Of Nostalgia in Saudi Arabia

hmm.. i belive its never too late to start.. if journalism was ur passion, i`m sure you would have found the time out from ur family rituals and spent some time on writing. But then again I dont blame you in our society the asian always take a secondary seat when it comes to family. Family needs to be given full priorty but one must not neglect oneself, you as an individual also have some desires by suppressing them for a very long time will only lead to bottle up destruction. I must appluad the wester women who have the knack to put themselves n the same threshold as ther family. I mean writing was one thing you could have carried on simutaneoly along with the earliers years of ur family life. Today six years down the lane you would have been self satisfied wih yourself because you were doing something completly for urself, something you enjoyed, something which gave you a sense of accomplishmnet. Its never too late.. grab a pen and paper and just scribbe something.. and you will b amazed how thoughts will start flowing... dont wait for oppurtunities, go iout here and creat them for urself.. u will never have enough time to write, you will have to take that time out for urself.. u deserve it.. so get out there lady.. n show us that u cando more than cooking chicken biryanis...

Ref echoboom #23

[There are shots of a woman bus driver, Masoumeh Bolaghi, cheerfully dropping the passengers at various stops. The first woman bus driver in Iran has begun work on an inter-city route, heralding a new era in a country dominated by men. A qualified nurse, she began her new career driving between the capital Tehran and Karaj, 60 kilometres away. Bolaghi is not the only professional driver in Iran. Probably the best known is the country`s first woman taxi driver, Zahra Lagarudi. She works for the all-women Nesa Taxi Service in the holy city of Qom, which began operating in September. The first company of its kind in the country, it only carries women and boys under 12.]

So why is giving up nursing in favor of driving a bus liberating for a woman?

Considering that she is allowed to carry only women and boys under 12, and as a nurse she might have been tending to male patients of all ages (in pre-Khomeini days at least), why is this a victory for women?

Ok, so.

According to #18,

#16 and #17 should hook up.

And according to #22

#18 should hook up.

Who really needs growing up?

Women work and have always WORKED in any muslim or non-muslim country. It is NOT a concept developed by the ``advanced`` west. Men & Women WORK for money beacause of some need. Naukraanis, Jamaadaarnis, and field-workwomen can be seen anywhere in Pakistan or everywhere..WORKING! without the westoxication of brain.

One does not have to Hollywoodise, Bollywoodise, Follywoodise or become a KanjaRR look-alike to give an impression of bein ``educated`` and ``modern``. Those days are gone ever since Islamic attire, manners, and style became fashionable to flaunt.

One dates oneself when one equates learning and earning with non-islamic behaviour. A product of pre-revolution Iran.

---

Burqa no longer a barrier to Success

New from Daily Pioneer, India. Friday September 5, 2003
News by Neharika Mathur : The Pioneer

Burqa-clad women pore over thick journals, disentangle themselves from parachutes, play table-tennis while seated on wheelchairs or hold up an award in triumph. No, we are not witnessing utopia. This is actually happening in a country earlier known for subjugating the fairer sex.


Iran has now committed itself to encouraging women in all fields. An exhibition of photographs that concluded at the Dr Zakir Hussain and His Contemporary Archives and Portrait Gallery, Jamia Milia Islamia yesterday gave us some insight into the extent to which the women of this country have benefited from new government policies.


``Women in Iran are now participating in all kinds of fields - industry, music, computers, architecture, television programming, education, sports, music - you name it. We have tried to portray their achievements on the occassion of the birth anniversary of Hazrat Fatemeh,`` explains the Iran Culture House official in-charge of audio-vision.


And he is firmly convinced Iranian women have more potential to grow. ``They are luckier than Indian women. After marriage, while Indian women have to take on their husband`s names, Iranian women are allowed to retain their identity.``


Interestingly, the photographs also show young female students educating older women. ``The government has made it a rule that every child who joins school would have to bring a certificate their parents are educated. There are special centres where classes are held for imparting basic education to elders. The aim is to encourage adult literacy and now almost 90 per cent of Iranians are educated.``


There are shots of a woman bus driver, Masoumeh Bolaghi, cheerfully dropping the passengers at various stops. The first woman bus driver in Iran has begun work on an inter-city route, heralding a new era in a country dominated by men. A qualified nurse, she began her new career driving between the capital Tehran and Karaj, 60 kilometres away. Bolaghi is not the only professional driver in Iran. Probably the best known is the country`s first woman taxi driver, Zahra Lagarudi. She works for the all-women Nesa Taxi Service in the holy city of Qom, which began operating in September. The first company of its kind in the country, it only carries women and boys under 12.

``Women are now walking shoulder-to-shoulder with men. Walk into any office in the country and you will see an equal proportion of men and women. It is surely an indicator of the extent to which our country has progressed,`` says the official.

We surely agree!

#22: Sorry to burst your bubble but your points are neither decent nor intelligent enough to be considered worth reading. I do not visit Chowk to interact with indecent and cheap characters. I hope you find more people like yourself who can assist you in overcoming your insecurities.

with all due respect, and not necessarily in defense of #18 who has asked me never to mention her name again, i fail to understand the mentality of people who suggest that the writer of #18 writes the way she does because she is sexually frustrated, or needs to hook up. i have questioned men who have said this, not just about her, but other women here at chowk, but obviously women are not free from this ignorance as well.

to not agree with her, or to be offended by her sarcasm is one thing, and to respond to that. but what is the point of these pointed personal attacks on her lack of sexual activity, or a lovelife?

grow the hell up!

#18 Rant of a frustrated soul.


Hook up, for your own sake!
Its high time.

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

Rather than flogging chowk with your sophomoric opinions, you should post something conciliatory...for a drastic change!

--Ibn

Probably, it will make more sense if #16 and #17 hook up together to discuss their brilliant ideas. The result may be a sensible post. Good luck guys :)

#15
No, I have not completely missed the crux of the article. You have completelely missed the crux of my response.
If you had read carefully my earlier posts, #10 and #11, you would have noticed how I encouraged the writer to pick up from where she left. With the profession she is in, she can easily operate living as she does in a `hole of nahoosat`as you call it. She needn`t be in amreeka to write and have a piece published.

Thanks for wishing luck. As and when I take up fashion designing I would take up Jemima`s wardrobe as a case study - From Tarun Tahiliani ensembles to the Witches of Hampshire outfits would make quite an interesting class.
I hope you overcome the recent writer`s block that you have been facing and comeup with as unique a piece as the one on the tampon fiasco!
BTW, to expect such facilities in your home country is both naive and presumptous, nahi? Cheers!

#14: I guess you have completely missed the crux of the article. Probably, you should focus on Jemima`s wardrobe (present, past and future). I am sure you will find ``enough`` material to write another unique piece :) Good Luck!

Ralph,
It not about statistics. Women in SA are working, even if the fields are limited.
Mecca Sherif and Madina Sharif are richer than many Indias and Pakistans put together.
Perhaps thats why their women do not need to work and earn a living.
:)

Saman Jafri,

Please write. Use the light that the Internet brings to you, and add to it own your light.

Does Saudi Arabia allow unhampered access to the Internet?



Samankhan

The share of women in Saudi Arabia`s total workforce is between 2 to 4%. That appears to be a little low for a country. Is the holy land of Mecca Sherif and Madina Sherif even poorer than us Godless wretches in India and Pakistan? :(

And there were women working in the hospitals too, in all capacities.
And I found women commuting in the buses too.
Most of my old friends who settled there after finishing studies are now employed.
Cousins and friends and acqauintances from here who have settled there after marriage have taken up work, again at hospitals and American/Indian/Saudi schools.
Some are computer instructors too.Some have taken up painting or swimming. Some give lessons in the study of Quran.

Even those who aren`t employed are happy away from family politics and naukron ke chonchley and pollution and corruption. They are enjoying a special bond with their respective spouses in the absence of the usual family interference. They say they never had it so good in life. They do not wish to return except on vacations.

Perhaps you could have done well to maintain links with the magazine you adited and continued to contribute articles. Its never too late; so just pick it up from there. You need to motivate yourself and believe in yourself just as your better half does. We need to create circumstances sometimes. Cheers!

Having grown up in Saudi Arabia I can only say one thing - it is more dead than a cemetery.
In all fairness, that society lags way behind in most aspects of civilization - especially its treatment of women. However that is another topic, but I want to thank you for a nice piece, and encourage you to continue your passion of writing - Chowk is full of liberals, moderates, extremists, intellectuals or just plain observers - I think its a great concept and you will do us all a favor by writing.
Lastly, how about a few articles touching more in depth on Saudi Life - culture, attractions, disadvantages, the disparity between old and young, off poor and rich, the large no. of immigrants, how Saudi Arabia has dealt with modernizing its cities, but not its ideas...etc.
Are you from Riyad?
Cheers
Gibran Bham

Saman,
Its never too late to pick up from where you left.
I resumed my professional life after a hiatus of seven odd years,
(and I wasn`t even living in SA) busy as I was, just like you in taking care of my family.
There are options in SA, too, just keep an open eye. I can say this for my growign up years were spent in SA.
My most cherishable memories belong to the years I spent in Jeddah; never felt stifled or holed up in hell.
The trips to Mecca Sherif and Madina Sherif were all together a different experience.
Maybe I didnot feel so stifled because I was a student and was fully occupied.
Still I can recollect ladies working at the universities, schools, banks.
Many conducted cooking/beauty treatment classes. Several taught yoga.
Others featured in the local newspapers.
Perhaps you could approach Arab News or the Saudi Gazette.
There were women news readers on tv, too, but of course for Arabic programmes.
But with so many channels having come up now, they could offer more opportuinities.
Besides, these days you could write and publish from home, from anywhere in the world not just SA, without stepping outside.
Just do that.
Keep the ink flowing; you`ll rediscover your lost touch much sooner than you can imagine.
best wishes.
Saman Khan.

That was an exhuming and exuberant read, Saman. I hope you will continue to excite us with more writing.

--Ibn

In case people havent seen this (now defunct) blog, there is a witty and perceptive saudi whose blog has become rather famous

http://muttawa.blogspot.com/

enjoy

Saman:

Thank you for sharing some highlights of your journey toward introspection. Some of my very close cousins have grown up in Jeddah and I can relate to what you have shared. They are no longer in Jeddah but certain restrictions have traveled with them wherever they have chosen to settle down. Personally, I think it`s more of the psychological stuff that stayed with them from their childhood experience. Another very exuberant close family member moved there after her marriage and tried to adjust but simply could not. She was in Riyadh. Thank God she is out of that den of nahoosut and feels much better and productive about her life and herself.

When I was a 100% idealist, I used to believe that if one is strong enough then one can survive through all the hurricanes anywhere. Later on, as I grew up, had more exposure and utilized my sharp sense of observation, I realized that I was wrong. The environment defintely contributes to one`s growth and development and who and what one wants to be.

On a different note: How about being a regular columnist for Chowk from Jeddah? And, please if you decide to take the above route then do NOT submit your stuff that was already published elsewhere.

Best Wishes.

Hello Saman

I can very well relate to what you wrote,not becz I have lived in KSA but becz I have visited the country on a no. of occasions. It is sad but true.You cant do much and neither shud u even try to, I `m sure you`ll get used to it in a few more years :)

The reason I am writing to you is becz i have a Post-it note with me that I believe was sent to me by you years ago and I have kept it with me for some odd reason.Where you ever associated with Us - The News?

Waitng for your response. You may mail me at ashraf.fareed@abl.com.pk

Warm regards,

Fareed Ashraf

Echoboom Sahib,

Here is yet another board where you are incapable of reading what is in front of your face. Is there NO PLACE where you do not bring your ugliness, your stupidity or usual agenda?

Have some dignity and respect for other people. Either keep your drivel on your own ilog, or publish something on chowk. But this constant crashing and heckling boards-esp. ones like this- is your obvious attempt at bullying and policing. Disgusting.

Saman Jafri:
O this is a great write-up. Simple and sweet. None of the intellectual, anaemic, man-wannabee
tripe which is somehow mistaken as..whatever.

Urstruly, that was a great poem. Very Iqbalesque. thanks.

Wish you more prosperity and freedom. Beware of jealous types. One can be a great housewife and a great writer too. They arenot mutualy exclusive. Urdu, farsi, and arabie literature is a testimony to that. Hazrat Fatima Zehra`s Divan ( collection of verses) is highly regarded and quoted by women & men alike to this day.

Wow...that bit of ironic comedy with the first two acts almost distracted me...


Saman,

You are part of a group too illustrous and numerous to count-women who are returning to their professional careers. Keep writing, if this piece is any indication, you havent lost any gift. Hope to read more soon!

WOW!! Great poem Urstruly. Thanks for posting this.

Ms. Jafri

Trust me, you write very well and I welcome you to your freedom. Here I dedicate a poem to you.


I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS by Maya Angelou

A free bird leaps on the back of the wind
and floats downstream till the current ends
and dips his wing in the orange suns rays and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage
can seldom see through his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.