day. If that person is in our mind below us then we rarely tolerate anything from this person but if this person is in the opposite direction then we try so hard as to bend backwards to please. And I'm not only talking about higher and lower social positions; it can be applied to higher and lower in terms of love life as well. Do we have a right to raise and lower people? Do we have the divine authority to categorize who we accept and who we dismiss so easily? It is our pride that presents that power to us as the apple was presented to Adam before us, as a temptation. 

We think of ourselves as the superior, that is why we place people into mental levels like toys on a shelf. Yet we forget that the superior does not need levels to put people in, because all humans deserve respect and deserve chances regardless of who they are. The superior knows that all humans do mistakes and all humans regret mistakes, and that all humans learn and keep on learning until the day they fade away.

So the next time you have a choice between trying harder to reach out and walking away from a human always pick the first option and be the one who opens their palm in acceptance. Be the one who smiles to those who frown, for maybe they smile back.

A Lesson A Day

I believe in that life can teach us valuable lessons in everything that we do or happen to us. Sometimes it is hidden in things that annoyed you on that day, or in things that seem so insignificant. Yet no matter what I think it is wonderful when we look back and replay the events and this time see the lesson staring right at us. I learned to look for lessons from a man who was more than 50 years older than me, when he said to me that he is still learning till this day. It shook me to be honest with you.

Let me tell you that the man I have mentioned earlier is a very successful man that holds important positions in this country, but that is not necessary to learn from individuals. I have equally learned important lessons from people you don't seem to notice even if you accidentally rub shoulders with them in an alley. My point is not to praise my kindness or my ability to listen to everyone equally without discrimination. What I want to say is that actually I grew up as a very stubborn young man that once an idea takes hold in my head it is then nearly impossible for anyone to shake it off. And taking humbling lessons from people with experience was something I considered humiliating to my ego. Gradually though I have let go of those silly qualities and have turned them into a lesson not to be repeated whoever I feel my pride is hurt when someone corrects me.

I have been blessed to have the benefit to have learned so much in such an easy way throughout my life, as others learn the difficult way which can be profoundly traumatizing. Not to say that everything was smooth sailing, but that you can consider it bearable than others. Regardless of the way that lessons come in, they can have the power to shape up a life if given a chance. A life changed or adjusted every single day is a sure way of maintaining a parallel line to a path that is right. Just like in space where shuttles and rockets keep taking corrective maneuvers often enough to ensure that they exit and enter the atmosphere safely, lest they miss their mark or worse yet burn so brightly in the atmosphere.

Before I bore you any further with my endless thoughts on the matter, I would like to end this post by making a clear point in that mistakes are what I meant when talking about lessons, mistakes that we as humans do on a daily basis. If mistakes are hard to notice in your day then please check, for your sake, the wings at your back.

I See You Not

We all sometimes felt that we are invisible to those around us. Whether it be in a room full of people or within a crowd of people, or sometimes even if we are alone with a person in one room. This feeling is not exactly a warm fuzzy feeling as all it does is to grow an idea in your head that you as a person might be insignificant to notice. Maybe it is our fault that we seem invisible, but it hurts more if it is not our fault. I simply laugh when put in this situation as I notice how funny people look when they notice everything around me, beyond me, or about me, but never ME.

I once saw a horror sketch that shows you a man who screams so hard yet no one can hear or even see him and he is followed by someone who is about to kill him. That really spooked me, and I guess the director wanted to appeal to our sense of being noticed and reversed that to create a psychological thriller that subconsciously scared us on levels we did not know. I have seen people crying for help from others only to be ignored so unceremoniously, only for those crying to slip into depression and deep resentment for those that ignored them. I have also seen cries for attention by children to their parents, only to be ignored and growing up breaking things just to let people notice them, only in a very negative way. So you see, we sometimes inadvertently do talk to someone one on one, and yet not see them in front of us, or to focus in their background or their setting but never on the person we talk to. To us this person is there and will always be there in front of us, that is why we choose to not focus on their needs or their feelings. Now how does this person feel in this situation, I'm sure we would never want to to do that to anyone or better yet we never want it to be done to us. So please take into consideration the next time you speak to anyone to give them your attention and to actually listen to what they say not to what the voice behind them say or what the future or the past says. I can guarantee that this person will start to be more fascinating and interesting should you disregard all that is around and look at not through or beyond.

I once read somewhere that in order to be a better listener we have to listen for the sake of listening and not for the sake of replying. That means a lot to me as it improved my conversational skills ten folds just by trying to remember that little quote every time someone speaks to me. It even noticeably made people happier to talk to me, so I guess it works somehow. So the next conversation you have with anyone at home, at work, or on the phone, try to make it count by listening to this person, focus on their voice, zone out all that is around you, clear your mind of all ideas that creep up to your head, and take your time to reply after you have heard what they said. Finally I will end this with a most profound quote by Ralph Ellison from his Invisible Man.

“I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves or figments of their imagination, indeed, everything and anything except me.” 
― Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

What A Waste...

I’m sure many have noticed the front-page headline of today’s Akhbar Alkhaleej newspaper that talked about the amount of wasted food. The article spoke about how Bahrain alone produces 400 tons of wasted food on a daily basis. Can you imagine! On a daily basis. Now that is something that needs to be given much thought especially for a small island like ours.

Again, I aim not to preach or to give advices to readers when I probably do produce as much, if not more wasted foods everyday. But this article did make me stop and think about the use of all that food had it not been wasted, to those who do not have the means to provide for themselves or their loved ones regular meals. Or those that work all day in hard labor to come to the end of the day to a poorly made meal provided by cruel hearted employers.

I do have to admit that maybe hotels produce most of that number; restaurants and catering establishments, and that should have some light shed on it in the media and in social and political circles. Those private entities need to feel the responsibility toward the community and the people living in the community and not just as walking wallets that need to be fished. I admit that we did develop some means of social justice towards establishments that we think have wronged us in some way, so I hope that this can also be used to wake up those old fat businessmen and get them thinking again.

Coming back to the issue of waste, we are witnessing some efforts by young people who try to gather up waste from households to distribute to the needy and that is a very noble effort indeed, but better yet instead of giving people some leftovers which can be degrading. There should be a regular campaign to provide some education to not panic buy food whether it be in Ramadan or in other months of the year. That can be achieved by setting examples by community leaders and businesses rather than try to impose it on you and me without us being fully convinced that others are doing the same.

I did try to think of ideas and solutions to this problem, and we should all see it as a problem for us to be able to take steps in tackling it in the future. And I just wish that this article be repeated for a whole week and on the first page and in all newspapers, so that maybe people might rethink their hording and wasting of a commodity that future generations might not be able to have as much as we do today.

This might come in handy

Melancholic Beauty

Recently I have noticed that some of people have a knack for melancholy and all things gloomy and sad. I don’t really know if this is the fashion nowadays but it is kind of depressing to those around you. Maybe it is a cry for attention, or maybe a simple moment of sadness they live in. regardless; it is unnecessary to linger in such a mood for so long as to sow it in one’s life.

I know that sometimes it is depressing to notice so much evil being committed on a daily basis, or to endure the amount of flak people shoot at you every once in a while, but it is certainly not healthy to over think or to dwell on the negative parts of life and to forget and ignore the positivity that is happening around us in each and every moment. Some might even go on further than that in eliminating the fact that there are positives to be grateful for, while living in a very privileged lifestyle that not even 10% of the population of the earth can live. The world is not all gone yet, and beauty is in everything if you should chose to open your eyes and mind and accept the green of the leaf over the yellow of the rot. We still live in a place that many would give an arm or an eye to be able to live here and experience all the privileges that we have. So start shaking off those cobwebs off of your happy corners of your mind and be grateful to all that is around you now. Then widen your circle and keep widening your circle of thankfulness and gratefulness until you reach your own self.

I do not wish to preach or to even guide anyone, as I am in need of guidance myself. But all I wish is to remind people of that which they already know but disregard. It is really a shame when people pass so carelessly by the happy times and yet hold on so tightly to the sad times that they forget how to smile. I do hope that this post at least will bring a smile to someone reading it, or to remind them that there is hope and light in everything, should you chose to accept that fact.

Twitter > Instagram

I know that the title might say my preference, but still I think I have to write a few words about it. Just to satisfy my needs to reach out to all with my argument regarding those powerful social tools. Yes tools and not lifestyles like most people I know think they are. You will still be alive if for some reason they stop working or the internet ceases to exist. Alive but empty I'm afraid.

If you don't use either of those then please stop reading this post now because I am neither promoting social media nor am I ready to explain what they. Unless you want to follow me then by all means do sign up and follow me for a wonderful spin around the block for my pleasure. Now that this is out of the way I can actually begin with my argument.

If my memory serves me right it seems Twitter was the first to exist in the great internet galaxy, and then Instagram came to be. Regardless of who came first, Twitter was the first to be rocketed into a legendary status. At least here in Bahrain and maybe the region. Twitter really picked up the pace here when we had the so called Arab Spring come knocking on our door. People flocked by the thousands to Twitter for information and the latest juicy news about what is happening just a few kilometers away from you. Plus it was providing people with two major things. First the quick flow of information and news regarding any perceived danger, be it police patrols or protesters with fire in their eyes. Secondly it was giving us the news and information that no news agency was providing either through censorship or through biased propaganda. Simply put, it was people who were creating the news and spreading it through the phones of those looking any scrap of news to give reason to their panic.

Twitter gradually went out of the limelight when things started to be more docile here in the country and people became fed up or immune to all the molotov fires or tear gas canisters. Also it is worth mentioning that there was a systematic containment of twitter political celebrities for fear that those could be a powerful loos cannon that might be a threat to the establishment. Plus of course twitter did not improve much on its basic concept so that might also have become tedious to some. Again I mention that this is my view on the argument from the prospective of the region and specifically Bahrain, not a detailed review about those two social medias.

Enter the powerful picture in the mix. Instagram with its nice addition of simple photo editing tools have given people the chance to think that they are true photographers and no less amazing than the professional ones. Of course there is also the famous quote "One picture is worth a thousand words." It seems some really take it literally because they take a picture, post it on instagram and then stay silent as if to say that my picture says it all. Then we see the people who mostly benefited from it were those promoting their products or paddling for knickknacks. But they seem to insist on following us as well, for some reason they need to poke around our little worlds just as much as they need us to buy their stuff. So you see, instagram does not need reading which might be a source of great headache to some people around us it seems, and a greater source of gossip about each other than twitter can provide. Perfect tool for the regional mindset.

Now, my argument is that twitter at least still can provide information in a simple, quick way rather than flipping through endless drivel of advertisements and dishes of sweets and crying children before you might stumble upon a post that might peak your interest. Plus it seems we have developed the need to "like" all pictures of our friends and relatives even if the picture did not convey any meaning at all, or else we seek the wrath and frowns of people coming up to you and asking you why you won't like their pictures in front of all to see. Adding to that I only use it as a catalogue for interior design ideas and an album of calligraphy art that I am most interested in. Twitter on the other hand provides me with literature for when I cannot afford the time to spare, news about the latest events as it happens, and connection with like minded people who enrich my mind and soul rather than just seek to contain their social wrath. And that is simply why I am mostly on twitter and not as much on instagram.

So in the end I argue that if it is personal gossip then please count me out of it, for in here I seek motivation, knowledge, and a smile to get me by another rat race day.

Fear In The Flesh

Fear In The Flesh

"Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is." German Proverb

I shall speak of that which is the oldest of man's feelings. Of that which haunted the nights of our ancestors and of that which lingers in the corner of every mind. That which can assume different guises and absorbs every concept known to man. That which animals smell, and humans can exploit.

Fear has a certain odor that taints the clearest of atmospheres. It can be seen clearly on the faces of those struck by it. But one thing that is more horrible than seeing it on the face of a creature is to sense it taking over a whole nation. We have been living with this ominous sense of fear of the coming days for a long time now. You can see it clearly on the collective face of all of us, drawn on the outlines of our widened eyes. You can sometimes smell it coming from the very fabric of society, a stinking stench of a rotting generation holding on to the last vestiges of a by gone days. Should you have an acute sense of hearing then you can distinguish that creaking sound coming from the echoes of the mouths of so called elders who are both bewildered and are blind after being flashed so violently by the light of truth. How can nobody noticed it hanging over us so far is beyond my.

Fear's most dangerous quality is not in itself, rather it is in the ability to drive people to perform feats of extreme ignorance out of panic. People you would think are beacons of knowledge can devolve into Neanderthals howling to a dark sky looking for a light to ease their minds. People you would think illuminated politicians transforming into stunned wild rabbits ready to break free in a moment. People you would think are shining pious men resorting to create human shields around them thinking that they are the center of all light and without them we plunge into eternal darkness. These that we look up to in times of peace and prosperity should also be like our anchors and guiding lighthouses in times of difficulty, but alas what should and what is are two different matters.

Having said all of that I have to also say that there is hope. There is always hope. Only for those willing to gradually fill themselves with the light of hope and begin to take sure and confident steps into making a better future regardless of those hiding or running aimlessly. Hope that there is always a chance to make anew what is broken, to bring a laughter to where a scream was before. To show a light behind the curve of a dark tunnel. To smell the sweet prosperous earth where only fires and gas filled our nostrils. But it does not take leaders or elders or even captains to show us that. It only needs you and me to stand up and show fear that as long as we stand then we are not defeated, not by a long shot. And trust me when I say that anybody who promotes his leadership then he is a man filled with fear in need of fresh warm bodies to surround and protect him.

I do hope that I can shed some truth on the matter that we all know in the back of our minds but rarely talk about or even admit to ourselves. It involves the future of several generations that will condemn us if we should go silently in the dark. It involves unborn children who will point an accusing finger toward us when observing the deprivation around them. We must shake off the imaginary shackles of our minds and rise up like our ancestors rose up against all odds from simple disregarded people to be the substance which empires are made off. At the end of the day we all have the same amount of daylight that those better than us have had before.

I only hope. And with hope I rise.

Children For Sale

Everyone seems to be using instagram these days, and everyone is just snapping those pictures left right and center. Pictures of food, jokes, nice scenery, or just selfies, its all out there for your followers to check out. But as usual, we Arabs need to find a silly way to ruin everything, and I was shocked and bemused when I saw one of my friends posting a picture of his little boy and asking us to "like" it so that his son might win something or another. It drew me to that other page where I saw hundreds of pictures of little children being touted as trophies to "like". Now don't get me wrong but to me seems like an advertisement for lost children or worse an ad for children to be adopted.

Now apparently the child with the most votes will win a prize of some sort. But no matter the prize it still feels wrong to see that. On more thing is that they even add "say mashalla" to each picture as if this just made it safe and okay. That's exactly what I mean when we Arabs keep finding silly functions for amazing technology, and for sure it won't be the last time. Does anyone else feel the same way I do? Or is it just oversensitivity from my side? Well what matters is that worse things could evolve from this practice if it goes on unchecked. It could be abused by a pedophile or some sick minded person.

Now you do understand that the sites sting this kind of pageant is the real winners out of this scheme. They just attract thousands of followers to use as advertisement material for their pages. Oh and just to keep things all good and dandy they would post some religious pictures in the middle to fool people. Speaking of which, I used to follow a person on instagram that posted some nice furniture but the annoying thing was that each night he or she would post a chapter from the Qur'an so small that you can't really read, you can go ahead and guess as to how long it took me to unfollow that page. However you want to paint it, religious piety won't be achieved by posting pictures, it comes from your own actions towards your fellow man. That person did not believe in that obviously.

Don't you just hate it when people use religion to get popularity?! Especially when they know very little about their religion. At least look it up on Google or something. But that subject is for another day. What I do understand is the way people need to be popular, but it's the way you seek it that makes the difference. And the call for attention is one of the most basic instincts in today's human behavior. And let me be honest with you, it just annoys the hell out of me for some reason.

Well, finally I would like to add that being out of the writing scene did harm what little talent I had, so I do apologize for throwing this piece at you and I do love it that you guys are so supportive, so thank you so much for that.

I Am Who I Am Now, More Than I Were Before!

Things are about to change, and for the better my dear readers. This is a special occasion that in this post, and after such a long time of no writing, i come back to the world and gladly announce that I have found the gem where my soul resides. I have found my heavenly sent blessing. I have found at last my heart in the bottom of a crystal clear ocean.

I have been meaning to write this post a week or more ago, but I do apologize for the delay (I got my Princess to take care of). Regardless, I wish to declare my love to the one person whose birthday is tonight. But come to think of it, it's not her birthday, it's actually my life's birthday, since on this day and up until today God has weaved my life and hers to join up and meet in this beautiful place. So, yes, this is OUR birthday and I wish to celebrate it with all the world up in highest clouds where dreams meet reality and you cannot make out the difference. I guess you are just waiting to meet this one person in God's Earth that have made my eyes light up with a glow of happiness. Suffice it to say that this girl has enthralled me with her beauty, mesmerized me with her charm, spellbound me with her unending love, and most of all, made me realize just how blessed I am to have her.

On this day, this girl was born, and in my book i was meant to meet her and get my soul entwined with hers, so now that our life lines are joined up just like two roads meet and become a highway of dreams. Loving her was easy, being impressed by her came naturally to me, enjoying her quick wits reached me effortlessly, and so I am who I am more than I were when I'm around her. She was not the princess of my dreams, but she was much more than that, simply because I do not have such an imagination that can think of her before meeting her.

So now that you have read this litany of my love to her I can honestly tell you that I wish Shakespeare have come up with a thousand more words to add just to scratch the surface of my feelings towards her. Yet I believe my eyes tell of a hundred thousand happy dreams that have come to reality and out to the world. They say that someday love will find you, and I say to them it found me at last.

 I wish you princess the happiest of birthdays, for remember this is my birthday too... The birth of my heavenly dream!

To my fiance...

The Most Secret Smile

Heaven opened up through the corner
of her mouth. Holding back the smile that
would let loose all the angels. The sound of water
rushing down. The sound of her laughter, an amazing grace.

But still that smile could stop time, stop the water rushing,
and would make the music dissapear and be her. If her smile
can bs smelt, it would be the smell of a thousand roses.

Roses in black is what she is wearing with a crown of stars.
Stars would leap out of her smile, and burn the image in the eye
of my mind. I'm a captive, prisoner, nay slave to a look,
a single look. That bid me "fare thee well O dreamer O lunatic".

Smile O rose, and let the angels rush and pray for my lunatic soul.

Young Power

Recently I have realized that I wasn’t the only one here in Bahrain to have shifted jobs for three times. Actually it came to my attention that many young adults recently have been changing work for quite some time now. Maybe it was the environment I live in where almost 50% of people I interact with work in the BDF or the Ministry of Interior. Regardless, this fact is not a bad thing if you look at it from a certain angle, but it can be considered bad when people switch jobs because of unhealthy work environments. I am not prepared to talk about my experience in this post, but I will be talking more in general terms.

Unemployment in Bahrain is not a thing to joke about, regardless what the official figures show. I take this fact simply looking at the amount of people who have volunteered in schools and health services recently. It shows that many young people who already have their degrees are stuck at home jobless because there is a lack of opportunities that would fit their credentials or even come close to that matter. Of course I am a great believer in the power of the private sector’s potential to drive this country forward, but it seems that the private sector is lacking the drive that would eventually allow it to expand and compete with major regional powers like Dubai. Blaming the government is what you would normally hear from the other side of the argument, yet it seems that local business leaders have little interest in the Bahraini market or in developing it properly. So we see more efforts from the EDB in promoting Bahrain to foreign investment, and that in all honesty is like moving mountains, since it is useless to convince foreign investors to choose the unstable Bahrain to the more business friendly Dubai. This little opinion of mine regarding the economic environment here is basically going to affect the job market here and in turn will affect the average income of Bahrainis.

Coming back to my post’s theme, I am certain that many people who will read this will look back and think that they are not happy about their job or their work environment but that there is little or no choice other than sitting helplessly at home regretting a stable income. What would happen naturally is that all this energy that young people have will eventually be lost rather than be invested properly. It saddens me whenever I learn of a young Bahraini that moved to Dubai or Qatar to look for a job instead of settling here in Bahrain and benefitting from what this person’s energy can provide even in the short run, let alone those who give up altogether on the public sector and move to the old and stagnated public sector. This has many reasons to it in my humble opinion. I think that Bahrainis get along very well in work places regardless of their ethnic or heritage background, but it is a different matter when expatriates come into the equation. I do not wish to pinpoint expatriates as the main reason for putting down the Bahraini job seekers, but I think you would agree that some expatriates do look and act like mercenaries that are very territorial in regards to making money. Yet I have noticed a great many of them who have developed very patriotic love to this little island nation. Also there seems to be some lack of faith in the Bahraini worker that will force employers to look elsewhere for more productive workforce. This is a cultural norm here in Bahrain, because only a few generations ago did people actually realize that you would need to work hard to provide for your family. So a major campaign of awareness should be taken into consideration by both the government and the private sector in informing future job seekers that the time of economic socialism is over and taking it easy is no more a way of life.

There are other more economical and social reasons behind why people would move between jobs or seek them elsewhere and I could go on for volumes if I would want to research into it, but the fact remains that unless direct measures are taken then we would eventually see a lack of growth in a country that is desperate for it. Plus we would see more fertile ground for extreme ideals to take root in the minds of those who have the energy to act.

Bahraini Transformers

It’s not too strange to see that people you knew in the past have changed, for better or worse. It’s become a simple fact of life. Yet there are also those who remain as steadfast in the face of time. I’m not in the process of judging which is wrong or right here, I’m just observing how events erode characters. Or better yet, do events erode masks and show the faces behind?

It amuses me how I see people around me change, not that it’s a bad thing, but how easily they do. Changing ideas, ideals, and principals is not an easy feat in my humble opinion, so how about changing characteristics for example? So the question still remains, what does change people? I have seen in my life people change with positions for example, like when a simple employee that seems to be friendly turns into a power hungry, all controlling superior, but that has become normal I believe. I have also seen people change the way they see other people after a major experience like an accident or quick wealth, yet my real question is how can hundreds, not thousands change in such a short time? This is what I have noticed in my tiny country Bahrain. The mass transformation of thousands of individuals.

I have to admit that the events that took place in Bahrain in 2011 will bring change to any who have lived through them, for better or worse. Some have developed political awareness; some have grown a hatred for all that are different; some discovered a patriotic nationalistic sense, etc. so now the logical next question would be, how would Bahrain be shaped by its ever transforming people? No one can deny that we somehow miss the old Bahrain, and that bringing it back is going to be as successful as bringing a dead person to life. I also believe that dwelling in the nostalgia of old Bahrain is not very productive. The only way available is always forward, but forward does mean more change, and that is something for the future to decide.

I do believe that we as Bahrainis have been naïve for long, I also believe that some form of consciousness of the outside world is always a positive thing. Developing racial divides is never a good thing, nor does religious confrontations. But how about those who never changed? Will they eventually change or will they be swallowed up by the tide? Or will they feel like strangers surrounded by familiar faces? The future is not ours to decide, and we shouldn’t be vain in thinking that we can control it.

The Cupcake Society

Everyone can see that during the last year or so Bahrain have had so many cupcake shops that you might think they are mushrooms that spring out after a heavy rain. Of course this new, and abused idea, is exclusively one that is associated with Bahraini women and girls. It seems that most girls are experts in photography, fashion design and art. Not that it's a bad thing, its just a bit overdoing it when all of a sudden they become experts in those fields. Before I get scratched to death by hundreds of girls, I have to say that this post is NOT about girls interest these days. This post is rather about how our Bahraini society has taken the shape of those yummy cupcakes, and how as delicious as it seems, it is not a healthy society if you think more about it.

Imagine holding a cupcake, or better yet, get a cupcake in your hand while you read this post, but do resist the urge to eat it until the end. The basic shape of this cupcake is basically a lovely designed top, filled with the sweetest ingredients, and a plain sweet bottom. What attracts you most? The top. What part tastes the best? The top. For one I personally enjoy only the top part and tend to discard with the bottom part, simply because it's not as tasty as the top part. Now imagine Bahraini society as having the same shape, same substance and same structure. It's only the top part of society that is attractive, luxurious and all round delicious. But what about the rest? Just like the bottom of the cupcake, it's hidden, plain and sometimes discarded. Yet if you think about it, the bottom part is the one holding the top part up to be seen. By the rest of the world. Not very fair for the bottom part of the cupcake, or society for that matter.

Bahrain as a society have transformed several times during the last century, these changes have not all been bad or have been good as well. But nevertheless it is only the recent changes that have provided the "top" with more sugar and more glamour to be sprinkled on. And all the time the "bottom" looks on as the top becomes prettier and tastier than it can ever be. This wasted, hidden part can have such great potential as to achieve greater heights for all the cupcake, if only it had a fair shot. It doesn't mean that it will trade places with the top part, just a chance at being as sweet and beautiful as its top brother. The fear is that the top is now too vain to allow for any to take its place or to have a chance at showing its potential for fear of being discarded and left uneaten. This fear have transformed into less chances for anyone to achieve or for anyone to improve his or her position in the cupcake system. This stifling of creativity and youth can have grave consequences if society does not try and fight this cupcake mentality and introduce more opportunity to any who is willing to roll up his sleeves to think and work. Just remember that if the dinosaurs started thinking they wouldn't be museum exhibitions.

Now imagine if the cupcake you are holding is all sweet and pretty just as the top. Wouldn't that be amazing? It's impossible but very nice to imagine. But what can be achieved is to take a spreading knife and spread all this yummy cream all over the cupcake so that you can equally enjoy it all, without thriving any leftovers or any waste, except the paper wrap that was standing in the way of enjoying the rest of the cupcake. It would definitely not be a cupcake anymore, and be more like a chocolate bar that is lovely all over, from start to end. That would be a better choice than the cupcake you are holding right now, the one you will eat and enjoy but think differently of from now on. Did I just make you feel like eating something sweet? Yeah me two.

Learning from Beauty

The Arabian Peninsula is known for something that is more valuable than its rich oil fields, more elegant than its noblest lady, more sensitive than the delicate butterflies and a lot smarter than many who call themselves decent human beings. It’s the Arabian horse. This famous creature have captivated all who lay their eyes upon it and cast an eternal spell that will keep them bound to it. If we should look more and appreciate it we can learn quite a lot of how a simple beast of burden turned into an obsession of millions.

The graceful Arabian horse strides elegantly in between its ugly cousins. It raises its head always even when in battle, announcing to all that it is here and it would never bow down to any other. Its eyes scream with the most wondrous poetry that can sooth even the most savage beasts all while declaring its superior pedigree. Its strong bone structure and amazing endurance warns of those that will take beauty as a sign of weakness. Its sensitive nature is kin only to the most eloquent of poets that rise over the average sensitivity of human beings. Yet we seem to not notice that we can learn quite a lot from this creature, and this happens when ignorance is a state of mind not a statistic on a table.

Something to be noticed about the modern Arab is the lack of desire to learn and the inability to adapt rather than copy our western opposites. This fact has left us from being the center of the universe at one period of history into sadly a rock that orbits a bright sun. At first it was because of too much pride and the foolish sense of superiority, and then it developed into a feeling of despair and a dreadful inferiority. Yet we can still pick up the paces and shine again to become the lighthouse that once attracted the eyes of all of those that are beyond our borders. Just like the old myth of the phoenix that rose again from the ashes we can reclaim our rightful throne. It needs education, development and more importantly an open eye and mind.

The Arabian horse is but one treasure that we seem to have ignored in the pursuit of copying those who we believe to be superior to us in order to become superior like them. There are many other gems of our Islamic civilization that sadly have become objects to hide out of shame. As George Orwell famously says “He who controls the present controls the past. He who controls the past controls the future” can only be the way forward if we are looking for a brighter future for our future generations. If I’m wrong then I’m open for debate, because what I see is definitely is not right.