A taste of my own medicine

“A taste of my own medicine” is an autobiography written by Edward E. Rosenbaum, which beautifully depicts the change in the life of a physician after he is diagnosed with  throat cancer . The visual version of the book is the movie, “The Doctor” starring William Hurt. The life of the young and vibrant doctor, who has a happy family and career, is turned upside down once he faces the reality that life has put brakes on him. He passes through all the phases of the ailment  like denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance. But his most important and crucial realization  that  changed his entire attitude towards life was how to feel for others. Here he was no longer  a doctor, but a patient like any one  of his patients who  approached  him. He realizes the stigma of being labelled as a patient by the society, system and even by  his family. This was a part  that he never thought of when his patients  came to consult him

The title of the book really fascinated me and made me ponder for at least a while. But lately when I was helping my wife give my child a tonic, it made me think more. It was with great difficulty we were  trying to give syrup to my child who was struggling to sip it. After our successful attempt , I licked the medicine which spilled on to my fingers. The repulsive taste made me almost vomit. It was similar  tastes which prevented me from taking such medicines  during my childhood. I wondered why medicines are not   prepared  in flavors. What however  really made me uneasy was that  I have prescribed the same medicine to several  children.

The lion share  of  inter-personal difficulties in our society are due this lack of mutual understanding. When two people  are in dispute, none  of them bothers to  consider  the other's version of the problem. Interestingly the best way to solve any argument or even to  prevent from igniting  it,  is to think about the other party's  perspective. “To stand in the other person’s shoes”, is another phrase used, but this carries less strength compared to the title of the book. The former is to imagine and latter is to virtually be in that position.

 The other day a middle-aged  person came to my out- patient department during the late hours. He appeared to be  a villager. He did not have an OPD card as he came late and the counter had closed. He told me he had some ear discharge for many years and asked if I could have a look. I told him, as I used to tell patients, that the OPD hours are over and as it was not an emergency case  he had to  come the next day  in time with a proper registration. The man  insisted on seeing him as he had travelled long distance to reach here. I told him that  the rules were very strict and seeing any person without registration  is tantamount  to private practice which was not allowed and carried legal implications. I did not heed to the pleadings of the person as, I was in a hurry as I had to attend the academic clinics. Late evening that day I was shopping at the small complex near  our hospital. As it was close   to our institute the lawn and premises were resting places for many patients, their care takers and relatives who come from far off places. They would just spread their cloths on the grass or the cement veranda of closed shops and spend their night there . All on a sudden , I remembered the patient who came to see  me. The thought that he could be sleeping there  the night just because I had  refused to entertain him disturbed me. Whatever legal implications, I should  have had a look and prescribed  medicines on a piece of paper and the person could have gone home to his family. Who could have come to know? The patient might  not have exposed the issue nor would I . My lame excuses soon  began to haunt me. What, if the person had returned as he could not leave his family alone? Then I had deprived the person of medical care. I tried to rationalize the matter  thinking that if it had been   a serious disease, hewould have come on time. Why should I bother about the disease of a person who himself is careless about it. But the more I thought about the issue, the more I got disturbed. How can a villager know the seriousness of his disease? Moreover, how can you expect him to care when he may have  a family to feed and he has to make   both ends meet. Once again  I  tried to console myself telling myself  that I had  done the right thing by adhering to the rules of the institute and the person would  thereby understand the value of time. But this was the last rational argument my conscious soul could make. When I visualized  myself in his place, the whole scenario changed. If it were myself who travelled long distance to see the doctor but  was  turned back and asked to come back next day just because I had reached late  I would have been really upset. In fact I had a similar experience when I went to the passport office when I was terribly depressed. If only I had this thought when I met the person, I could have helped him and provided myself with peace of mind.

When I see old people coming to the OPD and waiting for long period, I try to imagine the possibilities of their life. They could be people who were abandoned by their children and left to live their remaining lives in solitude. They could be people whom God has not blessed with children. They might have come from far-away lands, frightened and perplexed seeing the large hospital and crowds. Even though their constant entry into my room while I see other patients disturbs me, I beagn  to understand their fear of getting lost among the sea of patients. I imagined that if my mother would had been  in such a situation, she would have been iunder  tension and despair. When some people keep on asking unnecessary questions and queries which irritate me, I try to imagine if it were my own father asking and that resolves the situation. When small children cry and run away while I examine them, I try to imagine myself taking my child to a doctor and all my irritation vanishes.

This is not pertaining to any particular profession or situation. Anybody any where can try this very simple practice when they are in such situations. This would reduce much of your anxiety and despair. Once you begin thinking and acting like this all our remorse and arrogance will melt down and we will start having peace and harmony of mind.

The Eldest son

A fine Friday feast

The visual enjoyment, in my humble opinion, is loftier than the pleasure these items can afford while consuming them to satiate our hunger or quench our thirst since consumption has an element of annihilation in it which, though permissible on the ground our existence , is not there in visual gratification


It was a fine Friday morning around 8.30 A.M . In lieu of lying in my bed tightly wrapped in my acrylic blanket and attempting to protract my somnolence in the artificial cooling of the air conditioner , I thought I would go for a shopping. Most of the Doha residents would be still sleeping . Since there would be a few vehicles on the road and a not so clever driver like me could drive unscarred of those impatient and unruly drivers, I decided exploit the situation to  my favour. Though there are a large number of supermarkets and hypermarkets in this oil rich country, one always finds long queues of customers in these shopping centers waiting to pay their bills . There will be a great rush on holidays in these supermarkets , but Friday morning is comparatively convenient for a shopper for obvious reasons.



Aalippazham

The ad display board in front of this hypermarket was unique since it said “ A BIG HALE”, not sale . In the business world , aesthetics have little role to play. It might be the work of an anonymous language lover trying to display his creative talents.. But  the word hale , thoough slightly different in spelling, reminded me of the hail stone in Doha in late eighties when one evening all on a sudden crystal like hail stones , as small as pebbles, began to fall on the roof our house. The Malayalam word for hale stone, ‘Aaalippazham’, has a special taste because of the word ‘pazham’ in which in our language means fruit. When we opened the door , the veranda was full of hail stones . My wife and myself began to pick and enjoy them as if we were plucking fruits from a tree .Our three kids, the youngest one being around one year old, were staring at us being some what scared.

How blessed are those who can convert every activity in their lives into a pleasure! Customers, pulling their shopping trolleys and baskets, were enjoying the items displayed ; pure red apples , bright yellow oranges, ripe mangoes, bananas, different types of fresh and lush  green herbs, beverage bottles of different designs, colorful packs of  food items, what else do they need to constitute a feast for their eyes? The visual enjoyment, in my humble opinion, is loftier than the pleasure these items can afford while consuming them to satiate our hunger or quench our thirst since consumption has an element of annihilation in it which, though permissible on the ground our existence , is not there in visual gratification. The customers’ movements were very slow and some of them were choosing items like a housewife separating the corn from the chaff.




Indian gooseberry- a remedy for diabetes

 My shopping was namesake because I had to buy only one item , gooseberry, which I can say, is very essential for my existence .It is the  fruit that came to my succour and saved me from depending on the allopathic tablets I was taking to cure diabetes I was afflicted with some years ago . It so happened that one of my friends advised or rather compelled me three year ago to take green Indian  gooseberry with turmeric powder early in the morning before breakfast. Thanks to that person and the grace of God , I have stopped taking medicines since then and my blood sugar is still normal . I have been, instead, eating gooseberry daily with turmeric powder before breakfast and avoiding sugar and carbohydrates . The other day when I met a diabetic patient I advised him to take goose berry telling him not stop medicine suddenly but reduce its dose gradually and stop taking medicines if gooseberry is found to effective in his case as I had done  three years ago . I also told him to drink 8 glasses of water, if possible, when he wakes up and before brushing his teeth as I had been doing and admitted that it might be very difficult for him to drink 8 glasses of water at a time especially before brushing his teeth but he could drink as much as water he could provided that it does not cause strain to his urine bladder.

When I googled I was surprised to find that gooseberry contains insulin which is why it is capable of controlling blood sugar. It is only one of the numerous  gifts of God. We,however, very often take them for granted and fail to realize how valuable these  gifts  are and how merciful God is.

By the father

Masjid in Manali

Recently I read an article in yahoo gallery about the Great Mosques Around the World (http://my.news.yahoo.com/photos/images-great-mosques-around-the-world-slideshow/lakemba-mosque-sydney-australia-photo-1345276815.html#crsl=%252Fphotos%252Fimages-great-mosques-around-the-world-slideshow%252Fmazar-e-sharif-mosque-afghanistan-photo-1345276816.html) . It showed pictures of 55 mosques from all around the world  from Afghanistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Germany, India and Egypt to Peru, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. I was happy to see even mosques from my place, Kerala like Ponnani and Kodungalore among the list. All these mosques  beamed with beauty and heritage. The images  showed the towering minarets  that bearing witness  to the architectural magnificence of the Islamic culture.This article reminded me one of the mosques I recently visited.



Nature at the Best - Road to Manali



During last Eid Al Fitr, I and my friend decided have a trip with our families to the famous hill station of North India, Manali. Since the day of Eid is only finalised after sighting  the cresent, we were not sure when to leave for Manali. Since we had only limited  time  to  leave, we decided to celebrate Eid in Manali. We started our journey from Chandigarh by afternoon hoping to reach there by night fall so that we could spend the Eid next day. Since it was monsoon, we had intermittent rain and the road was treacherous. But the picturesque mountains and valleys made us forget the toils of the journey. Just as we crossed about 150 km our car broke down and we had to wait about 2 hours for another vehicle to be sent. Even though this decreased our morale a bit, the green carpeted mountains topped by cotton like clouds and the pleasant weather urged us forward. We reached Manali late night a bit tired. Manali being a famous tourist spot we expect to find a mosque to attend the Eid prayer without much difficulty. I tried to search in the internet during the journey for mosques in Manali. But to my dismay, I could only find one reference to a masjid at Manali , that too without much details. However, we were optimistic to spot one in the early morning.

 

Cloud topped valleys



I and my friend woke up early and took the cab to search for the masjid in Manali. The first person we asked didn’t even understand the word masjid and we had to explain to him that is was a place of workship of Muslims. But he was unaware of any such place. We then proceeded  through the narrow road of the valleys in Manali and found a person who knew of a mosque located about 8 Km away. We were happy to hear this as we were  getting worried about missing the prayer. We travelled forward looking for minarets which are a common architectural symbol of mosques world-wide. My friend was fascinated by the apple orchards by the road side and expressed his desire to pluck one and eat it fresh. We passed 10 Km without seeing any sign of the mosque. When we asked another person, he told us that we passed the mosque about a kilometre. So we returned the path and as we reached the mentioned site we were told to just to go a little forward. As we proceeded we saw a man in kurtha and beard with a muslim cap standing in front of a gate. However we could not see any sign of the mosque. We enquired him about the Eid prayer and he happily invited us inside. As we entered there were a group of kashimiri looking people crowded in front of a small shed. They wore the traditional kurtha and sweater, some of them wearing caps. Their dresses were shabby with dust and dirt and many of them were torn and stitched at many places. I remembered arguing with my colleague for not buying new clothes for Eid as it is a tradition to wear new clothes on auspicious day. In my childhood, my father used to send money to buy new clothes and my mother took us to the readymade shopping centre to buy the latest designed dresses. Eid was a busy time for the cloth shops. In my place every person would wear new dress that the usually barren mosque turned into a carnival like state. The frangrance of costly perfumes filled the air. The youngsters indulged in various leisures and spent most of their time in enjoying. I learned that these where labourers mostly from Kashmir who have settled in Manali to earn their livelihood. Their daily wages would only suffice to be sent home to their families. Most of them had the tiredness of previous day’s work on their faces, let alone the dust on their bodies. The stench from their bodies made me wonder whether they had a bath or not. I felt sad for them, for they had to celebrate Eid away from their families.

Apple yard

Apples

The shed in front of which we were standing was the famous mosque of Manali we were searching for. It neither had a Minaret, nor the Magnificence of the great mosques, but was truly one of the greatest mosques in the world. It was the not only the only mosque in Manali , but also the only place of light for those poor souls. Even though it did not have the glitter and glamour, the presence and prayers of these people made the mosque beautiful. More and more people came in buses from various parts of Manali and slowly the scene gathered momentum. We made ablution and entered the mosque. Even though it was a small hall, the inside was beautifully arranged. The small room quickly filled and the rest of the devotees had to pray in the mats laid outside in the drizzle. The prayer was delayed for about an hour as more people had to come from distant places. It was understandable as there was no other mosque around for them to pray. After the prayer people started hugging each other which is a common practise. I felt reluctant to hug them as their shabby appearance repulsed me. However, I shook hands with them to share the happiness. In between the crowd I could see some children who were dressed in pretty frocks. An announcement was made that a Hajji, who owned the mosque had arranged free breakfast for all who came. We prayed for the person and for the people and their family and left place with a heavy heart. I had earlier planned to join my parents in Qatar for Eid, but could not renew my passports in time. I was a little disheartened due to this. May be God wanted to remind me that there is Eid beyond the new cloths, sweets and carnivals.

By the eldest son

Inside of the mosque

People hugging each other after the prayer in front of the mosque

Entrance of the mosque

By the eldest son

Sheer sharing

Have you ever watched the video , ALEPH by Jaqueline Ribés Silva , one of the finalists in Paulo Coelho’s music contest ? . Those are very rare occasions in our lives when we forget our surroundings under the spell of such a mesmerizing music and spectacular show . It was a pleasant surprise and a strange coincidence to see in the video my favourite Sun Bird (Soochimukhi ) fluttering its wings and drinking the nectar of a red flower. After viewing it ,one viewer wrote “God is awesome, He gave us a spirit that matches with nature, and this video connect usall”

In this world of ours, who can keep such experiences as his or her own? In every website we visit , we are prompted to share and share everything with his fellow human beings around the globe . If you don’t share, you feel suffocated as if you are in a solitary confinement. No more secrets to be kept and even highly confidential matters affecting national security of States come to public domain these days. In the celebrated Malayalam movie " Rasathanthram ( Chemistry) by Sathyan Anthikkad , the funny scene, in which Manikandam Aashari ( Innocent) struggles to conceal the secret that Kanmani ( Meera Jasmine) is in fact  a boy not a girl as she appears to be, always arouses laughter and amusement in viewers' minds.

Man is thus slowly slipping away from the "frog in the well " mentality and learning to open his mental pane to let fresh air in. His vistas are expanding to embrace the world. He is no longer alone, he has friends from every nook and corner of the world to share both his joys and grievances. When something pleasant happens to him , they congratulate him and when unfortunate events befalls him, they console and comfort him.

How I can ensure that what I share is not disinteresting to the one I share my experiences with ? When I suppose that what I like may be interesting to others as well and start sharing it , it may be described as a mild form of bigotry because I refuse to recognize different perspectives and divergent views and arbitrarily demand that my likings should be palatable to others as well .It occurred to me that I should share this experience with my children but felt that I should exercise caution and take the generation gap that separates me from my children into consideration. Though I firmly believe that my children love me from the heart of their hearts there is a limit beyond which such bonds of love can not pass . Is it that that my tastes and inclinations end where their preferences and appetites begin? Sometimes there may be conflict of inerests. I have to leave them alone to enjoy their life as they deem and should learn to refrain from imposing my will on them or meddling with their personal affairs . That is what I am now trying to do though I cannot imagine how far I will succeed in my attempt.

By the father

Pursuit of Happiness

Most of you, I am sure , are familiar with this title of the famous Hollywood movie, one among my favourite movies of all time and a wonderful film of the Hollywood legend, Will Smith who portrays a simple man’s life .

As the earth keeps going and time slips away before you are aware of it, at some point in life , everyone evaluates his or her life. What have I done? Was it a complete waste..? I have never had complete happiness in my life... there is a hollow feeling in me... and that's something that bothers me a lot.. I have money, a roof over my head and kith and kin who love me dearly ... yes I do have everything but there is something .... something that I miss... yet I cant find it anywhere. According to others, this person may have a successful career and good living, but he says “I am very unhappy and I don’t know why”.

Some of the people , I have met in my life, said at some point in their life they evaluate what they have done. Some of us may have everything, still we feel like there was nothing. Our ancestors, I guess, had never had such problems ….they were happy with the little hut and content with what ever they had to satiate their hunger. And that's it! That was their life . But to our dismay our modern world is very competitive since we want everything and all the things we could ever dream of... if the neighbour has the latest plasma TV we also want it... may be two, one for living room and the other for bedroom.

The other day one of our family friend was discussing their new house to be built in Kerala back home with me... He describes the beauty and tranquillity one experiences when one simply wakes up in the morning and view the city in front of him or her from the 20th floor. It brings immense happiness when you just sit and watch the city waking up in front of you... as the time goes the streets get busier and when the night falls the streets become emptier... Its beautiful to wake up to see this... it makes the day feel good for the rest of the day and the effect that it brings to you is marvellous. He wants to bring this similar effect to the new home . They are building a riverside home... though one home is in city and the other in village, the effect is similar... waking up to see the beautiful river in front you, the calmness of silent waters and the lush green plants and trees around it. If you imagine this on a rainy day you will also dream of a riverside home. And to me, it is one of my favourite things that I do... watching the street below you and sipping my morning tea. My magical moments. Though you may not know what the empty streets are telling you , it still drives you to go there the next day too.

No wonder people now a days want courtyards and water pools in their home. They want to bring this little piece of nature within the building and feel nature all around. Courtyards and water pools have positive effects on our mood and emotions. Even for the flooring they do nowadays, people demand something natural- natural stones that bring coolness to the feet... people are going back once again to nature... as they realize that technology and gadgets are not everything in life.

Now a days every one don’t get an apartment in the 20th floor or a riverside home. Well, there are some other options as well . Simply going to a lakeside in the evening or just sitting on the grass and smelling the freshness it has, is awesome. In another movie I watched , I find this businessman with tight schedules who has fame and money, but at the end of the day he goes to the park , walks on the grass and feels the nature beneath him. But people, unfortunately , find it hard to spend time on things like this. Busy schedules... want all the things to work out well, nothing should go wrong and everything must be perfect! Yes, that's exactly is what everybody want today. But it doesn’t happen like that on earth.

People these days spend a lot of money on spa treatments and yoga. Its the first class spa in town, you should go there, they tell me. Thank you so much for the kind advice, I would say to them... but I would rather spend my time alone in a corner of the park and find my happiness... that gives me double effect because, 1. Unlike the spa I need not spend a penny 2. I get the exactly same effect on going to the spa except that no one massages me.

If at all God grants me a chance to choose which time I must be born, I would be really confused. I don’t want to lose the modern world with new technology and advanced lifestyle and the readymade ‘happy life’... but I also don’t want to miss the small community living where there is love, trust and happiness everywhere. but thank God , He saved me because He never asked me such a question.

This is one of my favourite quotes from the movie:

"Hey dad, you wanna hear something funny? There was a man who was drowning, and a boat came, and the man on the boat said "Do you need help?" and the man said "God will save me". Then another boat came and he tried to help him, but he said "God will save me", then he drowned and went to Heaven. Then the man told God, "God, why didn't you save me?" and God said "I sent you two boats, you dummy!"

Happiness is all about finding what you have and being content with what you have. Don't get fooled by the tempting ads and attractive goodies that say “ add life to life” or ädd colour to your life or add whatever to whatever... all they want is money from you and not your happiness. If you want happiness it is within you. If you are able to enjoy a glass of water that is happiness. If you see an innocent little child smiling there is happiness all around .Go and spend some time qualitatively... some fishing or walking in the woods or seashore. And of course everything depends on how you view your life...is it an half empty glass or half filled glass? It is in your choice to decide.

I recently read a book which says one finds happiness within oneself , in the inner self and hence people needs to be in solitude to find this missing ‘element’ .They have to discover it within themselves. Happiness don’t need any money at all... as they say, money cant buy everything. And there is a little

joke that follows this message : make sure you have earned enough before you say this. Because this is the twenty first century , different time , different people different story. So good luck in finding your “happiness”.

 

By the niece

My Uninvited Guests ...

A cacophonous cry woke me up from my protracted  Sunday somnolence.  8  A.M was an unpardonable time for us residents to stay awake on weekends. Enraged by the interruptionm of  slumber and the possibility of waking up my 8 months old kid, I went out to our balcony to look for  the  uninvited guests. A parrot was relentlessly crying in spite of my shooing. My wife, who also woke up hearing the nature's alarm, said that it was the time when she used to feed the birds in normal days. The bird was protesting against withholding its breakfast. I told her to feed it before it awakes  our sleeping beauty. While my wife was feeding the birds with some left over bread crumps and rice, for the first time in 8 months, I stayed in the apartment watching   the community living  in our backyard. Parrots, pigeons, myna, kites and squirrels were just some of the members of the beautiful ecosystem. Close observation made me realize that they had several  similarities to the human social behavior.

The parrots were the perfectionists. These early risers were punctual and time bound like those wealthy students who are brought up in boarding schools. Their colorful shiny feathers reminded me the neat and ironed uniforms. These students would grow up to beccome well mannered gentlemen  and able citizens always striving  for improvement  and to  lead a perfect life. They are, however,  untouched by the  hardships of human life and try to stay away from the suffering mob. The parrots had a time of its own and usually came in pairs. They eat very gracefully enjoying their meals to the last grain.  Fully immersed in eating,they sometimes even forget their surroundings fully . They keep their feathers clean and never drench in the rain. Their beauty must have given them a racial superiority over the pigeons. They sometimes fight with the pigeons but easily retreat as they may be considering it worthless to altercate with those of inferior fellow beings..

Pigeons  on the other hand can be compared to the politicians. They have no time sense and can appear anywhere at any time. They suddenly perch when the other birds are feeding and start to quarrels with them and even among themselves.  As they are not compartively  attractive, it is quite understandable why they get into trouble with the rest of the pack. They always eat in haste, as if it was a competition but always keep their eyes open to the surroundings and any slightest movement of sound would startle them.  Probably  their inferiority complex has made them paranoid. It may be due to the  humiliation of being less  attractive that  they   follow a ‘trust no one ‘policy.

The mynas are the underdogs. They only eat on the left over of grains from the floor which have fallen down while the parrots and pigeons were fighting. They usually come in the evening and never appear when other birds are around. They never make noise when there is no food and are always content with what they get. They would never hesitate to take bath openly in the water kept to quench their thirst. May be they are too innocent to become conscious of their social inhibitions.

The squirrels never eat from where the birds are feeding. It is when we started keeping food in another location that the squirrel started appearing. These impulsive creatures are like those workaholics who are always busy in their cell phones. These fur balls are always in motion and like to run away with the food in their mouth.

Even though these observations have no scientific basis and are only a  part and producet  of my extended imagination, it is nice to know that humans are not the only species with rivalry and competition.  These tiny creatures at least made me think of something other than my family and work. By this time the pigeons have already arrived causing another commotion and the parrots were flying away scolding  the pigeons. This awoke  my baby and with a splendid smile she brought me back to the reality.

By the eldest son

Straight from my heart

Blossoms from the sky

Breaking bread

Breezy evening

Festive mood,keeping everyone busy

 Run  and catch the falling stars

Lighting the sky

Miles and miles to go before I sleep............

When pride prevails

By the niece

"Hot" news from Doha



It is summer time in Doha . Just imagine what summer means in Gulf countries .While writing this the temperature is 46 degree Celsius.. Life goes on as usual and flows like a stream, trees and plants dance in the wind, birds sing, building workers carry on their work , newspaper boy sells newspapers and magazines riding bicycles , employees attend their offices, students sleep to their belly full since schools are closed , customers wait in queues in supermarkets to pay their bills, so on and so forth.

Meropiade



Those who can afford to spend a lot of money have gone abroad to spend their vacations in countries enjoying a cool climate with sporadic downpour . Gulf Nationals love and long for rainy days while Europeans likee sunny days as it is cold and cloudy in their countries even in summer with frequent showers . If it is very cool even in summer in their countries what will be the situation there in winter , one may wonder. Once while traveling with my boss by car from Munich to Meersbug in Germany in winter , he showed me a frozen river. It was a splendid sight for us and a unique experience for me. When we got off the car I tried to touch and feel the large ice block called river . I felt like walking on it but knew that it was risky.


 

Orioliade

 

In Doha bunches of dates hanging in date palms are a regular sight these days .They are now yellow in colour and within a few days they will turn red , soft ,sponchy and ready to pluck for consumption. These bunches of dates arouse a feeling of abundance in the minds of the onlookers. Some of the birds living in Qatar are so beautiful. Different species of pigeons can be spotted every where. I used to see parrots and don’t know where they have now migrated to.






Ardeiadade



The fasting month of Ramadan is at the doorstep. In this holy month for government institutions and private companies reduce their working hours to facilitate fasting .Houses and furniture are specially cleaned to welcome this holy month. Some followers of other religions also fast together with their Muslim colleagues to show their solidarity. Iftar parties attended by followers of other creeds are occasions that pave the way for mutual understanding and joint cooperation. 

By the father

Science Fair or Fear

“Can you drop me back to my school" I asked my dad interrupting the siesta he was enjoying . It was on the first day of the Science Fair in our school. I had just returned home and had my lunch . The weather was very hot as usual in summer in Doha .My dad asked some questions and finally agreed. Now a days it is my younger brother who drives. But he was in fact fast asleep and none will dare to awake him. At around 3 P.M. I was in the Exhibition Hall.

In every school or institution it may happen once in an year. The students just cant wait until it arrives. Some start preparing even an year before .When they however reach the bridge, it may be too hard to cross.



winde electricity(house)



A teacher by profession , my only sister always gifts me with educational toys. Last time it was solar building kit ,so much to build, so much to work and so much to tryout The kit allowed me to build 6 different items. The solar car was obviously the best one, but would not work properly. So I made a solar dog, but it seemed to me that it was not enough. After all it was very small. And so the title of the project came to my mind. Instead of the title solar energy, I decided to make it ‘natural energy’ and thus included wind electricity into it.

solar robot dog



When you hear the title solar dog or solar robot , big things may come to your mind. But my solar dog does not bark or walk o run . All it does is turn it’s tail rapidly as long as the light stays in contact with the solar cell. But the tail acts as a propeller and at the same time causes vibrations which in turn makes the dog move in circular motion.

how it works

On the first day when the teachers in charge came in for checking whether what each student had brought was worthy of participation or not, the atmosphere was tense because the participants did not know what were the topics to be rejected rather than selected . Most of the items were unfortunately rejected and mine was luckily one of the selected topics. The morning was for the mounting and with most of my class mates gone; things started getting a little boring. When the morning session of the fair was over and we were to go home.

When I returned home after the morning session on the second day, I told my dad that I had to return to the school. He disagreed saying that since it was Thursday I had to attend evening religious lessons . Then I asked what I would say to my partner who would be waiting for me in the school and he agreed. This time it was my elder brother who took me to the school.

Even though the solar dog seemed to be an interesting topic, we had problems awaiting us. For starters, the solar dog despite defined as a means of ‘conservation of electricity’, needed a table lamp to act as an artificial sun which meant that I needed to mount my exhibit where there is an electric plug that was available only inside classrooms. So we mounted our exhibit inside a classroom while most of the others were in the corridor. It was now open to public but here came the big problem, we were pinned inside the class. And no one would bother come inside to view the exhibits. Everyone preferred just going on straight watching the exhibits next to them. The bright side was that we had a comfortable and pleasant time.

me and my friends

It was night time and the exhibition was finally over. There was a valedictory function but I only stayed for the main part, the rest was all dances and dramas. We were given transport back home but not the same bus. Certain buses take you to particular areas along with teachers. Walking to the bus might sound simple but it is not that simple in my school. The school is very large with 5 different sections. I needed to first find my bus. I asked the one in charge and got my bus number but not its location. On the way I found a friend who was younger but had the same interest I had-experimenting on electronics. We found the bus outside the campus but the driver told us that we could only board the buses after the function was over. Then it was off to the other end of the school. By the time we reached there the final folk dance was over. And as they were delivering the concluding speech we returned and the function was over before we got there. But the bus door was locked and the driver had not come, leaving us in the scorching heat. Some teachers had come and they were waiting for the door to open too. I got tired of waiting so I went to driver’s door and it was not locked so I climbed up the bus to the door that was located a little far from vehicle’s base. I got into the driver’s seat and pulled a lever which then opened the door. We got in and once everyone arrived the driver came and we were off to our homes. We had some fun with our exhibits. Even though we didn’t win any prizes, we were very close to it, it turned out that we were ranked as the 4th.

By the youngest son

The feathered family

Though  I  had tried hard to get a two room quarters when I was staying with my wife, I was allotted the apartment only after she went back to Kerala for birthgiving. I stayed alone in the apparently large room and my solitude made it look larger. I had kept an air-cooler by the side of the window. I didn’t make it operational as it was winter. One day I noticed a pigeon bringing sticks and dry leaf and preparing a nest in the gap between the window shield and the air cooler. This made me happy as I loved some sort of company in this monotony and it actually reminded me of  my wife preparing for her delivery. Within days the nest was ready and the pigeon had laid two eggs. I was initially reluctant to approach the nest as I feared that the bird would get frightened and abandon her eggs. One day I heard a commotion near the cooler. As I looked I saw the bird fighting with two squirrels who had come to snatch the eggs, seeing me the wild creatures retreated , but they had succeeded in breaking the eggs, I could not understand why this herbivorous squirrel wanted  those eggs. Had they changed into eggitarians or did they have some long forgotten revenge with the pigeon family. Anyway the seemingly cute and harmless creature had become a devilish wild beast for me. I felt sorry for the pigeons and joined them in their mourning.

After a week or so, I received news from my beloved that our baby’s life was abnormal and the gynecologist wanted to perform a version procedure to correct it. Knowing that it was a risky though  it was an essential  procedure, my mind was in turmoil. However, by God’s grace on the day of the procedure my wife called and gave me the good news that our baby had spontaneously changed to normal position. I thanked God and looked at my feathered friends, who were busy preparing for their offspring.

By the time I was leaving for home to be with my better half to join  her when our much expected child comes to this world, the pigeon had laid two eggs and were also expecting their little ones . I was worried about their safety  from the squirrels in my absence. But all I could do was to pray to God to protect them as he protected mine. When I returned, leaving my heart and apple of my eye back home, I was received by two beautiful chicks chirping under the wings of their mother. Their heads and bodies were naked  and  featherless. Even though their constant cries disturbed my scanty sleep, I loved their presence as it reminded  me of my  family. I would sometimes peep into its nest to see how much they had grown. I could even count their tiny feathers.

Time passed and the clumsy winter gave way for the scorching summer. I had promised my wife that I would come to take them once the winter faded. I looked at the chicks who then had  sound wings. It was just a matter of days before they would fly off into the endless horizon. I thought I could replace the nest as  so that the birds would build it somewhere else, as I wanted to operate my air cooler to escape from the heat. The sun had already started peeping  through my windows. After  a few  days when  I looked into the nest, I discovered that the mother had already laid its next egg although a singlet. Despite that  my first reflex was to throw away the nest of the irresponsible bird not heeding to proper family planning, the thoughts of my family prevented me from the vicious  act. After all, the  larger the family, the happier it is .

I brought my wife and four month old child to the city beautiful. The summer was furious like a frying pan at Chandigarh. The chick had by then  feathers, but was not yet ready to fly. Even though it was hot, I decided to give the chick a couple of days so that the chick could at least escape from predators. However I told my wife to ensure  that the mother bird does not lay anymore eggs. Each day we eagerly waved off the mother bird and waited for the chick to fly off. But the birds  cheated us once again  and  in spite of our valiant efforts it managed to lay its egg. But this time I had to do it. I moved the nest with the egg in it to another position. I know this would frighten off the birds, but I could not wait for another generation in this heat. It may be protecting its offspring, but so am I.

By the eldest son

The poor girl who loved a Prince

Do you believe that a veteran political leader in Kerala, has  no money to pay his hospital bills? It may sound strange and even incredible in Indian political arena notorious for corruption scandals, kickbacks and bribes . But it did happen, to this former Kerala Legislative Assembly speaker and MP when he was once hospitalized as reported by his friends including a journalist who assisted him to settle the bills. Ardently loved by the common man, he stands alone as a honest politician who refuses to be cowed down by temptations of power, politics or money and remains fighting for just social causes even if it amounts to opposing his own political party.

It occurred to me to search for a story in the printed and visual media just to see that honesty is honoured. While doing so I asked  myself whether I was crazy or if it was some sort of absurdities dictated by the aging I am now undergoing . Well, there are occasions in one’s life in when he fails to convince even the next of his kin. I have to confess that what I have found is the other way around; public servants being harassed by his superiors, policemen or officers being subjected to punishment transfers, employees fired, all on “charges” of being honest in their duties. Politicians accused of corruption and nepotism are sworn in as ministers and shady police officers reinstated after their suspension on valid grounds . A employee of a state owned company in Kerala had committed suicide along with his family members a few months ago due to constant intimidations from his superiors who were facing corruption charges .

I had , therefore, to go back to more than a couple of millenniums to dig out such a story. With sincere apologies to my esteemed readers, here it is:

Around 250 BC , a Prince in ancient China was preparing to be crowned as King. Pursuant to the laws and regulations prevailing there in those days that he had to marry to first. It was a matter of choosing the next Empress rather than his wife. Hence he had to select a girl whom he could trust blindly. Based on the opinion of his advisors, he decided to invite the girls of the area to select the most suitable from them.

When a poor old lady who had been working in the palace as Maid since several years came to know of it, she was sorry as she knew that her daughter had been concealing her love for the prince. She informed her daughter what was going on the in the palace but was surprised to note that her daughter also intended to participate in the contest.

"What are you going to do there among the richest and most beautiful girls" she asked her daughter.

" No mom, I will participate. I know that I will not be chosen but I will be pleased to be close to the Prince at least for a few moments. I know very well what my fate will be"

On the day of the contest , beautiful girls wearing elegant costumes and precious ornaments gathered in the palace. Surrounded by his courtiers , the Prince arrived and announced " I will give each of you a seed, who ever brings me the most beautiful flower after six months will be the next Empress."

The daughter of the old lady also took the seed, returned home and planted it in a flower pot . Though she was not proficient in farming, she took care of the soil with a lot patience and care as she believed that if the plant grew as much as her love for the prince, she did not need to worry about the result. Three months passed but the seed did not germinate. Though she tried various ways and employed different methods after consulting the farmers, her efforts were in vain. The days passed, her hopes dashed and her aspirations dissipated but her for love for the prince remained glowing.

Six months elapsed and nothing grew in her flower pot . Though she knew that she had nothing to present to the Prince she was fully aware of her sincere efforts .She told her mother that she would go to the palace on the date and time set for the selection . She knew that it was her last chance to see her lover and did not want loose it however hard it might be.

On the final selection date , she went to the palace with her flowerpot which had no plant or flower in it. She saw all the other girls carrying beautiful flowers and it was difficult to decide which one was more beautiful than the other. The prince entered and looked at the competing girls with much attention and care. After passing by all of them, she pointed to the daughter of his maid and announced that she would be the next empress. The other girls protested saying that the prince had chosen a girl who did not plant any thing. Then the prince told them " She is the only one who has planted the seed and is thus entitled to be the next empress because the seeds I had given all of you were sterile and can never germinate or grow".

It is while reading such stories that a common man like me feels relieved. When some TV channels exposes corruption though sting operations and the culprits are caught red-handed the common man rejoices . “ What will you gain from being honest ” some one may ask. Let us suppose that your boss asks you to telephone some one and you forgets to do so. He follows up and you tell him the truth of the matter .He may be angry at you and accuse you of being careless or even negligent . If you had instead lied to him saying that person’s telephone was busy, he would be happy and would only ask you to call him again. Here he is in fact appreciating the lie you have told him and reprimanding you for telling the truth. I know two shops in Doha adjacent to each other selling the same merchandise. One of these shop owners lies to his customers and sell counterfeited goods whereas the other one is honest in his dealings and sells only genuine articles . The outcome is that the former has amassed a lot of wealth where as the latter is still trying hard to make both ends meet.

I have seen elders in my village classifying those working in Gulf countries to evaluate who is successful and who is not. They judge people based on the money the person has amassed regardless of the ways and means they employed in this respect whether it is through smuggling or drug or human trafficking or some other illegal channels which has no effect on the reputation the person enjoys in the society. Those classified as “ the most successful” seem to command more respect than the persons who use legitimate methods to earn money but remain less wealthy or even impoverished. They comment about those financially unfortunate ones saying “they are wasting their time  and are in no way better than those who remain jobless”.

Does it mean that are the values such as truthfulness, selflessness, sacrifice, altruism disappearing slowly from the society ? When the world shrank into a small village and people around the globe came closer to one another we should have been more happy but we still feel that something is missing. Are we trampling mercilessly on human values and principles using the iron boot of globalization and liberalization?

By the father

When his corpse returns home

“You may forget those you have laughed with , but not those you have wept with” Gibran Khalil Gibran.

The other day a Pakistani colleague of mine, died of cardiac arrest. He had recently returned to Doha after spending his annual vacation with his family in Pakistan. His frozen body kept in the morgue is scheduled to be flown to his home country for burial after a few hours accompanied by his son who is working in Doha. I tried to imagine the feelings of his son in his twenties who is destined to take the refrigerated dead body of his father home and visualize the situation when his beloved mom "meets" with her dead husband.

The scholar who led his funeral prayer held a few hours ago in the court yard of the hospital reminded the participants that what has happened to the person they are praying for is going to happen to all of them whether it be after a few minutes or hours or months or years and asked them to get ready for that well equipped with righteous deeds. Another group of Keralites was seen there preparing for the funeral prayer of a young Keralite Muslim who died of the same cause.

Last year a relative of my son in law living in Doha found her husband lying unconscious in their living room early in the morning. When his friends took him to the hospital he was found dead .They, however, kept the matter confidential for obvious reasons and told his wife that he was just admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. When we visited her house after about twelve hours from the incident a number of people had gathered in her house. None of them had the courage to disclose the matter to her. Their kids were running here and there and playing while visitors were watching them being at a loss what to tell them. She was speaking to them as if no tragedy had occurred . Some of the visitors questioned the logic behind keeping her away the fact of the matter. But they were told that the intension was not to shock her as they wanted her to be aware of it gradually. By the time she was informed of the matter, she had already smelled a rat. It was on the day when his dead body was released from the hospital to be flown home . In lieu of returning home happily with her husband and two toddlers, she had to accompany the dead body of her husband home and even console her mother in law who was still alive.

During the past three decades of my expatriate life in Doha, I had witnessed several such cases in Doha including deaths due to traffic accidents. Death is inevitable but when one breathes his last while he is thousands of miles away from his dear and near ones , it will be more painful . Being a social animal man desires for the presence of his family members even at the time of his death though he knows that the latter can only watch them dying and can do nothing beyond being passive spectators. I remember my beloved mom who used to tell me that she wanted to die when her children were at home and how I used to scold her for speaking about her death. When she passed away in 2000, I was there in the next room though I still feel sorry that I could not be beside her at the time of her sudden death even being at home.

By the father

Matters of the heart

Love me like a flower

With nectar in thy heart

Brightness as its luster

And fragrance that ‘ll never part

Love me like a moon

With ardour in thy sight

Promise me you ‘ll come soon

To shed in my your light

Love me like a child

With glittering glance and smile

With serenity so sweet and mild

Which will guide me many a mile

Love me like song

With mirth as its music

With lyrics lulling and long

Which will make my tears magic

Love me like a rainbow

With emotions blent in thy glow

Come and pacify my sorrow

And silence my soul’s woe

If ever love be true

And if ever it can sooth

Then with ours, we’ll prove

That love is nothing but truth

By the daughter