Nostalgia's a bitch.
Here I was, for 7 years thinking that all would be well the moment I finish up in India and come back to good 'ol Qatar. Now here I am, and I'm still craving...something. Can't really put a finger on it. Turns out that I'm really missing what life was like. Innocence, school, friends, yacking over the phone all day, face lighting up when I got money (even 25 bucks would do), no care in the world, LIFE. Now I'm back, I have a great job, can pretty much buy (and did buy) all the things I wanted as a Kid : a nice mobile, cool PC, gaming console, sports coupe, etc. etc. etc.
Turns out you can't really buy back your childhood and teen years. There was a time when the latest game and graphics card would make me drool, but now it's like Meh.
Everyone's busy. No one has the time to talk anymore, not even over the phone. I remember a time when 3-4 hours on the phone a day was pretty standard, and I had even gone up to about 7 hours non-stop. Today, my mom (who is works with Qtel btw) scolds me for not being able to finish 400 minutes on my mobile phone plan a month!
"Go get a girlfriend, talk on the phone, finish your phone minutes, you're wasting money on your plan otherwise", my MOM told me. Oh Snap! That's probably the worst burn a guy can get. From his MOM.
I sighed, went ahead and changed my plan to Shahry 60 (100 minutes free a month). Hope at least now I won't waste any more money.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Fair Game?
News abounds when there's racial discrimination against Indians abroad. We get all riled up when someone was denied access to a bar, not allowed to seek accommodation etc. However, we seldom realize that we might actually be among the most racist people ever.
Caste and religion based discrimination aside, there's this incredible, primal preference that most Indians have for fair skin. India has one of the world's largest markets for skin whitening products (estimated at around half a billion dollars by Nielsen). The recent Vaseline Facebook promotional app whitening your profile picture was a rude reminder of our "pigmentocracy". The fact that this behavior is reinforced by the media is pretty shocking, as people find this an accepted fact of life now. I remember the following ad from Fair and Lovely and as I saw it, it didn't really occur to me the subliminal message that the company was sending so that they could push more product.
I had a discussion with a friend from France about this and that's when I realized the horrible truth. There are occupations in India which are off limits for people who are not fair skinned! Some pretty obvious observations are the film industry, and down south females need to have milky-white skin to be able to land the big roles along side "superstars", who are sometimes on the other end of the skin color spectrum, but that's more sexist than racist. It became pretty apparent to me that camera-facing jobs for TV and media almost always go for the fairer skinned candidate.
It's really scary how this subliminal prejudice has become commonplace, even in my family. I remember my relatives discussing a prospective match for one of my cousins and the usual dialogue (in Malayalam) of "Kutti nallatha, pashe colour pora" (The girl is nice but her colour is not enough!). Colour is a widely-used euphemism for skin fairness in Kerala.
In spite of having an institutionalized form of discrimination and racial segregation not too long ago, countries like the US and South Africa have come a long way in accepting dark skinned individuals in all walks of life. I remember watching some hollywood action movie on TV and one of my Uncles, who is not used to watching English content remarked, "American cinemayil Negroesinu nalla pradhanyam unde" (American movies tend to give importance to Negroes)
One can only hope that this there's a gradual shift in attitude and people realize that a person's worth is not function of his/her melanin content.
Caste and religion based discrimination aside, there's this incredible, primal preference that most Indians have for fair skin. India has one of the world's largest markets for skin whitening products (estimated at around half a billion dollars by Nielsen). The recent Vaseline Facebook promotional app whitening your profile picture was a rude reminder of our "pigmentocracy". The fact that this behavior is reinforced by the media is pretty shocking, as people find this an accepted fact of life now. I remember the following ad from Fair and Lovely and as I saw it, it didn't really occur to me the subliminal message that the company was sending so that they could push more product.
I had a discussion with a friend from France about this and that's when I realized the horrible truth. There are occupations in India which are off limits for people who are not fair skinned! Some pretty obvious observations are the film industry, and down south females need to have milky-white skin to be able to land the big roles along side "superstars", who are sometimes on the other end of the skin color spectrum, but that's more sexist than racist. It became pretty apparent to me that camera-facing jobs for TV and media almost always go for the fairer skinned candidate.
It's really scary how this subliminal prejudice has become commonplace, even in my family. I remember my relatives discussing a prospective match for one of my cousins and the usual dialogue (in Malayalam) of "Kutti nallatha, pashe colour pora" (The girl is nice but her colour is not enough!). Colour is a widely-used euphemism for skin fairness in Kerala.
In spite of having an institutionalized form of discrimination and racial segregation not too long ago, countries like the US and South Africa have come a long way in accepting dark skinned individuals in all walks of life. I remember watching some hollywood action movie on TV and one of my Uncles, who is not used to watching English content remarked, "American cinemayil Negroesinu nalla pradhanyam unde" (American movies tend to give importance to Negroes)
One can only hope that this there's a gradual shift in attitude and people realize that a person's worth is not function of his/her melanin content.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Hot, Lazy, Boring Summer!
California was a blast, I'm not going to write a lot about it since I might get a bit depressed reading it afterward (yes, I occasionally peruse through my own writings in an effort to better understand myself, DUHH!)
As I gradually return to normalcy and my sleep cycles have made a full shift back to UTC +3 (AST), I that this is going to be one long, hot and boring summer. Sure, I have a few friends to keep me company, but it's still pretty boring here. The campus is practically empty and deserted, and I'm all alone here, fending for myself and keeping the research work alive by myself. And the frikkin' HEAT! I've not been in Qatar for July/August for well over 7 years now and I pretty much forgot how punishing the weather can be. To rub salt on these wounds, California was pretty much the best weather I had ever experienced in my life, with bright sunshine and highs of 20 C. Both my brothers have left for India which basically leaves me and my parents at home.
But I think I complain too much. I'm really looking forward to August 14th, as I will be at my first (actually my family's first) official graduation (convocation) ceremony back at IIIT. Also, Ramadan with family after 7 years (see post below about Ramadan Woes at IIIT). So I guess it's not all that bad :)
As I gradually return to normalcy and my sleep cycles have made a full shift back to UTC +3 (AST), I that this is going to be one long, hot and boring summer. Sure, I have a few friends to keep me company, but it's still pretty boring here. The campus is practically empty and deserted, and I'm all alone here, fending for myself and keeping the research work alive by myself. And the frikkin' HEAT! I've not been in Qatar for July/August for well over 7 years now and I pretty much forgot how punishing the weather can be. To rub salt on these wounds, California was pretty much the best weather I had ever experienced in my life, with bright sunshine and highs of 20 C. Both my brothers have left for India which basically leaves me and my parents at home.
But I think I complain too much. I'm really looking forward to August 14th, as I will be at my first (actually my family's first) official graduation (convocation) ceremony back at IIIT. Also, Ramadan with family after 7 years (see post below about Ramadan Woes at IIIT). So I guess it's not all that bad :)
Friday, July 02, 2010
Dubai...
I've been to Dubai maybe once in 2001, entirely by accident as a flight to India was stuck in dense fog. Since 2007, however, I've flown to Doha via Dubai many times. Dubai airport is a destination of it's own.
Some of the facts are pretty mind blowing: Emirates Terminal 3 is the world's largest terminal by floorspace. When I flew in today, I noticed that they were literally doubling the terminal area and construction's in full swing. Dubai airport services about 40 Million passengers a year, which is much many times more than the actual population of the UAE (~7 Million). Dubai duty free is the world's largest duty free operation with over with over 1 Billion dollars in sales and about 20 Million transactions a year. 5600 flights a week to over 200 destinations by nearly 100 different airlines.
Sure, all these facts and figures about the airport are pretty impressive, but what usually moves me is the Human aspect of this incredible place. Dubai airport is a transit melting pot, located roughly in the center of the world. When whizzing past one gate to another, I see and encounter thousands of people for a quick glance, a brief moment where our lives intersect. I get to see people from all walks of life, and a game I love to play is "What's their story". You see an elderly couple gradually making their way through the terminal to get to their flight, probably to visit their children and grandchildren in a far-away foreign land. Immigrant laborers, confused and dazed, somehow managing to navigate this mammoth structure to get to their next flight. People happy and excited to be reunited with their families, or sad that they are going far, far away and won't see them again for a long time. Excited tourists onward to an exotic location. Businessmen, with their laptops and blackberries, typing away and making sure that they are on top of their job, even while traveling. And so much more.
This very mix, blend of people from all walks of life, from all over the world, all with their own story, their own chapters of life all going forward in motion. It's a sight to behold and really puts your life in perspective.
Some of the facts are pretty mind blowing: Emirates Terminal 3 is the world's largest terminal by floorspace. When I flew in today, I noticed that they were literally doubling the terminal area and construction's in full swing. Dubai airport services about 40 Million passengers a year, which is much many times more than the actual population of the UAE (~7 Million). Dubai duty free is the world's largest duty free operation with over with over 1 Billion dollars in sales and about 20 Million transactions a year. 5600 flights a week to over 200 destinations by nearly 100 different airlines.
Sure, all these facts and figures about the airport are pretty impressive, but what usually moves me is the Human aspect of this incredible place. Dubai airport is a transit melting pot, located roughly in the center of the world. When whizzing past one gate to another, I see and encounter thousands of people for a quick glance, a brief moment where our lives intersect. I get to see people from all walks of life, and a game I love to play is "What's their story". You see an elderly couple gradually making their way through the terminal to get to their flight, probably to visit their children and grandchildren in a far-away foreign land. Immigrant laborers, confused and dazed, somehow managing to navigate this mammoth structure to get to their next flight. People happy and excited to be reunited with their families, or sad that they are going far, far away and won't see them again for a long time. Excited tourists onward to an exotic location. Businessmen, with their laptops and blackberries, typing away and making sure that they are on top of their job, even while traveling. And so much more.
This very mix, blend of people from all walks of life, from all over the world, all with their own story, their own chapters of life all going forward in motion. It's a sight to behold and really puts your life in perspective.
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