Desert Living -9

Syria 28.11.2009

This time too my name is not there in the list of India’s ten richest people. I feel largely disappointed. Even after toiling like this for the past two decades, what did I achieve? I do not own a posh villa in the metropolis, I do not own a S class merc, I do not have a club membership. I don’t think moksha is possible in this birth. But still, there is a saving grace. None of the guys and gals I know too do not appear in the list!!

Shilpa Shetty’s wedding dress was worth 75 Lacs. Still many parts in her body could not be effectively covered. When she decided to dress up in the traditional way it could have been a little more decent. In reel life however she reveals everything for money. At least in this real life event she should have appeared as a ‘bharatiya nari’ .

Though the life is in the desert, we never feel scarcity of anything here. Water in abundance – open the tap, clear water flows nonstop. Open the refrigerator – unlimited numbers of packaged drinking water bottles are stacked in it. Switch on the air conditioner it gives hot or cold air as per our requirement. Another switch starts the TV and another one water heater. But, interestingly, no one needs to switch on any of these gadgets because none of them are switched off ever. Just click the print tab on the PC, reams of papers are printed by the printer within a few seconds. Guys print anything they feel like, even if it is of no use. There are many instances where people print hundreds of pages by mistake. They do not even turn up at the printer to collect these ‘waste’ papers.

As I have been typing this, I have just dropped a water bottle into the bin. Still a little water was remaining in it. But who cares for it? Water is supplied in sealed bottles of One and a half litre capacity. Imagine a minimum of one bottle each is consumed by each person everyday. How many plastic bottles will be dumped into the dust bins? This camp consists of at least 200 people. So, two hundred bottles are added to the disaster called plastic.

Human insensitivity towards climatic changes and global warming is alarming. Waste - this is the most produced item in Gulf, especially at project sites.

In a well developed industrialized Gulf country, we can see tens of flares. Unused gas and petroleum products are burnt away through these flares. It is frightening to look at them. The flares will have heights even as high as 50 meters –in my guess.

As all of us know, more than 90% of the people working in the project sites in Gulf are from India and other developing/undeveloped countries. They must know the value of everything. Still, the way they behave suggests that there is no tomorrow for them.
 

For example, the air conditioners. Every container used for accommodation and office at site are provided with air conditioners. Everyone leaves his room by the day break only to return by late in the evening. During this long gap, the air conditioners will be working. No one cares to switch them off. The excuse is that, if the ac is switched off, due to no circulation of air, room will be very hot. So, when they come back from job, the room will be too hot to enter. They can not afford to sit in the room just for a few minutes in the hot room.

Next come water heaters and exhaust fans in the containers. None of these equipment are switched off, while the occupants leave the container. A large campus at a project site may contain upto 200 hundred to 300 hundred portable cabins. If all air conditioners, water heaters and the toilet exhaust fans are working round the clock, what will be the power waste? We can see huge diesel generators of minimum 500KVA capacity lined up in the camp that will run non stop.

Tissue papers have very great demand here. We Indians, as far as my belief goes, use handkerchief to clean our hands, face mouth and nose. Here, the same Indians, after washing their hands, just pulls out several pieces of tissue paper and use them to clean various parts of their body and dump them in to the waste basket. For each sneeze, several papers go down to the drain.

Frightening. But we all learnt to live with this fear. No matter how difficult the consequences be.

No amount of story telling about desert living will not be complete if something about Kuboos is not mentioned. Without Kuboos, life in Gulf is not complete. When I landed in Qatar last time, I had the first encounter with this Arabian bread. It is like our chapathi in shape but is made of a blend of maida and cornflake flour.and a little bit of yeast. It is baked instead of toasting like our chapathi. It has no specific taste. So like our chapathis, we have to eat it with some dish. Kuboos are made in mass quantity and are packed in plastic covers and like our bread are sold in shops. Arabs use this as their main food item. I believe, if we can learn the right combination of the Arabian bread, there is a good scope for making it there in India. I am sure it has a good business potential. Who knows one day you will not be known as a Kuboos baron! Take a plunge and see the result. I shall buy them regularly.

A few days ago I came across a very interesting scene. With sincere apologies to all you good human beings, may I say this too is a story related to animals. The other day, when we were on our way to the site, we spotted a herd of sheep grazing on the bushes. To guard them there were three dogs. When these dogs spotted our car from a distance, they took position as if an enemy is approaching them. As the car neared them the dogs stared barking and running after the car menacingly. The car sped past these animals unmindful of their war cries. The dogs ran for a distance and stopped. What must the dogs have thought of this incident? They must have felt proud of doing their duty of protecting the sheep from the enemies. They did their duty with sincerity.

And the master? What would be the master master doing while the dogs were on duty? He must be stretching himself in a well cushioned arm chair and sipping a cup of chai (Chai in Arabic means tea as in India). Or enjoying kuboos with a deliciously cooked mutton fry along with his favorite sauce. The loyal guards do their duty with all sincerity, even ready to lay down their life for their master. Most importantly, without laying claim to the fruits of this “karma”. How many of us can follow these dogs on their karma path? I never like to abuse anyone by calling him/her dog. This, by any standard, is a direct affront to a noble animal. We shall never insult this animal by equating it with human beings!

The sheep eat grass for their master. Somewhere in the shelter the master is counting the money these sheep are going to generate. They may hardly realize that the end destination of all of them is a food processing centre. Food processing centre is the decent name for the slaughter house.

The dogs, when they grow older and render useless for the master, will also be deserted by the master. They will be thrown to the streets forcing them to fend for themselves.

This is life. Emotions and bonds have no place in life. Everything is as per convenience. Attitudes and relations change as per situations. But still dogs are ever ready to bark and bite and even lay down their lives for their masters 24x7.