Karishma Pais (Kim) in Print

Yaayaavar Jeevan Mera - Part 3

2012-02-06T23:27:00.008+05:30

My series on our 10 day trip across the North East is being translated into Hindi and published by News Bench - Delhi.

Part 3 was published on 6th February 2012.

The entire article can be read at : http://www.newsbench.in/links.aspx?nt=060212123004.gif

Nail Biting to the End

2012-01-30T20:33:00.000+05:30

We were in Jaipur for the Literature Festival and the Sirmur Cup.

This picture appeared in the Jaipur edition of the DNA on 30th January 2012.

The article can be viewed on http://bit.ly/dna_jaipur

Yaayaavar Jeevan Mera - Part 2

2012-01-30T19:55:00.001+05:30

My series on our 10 day trip across the North East is being translated into Hindi and published by News Bench - Delhi.

Part 2 was published on 30th January 2012.

The entire article can be read at : http://www.newsbench.in/links.aspx?nt=300112014223.gif

Yaayaavar Jeevan Mera - Part 1

2012-01-23T19:39:00.010+05:30

My series on our 10 day trip across the North East is being translated into Hindi and published by News Bench - Delhi.

Part 1 was published on 23rd January 2012.

The entire article can be read at http://www.newsbench.in/links.aspx?nt=230112010948.gif

Eating out in Delhi

2010-12-08T20:43:00.001+05:30

Published on Expat Arrivals for the benefit of expats in Delhi.

Restaurants in Delhi

It's said that cuisine in India changes every 500 metres (1500 feet). It comes as no surprise then that restaurants in Delhi, one of the nation's cosmopolitan centrepieces, offer an enviable range of both regional Indian and international fare.

People of Delhi take their food seriously and love to eat. There are dining options on every street, some small with mid-range prices and some expensive. While Chinese, Thai, Italian and Japanese are most popular, you can also find Lebanese, Mexican and Mediterranean restaurants in Delhi.

There are plenty of vegetarian choices as well, and vegan selections make common appearances on menus in the city. That being said, chicken and mutton are the meats most often used for cooking, while pork is served only in some establishments.

Some expats may be surprised to find that beef cannot be sold legally in Delhi, and can only be served with the appropriate licences. It follows that beef dishes are largely restricted to five star hotels. If beef dishes are offered in other restaurants, it would likely be buffalo, rather than cow meat that is used.

If you're a newly arrived expat to Delhi, then it would be better for you stick to bottled water and the larger, more mainstream restaurants. These do tend to be more expensive, but they will also be more hygienic and a safer option until your body adjusts to the local conditions.

Once you get rid of the fabled "Delhi Belly" and you're stomach develops a bit of the steel lining that Indians pride themselves on, you can even start enjoying the street food and hole-in-the-wall kebab eateries; some of Delhi's most precious hidden gems.

For up-to-date reviews and comprehensive contact details expats can check out either the Hindustan Times or the Times of India. Both newspapers release annual top 10 rankings, and put together print publications as well. Otherwise, magazines, like Burrp and Time Out also review a smaller selection of restaurants in each issue.

Recommended Indian restaurants in Delhi

[Frontier Food] Bukhara
A favourite of the Clinton's, and a multiple award winning restaurant that has dishes named in honour of the famous presidential couple. Arguably the most famous Indian eatery, it is ranked among the top 50 restaurants in the world and it serves delicious Northwest Frontier Province cuisine.
Tel: 2611 2233

[Mughlai] Karims
Karims' cooks are rumoured to be descendants of the royal cooks of past, and many of the recipes used are hundreds of years old. While there are many outlets spread across the
city, the best is undoubtedly the original - located in the picturesque Chandni Chowk area. This is the place to go if you are craving authentic kebabs.
www.karimhoteldelhi.com
Tel: 2326 9880, 2326 4981

[Punjabi] Moti Mahal
Moti Mahal claims that its originator, invented the famous "butter
chicken". While the bold statement can't be authenticated, their version of the dish is excellent and can be enjoyed with hot rotis and Makhani Dal. There are many branches in the city, expats should be sure to choose Moti Mahal, and not the Moti Mahal Deluxe chain.
Tel: 2327 3011

[Punjabi] Punjabi By Nature
The first restaurant to experiment with Indian flavours, try their drunken
prawns, tandoori quail and vodka golguppas.
www.punjabibynature.in
4151 6666, 4151 6668

[South Indian Vegetarian] Sagar Ratna
This is the place for excellent crispy dosas, hot idlis and sambhar and a host of other vegetarian dishes popularly known as Udupi cuisine. Sagar Ratna also serves some North Indian vegetarian dishes like Chole Bhatura and Rajma Chawal. They also have multiple locations across the city and NCR.
www.sagarratna.in
Tel: 2433 3688

[Indian Fusion] Indian Accent
The chef here does some innovative takes on Indian food using local and seasonal organic ingredients. There's a wonderful Chef's Menu if you want to taste the highlights; a wine pairing option exists as well.
www.themanordelhi.com
Tel: 4323 5151

[Kashmiri] Chor Bizarre
While Chor Bizarre does serve food from across the Northern region, the best option on the menu is the Kashmiri Wazwan cooked by chefs from Kashmir. Both vegetarian and non vegetarian options are available. The a la carte is much better than the buffet.
www.chorbizarrerestaurant.com
Tel: 4366 3600

[Bengali] Oh Calcutta
Bengali food focuses on fish and seafood, so it can be a welcome respite from the chicken and mutton heavy menus found in the rest of the city. Their lunch buffet is excellent value for money.
Tel: 2646 4180

[Gujarathi & Rajasthani] Rajdhani
A Bombay institution that has opened in Delhi and Gurgaon. They serve only unlimited vegetarian thalis. There is no menu, whatever they cook that day is what you get. The range is huge and the servers will keep feeding you until you are about to burst. Be sure to save space for dessert.
www.rajdhani.co.in
Tel: 4374 5577, 4109 6346

[Kerala] Gunpowder
This small eatery requires hungry patrons climb four flights of stairs, but the excellent Kerala food on offer is well-worth the trek. The fare is spicy, but the waiters can guide you towards less potent preparations and the appams and parathas are outstanding. Call for reservations before making the journey.
Tel: 2653 5700

[Anglo Indian] Brown Sahib
When the British were in India, a unique kind of cuisine was born. British staples recreated with Indian ingredients and Indian staples adapted for British palates. Brown Sahib is one of the very few restaurants in the country where you will get to taste this cuisine. They also offer Bengali food.
www.brownsahib.in
Tel: 4082 0027, 4082 0030

[North Indian] The Great Kebab Factory
You have a choice of vegetarian and non vegetarian. The menu for the day will have a limited variety of kebabs but in unlimited quantities. Excellent kebabs. Stick to the kebabs and breads, although the price also includes biryani and dhal. Multiple outlets in Delhi and NCR
www.thegreatkababfactory.com
Tel: 2677 9067

Recommended International restaurants in Delhi

[Japanese] Ai
Ai serves excellent Japanese food including sushi flown in fresh daily. They
have three seating areas. The restaurant, the open air terrace and the lounge
area.
Tel: 4065 4567

[Thai] Ego Thai
The waiters are extremely helpful and will accommodate most requests to
eliminate or change certain ingredients. A lounge cum restaurant
spread across two floors, it offers excellent soups and Thai curries.
Tel: 2633 1181

[Chinese] The China Kitchen
Chinese was one of the first international cuisines that was available in India because Chinese traders came across and settled; opening shoe shops and restaurants along the way. A few years back, what passed as Chinese would actually be Indianised versions of Chinese dishes (called Indian Chinese), but some recent restaurants like The China Kitchen are doing excellent business, serving authentic Chinese Cuisine.
delhi.regency.hyatt.com
Tel: 6677 1334

[Italian] Diva
Chef Ritu Dalmia is well known for her passion for Italian food and she sources a lot of her ingredients from Italy itself. There are some unique pastas other than the standard white and red sauce options.
www.diva-italian.com
Tel: 2921 5673

[Greek] Its Greek to Me
One of the first authentic Greek restaurants to open in India it is heavily frequented by the expat crowd.
Tel: 4101 2240

[Middle Eastern] Shalom
All the standard favourites from the Lebanese and other Levantine and Middle Eastern menus can be found at this eatery.
www.shalomexperience.com
Tel: 4163 2280

[European] Smoke House Grill
They change their menu regularly and have some excellent dishes on offer. There's even a charcuterie on the premises if you want to pick up sandwich stuffers. Their Smoke House Deli in DLF Place in Vasant Kunj is also excellent and has an outdoor seating arrangement too.
Tel: 4143 5530

[Mexican] Rodeo
While expats will find many a familiar Mexican dish on this menu, they may not taste exactly like their original inspirations. Still, the food is quite good.
Tel: 2371 3870

[Café]The Big Chill Café
One of my favourite eat out locations in Delhi. They have two outlets in Khan Market and one at DLF Place in Saket. The décor is Hollywood posters and the food is excellent - from the home made ice cream based milk shakes and malts to their humongous dessert servings. Salads, sandwiches, pasta, grilled meat, pizzas, you can find it all here. Definitely try their baked potatoes with toppings.
Tel: 4175 7533

[American] All American Diner
They serve breakfast all day - sausages and eggs and skillets. Their portions are large, and they have an all you can eat offer until 11am.
Tel: 4122 0000

Keeping in Touch in India

2010-11-18T17:36:00.002+05:30

I've just started writing for ExpatArrivals - an online resource for expats across the globe. Keeping in Touch in India is my first article for them.

Keeping in touch with family and friends back home during your stay in India is easy and the options are many, especially if you're an expat in one of the metros (New Delhi, Gurgaon, Bombay/Mumbai, Bangalore/Bengaluru, Madras/Chennai, Hyderabad, Calcutta).

Internet, telephone, mobile phone, and post are available and service standards are quite good. Online news sites are accessible with any Internet connection to help you keep abreast of current events in your home country and most Indian newspapers can be viewed online, so you can always stay informed.

Using Internet to keep in touch in India

Until a few years ago, Internet in India was unreliable and sporadic, with only government players to choose from. Fortunately, better sense prevailed and today expats can choose from quite a variety of services and service providers. Internet speeds are still lower than a lot of developed countries, but with the sanctioning of 3G, which should be in working order by 2011, things should improve.

Internet connections

Dial up connections are possible but the speed can be extremely frustrating. Since you are charged for the time you spend online, this can get very expensive and hence Dial up is no longer a popular option.

DSL and Broadband are the two leading forms of Internet connectivity in India.

The major DSL providers in India are Airtel, BSNL Dataone, Airlink Broadband, Reliance Communications and Tata Indicom Broadband. For Internet access via DSL, you will need to have a DSL land line installed.

For most broadband connections too, you will need to have a land line installed, but speed is generally faster than DSL and monthly download limits are generally higher.

Internet costs and service providers

Costs vary depending on the company and the packages on offer (download "x" amount each month for a fixed sum, or pay a higher amount for unlimited downloads). The major broadband providers in India include BSNL, Tata Indicom, ZeeNext, Railwire, Cable Internet services, Airtel, Sify, MTNL, Tikona, DSL, Reliance, Hathway, YOU broadband and Connect Broadband.

Some major cable operators provide internet services along with their cable services. Sify and Hathway are well-known recognized providers of both. But organised cable providers are a recent phenomenon in the Indian marketplace. The majority of cable television service providers in India are not formally organised, and they operate in small areas.

Internet cafés abound across India; even in smaller towns. Rates are pretty reasonable, around 60 Rupees per hour, or less. However, hotels charge much more.

While WiFi technology is rampant and you can get it for your home or office use, the concept of free WiFi is not yet popular in India. If you want to be connected on the go, then the best option would be to go for a Blackberry or a smart phone; for more frequent use a "data card", which is a mobile Internet device which you plug into a USB port of your laptop, is recommended.

Reliance, Tata and MTS provide the best connectivity in this segment.

Using telecommunication to keep in touch in India

There are multiple fixed line (land line) providers in India. This includes the state run BSNL and MTNL, which have been in the running since inception, and the private newcomers Bharti, Reliance and Tata Teleservices.

Expats will need to provide identification proof and proof of residence at the location where you want to get the phone installed. Make a refundable deposit and in a couple of days, you will be good to go.

Fixed lines offer discounted rates in the evenings and on holidays. To dial internationally, you will need to pay a higher deposit.

The international code for dialling India is +91 and each city has its own STD (Subscribers Trunk Dialing) code. Delhi - 11, Gurgaon - 124, Bombay/Mumbai - 22, Bangalore/Bengaluru - 80, Madras/Chennai - 44, Hyderabad - 40, Calcutta-33.

Phone booths in India

There are manned phone (PCO) booths on most major streets across the country where you can dial local, international and mobile phones. A meter attached to the phone you are using will show you how much the call costs in real time, and then you pay the person at the booth,once you're finished. You can also ask for a receipt for the calls you made.

Payphones are common only in Airports where you prepay with coins to make local calls. Some of these phones may allow you to make calls to mobile numbers.

Using mobile phones to keep in touch in India

Mobile telephony (58% penetration) has completely overtaken fixed lines (3% penetration) in the race for connectivity in India. Fixed lines are generally used only because they are a prerequisite for a stable Internet connection or at offices.

The reason for this is that mobile companies have infrastructure which makes it easier for them to offer new connections in remote locations than fixed lines. With fixed lines you pay local rates for calling within the city, but pay higher rates for outside the city also called STD (Subscribers Trunk Dialling) calls.

With a mobile connection, expats can pay the same flat rate for the entire circle, or state (with the exception of Maharashtra) and there are discounts across circles if the person you are calling also uses the same mobile services provider as you do.

Mobile service providers also offer closed user groups (CUG's) to companies, where all registered mobile numbers of employees working with the company get free or highly discounted call rates when calling each other.

Initially, mobile telephone provider licenses were limiting and it was difficult for people who travelled a lot to find a service provider who operated across the nation. Fortunately some of the restrictions have eased and service providers have formed alliances which allow their subscribers to travel across India with almost seamless connectivity, except for a few areas.

Jammu and Kashmir and some parts of the North East still have a lot of restrictions on mobile telephone connectivity because of security and insurgency issues. But other than this and a few blind spots between cellphone towers on long distance roads, you can be constantly connected on the go while you are in India.

Mobile phone costs and service providers

The major operators in this segment with pan-India presence are Vodafone, Airtel, Aircel, Reliance (GSM & CDMA), Tata Indicom, Idea, BSNL (except Delhi and Mumbai), MTS and Virgin CDMA. Tata Docomo, Uninor and Videocon. Other than these larger players, there are some smaller operators who operate in a very few circles but provide good service. These include Connect – Punjab, Loop – Bombay/Mumbai, MTNL – Delhi & Mumbai, S Tel – Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh.

There are 2 payment plans with mobile telephony: pre-paid and post-paid. At times it may seem like the calling rates and schemes with pre-paid are much better and more reasonable than those on post-paid. Rates and plans keep changing, so they can be extremely confusing especially if you consider the small print. It is recommended that expats choose a provider depending on connectivity in your base location, and commonality with the people you call the most, as calls will be discounted.

SMS (text messaging) comes with a basic plan, but you may need to pay extra or give instructions to your provider if you want MMS (multimedia messaging), international roaming, Internet access and other options.

You can buy your phone and Sim card separately in India and upgrade your phone at any time. There are no lock-ins barring a few exceptions.

Blackberry services are provided by most major operators with the major ones being Vodafone, Airtel, Idea (Recent launch), Tata, Reliance, Aircel, Docomo and MTNL/BSNL. Blackberry chat is a cost efficient way to stay in touch with friends and family across the globe who also have a Blackberry connection.

Due to security and other issues, mobile telephony is highly regulated by the government and an array of paperwork is demanded before you are sanctioned a Sim card.

Documentation for prepaid connection includes:

Proof of Identity
Photographs
Valid passport
Visa
Local Reference
Local Address & Contact Number

Documentation for postpaid connection

In addition to the above, the subscriber needs to provide Standing Instructions to a bank for bill payments.

Companies often take Sim cards in their own name as COCP (Company Owned, Company Paid) connections & provide them to their employees. In such cases, the onus of payment lies on the company. When the connection is taken in the name of the employee himself/herself, all valid documentation as described above has to be provided. When the onus of payment lies on the individual, the individual has to sign a Standing Instruction form.

When the companies officially declare that connections are taken for expats, valid copies of passport and visas have to be provided.

Other forms of Telecommunication in India

Satellite telephony is illegal in India.

VOIP services like Skype are partially available in India. They can be used to dial numbers outside India and to make Skype to Skype calls. Calling Indian MSISDNs from Skype is not yet available as a service in India.

Phone cards in India

Phone calling cards are available in India, but they are not as popular as abroad.

MTNL Delhi has a product called the “Virtual Calling card” (VCC) which enables customers to use any MTNL landline/PCO to make calls using VCC.

Vodafone WCC (World Calling Cards) are also versions of Phone cards which allows the customer to use the card on any Vodafone India phone for making a call.

Mobile Companies have now launched several calling cards with reduced call rates to specific destinations covering US/Canada/Middle east/Europe etc. They are not heavily advertised but they do exist and can be purchased from certain locations.

For Example: Calls to US/Canada are now at Rs. 1.5/min with Vodafone ISD cards. Similar rates are also offered by Airtel & other operators. This has reduced ISD rates considerably in India. Landline companies in India have also launched cards which can be used only on their network for calling.

Using postal services to keep in touch in India

The Indian Postal Service is the most widely distributed post office system in the world. Due to its extensive reach across the country, it also offers a range of supplementary services.

Post Boxes are located on most major roads and the mail is picked up once or twice a day, depending on location. Regular post takes two to three days to reach a recipient in India, except during the heavy mail deluge of the festive months from October to January. The Indian Postal Service also offers Registered Post and Speed Post facilities at slightly higher prices, for which you have to visit a Post Office.

Local Courier companies offer extremely competitive rates, with same day delivery in metros and next day delivery to most towns.

Media and News in India

India is a land of many languages and newspapers are printed in all the major languages. The Times of India is published across India. The Hindu is popular down South and The Hindustan Times has large readership in the North. The Economic Times is the most popular Financial newspaper in India. Newspapers like DNA, Mid-Day, Indian Express, New Indian Express, Deccan Herald and Deccan Chronicle are printed only in some locations but are leaders in their circles.

Expats who prefer to read a favourite publication from home will find some foreign newspapers available in the metros; although, they may sometimes arrive a day or two later than the date of release in their home countries.

Weekly and fortnightly magazines like India Today, the Week, Outlook are also great options to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the news. There are plenty of financial magazines in the market and quality of coverage is quite high. Time Out is published in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore and is a wonderful resource for local event listings.

Newspapers are door delivered every morning by the local paper boy. You can request the delivery of magazines, or subscribe directly from the company who will mail or courier your copy to you.

CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg and BBC are broadcast in India. Twenty-four hour news channels abound in all major Indian languages. NDTV and CNN IBN are good Indian channels for English news.

Almost all the major newspapers and news channels have an online presence. Samachar.com links to the top 5 stories from all the major news sites.

More information:

►STD (Subscribers Trunk Dialling): codes for Indian cities
►Mobile Phone Cards
►India Postal Service

2 Cookbook Prizes in a Week

2010-11-13T02:03:00.000+05:30

Looks like the Diwali season has brought its own foodie blessings upon me. I had entered 2 food contests last week, before I left on my diwali trip to the inlaws place and both results came within 24 hours - since yesterday. I won them both. Yay!

The first contest was hosted by Rushina of A Perfect Bite. She had asked her readers "If you could be a spice, what would you be and why?
Best answer wins a copy of The Mainland China Cookbook! !"

My response was "Cinnamon - I go well with everything (sweet, savoury, drinks) and just add a subtle hint, yet my presence is not unnoticed. Also enjoyable completely undiluted and a bit of me, can be relished for hours leaving behind a fresh feeling."

So thats the Mainland China cookbook in the mail for me. I'm really happy with this one as it was released just a month or so ago and I haven't been able to find it in any of the Delhi bookstores or Flipkart either. Was thinking I would have to trek to Gurgaon to eat at Mainland China and check up if they had any books in stock. Given the high possibility of non availability, I've been postponing that for a bit :)

The Second Contest was held by Pratibha Jain and Jigyasa Giri of Pritya Books, the authors of 2 wonderful collections of Heritage Recipes: Cooking with Pedatha and Sukham Ayu. The Ayurvedic Cookbook - Sukham Ayu stood second in the category of "Best Health & Nutrition Cookbook in the World" by the Gourmand awards (2009) organization.

The Contest asked "Can you think of a traditional, vegetarian, festival dish which is your favourite? Write a description and your reasons for liking it in 100 words".

Well, I do love to write about food and there are plenty of festive dishes that are so much a part of my memory. The best memories and experiences of cooking festive foods was the assembly line of my mom, her sisters and some of the kids that was set up around the dining table under the eagle eye of my grandma (to whom this blog is dedicated) - who supervised the proceedings and of course the sneaking of bits and bites of the fillings and batter during the processes.

Now to choose just one, a Vegetarian one (all dishes with eggs were out) and to describe it within 100 words, seemed nigh impossible. But this is what I finally sent in: "Kidiyos (khulkhuls) - maida and coconut milk shaped into little worms (kidis) on the back of a fork and then deep fried are my favourite kuswar (Christmas Goodies). As a special treat, one batch would be dipped in sugar syrup and left to crystallise. These treated kidiyos would have the sweet crunch of a layer of frosted sugar, followed by the crisp outer shell that had been deep fried and the soft heart that had not been directly exposed to the boiling oil. A combination of textures and flavors that even today make me miss grandma more than ever.

It won FIRST place. You can take a look at the other entries on The Contest Page. I would love to hear your favourites too, so leave me a comment.

I'm now waiting for my copies of the Mainland China Cookbook and Sukham Ayu.

I'm Cooking on BBC

2010-07-03T04:53:00.000+05:30

Just did a food photo shoot with BBC for their program "India Business Report".

It will be aired this Sunday, 4th of July at 11am and 10pm IST.

Its a section on International food in India and I cooked a Thai Glass Noodle Salad. Will be posting the recipe soon on my food blog

Very excited as this is the first time someone other than the husband has recorded me cooking :)

Here are the timings for those countries where we have the most friends, for other countries, please check the timing online at
http://www.bbcworldnews.com/Pages/Schedules.aspx?

India: 11:00 & 22:00 (11am & 10pm)
Egypt: 8:30 & 19:30
USA (Pacific) : 9:30 - repeat (There may be a show on Saturday) and another repeat at 17:30
Canada (Eastern) : 1:30am, 12:30 & 20:30
UAE: 9:30 & 20:30
Germany: 18:30 - repeat (There may be a show on Saturday)
UK: 17:30 - repeat (There may be a show on Saturday)

Book Review : Yajnaseni - the story of Draupadi

2010-05-20T17:45:00.002+05:30

This is a translation of the work of Oriya writer Pratibha Ray on the story of Draupadi. This tale portrays Draupadi in a completely different light from Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's Draupadi, in Palace of Illusions

I feel this book has lost a lot in the translation. The first half of the book was very diffcult to get through. The language is clunky and for someone unfamiliar with the multiple names for Arjuna, Krishna, Yudhishtir and Draupadi, the characters can be extremely confusing.

The translator Pradip Bhattacharya, is an IAS officer and the text of the first half is very heavy with convoluted sentences which made me feel like I was reading a bureacuratic report. It takes until the second half, for Bhattacharyato get into his groove and start writing a bit more naturally which really helps the story flow more smoothly.

Pratibha's Draupadi/Yajnaseni/Krishnaa is a woman trapped by circumstances. First having given her heart to Krishna (then told by Krishna himself that her destiny lies elsewhere) and then to Arjun, she is forced to split her time as a wife between 5 husbands, each with their own personalities and peculiarities.

A pre-occupied Yudhisthir, a demanding Bhim, Arjun who blames her for accepting his brothers as her husbands (for not saying no to the suggestion, although he himself didn't), childlike Nakul and Sahadev. Each husband needing to be treated differently according to his temparament. It is easy to empathise with Ray's Draupadi and feel sorry for her predicament.

To love Arjun and want to be his alone and yet have to spend 80% of her time with her four other husbands. Plus Arjun's long travels, as penance for intruding on the privacy of Yudhisthir and Draupadi, to gain astras from the different devas while marrying different princesses along the way. The final straw is when he marries Subhadra and brings her back to Indraprasth, before Draupadi herself has had the chance to be a wife to Arjun (in Ray's sequence of events). Yet, she manages to reconcile herself to all of this with the help of Krishna's council.

In this interpretation of the Mahabharath, Draupadi and Krishna share a spiritual level of trust and love that her five husbands accept and understand unquestioningly. Draupadi, even instructs one of Krishna's wives on how the wives have got it wrong in their constant fighting to possess Krishna for themselves, while what they should be doing is surrendering themselves to him.

Karna is not the flawless noble hero, but an insecure man who nurses his insults and loses no opportunity to rub salt in Draupadi's wounds, even though he also saves her life at one point of time.

Ray, bases her novel on the Mahabharath by Vedvyas and the Oriya Mahabharath by Sarala Das. She also adds a few incidents from her imagination and mixes up the sequence of some events to help her own narrative.

Although Draupadi is one of the five satis, she is often insulted as the one with five husbands and hence implied to be a woman of loose character. Ray's objective in writing this tale was to clear this "negative" interpretation of her and to give her the honor she deserves for holding the Pandavs together and being an "agent of change" in her time.

Also published on desicritics.org

Yajnaseni - The Story of Draupadi

Book Review : The Hadrian Enigma - A Forbidden History

2010-05-19T19:41:00.000+05:30

The Hadrian Enigma - is a story of love, intrigue, politics, and scandal set in pagan Rome and Egypt, about 130 years after Christ.

The story is based on real characters and falls in the genre of speculative fiction. It starts with the discovery of the body of the Bythinian youth Antinous rumored to be Caesar Hadrian's lover or eromenos. While history says that his death was an accidental drowning in the Nile, George Gardiner weaves a story of intrigue around the incident that is quite entrancing.

The tale is revealed as a series of depositions to Special Investigator Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus who is charged by Caesar, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Antinous within 2 days.

Within the first few pages, it seems the suspect is so evident, that you wonder why the story runs to 476 pages, but as you read along, you realise there are many more players in the mix.

Gardiner has written an interesting and gripping story, but I do wish the editing was tighter. Given that large parts of the book are third person reports, a lot of the minute details included seem superfluous and out of place. He seems to have suffered from a typical writers problem of having done extensive research and then wanting to include as much of the details as possible into the end product.

The language keeps oscillating even when the same person is speaking, from high brow Latin and Greek peppered sentences (sending one scurrying to wikipedia and dictionary.com) to American colloquialisms like "that guy".

Font sizes change suddenly and inexplicably, quite often. Words are underlined for emphasis, which left me feeling like I was reading a manuscript or a draft, rather than a final copy.

While the novel is based on the same sex relationship of Caesar Hadrian and Antinous (currently deified as the God of Homosexuality by some) and marketed as a male-male romance novel, it isn't a turn off to the average reader who wants to read it as a mystery novel. What is vexing though, is the repeated use of the word "crutch" when the author actually means "crotch". Whether this is a problem of the "spell check" software or new slang (I checked urbandictionary.com which did not imply any such meaning to the word - crutch), I'm not sure.

Its an extremely readable story, shedding insight into the life and times of a not-as-renowned Caesar, who had one of the most peaceful and prosperous reigns of his dynasty. It's a page turner, once you get past the initial Greek and Latin terms. I just wish the editing could have been tighter. Then this book would have really stood out for me.

Also Published on desicritics.org

Book Review The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ

2010-05-19T05:32:00.002+05:30

The latest book from the Philip Pullman stable, being called in certain quarters as the Gospel according to Philip.

The plot is based on an innovative concept - that Mary gave birth to twins - Jesus and Christ. In Philips narrative Jesus starts out as the mischievous one, getting into trouble which his quiet, academically oriented brother Christ keeps getting him out of. But then Jesus goes into the wilderness and returns as a preacher and Christ follows him around discreetly chronicling his words and deeds and yet giving a "twist" to the tales to make for better reading. And these twists are what are commonly accepted details today.

Pullman draws on various sources and uses commonly accepted "facts" and twists them around in this book. It is an insight into how details "might" have changed in the re-telling.

For eg: the miracle of turning water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana is offered a possible explanation of Jesus shaming the chief steward into producing the wine that he had hidden away to sell on the side.

While staunch Christians might find the book blasphemous, Pullman disclaims the book with "This is a STORY" in a large Gold font on the back.

The writing style is extremely simple and may come as a shock for those who enjoyed the complicated storylines and concepts of his Dark Materials Trilogy. The book makes for extremely easy reading with short simply written chapters.

Pullman also finds time to denounce the current child abuse scandal being faced by the church in the words "prayed" by Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. For me, it is this chapter written as a monologue of Jesus - trying to communicate with God - that holds the crux of the book. The whole point of writing this book, seems to be concentrated in this chapter.

As someone who was brought up on the Bible and has read up on the beliefs of the orthodox churches too, it was very easy to correlate all the incidents and compare them to their "original" tales. I would be interested to hear from someone who is not that well versed with the "original material" who has read this book. Did you find it confusing? Did any of the tales seem irrelevant?

Also published on desicritics.org

Book Review : The Other Queen

2010-04-29T05:29:00.000+05:30

This is my first book by Philippa Gregory and I admit that it was the movie version of "The Other Boleyn Girl", that got me interested in her as an author.

While I knew the basic outline of the fate of Mary, Queen of Scots, this novel still kept me engrossed. It brought to life characters from history in a way that only movies seemed to be able to do until a few years ago. It is wonderful the way so many new authors are re-looking history in the form of personal stories. It humanises the past as no text book or ledger of facts and figures ever can.

This novel tells the tale of Mary Queen of Scots from 3 perspectives between 1568 and 1587, with a few flashbacks thrown in for good measure. Bess, a self-made woman who has used husbands as stepping stones to the higher ranks of aristocracy until her current rank as "My Lady Countess of Shrewsbury". Her current husband George the Earl of Shrewsbury, forced by a request from Queen Elizabeth, to keep Mary under house arrest in his home and Mary, Queen of Scots herself.

Bess is a woman constantly worried about the finances of housing Mary, who though a prisoner is also a Queen and has to be treated as such. The Earl slowly finds himself falling under Mary's spell and Mary manipulates everyone around her to try and get what she wants.

Unfortunately for Mary, (as you all know) things did not work out for her. But Philippa's novel has done a wonderful job of bringing her to life. Not as a helpless twit at the mercy of political machinations, but a young woman entrapped by birth and circumstances to spend most of her life as a prisoner, but never giving up on hope and the desire to free herself and rule her own country.

Also published on desicritics.org

Book Review : The Immortals of Meluha

2010-04-27T12:51:00.001+05:30

Part 1 of the Shiva Trilogy from Amish Tripathi. One of the first books by an Indian author to be introduced by a viral video on youtube

The story of The Immortals of Meluha is set in 1900BC and operates on the premise that Shiva was a mortal, a simple man whom legend turned into God.
Amish summarises his fundamental premises as:
I believe that the Hindu gods were not mythical beings or a figment of a rich imagination.
I believe that they were creatures of flesh and blood, like you and me.
I believe that they achieved godhood through their karma, their deeds.
With these premises, an interesting read is assured.

While parts of the story are rooted in mythology and some parts are corraborated by history - like the description of town planning by the Meluhans - most parts are pure speculative fiction.

The story is very interesting and keeps you gripped. I don't want to reveal too much of the plot here, so let me try to avoid that while sketching out the basics.

The Suryavanshis are the descendants of Lord Ram who have created an extremely stable society based on strict rules and regulations. An ideal state except for a few rules that Shiva finds unfair. Shiva is a Tibetan immigrant, invited to Meluha (the land now known as the Indus Valley Civilisation) and slowly recognised as a saviour and deliverer from evil.

The evil being the Chandravanshis - who live on the opposite side of India in Swadweep between the Ganga and the Brahmaputra, that also holds Ayodhya - the birth place of Lord Ram.

At times the philosophy in the book sounds like it comes from the Matrix - "You don't earn a title after you have done your deeds... It doesn't matter what others think. It's about what you believe. Believe you are the Mahadev and you will be one"

But there are some statements that make you think and reflect and question previously held assumptions. Amish belives that the cry of Har Har Mahadev actually stems from the thought Har ek Mahadev - Each one of us, has it in us to be a Mahadev.

A lot has been said about the language in the book. While the setting is 1900BC, the language is 21st century AD, with Weapons of Mass Destruction and Departments of Immigration. At times it is difficult to reconcile the two. Amish in an interview said that he had a huge struggle with his editor/publisher about this issue. He wanted the dialogue to be more authentic and his publisher wanted it more modern.

I can empathise with the editor/publisher. The language makes this an easy book to read and will defintely increase sales. But purists searching for authenticity will be disappointed.

Personally I enjoyed the book. I can't wait for books 2 and 3. I have my suspicions, but will try and be patient. :)

He says Book 2 will only be out next year as his day job keeps him busy. Amish, chuck the day job, don't keep us in suspense for that long!

Should you read this book? Definitely. But if you hate cliff hangers (which is how this part ends) then you may be better off waiting for all the books to be released before starting on this.

As a teaser, the first Chapter is freely downloadable from shivatrilogy.com

Take a quick glance. If you are in the least bit interested in Mythology, I guarantee that you will be intrigued.

Also published on desicritics.org

Book Review : One Amazing Thing

2010-04-24T02:34:00.000+05:30

The latest offering from Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni - it is a set of short stories strung together with a common narrative much like Chaucer's Canterbury Tales that is referenced in this book.

The basic setting of the book is that nine people are trapped in the basement of an Indian Consulate in the US during an earthquake. With limited supplies of food, oxygen and light and unable to get out themselves, they are forced to rely on each other to keep up their spirits and morale.

Uma, born of Indian parents in the USA (who needs a visa to visit India), suggests that they tell each other a story of "One Amazing Thing" that happened in their lives.

The initial sketchy characters reveal the depths of their layers as each tale unfolds.

What is really interesting to me is how Divakaruni has tried to shed light on the same issue from different perspectives. Take for instance, the heavy book that Uma carries with her to the consulate, that she needs to review for her class and hopes to read while making use of the time spent waiting at the consulate. Malathi, a recent arrival from small town India to USA, to work at a secretarial level at the Consulate interprets it as a brash young girl, trying to show off her college education.

It is these insights into the various individual interpetations of events based on each characters past experiences that makes this book a fascinating read.

An ex-army vet, a second generation Indian muslim in a post 9/11 America, an estranged American couple, Uma, Malathi, an Indian Chinese emigrant and her talented grand-daughter (who didn't even know that her grandmother spoke English!) and an Indian bureaucrat at the Consulate. Each brings a different tale to the table.

Some are touching for their bravery, some bring understanding, some leave more questions than before. Romance, courage, hopelessness, helplessness, frustration, promise, hope - no matter what the underlying theme of their story is, each one is a powerful tale taking the readers and the listeners on a journey to a different time and place.

The book is an easy read, but the stories stay with you for awhile because they are human and touching.

There has been some criticism of this book in the USA as to why the trapped individuals wasted their time telling tales instead of brainstorming their way out of the situation. I think that stems from the stereotypical way each culture reacts. In General, Americans are action-oriented and the host of disaster movies from Hollywood have heroes whose sole focus is on rescuing themselves and those closest to them. Indians are more pragmatic/fatalistic in their actions and if initial efforts aren't successful, then further consequences are left for a higher power to decide.

The ending is a bit abrupt and doesn't tie up all the loose ends. But isn't that what life is like?

Also published on desicritics.org

Book Review: The Indian Epics Retold

2010-04-17T01:31:00.000+05:30

I had been looking for a translation of Ramavataram - Kamban's Ramayan since I read In Search of Sita, when I came across this collection by R K Narayan. This book is a collection of 3 of his books - a translation of The Ramavataram, The Mahabharath and also his collection of short stories "Gods, Demons and Others"

Looking at the size of the book, I should have realised that I would only be getting an abridged version, but I was so excited to see an English translation of the Ramavataram, that I did not think twice before picking it up.

The Mahabharath in this book is a compressed version (18 chapters of the Bhagavad Geetha are compressed into 5-6 paragraphs) of the main incidents and there isn't anything spectacularly remarkable about that section.

Narayan conducted an indepth study into the Ramavataram to fulfill the dying request of an uncle. Kamban himself is said to have spent every night studying Valmiki's Sanskrit version and every day writing thousands of lines of his own poetry in Tamil. He described himself as "I am verily like the cat sitting on the edge of an ocean of milk, hoping to lap it all up". Unfortunately Narayan has only translated this epic in an abridged format.

A few minor variations I found from the Valmiki Ramayan include the reasoning attributed by Kamban for Ram killing Vali from behind a tree. However this was too short a version to appreciate Kambans other variations (if any). I will have to look for a more comprehensive translation. Perhaps Shanti Lal Nagar or P S Sundaram.

Both these translations, while not what I was looking for, are a quick and easy read for those who want a brief introduction to the Indian epics. Easy to read, covering the main highlights of both.

However I really enjoyed the third section of this book : "Gods, Demons and Others" These short stories help tie-in a lot of characters referred to in the main epics. Told in the form of the narrative of a village bard/story teller, they include the stories of : Lavana, Chudala, Yayati (stories concerned with a discovery in the realm of the spirit), Devi, Vishwamithra, Manmatha (depicting a process of sublimation), Ravana, Valmiki, Draupadi (incarnation of God to destroy, inspire and assist), Nala, Savitri, the mispaired anklet, Shakuntala (wives who overcame obstacles to regain lost husbands), Harishchandra & Sibi (ideal rulers)

Most of these are stories of characters from the epics including that of Shakuntala. This version is slightly different from the Kalidasa version Abhijnana Shakuntalam which is more popular in the South. The Mispaired anklet is a Tamil classic.

What might seem suprising to those unfamilair with Indian mythology is that certain characters (even if they aren't Gods) are present at different periods of time. Like Durvasa (of the famed temper) whom the Kauravs sent to visit the Pandav's in vanvas in the hopes that he might curse them, the same Durvasa who blessed Kunti with the mantra for calling upon a God to beget a child, is the same one who cursed Shakuntala. Sages like Vyas, Valmiki, Vishwamitra make guest appearances all over the epics.

I was at a gathering the other day, where some mothers of young children confessed that is was easier to let their kids read Disney comics rather than Amar Chitra Katha. The problem being that, if their children read stroies from mythology and asked for clarifications on characters and incidents, the mothers did not have the knowledge to answer them immmediately.

A collection like this, is like a Cliffs Notes to update the reader on all the major events and characters of these epics. So its ideal for someone who wants a quick introduction to the epics or an easy refresher. For me, I am still searching for more comprehensive translations to better appreciate regional variations in the stories.

Also published on desicritics.org

Narayan sums up the yugas very succintly & I would like to record that here:
Each yuga lasts 3000 celestial years. One celestial year is 3600 human years. Hence the 4 yugas cover 43,200,000 mortal years. Each of the 4 yugas possess special characteristics of good and evil.
In Kritayuga, righteousness prevails universally.
In Tretayuga, righteousness reduces by a quarter, but sacrifices & ceremonies are given greater emphasis. Men act with material and other objectives while performing rites instead of with a sense of duty. A gradual decrease in austerity.
In Dwaparyuga righteousness diminishes by half. some men study 4 vedas, some 3, others 1 or none. Ceremonies are multiplied as goodness declines. Disease and calamities make their appearance.
In Kaliyuga, righteousness, virtue and goodness completely disappear. Rites and sacrifices are abanadoned as mere superstitions. Anger, distress, hunger and fear prevail and rulers behave lke highwaymen, seizing power and riches in various ways.

So what do you think, are we in Dwaparyuga or Kaliyuga?

Book Review : In Search of Sita

2010-04-15T12:04:00.000+05:30

In an introduction to this book at the Jaipur Literature Festival, Devdutt Pattanaik aptly summed up the dillemma facing authors who want to write about the Ramayan and its principal character - Shri Ram.

"When in India, if you write about Ram, you will invariably be gagged by someone. If you say something positive about him, the left wing will get all upset and call you patriarchal. If you say he was a good husband, the feminists will jump in to say that he was definitely not a good husband. If you say anything negative about him, the entire right wing gets upset and says that he is a God, how can you say anything against him?"

This anthology however, is a collection of stories on Sita. The Sita, who Ram is the husband of, not Sita - the wife of Ram. There are different themes within this anthology, but the common thread running through them all is the attempt to envision the tale of Sita from a perspective different from her supporting role in the popularly known Valmiki Ramayan/Tulsi Ramayan(Ramcharitmanas)/Ramanand Sagar televised versions.

The ideal of Sita who is held up as a role model for Indian wives (aadarsh patni) is that of a woman who followed her husbands directives unquestioningly, who got into trouble when she dared cross the line (Lakshman Rekha). A woman on the sidelines, silently suffering and enduring, helpless and unable to control anything that happened around her. Absolute submission.

However in the many regional variations of the Ramayan that abound across India and abroad, there are other aspects of Sita's personality that shine through.

There are 33 different essays in this anthology, broadly divided into four sections. The first deals with commentaries on Sita - vs other women in the epics, as Gauri/Kali, as Janaki. My favourite from this section is: Reba Som's essay on Gandhi's vision of the Indian woman as Sita vs Nehru's ideal of Chitrangadha for the Indian woman to emulate.

The second section, is dialogues with personalities who have explored Sita through different media. Sonal Mansingh(dancer), Indira Goswami (Jnanpith awardee, Ramayan researcher), Madhu Kishwar (founder editor of a woman's journal), Nilimma Devi (Kuchipudi dancer), Madhureeta Anand (documentary filmmaker), Nina Paley (animator and producer - Sita sings the Blues)

The third section deals with different versions of the Ramayan from Himachal to Assamese, Bengali to Telugu. Interesting variations crop up based on regions. For eg. in the Mahasuvi Ramain, Sita's culinary skills are supposed to be at the root of her abduction. Superior culinary skills being equated with superior home-making skills - highly prized in the Pahari culture.

The final section deals with Creative Interpretations, including paintings and speculative fiction. Kumudini's "Letters from the Palace" is brilliant in its narrative and thought. Here the story is told in letters from Sita to her mother, just by describing the saris that she wants from Mithila.

The importance of a collection like this, is that as Namita Gokhale says "Mythology in India is not just an academic or historical subject, it is a vital and living topic of contemporary relevance"

Extremely engrossing, not at all a stuffy academic treatise that it might be mistaken for, its extremely readable. This collection has defintiely created a strong desire in me to read as many versions of the Ramayan as possible. Not just as a story or mythology but as an insight into local customs, mores, social structure and fabric. My only constraint is that I will have to look for versions that have been translated into English. Kamban (Tamil), Kandali (Assamese), Krttivasa (Bengali), Vilanka (Oriya) are just where I hope to start. I'm open to recommendations for any other versions too. Drop a comment.

Also published on desicritics.org

IPL T20 @ Ferozeshah Kotla Grounds : Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals

2010-04-01T22:23:00.003+05:30

I am not a cricket fan! The husband is a cricket "fan"atic!

In a desperate attempt to get me to "share" the cricket watching experience with him, he tried to bribe me with "Delhi Daredevils Marquee tickets" for yesterday match between Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals. I couldn't exactly be churlish and refuse after he had procured the tickets, so I consented to join him, given that at least the 20-20 matches are finished within 3 hours or so.

Little did I realise that, that time frame works only at home on TV. If you want to watch it at the stadium, you have to get there at least an hour earlier. To reach the stadium you also have to battle mind numbing traffic, crazily numbered gates (Ferozeshah Kotla grounds management - numbers have a sequence or has that concept passed you by?), one ways, thronging crowds.

If you have been daring enough to wait till the last minute to buy a ticket, you also have to battle Delhi's famous non-queues to arrive at the ticket counter, all the while praying that they do not run out before you jostle your turn to the front.

Hence it means leaving from home at least 2-3 hours before the start of the match. Oh and if you have to pick up someone who works on the other side of town, add another hour or so. So that now brings us to 7 hours. Then of course there is the rush to get out of badly managed parking spaces at the end of the match, that can easily add another hour or 2 to your "evening outing" and the drive home through traffic. 8-9 hours! Thats how long it takes to watch a 3 hour match in the stadium. That's a full "working" day for government employees.

Traffic hurdles crossed, you also need to remember that you aren't allowed to take anything inside with you except cell phones, paper money and keys. Pens, paper, water bottles were all duly retained at the multiple checkpoints. If you are coming to the venue from the office. remember to leave your laptop behind. Some people did manage to get cameras and small purses into the venue. But unless you are a famous face, it may not be worth the time wasted at every metal and human detector to explain why you are carrying a purse when expressly instructed not to.

Once we got in though, things improved drastically. The marquee, had an airconditioned inside section which would later serve dinner & dessert. 2 bars and 4 semi-self service refrigerators stocked with Coke products (aerated, water and juice) and Beer.

Beyond this was an open seating area with 3 rows on each side designated for the team owners (home & away). Many of the seats were marked with stickers for sponsor companies and this was being regulated to a decent extent. The DLF hopitality staff was very polite about it all. "Im sorry sir, but this particular area is reserved for SAB TV, you can take your choice from any of the seats which do not have a sticker on them" This did upset (to put it mildly) people who had paid Rs20,000 per ticket for each member of their family, but the staff did try to be as polite about it as they could.

There was a further diferentiator even within this enclosure beyond the owners/sponsor ticket holders/ ticket buyers. Some got blue paper hand bracelet tags, some got pink plastic and some got red leather. All that I could figure was that the red leather bracelets could walk in front of Shilpa, Shamita and Raj get an autograph/photograph/smile, while the others were kept a fair distance away by her personal security. 2 burly rude goras who snarled at even the littlest kids who wanted an autograph. Such behavior was uncalled for, as the crowd within this particular enclosure was quite well mannered for the most part. But maybe the snarling, scared the trouble makers away. There were quite a few Delhiites in the audience who suddenly switched allegiance to Rajasthan just to get Shilpa's attention. Each time Pathan hit a 6, they would spring out of their seat.. First check to see if they had by chance caught her attention and then look back at the grounds and continue their half hearted jig.

For all of that, she herself was pretty obliging towards her fans who were at a distance. Before the match started and during the strategic time out and break, the stalls next to us would suddenly erupt screaming her name and she would turn around and oblide them with a smile and wave. This behavior obviously did not continue once the 1st over of the 2nd half was bowled.

After this the crowd had to content themselves with blowing kisses at the cheerleaders. I read somewhere that 50 of them have been hired 40 South African and 10 Ukrainians on standby. Thackeray's next target anyone?

The cheerleaders closest to us were clearly even less interested in the game than I was. They were normally just sitting on their seats, backing the grounds, having their little conversations in their groups of 3. They knew it was time to do a little jig when the music started to play and when it stopped, they duly climbed down to revert to their conversations.

Coming to the game, there was obviously huge excitement when Karthik and Pathan hit their sixes into the various enclosures. Fortunately unlike baseball, if a spectator catches a ball, he can't keep it, so the scrambles to get ahold of the ball weren't too vicious.

Perspective is sorely lacking when you watch a match at the ground. You have to keep checking the large screens to see if the ball had been stopped before it touched the boundary line. Unless you are following the game really closely, you lose track of who is at bat. In this regard the big screens really help you stay up-to-date.Perspective improves slightly as you climb higher. The stalls had 3 tiers. So I assume the top tiers would have the best overall perspective. Suprisingly, the stadium was completely full. Cricket in India, can draw more crowds than even Big Bazaar's annual sales

Sitting outside in the heat can get quite oppressive in Delhi's summers. So, while it is already hitting 40C during the day, we were fortunate that it at least cools down in the evenings, without the oppressive humidity of Bombay's summers.

Food and drink are complimentary in this particular enclosure (as compared to a minimum 100% mark up on soft drinks and packaged snacks in the stands). The refrigerators were self service although there were bar tenders who would serve you wine, alcohol and beer in appropriate glassware.

There were waiters serving finger foods like kebabs and corn cakes and stuff, but this was only inside, in the bar area. The inside area was divided into 2 horizontally. One half for bar and snacks and the other half for dinner.

Dinner was an average spread that wasn't great tasting food, (don't buy the ticket, hoping to make up the price on the food) but it wasn't terrible either. Chicken biryani (one of the few good things on the menu), chole pulav, chicken curry, paneer curry, grilled fish, potato curry, rotis. A salad table, a fruit table, a dosa counter and 3 types of dessert - a layered chocolate mousse cake, a dryer date and walnut tea cake with custard on the side and moong dal ki hawla.

We did leave after the 8th wicket fell, as there was no chance of a turnaround and because we did not want to get caught in the outgoing rush. It was a good thing that we did, because there was so much barricading on the way out that we had to walk for almost 2 kilometers from our gate to our exit on to the road. Fire and stampede hazard anyone?

Has the experience made me convert? Well, while on the ground I had no choice, I couldnt carry a book or my laptop in, so I had to watch the game in between my people watching and behavior observing. Being in Delhi, the sheer crowd energy can make even a reluctant cricket watcher happy when the team scores a boundary or drops a wicket of the opposition. But will it carry forward? Well, he's watching the Kolkatta KnightRiders vs Deccan Chargers and I'm in the other room at my desk, blogging about it. Enough said. . .

Also published on desicritics.org

Book Review: Palace of Illusions

2010-03-27T01:50:00.002+05:30

For the first time, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni writes about Indian mythology rather than just characters influenced by it or stories inspired by mythology.

In the genre of speculative fiction, she retells the story of the Mahabharata from Draupadi's point of view. Draupadi plays an essential role in the epic. If not for her, perhaps the Pandavas might not have lusted for revenge against their cousins as much.

Divakaruni takes the commonly known episodes of Draupadi's life, starting with her "birth" from the fire with Drishtadyumna and the prophecy at her arrival, her swayamvar and subsequent marriage to five husbands, her laughter when Duryodhana accidently falls into a pool in her palace at Indraprastha, her being staked and lost in a game of dice and the attempt to disrobe her in front of Dritarashtra's entire court and the miracle by Krishna, Krishna's assistance at the time when Durvasa and his numerous sages arrive at the Pandava's residence during vanvas, Kechakas infatuation with her and his death at the hands of Bhima during their year of being incognito, the loss of her 5 sons in the war and her being the first to fall by the wayside when she and the Pandavas begin their trek towards the heavens.

With this framework, Divakaruni fills in the blanks. What did Draupadi think about being the "girl who will change history"? What was her relationship with her father, her brother, her mother-in-law, her 5 husbands?

The introduction of the character of her nurse - Dhai Ma - helps to bring in a lot of background and history, which are narrated as stories. Divakaruni's Draupadi is an immature, impatient feminist who is filled with anger and the desire for vengeance (against Drona on behalf of her father and then the Kauravas).

She paints Kunti as a controlling mother who did not want to let go of her hold over her sons hearts and the obedience she commanded from them. Kunti in "The Palace of Illusions" constantly tests Draupadi and chastises her often.

The feminist Draupadi bemoans her empowerment of being granted 5 husbands yet having to follow an arrangement which has rules made by men. - 1 year in turn with each husband while attempting to put the others out of her head completely. She says "instead of a boon which turns me into a virgin before I begin my year with the next husband, I would have much preferred to be given the boon of forgetfullness - being able to forget the time I spent with the other 4 while I am with my current husband".

While the Mahabharatha has many strong female characters, Kunti, Draupadi, Gandhari, Amba, Subhadra they do not have much of a voice. Divakaruni attempts to give that voice at least to Draupadi.

This is a brilliant work of fiction and definitely worth a read.

Also published on desicritics.org

Martha Stewart is following me on Twitter!

2010-03-27T01:48:00.000+05:30

Yes, its the authenticated Martha Stewart! and she is following Me

So kicked about this. She has close to 2 million followers (1905158 last I checked) and she follows about 2500 and "I" am one of those!

It has to be because of My Food Blog - Jhovaan

Going to get some chocolate to celebrate. No, its not made at home :)

Book Review: Cuckold

2010-03-26T00:46:00.002+05:30

After Ravan and Eddie I was itching to read "Cuckold" as this is a book that Kiran Nagarkar himself considers his masterpiece. In the midst of packing and leaving, I did not have the time to buy or read the book. On subsequent visits to India, we bought up all the latest best sellers (Egypt takes time for new books to be relased due to censorship issues) but sadly the Cuckold lost out in the race to my baggage, primarily because of its size and weight.

Once we moved back to India, this was one of the first books that I picked up. The premise itself had seemed very interesting. A fictionalised biography of Maharaj Kumar of whom little is known except that he was the son of the famous Rana Sangha of Mewar and the husband of Meerabai(hence the title).

Nagarkar has carried out a lot of research into Rajput history of those times and he sets his story against the backdrop of real events.

Although Nagarkar says "I was writing a novel, not history. I was willing to invent geography and climate, start revolts and epidemics, improvise anecdotes and economic conditions and fiddle with dates. As luck would have it I didnt get a chance to play around too much except in the case of the main protagonist, about whom we know nothing, but the fact that he was born, married and died"

The period during which Meerabai lived was momentuous. Rana Sangha her Father-in-law had united the in-fighting Rajputs for the first time, Babur was showing interest in conquering Hindoostan, Rana Sangha's kingdom was surrounded by the hostile Lodi Dynasty in Delhi, Muzaffar Shah II in Gujarat and Sultan Mahmud Khalji II of Malwa.

Nagarkar has used known incidents and woven them into his tale. His hero Maharaj Kumar is a brave warrior and a forward thinker who plans many grand and innovative schemes like a water and sewage system for the fort, a brilliant tactician who prefers to watch his enemy in action and then plan an attack as opposed to the straight on confrontation preferred by Rajputs of those times, who ultimately becomes a victim of his circumstances.

The book is a wonderful introduction to Rajput history and culture which can reinvigorate interest, in someone who has been inured to history by lacklustre textbooks.

Politics, scheming, spies, romance, affairs, eunuchs, concubines, cheating wives, dancing queens - this novel contains them all. Nagarkar is a wonderful story teller on the lines of the bards of yore. Each characters development is well etched out and their actions become completely believable.

Its a wonder Bollywood has not yet seized on this book. It would be a far more gripping story than Jodhaa Akbar.

Also published on desicritics.org

Expat Focus awards Whazzup Egypt blog - Recommended Website for Egypt

2010-03-10T03:06:00.002+05:30

Close on the heels of the the last recognition this blog got, I have now received another excellent piece of news.

The Expat Focus Website has given this blog, the award of "Recommended Website for Egypt"

Their website states that:

The Expat Focus Recommended Website Award is only given to outstanding expat websites which meet the following minimum criteria:

- Usefulness: Whether it's a fact packed, well known expat portal or a small personal blog, the website provides information which others moving to or living in a foreign country would find useful.

- Integrity: We only recommend honest, responsible sites. We will not recommend any site which would be in breach of our own Acceptable Use Policy

- Activity: Sites which are updated frequently or have active forums.

- Free: We do not recommend sites which require paid subscriptions or membership fees.

You can see that this particular blog has been awardedhere.

Again thank you so much to each and everyone of my readers.

Whazzup Egypt blog has been recognised by Global Relocation Finder

2010-03-08T20:49:00.000+05:30

A few days ago, Elyse wrote to me, to let me know that my Whazzup Egypt Blog had been selected to be RSSed on their blog.

is a Corporate Relocation Guide created to promote an easier way for people to share more information especially pertaining to relocation.

Thank you to all my faithful readers, who help keep this blog active and me motivated :) mwah

Book Review : In an Antique Land

2010-02-25T13:05:00.001+05:30

In an Antique Land was a unique book for me, as its two threads focus on a small town that I grew up in for the first 20+ years of my life and a Country that I have lived in for the last 3 years. So I had a unique connect with this book.

Not so suprisingly, the description of my hometown did not ring a bell as it focussed mostly on the town as it existed 800+ years ago. The description of rural Egypt created a veritable clang in my head as I kept thinking to myself "How true" or "Yes, I know someone who would have reacted the exact same way"

This is a book of non fiction. Amitav Ghosh chanced upon a letter between Abraham Ben Yiju, a Jewish merchant living in Mangalore, India, and Khalaf ibn Ishaq from Egypt, written in 1132AD. Part of this narrative focuses on Ghosh's search for more documents relating to Ben Yiju and part of the narrative tries to imagine the world that Ben Yiju lived in.

The other narrative in the book, covers Ghosh's stay in rural Egypt (Mashawy and Lataifa) and it was this section that I found infinitely more interesting and hence hope to pick up his book of essays The Imam and the Indian which promise to shed more light on this phase of his life.

It is in this second narrative that Amitav's gift of story telling is showcased, while in the first narrative it feels stilted, focussed on facts and doesn't flow as naturally. Blending history with a a current travelogue is an art perfected by William Dalrymple and sadly in comparison, Ghosh didn't match up.

While Ben Yiju did spend time in Egypt and his letters were written to people living there and most of the surviving documentation came from the Geniza Documents cache from the Ben Ezra Synagogue in the Coptic Cairo area of modern day Cairo and Fustat of Ancient Cairo, this is the only point at which the two narratives seem to meet. For the rest of the book, they just continue parallel to each other.

In the final chapters, when Ghosh heads out towards the tomb of a Jewish Saint in rural Egypt venerated by Muslims and Jews alike, I hoped it would bring about a meeting of the parallel stories, but unfortunately it didn't.

Both narratives on their own are great and very illuminating, I just didn't see the point of putting them together.

Its a great read for someone visiting the Fustat area or interested in observations/revelations from the Geniza Cache or life in Rural Egypt.

Also Published on desicritics

Book Review: The Poison Tree - Planted and Grown in Egypt

2009-10-07T01:50:00.000+05:30

A friend sent me the link to this yesterday. The book is legally donwloadable for free from Marwa Rakha's own website. While currently available in English, she promises that the Arabic translation too will soon be online.

The book is written in a semi disjointed "part blog-part diary-part letter" fashion and someone who is used to a structured flow when reading, may start out feeling a bit disconcerted. But if you persevere you can gain some insights into Egytian culture, sexuality, morality and society. The unifying theme of the book revolves around gender stereotypes, dating and marriage and how men and women are held to different standards in society. While this may be true across the world, it is more pronounced in Egypt.

I often wondered how so many Egyptian friends and acquaintances kept ending up divorced within barely a year or two of marriage, sometimes with new born kids who were not even a year old. Some have ended up remarrying men who had been unfaithful to them during their first attempt at marriage. This being a very sensitive and private matter, I have never felt comfortable enough to actually ask them the question directly. But Marwa's book has shed some light on at least some of the reasons, which seem to lie in Social Conditioning.

There were parts that I skipped over, but there were also parts that are really insightful.

This book is worth reading if you are interested in human behavior or are visiting Egypt and would like to know a little more about people you will encounter.

But, I would highly recommend the book to any non-Egyptian girl/woman/lady planning to get herself an Egyptian boyfriend or Egyptian husband. Most Egyptian men think and operate differently from "Western" men and its important for a female to know what she is getting herself into before she gets in too deep.

While the book may also be guilty of stereotyping men and women, there are a lot of grains of truth behind the characterisations.

The book could be classified as chick-lit, but there is a lot you can begin to understand about Egyptian society and how it operates through the eyes of a Single Independent Woman

If you would prefer to read the book as a paperback or on kindle, they are both available via Amazon.

Also published on desicritics.org

Harassment Of Women On Cairo Streets

2009-06-24T20:17:00.001+05:30

Warning: While most of my posts are General Audience, this post has some material that you may not want young children reading.

Sexual Harassment on the streets of Cairo is a common topic that comes up whenever a couple of women here in Egypt meet up, online or in someone's home.

There are those that say that it isnt really bad, incidents of rape are so low compared to the US, what's the harm in a little cat calling? The problem is that if you ignore the cat calling, it then turns to men masturbating at the sight of a women (I've had friends who said they saw their taxi drivers masturbating with one hand while driving with the other, simply because a foreign looking woman got into the back seat of their car), groping (which happens in a lot of cases) and could eventually by progression lead to rape if this malaise is not stopped in its tracks.

I've posted before, about Sexual Harassment but its mostly been newspaper articles or other people's experiences. Few women choose to detail their own humiliation for dissection to the world (its a different matter between close friends who understand and have gone through the same - that is in a way, slightly therapeautic)

When I last traveled to Dubai in March, most papers were filled with the news of 2 construction worker immigrants who were facing court proceedings for cat calling/ whistling at a South East Asian maid.

Points to be noted about Dubai.
1. Women (foreigners/expats) here cover far less than the majority of women in Egypt. (think tank tops and shorts to the maximum, but off shoulder, backless, low necklines are pretty common too)
2. This is a muslim majority country and local Emirati women are predominantly dressed in the black abaya type hijab. Fully covered black robes and heads/hair covered.
3. There is a high number of single men - men who have left their wives behind in home countries because they cannot afford to bring them over when they are here on long work contracts/ unmarried men.
4. There is a large population of hired labour living in what would be considered as Below Poverty Line status in the rest of the world.

All of these have been used as excuses to brush away sexual harassment in Egypt, yet Sexual harassment in Dubai overall is not even 0.1% of what "I" face in Egypt on a daily basis.

Why? Mainly because authorities take action about any such complaint. The law is tough and it is applied without fail. No excuses.

I'm not saying that everything about Dubai culture is perfect or everything about Egypt is imperfect (I've lived in Egypt for 3 years) but harassment on the roads makes me tend to avoid going out unless absolutely necessary or in a large group of friends. I know a lot of expat women in Egypt who are here on husbands postings, who do not visit anywhere that is not an expat dominated location for fear of being assaulted. While such fears may not be justified, it is a real feeling that these women live with daily.

A closer look at my wardrobe, shows me much higher necks and back lines than 3 years ago. Sleeves below the elbows, loose fitting semi-shapeless clothes. Visiting Lebanon and Dubai makes me realise how much I have changed my own style of dressing to suit this country. (Not that I ever wore plunging necklines to work in India, but they didnt all end above my collar bone either) Changing the way I dress, was just one of the adaptations to blend into the culture and surroundings in Egypt.

My husband and I both love traveling around the country/city and discovering hidden gems of cultural, architectural and historical interest which takes us into sometimes weird areas. Our driver/translator despairs when 'Madame' wants to visit Souk al Gumma (The second-hand Friday market) and other such areas, which he tells me even his mother and sister who have lived in Cairo all their lives, avoid.

But a part of the charm and beauty of living in another country is to explore its nooks and crannies. Unfortunately in Egypt, exploration into some of these nooks and crannies brings a lot of unwanted attention and in many cases, especially if my husband isnt with me, harassment both verbal and sometimes physical. So one has to be extra careful about where one goes, with whom one goes and what kind of clothes one is wearing.

Fortunately, not being cursed with blond hair, white skin and blue eyes, the harassment that I face is less than those who look "foreign" even if they are conservatively dressed.

Yes, making a scene helps and you don't need to speak in Arabic. I remember generally strolling around the pyramids alone when my husband went inside one of them (I'm claustrophobic and chose to not go in) one of those camel ride guys was persistently trying to get my attention. As is the case with most touts in the pyramids area (I have visited over 25 times in the last 3 years) I continued to ignore him, as though I couldn't understand him and refused to make eye contact. (this may seem rude, but works in most cases of persistent touts) Usually after 3-4 tries they leave me alone. This guy actually touched my hand and attempted to give me the riding whip/stick for the camel. While his gesture was not sexual, he was still "touching" me without my permission and when I had given him absolutely no reason to believe I was interested.

In Egypt, Egyptian women will never permit a strange man to ever touch them, so why do they think it is ok with tourists/foreigners? Anyhow I screamed at him in English "How dare you touch me, what do you think of yourself, what gives you the right to even touch me?" Nothing abusive, nothing indecent. In English and loudly. It was enough to make the people around stop and look and stare at the man. There was nothing confrontational about my attitude. I just made a noise to attract the attention of other people around to what was clearly something this camel guy should not have been doing. He immediately apologised and slunk away. The incident shocked him (I train people in NLP and Body language, so I KNOW he was shocked) and I doubt he will be touching any women any time soon.

But why do foreign women coming to/visiting Egypt allow these men to touch them, hand on shoulders, holding hands (not shaking hands) People whom they have just met in a shop, not people they know. They would not allow men in their home country to impose on their personal space this way, but yet some of them are perceivably ok when it happens to them in a new country. Any theories?

Point to be noted. Most of the harassment, my friends & I have faced, has been in Cairo. Men in Luxor, Aswan, Alexandria (unless during the Cairene summer invasion), Dahab, Sharm el Sheikh, Hurghada, Abu Simbel, Bahariyya, Siwa, Sinai have been way more respectful of women.

Published on desicritics.org

Oasis : How Living in Egypt Changed My Life

2009-06-15T11:38:00.002+05:30

The text of this article can be read here

Obama in Cairo

2009-06-08T06:49:00.000+05:30

I wanted to write about it the moment I started to hear him speak, but life has an irritating habit of getting in the way. What is normal after such intereference by life, is that I shelve the idea. But this particular event is just too important to be lightly tossed aside in my "expired" folder.

The fact that a US President would be visiting a "Muslim Majority" Country before Israel, was in itself a huge departure in recent practice. There was speculation as to where he would speak from. Options ranged from Al Azhar Mosque (which I personally think would have been an excellent, yet impractical location) to Sharm el Sheikh. He settled on Cairo University.

The whole city of Cairo virtually came to a standstill on June 4th. Rumors abounded of 10,000+ snipers, 20,000 troops coming in on their own helicopters from the US and other such fantastic numbers were bandied about.

Passes to the event were carefully distributed by the American Embassy from what I gathered, to ensure an appropriate balance of profiles. 15 students from each major university were invited.

The Government declared a holiday for all its offices. A lot of Universities postponed exams to cope with this extra holiday. A number of private companies too decided to give employees the day off, fearing that they may be stuck in one of the road clearance drives. People who had parked their cars in certain areas along the route, were told to remove them the day before the President was due to arrive. (Now if we can only get similar celebrities to visit different parts of Cairo each day, we may be able to get those broken down heaps that masquerade as cars, that take up precious parking space to get towed away - How's that as a long term solution to Cairo's parking woes?)

But I digress. Coming back to the speech.

It was absolutely brilliant. There was no fault that an unvested interest could find in that speech except perhaps for him mis-pronouncing hijab and Al Azhar. But given the content and message, those are errors that can be easily overlooked.

The greatest strength of his speech was that he identified with his audience on a personal level. Compared to his predecessor whose speech writers made assume a superior and supercillious tone, Obama came across as "one of us". He drew attention to his Indonesian and Chicago life experiences amongst muslim communities.

He gave them praise where it was due, for their innovations in printing, algebra, architecture and then came to his main point. That he would fight negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they may appear. A statement that was greeted with loud applause, that almost died down with his following sentence "But the same principle should apply to Muslim stereotypes of America" This did not seem to be what the crowd wanted to hear. Until then, Obama had seemed to be a cheerleader for the Muslim world, but this statement showed that he wasn't going to unilaterally support the Muslim world. There was going to have to be some give and take.

Once the audience reconciled themselves to this idea, things improved again.

I will not get into the rest of the content of his speech, as it has been discussed ad nauseum on multiple fora.

It was a wonderful bit of speech writing to include references from the Torah, the Bible and the Quran. When he said "Jerusalem - is a place for all the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully", I had goosebumps and I know many Americans who have made Egypt their home, who were moved to tears by this sentence.

His body language was firm yet conveyed his openness to change. He came across as determined while engaging the public through eye contact and clear speech. Again, notable when compared with the last guy to hold his post.

He changed the terminology from the aggressive posturing of the previous government to one based on mutual understanding and dialogue. Instead of general nonsensical terms like "War on terror", he firmly stated that "America is not at War with Islam"

Another firm departure from previous policy was when he clearly stated "America does not presume to know what is best for everyone" If he can follow through on this and not have American Foreign policy and their idea of Democracy being stuffed down the throats of unwilling citizens of countries that aren't ready for the American idea of Democracy, it will go a long way in building bridges that had seemed burned and irrepairable a year ago.

The speech was transmitted live on Facebook and was texted as sms in English, Arabic, Farsi and Urdu. Thus upholding his campaign strategies of involving the younger generations by utilising media more familiar and accessible to them. It has also been uploaded onto Youtube.

The reaction to his speech by most locals that I know, has been "Let's wait and watch" "We want to see actions, not words" This guy is talking about change in policy, so maybe we can stop suspcecting the littlest sneeze. But to start trusting the Americans, we need to see concrete proof. We need to see steps being taken in the right direction. Words will not be enough.

It is undeniable that the US has a large role to play in World Politics. We can only hope and pray that instead of mindless wars and Nuclear arms races, we can at least have dialogue and hope for a future of peace.

In Obama's Words "All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time. The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart, or whether we commit ourselves to an effort – a sustained effort – to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children, and to respect the dignity of all human beings"

Also Published on desicritics.org

FlyDubai, Dubai's First Low Cost Carrier Starts Operations

2009-06-03T21:26:00.000+05:30

Flydubai, Dubai’s first low-cost airline began its commercial operations on June 1st.

The inaugural flight took off from Dubai International’s Terminal 2 at 10:30 bound for Beirut.

FlyDubai is currently flying to Beirut and Amman. They will start flights to Damascus and Alexandria next week and plan to expand rapidly to countries in the Middle East, GCC and India. The evenutal plan as stated on their website is to extend to Iran, Eastern Europe and North & East Africa.

Fares are really low. For eg there is currently a flight from Alexandria to Dubai for 825(LE) Egyptian pounds. When I checked a week ago. A return flight between Cairo and Dubai was roughly costing about 3000LE on Emirates airlines and 2100LE on Egypt Air.

How does flydubai keep its fares low?
1. The tickets are one way tickets for one person, priced on a system based on availability, demand, time of day etc etc. Quoted prices include all applicable taxes. Prices will be quoted in the currency of the country of departure of the flight
2. You pay to change: If for some reason, you need to change your flight, you pay 100dhs per ticket plus the price difference from your original ticket if upwards and get a voucher refunded to you if the price moves downwards. You do have to pay the 100dhs charge per ticket, no matter what the scenario. (There are "free to change" tickets too, but these are normally priced higher than "pay to change")
3. Changes or cancellations can only be carried out 24 hours prior to the flight. Any later than that, you lose the whole amount.
4. Children above the age of 2, pay full fare.
5. If traveling with a child below the age of 2, there is a service charge of 50dhs plus taxes.
6. Fares are lower if you book from the website. A service charge is levied if you book via their dedicated call center (35dhs) or through an agent.
7. The quoted fare allows you upto 10kilos of hand baggage. You have to pay higher for more luggage. If you pre book your extra luggage on the website, it will be cheaper than just arriving at the airport and then paying for the luggage.
For eg: Your 1st piece of checked in baggage (upto 32 kilos) if pre booked online will cost 40dhs, but if you do it at the airport, it will cost you 150 dhs. The 2nd piece will cost 100 and 150 respectively.
8. If you want to select your seat, you pay 5dhs.
9. If you want a seat with extra legroom, it is 50 dhs.
10. A boarding pass is issued as soon as you book your ticket.

In these times of Recession, this airline could really take off, if they find a large enough market segment.

As I see it, business and holiday travelers without much luggage could find this airline cheaper than its competitors.

For those people I have often seen in the Dubai airport ahead of me, trying to check in 5-7 suitcases each on Egypt Air flights back to Cairo while trying to semi-conceal another 4-6 pieces of hand luggage, this would not be an economical choice.

Nor would it work for people who travel to Dubai with the primary purpose of shopping. I have seen so many piles of new clothes and childrens toys unceremoniously dumped in heaps at Dubai's airport, because paying the excess baggage fee on Emirates airlines does not make those clothes and toys worth it. People seem to find it cheaper to just dump the stuff (some with tags not yet removed) than pay the excess baggae fee. These people aren't going to be travely FlyDubai any time soon.

This will work for people who just carry their laptop and a change of clothes or two. Its also just 40dhs more for 1 piece of checked in baggae provided you book it online at the time of booking your ticket. So this option will work for a weeks long travel.

I wonder if the airline allows toiletries in hand luggage with the above restrictions that they have placed. If they dont, it would be cheaper to buy and discard toiletries on arrival than pay 100dhs to check it in.

They must have researched their pricing before coming out with this strategy. It will be interesting to see how full their flights go. There is a large market, given that it is still impossible to get a ticket on a Thursday evening Emirates flight from Dubai to Cairo, if you haven't booked well in advance.

You can book tickets directly on their site:
http://flydubai.com/

Also Published on desicritics.org

Weekend Breaks from Cairo

2009-04-13T23:38:00.001+05:30

Living/working in Cairo can be an extremely stressful experience. Weekend breaks with family and friends are an ideal way to de-stress and Egypt has plenty of options for every kind of weekend break, no matter what your interests are, or how hot or cold the weather is. This list is equally useful for travelers to Egypt who are trying to budget their time around the country.

If relaxing on a beach with a book or building a sand castle is your idea of a holiday, you can choose from a range of options. Ain Sukhna is the closest beach retreat from Cairo. If you opt for Alexandria, you can also catch up on some Greek history while visiting the catacombs, the Roman Theater and the museum. The Bibliotheca Alexandria is definitely worth a visit and the kids may love the planetarium.

Marsa Matrouh is a bit of a drive away, but has the calmest lagoons and softest sand of all the beaches that I have visited in Egypt. Halt midway, at the International memorials in Alamein where soldiers from all over the world who died here during World War II are buried.

If you have even the slightest interest in diving and snorkeling, Sharm el Sheikh, Dahab, Hurghada, Nuweiba and Taba offer a range of diving spots of varying difficulties. There are PADI institutes at these areas which can train and certify you for dives. But do check their credentials and equipment before entrusting your life in their hands. While these spots may seem a bit of a distance from Cairo, you can easily drive there Thursday evening and be back by Saturday evening. Some of these towns have their own airport and you have the option of catching a domestic flight from Cairo.

Whether you are a history buff or not, you cannot leave Egypt without doing the mandatory Luxor-Aswan Nile cruise. There are 3, 4 and 7 day options to this cruise and cruise ships to fit a variety of budgets. Normally all meals, entry tickets, transport and guide fees are included in the package and this is a convenient way to visit all the main Pharaonic monuments in Egypt

If sailing is not your thing, but you still want to catch up on some history, then a 2 day trip to Luxor (the largest open air museum in the world) is a wonderful appetizer. Spend one day on each bank. The East Bank has the must-visit Karnak Temple and Luxor temple. The Luxor museum is exceptional: uncluttered, well lit and with short printed descriptions to accompany most of the major pieces, it is easy to navigate on your own.

On the West Bank you can choose between the Valley of the Kings, Queens, Nobles or Workmen and visit underground tombs that are beautifully decorated. Deir el Bahri (Hatchepsuts Temple) is a popular attraction as are the Ramesseum and Medinat Habu.

If you have an extra day free, you may like to make the trip to Abydos and Dendera where the reliefs and construction are in much better condition than those in Luxor.

There are direct flights from Cairo to Abu Simbel, but in case they are booked, you can fly to Aswan and then travel by the 4am or 11am convoys. The original temple itself was a marvel, but combined with the international relocation effort to higher ground, it makes the very existence of these temples nothing short of a miracle.

If you would like to get back in touch with nature, then desert camping is an option that you could explore. Egypt has 5 Oases in the Western Desert: Bahariyya, Farafra, Dakhla, Kharga and Siwa. Follow basic precautions when offroading or camping in the desert. Always travel in more than one car. Have someone familiar with the desert in your group. It is very easy to get disoriented when you can see the horizon 360 degrees around you. Carry enough fuel, food and water.

Having a good guide to the desert, will make the difference between you enjoying your camping trip and wanting to return again and again. Sleeping in a 5 star can never be compared to sleeping under a million stars with the occasional shooting star or comet.

If a quick day trip to an oasis is all you have time for, then Fayoum is the place for you. Bird Watchers will revel in the multitude of birds which hover around Lake Qaroun. Fayoum also has a number of hotels and eco lodges, if you would like to spend the night. The water wheels, ancient Pharonic temples and pre-historic fossils at Wadi Hitan are just some of the sites you can visit at this oasis.

The Sinai Plateau offers hiking and trekking opportunities aplenty no matter what difficulty and stamina level you are looking for. From the colored canyon to Gebel Musa.

Towns like Port Said, Suez, Damietta and Rosetta are great options for picnics from Cairo if all you have is one day off each week.

If you are interested in Monasticism and Coptic History, the monasteries of Upper Egypt and Wadi Natrun are worth a visit. While it may be more difficult to organise permits to visit Upper Egypt on your own, Wadi Natrun is a day trip from Cairo. Just be sure that you don’t visit during one of the many fasts in the Coptic calendar, otherwise you may just find everything closed.

Egypt offers a wealth of travel opportunities for every kind of traveler. There are tour agents who can manage every aspect of your travel, so you don’t have to worry about anything. With a little planning, you can ensure that you recharge your batteries in different locations regularly, to help you face the coming week in a better frame of mind.

Published on desicritics.org

Oasis - Weekend Breaks from Cairo

2009-04-13T16:20:00.003+05:30

My Favorite Time Outs in Cairo

2009-04-04T06:22:00.000+05:30

Visiting Cairo and want to see something other than just the Pyramids- museum - Citadel tourist route?

Here are some ideas for Cairo which are slightly off the beaten path. Places to visit, places to shop at and places to eat.

Take a walk through Al Azhar Park. You will be surprised to find such a vast green oasis in the midst of the madness that is Cairo. Catch the sunset that is heralded by the calls from the muezzin from multiple surrounding mosques. At just 5Le entry, this is great value for money. If you would like to jazz it up a bit, there is a wonderful restaurant on the premises that you can sit at to catch the sunset and a wonderful dinner surrounded by the twinkling lights in the distance of the multiple monuments around the area.

Climb the gate/minarets of Bab Zuwayla. This is one of the three surviving main gates of the Khan el Khalili and the only one that can be legally accessed. The view from the top of the gate is marvelous and for the more adventurous, both the minarets can also be climbed. It is easier to access the pinnacle, in the minaret on the left (when facing the tent makers street). Entry is just 10Le but the view is worth much more than that; and if you are lucky, you may be the only people on this edifice.

Catch a Sufi Performance at the Wikalat al Ghuri. This is a free performance at 8pm every Wednesday and Saturday. The performance here is more devotional and less commercial than those on the Nile cruises and can transport you into a mystical world. Just watching the whirling dervishes can put you into a trance. (Turn right after accessing the street adjoining Al Azhar Mosque in Khan el Khalili) Go early for good seats.

Sakiat El Sawy and Makan are 2 other places to catch a performance. While the former has different performers at different locations within their compact premises, the latter has traditional Egyptian and African performances every Wednesday at 8pm.

By now, the weather should have improved enough to take a picnic basket on a felucca. Hire a felucca on the strip adjoining the Grand Hyatt hotel. They charge around 50Le per hour (if you bargain hard) plus tips. The charge is for the felucca itself, no matter how many people get on board, so it’s a great option for family outings too.

If you want a more luxurious option then you may want to take a Nile Cruise aboard the fancier cruisers. These are available as sunset cruises or dinner cruises. Our personal favorite is the Golden Pharaoh (opposite Four Seasons, Giza). They offer open buffets and 3 course meals served at your seat. Golden Pharaoh also allows you to opt for an Indian menu if you book at least a day in advance. This works out to approximately 200Le per person with meals included.

For a truly extraordinary experience, I would highly recommend a meal at the Revolving Restaurant at the Grand Hyatt. The food is not outrageously priced. This is one of the 2 locations within the hotel where alcohol is still being served. The ambience, food, service and view all combine to make this one of the most wonderful places to enjoy a leisurely dinner in the city.

Christo’s is a lovely sea food eatery opposite the Mena House Oberoi. They offer a wonderful sea food spread (where you choose your sea food and tell them how you would like it cooked) during dinner. The reason, we keep going back here is not just for the food but the wonderful color bathed view of the pyramids while the Sound and Light show is on. Do try their salads and sea food soup too.

Sapporo at the Sheraton (opposite the Opera House) offers a special kind of dinner theater. The Master Chefs prepare Teppenyaki at your table and watching them at work is to view poetry in motion. They offer combinations of meats and seafood and can customize the seasonings to your taste.

For a less pricey meal but one with ambience, chose one of the many eateries on the stationary boats in Zamalek for lunch. They are reasonably quiet at this time and you can gaze at the Nile as she flows past in her eternal journey to join the sea. The Fish Market, TGIF, Chillis, Maharani. . . You have a choice of cuisine and budgets among these boats.

The various bookstores in town are an interesting place to catch up on the latest in the literary world and enjoy some peace and quiet in serene surroundings. Some bookshops have cafes attached where you can sip a cup of coffee while perusing your latest purchases. Diwan has opened at many more locations outside of Zamalek. Kotob Khan on Lasilky road and The BookSpot on Road 9 in Maadi are 2 other locations which offer extremely friendly and non obtrusive service. The AUC bookstores offer a great variety of English books on Egypt that make for great gifts.

Other places that offer unusual gifts while contributing to a worthy cause, include Tukul Crafts at the All Saints Church in Zamalek (products created by prison inmates, Sudanese refugees and other disadvantaged groups), the Fair Trade Center on Yehia Ibrahim street in Zamalek (where the artisans are given fair prices for their creations), Touch Her World Inc (017 280 0756 - products made by young Egyptian women seeking self sufficiency)

Published on desicritics.org

Oasis - Portable Career

2009-03-29T07:31:00.004+05:30

Text of this article, can be read here.

Oasis - My Favourite Time Outs in Cairo

2009-02-08T04:38:00.000+05:30

DIVA - February 2009

2009-02-05T23:28:00.000+05:30

Book Review Comdex : Computer Course Kit - Windows Vista with Office 2007

2009-01-21T01:29:00.002+05:30

The Comdex - Computer Course Kit - Windows Vista with Office 2007 written by Vikas Gupta costs 229INR with the CD. Vikas Gupta has earlier co-authored books for Wiley, McGraw Hill and IDG.

This book, comes with a CD Training kit and the book aims to help you master Windows Vista, Internet, MS Word, MS Excel, MS Access and MS Powerpoint.

The book is developed with the premise that the qualification of the person using the book is "ability to read" hence it is extremely simple, straight forward and easy to follow, with step by step instructions accompanied by appropriate illustrations.

The book provides explanations, with screen print outs to demonstrate the described functions. The CD provides an audio video demo and a self practice mode.

The book starts out with the first 24 pages outlining the types of computers, the hardware units, and the basics of software and networks which is an excellent preface for someone not well versed with computers. This took me back to our ITC (Introduction to Computers) course, but this book was much simpler.

At times the language in the book dips a bit into the formal, flowery, government office kind of English, but it soon recovers and gets back to the simplicity, that is its selling point.

It even covers new features like Windows Aero, Windows Meeting Space, Internet Explorer 7.0, Windows Mail.

My only feeling of discontent with the book is that the paper quality is not the best and it gave me the feel of a pirated cheap reprint.

The book and the CD may be used completely independently of each other.

The text instructions on the CD are in English only, but the audio has the option of Hindi too. The audio can be turned off, if you feel that it is slowing you down during the audio-video demo mode. The voice on the audio is pleasant and not robotic or irritating except for a few mis-pronunciations(/heavily accented pronunciation) like "appears" and "adjust". This is an ideal method for auditory learners.

The Hindi version, still uses a lot of English words in the voice over and some Hindi words that aren't common vocabulary.

In some modules, The control panel at the base of the screen, takes an inordinately long time to follow instructions. You can increase or decrease the speed of the verbal instructions and the demonstration time during the demo module.

This is a wonderful book for someone who is just starting to learn about computers. Quite a good book to gift your parents and preserve your own blood pressure from escalating. Or if you are looking to brush up your knowledge or upgrade your software and need a quick primer on the subject.

Also published on desicritics.org

DIVA - January 2009

2009-01-21T00:23:00.003+05:30

Book Review : The Jewel of Medina

2009-01-16T15:05:00.003+05:30

I had heard of the controversy surrounding "The Jewel of Medina" a couple of months ago, but it hadn't really inspired me to go out and buy the book immediately. Of course there was the other matter of it not being available in a Middle Eastern country. But when a friend of mine told me she had the book in case I was interested, I decided to see what the fuss was all about.

The book was initially quite ho-hum (compared to some of the other books I have read on the subject) while it covered the childhood politics around a little girl growing up in a polygamous family where her own mother was the second wife. The girl just happens to be Aisha Bint Abi Bakr, herself an extremely controversial character in Islam. After the Prophets death, she led an army against his Son-in-law Ali, which was the cause for the Sunni-Shia split.

Sunnis claim Aisha was the favourite wife of the Prophet, while Shiites believe that he disliked her for her disobedience. Sunni accounts put the Prophet in Aisha's embrace at the time of his death and Shiites believe that he died in Ali's arms.

Why is The Jewel so inflammatory?

Conservative Catholics across the globe were vociferously against "The DaVinci Code" as it was based on the anti-thesis of a non-negotiable fact - that Jesus was married and sired a bloodline. This questioned the foundations of the Catholic faith and the vows of celibacy taken by priests and nuns.

"The Jewel of Medina" portrays each edict passed by Mohamed as being one for personal gain. It also caricatures him as an old man in constant sexual overdrive, whose only interest was in finding the next beautiful young bride. Drawing conclusions and elaborating on the fact that, when his male followers were allowed only 4 wives, the limitations did not apply to him. And other such incendiary conclusions.

For someone who is not familiar with the basics behind the Islamic teachings, it is a disastrous book to read, because it will completely distort the idea of Islam and its foundations. Ms Jones in her interviews has claimed that she wrote this book to make Islam more accessible and understandable to the general public in USA.

If this is her target audience, it will only serve to further aggravate the differences between Muslims and non-Muslims in America where a majority of non-Muslims already look upon Muslims with suspicion and in extreme cases, even hatred. Among the non-Muslims in America, there is a wide spread belief that women are completely dominated by men in this religion, they are forced to cover up from head to toe by overbearing fathers and husbands. This book will only serve to deepen and worsen those beliefs. I do not see any "understanding" coming out of this book.

The problem with writing fiction with characters from real life is that very few readers actually have the ability or knowledge to distinguish the line between the blurred lines of fact and fiction in a novel. And how much of this book is fiction? As a non-Muslim with basic information about Islam from my Muslim friends, I was quite riled up about certain injustices being described in certain sections of this book. This is a normal process when reading a book, the skill of the author is in making you feel for the characters. But the way it is portrayed as fact, brings these feelings out back into the world beyond the reading of a book.

What Ms Jones has written is a piece of fiction and not even a well researched one at that. Friends of mine who are scholars in Islamic studies, say that the inaccuracies are innumerable.

Geraldine Brooks (who has extensively researched the history of this era), author of the 1995 nonfiction book, "Nine Parts of Desire" whom Jones has cited as one her initial inspiration, says this in her review of The Jewel of Medina, "if you wish to claim that your novel is "extensively researched", why lurch around in time and space, grabbing at concepts such as hatun, or leading wife, which Jones knows full well belongs to the Ottoman empire of centuries later, or purdah, which exists in Persian, Urdu and Hindi but not Arabic? Why refer to an Islamic veil by the modern Western term "wrapper"? Why have Muslims bowing to Aisha, when bowing is an alien custom to desert Arabia and to Islam's egalitarian ethos?"

Is "The Jewel of Medina" a good story? - Well, it manages to keep your interest going after the initial chapters, wondering what is going to come next? and How will Aisha manage this latest calamity?. But in most parts it reads like Mills & Boone/ Silhouette kind of Soft Porn.

I ask a larger question : "Is it ethical to write a book like this, which caricatures a person who is the cornerstone of a particular religion?

Disclaimer : I do not want to get into a debate about death threats, riots and fatwas that inevitably follow a book of this kind.

Published on desicritics.org

DIVA - My Second Issue as Editor

2008-12-16T20:57:00.001+05:30

Obituary: Sabina Sehgal Saikia

2008-11-30T04:59:00.001+05:30

Sabina Sehgal Saikia was a food writer who had been with the Times of India group for over 17 years who at the time of her untimely demise had risen to Consulting Editor at the publication. She died in the Terror attacks in Mumbai where she was staying on the 6th floor. She was in Mumbai for the wedding of Bachi Karkaria's son next week.

Sabina could make or break a Delhi restaurant based on her reviews. She initially wrote an extremely popular column called "Main Course" for the Saturday Times, which later moved to the Delhi Times.

I was first introduced to her, when I picked up the Times of India Restaurant Guide for Delhi, 8 years ago. My next 2 years in Delhi were made tolerable by this handy book. I tried out restaurants based on her recommendations and agreed with her judgment over 80% of the time. She was honest and direct.

The Times of India Restaurant Guides to Hyderabad and Bombay could never match up to the standard that Sabina had set. She had spoiled me against other guides with her perfection and accuracy.

I subscribed to the Times of India in Delhi, just to read her column, although the Hindustan Times gave much better news coverage in Delhi.

An excellent cook herself, she soon visited me in my living room on NDTV cooks demonstrating an especially fiery looking Green Chilli Pickle.

I never met her face-to-face, but I felt like I knew a part of her. The part of her that loved good food and in Saif Ali Khan's words "acha khaana khane ke liye, hum kahin pe bhi chalenge" (to eat good food, we will travel anywhere) and in a wierd way, I identified with this part of her.

Sabina will be sorely missed in the food writers world. Our sympathies go out to her husband Shantanu and her two young children who will feel her absence much more than her millions of devoted readers.

Sabina you brought joy into the lives of food lovers: May your Soul, Rest in Peace.

Also published on desicritics.org

Disjointed Questions on the Bombay Blasts and its aftermath

2008-11-28T23:10:00.001+05:30

Being in a distant country while Bombay is under siege, is nerve wracking at best.

My first long stay in Bombay was for my first job, with MBA degree in hand. The first weekend trip we took together as Management trainees was a local train ride from Andheri to South Bombay. We caught up with other batchmates in town for a movie at Metro Cinema and headed over to Cafe Mondegar for a drink and later carried onto Cafe Leopold because we had heard so much about these Bombay favourites. We then walked over to the Gateway of India and gazed at the iconic Taj Palace and towers. Gathering courage we felt we could project enough confidence to walk in and use their washrooms, which we managed.

Since this was the late 90's, B-School salaries weren't as astronomical as they were at the turn of the millennium and we obviously couldn't afford to eat in there, so we headed over to Bademiyan's for more affordable fare.

All these locations were under the media spotlight for the last 48 hours, for reasons one would never have dreamed about.

Personally, this attack was very hard hitting because of the sheer numbers of family and friends who live in the area, who were working late in the area, or were eating in the area after work. As is usual after every such attack in India, we started calling and smsing, then emailing and scrapping (when the phone lines were jammed and over loaded) and everyone we knew in the location to check on their status. This time it was a much, much longer list of people we were checking on.

Some were barricaded inside their houses and offices in the area while their lifts were shut down and they were advised not to leave the premises. Many spent that first night in the office while the rest of us helplessly spent the night hoping and praying for their safety and that the violence wouldn't spread to the surrounding buildings.

We stayed glued to the television and kept refreshing news sites on our computer screen and anxiously followed the sequence of events. Coherent thought was not easy and plenty of questions and inconsistencies kept popping up in my mind.

First of all: kudos to our NSG, army, hotel staff and police for their heroic efforts.

Why/How did this happen:
Intelligence failure is something the foreign media has been harping about in relation to these attacks, but as someone else mentioned: weren't 9/11 and the London Subway attacks, intelligence failures too.

Could we have done anything more to secure the locations?
How many locations will you secure? We have a country of a billion+ citizens, so I don't think it is about securing locations. Terrorists target any and every location. The only way every place can be secured is if citizens take responsibility of being aware of their surroundings and people around them.
We need to stop cribbing about and finding innovative ways to avoid security measures at malls, cinema halls etc. They are there for our security.

Our government should focus on stemming the problem at its roots: training camps, poverty, education, unemployment.

The terrorists were armed with AK47's while a lot of the police and railway police were equipped with nothing more than a lathi. Do they even stand a chance?

Why were 3 top cops traveling in the same vehicle?

Rescue efforts:
The staff at the hotels responded admirably and heroically. Some even lost their own lives while saving the guests. I am not sure if they receive training drills for terrorist situations, but they did their best.

Politicians have no business being anywhere in the area when such situations are ongoing. Having them around, means that security and armed forces are forced to divert their attention to the "security of the politician"
What business did Gopinath Munde have to be at the Nariman House today?
Same problem when they visit hospitals were the wounded are taken. Doctors and nurses are forced to stop tending to their patients and clear the area so the politician and their entourage of news crews and security personnel royally stroll through the area and promise tax payer funds (other peoples money) as remuneration.

Media:
While NDTV was the most restrained of the lot, our media still behaved as irresponsibly as always.

People whose family members were stuck inside, is it fair to thrust microphones at their faces and ask them how they are feeling?

Rescued people being brought out of the hotel after a horrifying ordeal, is it fair to thrust microphones at their faces and ask them how they are feeling?

While Right to Information is a wonderful act, some lines should be drawn when it comes to National Security. Broadcasting the immediate moves of the security forces, dissecting their rescue maneuvers, having ex army personnel describe helicopter rescue operations in detail - this only gives more intelligence to the terrorists holed up inside who could be in contact with anyone with a cable connection outside the location, even if cable connection at the hotels had been cut off.

Broadcasting false reports of the operation being over when it isn't because they see a thumbs-up being exchanged between two NSG personnel.

We need an appointed official spokesperson who is the only authority allowed to speak to the media when an operation is ongoing. This person needs to receive reports from all relevant sources and be advised on what news can be released and what cannot. Press should only be allowed at this location and not crawling around the affected area causing more security hazards or getting caught in the cross fire. This should give controlled information and hopefully control the rumour-mongering too.

If the press are controlled in one location, it will also prevent the crowds who were at the locations today not to show solidarity or out of concern but were there for the sole reason of getting their face on camera. (This is a reality in India)

Role of Politicians:
They haven't done anything to prevent the situation, they should stay away from the situation as mentioned above.

Where has the champion of Bombay, Mr Raj Thackeray disappeared to? Which safe location is he hiding in?

Our Home Minister was ineffectual as always. Surprisingly, our Prime Ministers speech didn't induce confidence either.

Politicians need to rise above their petty politics of deciding whether to hold a bundh on December 1st or not.
They should instead be visiting the homes of the brave security personnel who lost their lives and appreciating the efforts of their husbands, sons and fathers (not to be sexist, but no female personnel casualty has been reported yet in this case) who lost their lives in the service of the country. This is one of the few useful things that they can do at this point of time.

I also pray that they do not use this attack to further communalize our country for their own vote bank politics.

Future Action:
It may seem insensitive to say this at this point, but as a country we should take advantage of the terrorists targeting Americans, British and Israeli citizens.
The US previously tried to restrain India when they spoke about retaliation after the parliament attacks.
This is the right opportunity to use this joint sentiment against these terrorists to take a stand and launch a forceful offensive against terrorist camps targeting India.
Use the Israeli intelligence and their expertise to stem the flow of terrorists into India and destroy their their training camps.
We need a single security network that is pan-country, not disjointed co-ordination between multiple agencies.

We need to make our country safe again. Where people do not flinch at a loud sound, where people do not have to think twice before leaving their houses to catch a train, shop for groceries or watch a movie. We need to feel safe. It is our right as citizens.

Published on desicritics.org

Oasis - Managing Overseas Houseguests

2008-11-24T06:05:00.000+05:30

Text of this article can be read here

DIVA - My First Issue as Editor

2008-11-09T04:56:00.000+05:30

This month saw the publishing of my first magazine issue as Editor. Cover Page and Credit pictures follow.

BCA Chronicle - Eat Turkish, Its a Delight

2008-11-05T05:47:00.000+05:30

Read the text of this article here.

BCA Chronicle - Book Review : Cherry Bomb

2008-10-15T06:18:00.000+05:30

Read the text of the article here.

Oasis - What's on in Cairo - Staying Informed

2008-10-14T08:00:00.003+05:30

This article appeared in the October Issue of the Oasis

Text of the article is on my Egypt Blog

Oasis - Are you financially Confident?

2008-10-14T07:53:00.003+05:30

This article appeared in the Oasis Magazine for the month of October:

Text of the Article:

Are you Financially Confident?

Money is an important criterion that one considers even before moving to a new country. Is the move finically viable? Will we be able to make ends meet? Will we be able to enjoy the same or a better lifestyle if we move? These are some of the questions that one considers before moving.

Making a budget when moving to a new country, is as important as having a budget when back home. If you really want to start right from Day 1, then have a simple budget for the first month. What is the total income going to be for the month? How much of this do we want to save? How much of this are we saving for something specific - like a trip to Hurghada at the end of the month? How much of our income can we spend?

In the first month, the outflow will be higher. There will be some beautification to be done of the house. Little knick knacks, paintings on the wall, a piece of furniture you know will be perfect in your foyer. Perhaps your landlord refused to replace the shabby curtains and you just can’t bear to look at them, so you have to buy new drapes yourself. The kitchen will need to be stocked with basic spices and condiments from scratch.

If your sponsor company provides a relocation reimbursement, then it would be wise to check what will or will not be reimbursable. If they provide a flat sum, then that makes life a lot easier.

By the second month, you will have a better idea of the Cost of Living and your basic expenses. Make a note of all the monthly essentials. Rent, salaries for the household help, cell phone bills, electricity, club fees, insurance premiums (here and at home) all the recurring expenses that are almost fixed. This could even include your gym membership or art classes that you feel are essential for your child. Include all the expenses for things that you just can’t do without (except groceries and eating out.) The sum of this is your fixed expense for the month.

Now set aside a budget for groceries, eating out and entertainment. Allocate a certain amount for this monthly and try to stick to the budget. If you spent money on imported exotic vegetables that were out of season, then compensate by ordering one dessert less when eating out or rent a DVD instead of going to the theatre. Although the amount itself is fixed, you have the discretion on how you want to spend it.

The rest of the money is your savings. What you are saving for is something you need to decide. Is it very long term like college education for your children or down payment on a house when you return to your home country? Is it long term like an annual foreign holiday/summer break? Is it something shorter term, like an expensive gold necklace, an Egyptian carpet or a piece of Mashrabiya furniture?

Once you have decided what you want to spend your savings on, now you can take a decision on how to save that money. If your savings are short term (but longer than a month) and you intend to spend the money in Egypt, then check with your local bank what rates they offer for Fixed deposits. The interest rate is normally higher than what it would be for Savings Accounts. The Egyptian stock market is quite volatile and meant only for the serious risk takers.

If your savings are long term and meant to be spent back in your home country, then it may make sense to send the money home via wire transfer. The best rates for this can normally be got by having a bank account with the same bank in Egypt and in your home country. This will help save a lot on transfer fees.

Do note, that unless your account in Egypt and in your home country is in the same currency, you will lose a small amount in currency conversion. Check around with the banks to see who gives you the best rates of conversion and interest both here and at home. Try and transfer money whenever your home currency is at a strong rate. With the dollar fluctuation, it is quite easy to increase your savings, just by following the currency exchange rates daily. It barely takes 10 seconds on the internet.

With inflation rising at a higher rate than interest rates on Savings accounts, you are better off investing your long term savings in options like mutual funds, stocks, shares and bonds. Blindly investing in these markets is not advisable at all. Try and check on past performance. The markets across the world have being going through a downturn, so do go back at least a year to check on performance.

If you invest in SIPs (Systematic Investment Plans) of mutual funds, it will help you balance out the irregularities of the market. How this works is that every month on a pre-assigned date, a fixed amount is deducted from your account towards a particular mutual fund. Mutual funds and SIPs are advisable if you are looking at holding the investment for at least 3 years. The risk is minimized if you consider this time horizon.

Try and ensure that you activate the Online banking options on all your accounts and credit cards. This is a huge time saver if you regularly move across geographic locations.

Each country has different Tax Regulations. Ensure that you follow the regulations of your home and host country regarding filing of returns and paying of taxes. You do not need anything catching up with you at a later date.

These are just general guidelines to help you stay in control of your finances. Each country also has different laws for non-residents, pertaining to investments. Educate yourself about them and try to adhere to the rules and regulations of your home country.

Karishma Pais (Kim) is an expat trailing wife in Cairo. She has a Masters Degree in Human Resources and Behavior. She consults on HR projects, delivers intercultural training at the CSA, counsels new and experienced expats, writes for several magazines – online and offline, she runs whazzupcairo@yahoogroups.com and whazzupcairo@googlegroups.com among other activities. Her Social Commentary and blog about life in Egypt can be read at http://whazzupegypt.blogspot.com

Book Review : Everyone Worth Knowing

2008-09-17T05:26:00.002+05:30

Picked this one up because I found the "Devil Wears Prada" good for a light read when traveling.

The cover of Everyone Worth Knowing touted the fact that is was written by the same author in almost the same font size as the title.

That should have warned me : Be wary when someone is trying too hard.

The theme here is vaguely similar to the original bestseller, Bette the main protagonist is sick of her job in banking, her boss and his daily inspirational emails with quotations. One day she quits her job in disgust and then spends the next couple of weeks vegetating in her house.

Her well known columnist uncle, Will uses his connections to get her a job at an up and coming boutique PR firm where partying hard is part of her job.

The rest of the book is a constant whine of how terrible Bette's life is and how she isn't happy with what she is doing but still keeps doing it anyway.

This book has none of the humor of the first, or something enlightening like a window into the fashion magazine industry that the first book provided.

This book just talks about the parties the PR folks attend where they drink, do drugs and have random hookups with barely any insight into the inner workings of the PR industry.

This book is a combination of gossip pages, Harlequin romances (which Bette incidentally favours and even has monthly book club meetings to discuss them) and poor me whining.

The book is barely passable as chicklit. Guys don't even bother starting to read it.

Also published on desicritics.org

Movie Review : Trade & Human Trafficking

2008-09-16T15:37:00.000+05:30

By coincidence, I happened to watch 2 movies dealing with the same subject in 2 days. One a video rental, the other a Lifetime miniseries on Hallmark.

Both deal with the subject of women and young children being kidnapped and sold in a modern day form of slavery.

Trade is a movie seen from the eyes of a Mexican teenager following the trail of his 13 year old sister and her kidnappers across the border. Human Trafficking mostly follows from the point of view of an NYPD agent working with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In both movies, the women are brought from all over the world into Mexico and then into the US by walking across the Mexican border.

Both show Mexican cops hand in glove with the traders. In both movies there is a scene where the Mexican cops get to "sample the merchandise" when it is being en route.

In Trade, the group is caught by the border police in the US and placed in detention until they can be sent back to Mexico. And the American officials simply turn away when one of the women tries to explain that they have been kidnapped.

Both movies are very realistic without being sensational or titillating. The horrors the girls and children (little boys and girls) face are unimaginable.

In Human Trafficking an entire set of young children is sequestered in a container and sent on a ship bound for Saudi Arabia on a 10 day journey from Mexico when their pimp gets news that the cops are about to raid his den.

Trade introduces 2 new child actors who are absolutely brilliant in their roles. Kevin Kline is the only well known actor in that movie and is in more of a supporting role.

Human Trafficking has a star cast of Donald Sutherland, Mira Sorvino and Robert Carlyle (the Scottish guy from Full Monty) who turns out an amazingly chilly performance as a Eastern European Sex Trade boss.

The entire situation of Human Trafficking is summed up absolutely eloquently in Mira Sorvino's press statement at the end of that movie.

Worth a watch for the realistic view of a universal problem. As Sorvino said "It could be your daughter, your sister, your best friend next"

Also published on desicritics.org

Attacks on Churches and Christians in India

2008-09-14T22:28:00.000+05:30

Section 144 has just been clamped on Mangalore city.

Police resorted to lathi charge and throwing tear gas grenades at peaceful protesters where a number of nuns and women were injured and had to be taken to hospital.

What the hell is wrong with our country and its people? (I would not normally use such strong language in print, but it doesn't even begin to demonstrate how strongly I feel)

Today morning between 9am and 10am, Bajrang Dal activists attacked and destroyed 4 churches in Mangalore City.

Why? Because New Life members distributed pamphlets which said "Do not Worship Hindu Gods"
While I admit that this could be an incendiary statement, does this justify attacking people and churches who do not even agree with the methods used by the New Life preachers?
Does this justify attacking members of a church, who have not had anything to do with conversions or preaching and just listen?

Lets look at the issues here:
1. The Bajrang Dal resorts to violence because of something that is printed that they do not agree with.
2. When the Bajrang Dal says that conversions are illegal, (and all the other things they do with tis as their cause) aren't they infact enforcing that "you cannot worship any God other than a Hindu God"
3. The New Life Church is a relative newcomer, known to be more hardline than most other churches which distance themselves from them. Shouldn't the Bajrang Dal have at least distinguished that?
4. Even if they did not agree with what was printed by the New Life church in India, couldn't they try having a dialog with them first, before resorting to violence.
Looks like the hooligans behind these attacks are only interested in breaking bones and getting their adrenaline pumping rather than really trying to sort out any kinds of problems or misunderstandings.

The ruffians broke all the religious statues in the Sisters of Poor Clare's Adoration Monastery. They threw the Holy Eucharist on the ground and desecrated it.

Is this OK, just because it is being done against Catholics/Christians in India who have historically been as non-violent as the Jains and buddhists (other minorities) in India?

Concerned members of the churches gathered in the church grounds during and after evening mass in a peaceful way to seek assurance and guidance from the priests and other religious. Wasn't this a peaceful gahtering compared to mobs rampaging and torching buses because of some mud smeared on Meenatai's statue? or The countrywide riots following a desecration of an Ambedkar statue in Kanpur? The second incident was also of smeared mud. Both the desecrations happened on public roads. This does not make it right, but compare this to religious statues being broken on private property, the Holy Eucharist (which Christians believe is the body of Christ once it is blessed) thrown on the ground. Do not Christians have a right to congregate to discuss their fears following such incidents.

Remember the Christians were gathering in peace outside their place of worship (since the insides of the church were full) not going out and torching buses or hurting other innocent people.

To add fuel to the fire, the police arrived. No issues with their arriving where crowds had gathered, but they started lathi charging the gathered people and seriously injured nuns and women among the crowd and threw tear bombs inside the church where Sunday evening mass was being held. A religious ceremony, a peaceful ceremony, held everyday inside these churches.

Was this responsible on the part of the police to use force and violence against unarmed, peaceful members of the public?

People present at the scene said that the police themselves were pelting stones at the crowd and caning them, hurting both people and damaging property in the vicinity.

The news channels started to broadcast about this and then completely hushed up. I turned on my India feed of NDTV which promised for 15 minutes to show an update and news about Mangalore city and suddenly it stopped showing those banners without showing any news about what had happened. Looks like someone high in the political chain, got to them and yanked the news off the air.

Now take 2-3 other incidents into perspective.
On 29th August over 40,000 Christian Educational Institutions across India stayed closed to register a peaceful protest against the continuing violence against Christians in Orissa which has now spread to 13 out of 30 districts.

On the same day, the government of Karnataka announced its decision to take action against Christian schools in the state for closing without prior permission.

This same government has yet to take action against the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishat and RSS workers, who had launched violent protests when the JD (S) failed to hand over the state reins to the BJP last year.

Is it any surprise that both Karnataka and Orissa currently have the BJP in power?

The VHP held violent protests in Madhya Pradesh and other places asking why the Christians had killed Saraswati? (by shutting educational institutions for a day) What about all the occasions when the BJP/VHP/Bajrang Dal/Shiv Sena and other Hindu organisations force schools, colleges and business to shut shutter for their own bundhs which destroy all normalcy in the cities?

Why are these double standards in play? Why are Christians being given the short end of the stick? Religious Christian institutions have a large role to play in education, medicine, caring for the orphans, abandoned, old and dying in India. Christians have been one of the most tolerant minorities in India (imagine what would have happened by now if by chance the Bajrang Dal hooligans had desecrated a mosque this morning) who have contributed immensely to the growth of the country. Why this treatment? Do they deserve it?

Do they deserve a government that is apathetic to their religious sensibilities being trampled upon?

Christians have always believed in being peace loving, patient and tolerant. Will the Christian youth of today continue to be as tolerant when they see the atrocities being committed against their brethren in Orissa and the North East?

Why are these atrocities against Christians being downplayed in the media? (Try googling for the attack against Christians in India and see how many Indian media links pop up) Why aren't they being given coverage? Is it because the powers-that-be know that they aren't doing a thing to control, controllable situations and the miscreants in their party? Is it because the powers-that-be know that the Christians haven't ever retaliated with violence? How long will the Christians community be able to react with tolerance and peace? (2 values that a lot of Indians in the news seem to have completely forgotten about)

Final note of irony: Union minister of labour and employment Oscar Fernandes (a Christian) was in Mangalore today to inaugurate the opening of a (Hindu) temple.

And so we debate endlessly in the media about terrorism coming in from across the border while we burn our own own citizens in their homes and places of worship.

Also Published on desicritics.org

Book Review : The Appeal

2008-09-10T20:48:00.001+05:30

The latest bestseller from John Grisham after - The Innocent Man.

Given that the Innocent Man was a work of non-fiction, makes this book all the more frightening. Grisham himself was very excited about his first real legal thriller in years.

In this book (I wouldn't call it a novel) Grisham exposes the nexus between big business, politics and the law. While these have always been recurring themes in his books, this time in "The Appeal" it is the sole focus of the book.

The book starts with a chemical and environmental pollution case in small town Bowmore, Mississippi, now nicknamed Cancer County, where Krane Chemical is the accused and Jeanette Baker the plaintiff.

Jeanette has lost both her husband and son to cancer. This makes hers the strongest case to start with for her lawyers - Wes and Mary Payton. There are plenty of mass tort specialists and ambulance chasers waiting in the wings for the decision on this case, so they can all get themselves a piece of the pie (30% to the lawyers) while the Paytons themselves are over 400,000$ in debt by virtue of working and following up on this case (to the exclusion of all others).

The jury orders damages of 41 million dollars to be paid to Jeanette and here is where the plot actually takes off.

It is an intriguing ride that Grisham takes us on and is an excellent medium to learn how the Supreme Courts in the US work. Most states choose their Supreme Court justices by election, which leaves plenty of room for interested parties to skew the process. How that happens, is the meat of this book.

The ending may not please a lot of readers, but it is extremely realistic and I admire Grisham for leaving it there rather than neatly tying things up.

The book is extremely interesting and educating on the political and legal intrigue that takes place behind these elections. While this may be a work of fiction, it could very well become reality, any time in the near future and that is what is so scary about this book.

Also published on desicritics.org

Book Review : A Prisoner of Birth

2008-09-07T04:15:00.002+05:30

Lord Jeffrey Archer is back with a bang! Doing what he does best. Writing fiction with revenge and justice as the major themes of his novel.

I have not been as lucky as IdeaSmith as to meet this Lord in person. But I'm sure it would be an amazing experience just to hear him speak on any topic on this earth. He has an astounding insight on what seems to be almost everything.

Lord Archer has proved yet again why he is one of the leading best selling authors of this generation.

The similarities to Dumas's Count of Monte Cristo are clearly evident in this tale and even the main protagonist keeps referring to the book. But Archer gives this tale a modern twist and spices it up with intimate knowledge of the details that he gathered during his 2 year tryst in Her Majesty's prisons.

The tempo of the novel keeps building up and its quite un-put-down-able (not sure if that is a word, but it describes this story aptly) To use a real word, this is a page turner. Definitely not bed time reading unless you plan to stay up all night until you are done.

This is a book that every mystery/crime fan should buy and read and re-read (its a book that may need to be read twice as new angles are discovered which have a different significance on past conversations and situations)

I'm now waiting for Paths of Glory which he is due to release in March of next year.

Also published on desicritics.org

Oasis - Grocery Shopping in Cairo

2008-09-06T03:30:00.003+05:30

Grocery Shopping in Cairo
Karishma Pais (Kim)

If you are moving to Cairo as an Expat, then before you think of buying papyrus paintings or Egyptian Carpets, the first thing you need to know is where to buy daily groceries.

Here are some of the best locations to source your groceries. If you are fluent in Arabic then you may find that the local markets are more flavorful and interesting.

Personally, I love the local markets for fruits and vegetables, as the produce is much fresher than in stores and they can be washed clean. For meat and meat products, I prefer the bigger supermarkets, as the meat is cut and kept in hygienic conditions.

Metro Markets - a small supermarket - are dotted around the city. They have all the basics that you need for daily use. Some fresh fruits & vegetables. A small selection of raw meats, marinated meats, cold meats, cheeses & pickles. I have found them more expensive than the other local groceries or the bigger ones. They are convenient because they are normally a short distance away and most items are labeled in English, as are the prices.

In some neighborhoods, without a Metro Market, you may find Kheer Zaman supermarkets, run by the same people. They do not carry as many imported products as Metro does.

The El Hawary Supermarkets are similar to Metro, but with lower rates. The locals shop here. A word of warning: Most prices are written in Arabic, if they are written at all. The store personnel cannot speak much English & the stores are quite crowded. The aisles are small & have a lot of people jostling for space, for themselves and their trolleys. Once you know which brands you like & can speak a few words in Arabic then you can try shopping here.

For your major shopping, try Carrefour. It’s a Hyper Market where you can get everything you want -that’s available in Egypt- in quite a few varieties. You do get good discounts & they always have some offer on. Most of the service staff can speak basic English or can refer you to someone who does speak English. The aisles are wide, the air conditioning works, lots of choice, good rates. Drawback : It’s a long drive from most residential areas. There's one on the Cairo-Alex desert road at Dandy Mall & another at Maadi City Center (on the Ring Road) They are both located in pretty decent malls, so you can plan a day around the experience. The Dandy Mall Carrefour is cleaner and less chaotic than the one in Maadi.

Spinneys at City Stars mall in Nasr City, is similar to Carrefour. The Electronics and clothes sections here are much larger than the other Hypermarkets. It’s convenient to pick up groceries from here after spending a day at the City Stars Mall or watching a movie.

If you are more confident of yourself & know for sure which brands you want to purchase, then HyperOne in 6th of October City, is the best option among the hypermarkets. Their prices are much lower & they have a larger range. Most locals shop here. It’s completely worth the drive for monthly shopping. HyperOne is run by the same people who own the El Hawary chain of supermarkets.

Between Hyper1 & Carrefour, I would recommend Carrefour for cold meats (tastier) & unpacked spices in barrels (labeled in English and cleaner). For everything else, Hyper1 is a better bet.

Alfa Markets are spread out in some parts of the City. They carry a lot of products imported from the UK including English rose patterned ceramic cutlery. But, they are expensive. The Zamalek branch, is the best of the Alfa Markets that I have seen.

There are smaller stand alone stores like Miriams supermarket and Kimo supermarket in Maadi, that carry a lot of imported products and even fresh home baked cakes and cookies by Expat women.

The local markets are always good for fruits & vegetables. They are fresher than the produce sold in supermarkets. These are recommended, if you can speak Arabic and you can judge fresh produce by looking at it or smelling it.

You can buy lovely spices at the Khan El Khalili for much lower rate than at the supermarkets. But be ready to bargain. Most of these guys can speak enough English because of the sheer number of tourists that visit the market.

Your neighborhood grocer will have a lot of the stuff that you may suddenly run out of, but you may be overcharged. On comparison, over time, I know the grocer next to my house overcharges me, but the shop around the corner gives me a fair deal and delivers home even if it is just a loaf of bread.

If you are new to Cairo, then you may find that it’s easier to walk up to the closest Metro Market where prices are fixed & marked. At least there you know that you are paying the same as the other customers, even if t is a little more.

Most grocery stores will deliver home. The Hypermarkets deliver home for a fee or a certain minimum purchase. If you carry them home yourself, your bowab or his wife will carry your shopping bags to your apartment for a small tip (50p to 2LE depending on how much stuff they have to carry and if they use the stairs or an elevator)

Karishma Pais (Kim) is an expat trailing wife in Cairo. She has a Masters Degree in Human Resources and Behaviour. She consults on HR projects, delivers intercultural training at the CSA, counsels new and experienced expats, writes for several magazines – online and offline, she runs whazzupcairo@yahoogroups.com and whazzupcairo@googlegroups.com among other activities. Her Social Commentary and blog about life in Egypt can be read at http://whazzupegypt.blogspot.com

Oasis - Where should I live in Cairo?

2008-09-06T03:14:00.003+05:30

Where Should I Live in Cairo?
Karishma Pais (Kim)

The question I get asked the most by newcomers to Egypt, often before they even arrive, is “Where should I live?”

Quick Orientation :
Cairo is the capital of Egypt & the business centre.
Alexandria is a lovely Mediterranean Seaside town 4 hours drive away from Cairo and has its own international airport too.
Port Said & Port Suez are along the Suez Canal. A lot of people who work in the shipping industry are posted in these towns.
Sharm el Sheikh & Hurghada are the party towns on the Red Sea Coast. But if you work with a hotel chain, you are likely to be posted here.
Luxor and Aswan are in Upper Egypt and are the ancient Pharonic towns.

These are the main cities that expats live in.

This article is about places to live in Cairo.
The best advice I can give you is: Stay as Close as Possible to your Area of Work or Study!

Traffic in Cairo means that it can take ages to reach from point A to point B. It's better to live as close as possible to your office or college/university so you can save a ton of time on traveling and use that time more productively.

If you are an Expat with kids then your child's school is another major consideration to keep in mind. Which school? How long will it take your child to travel from home to school? Is there a school bus facility? Is there a convenient pick-up location?
In a toss up between your own/spouses office location & child's school location, you need to take a call for yourself and your family that will best suit your needs.

If you are a student, then you may also like to stay in walking distance to a Metro station. The Metro service in Cairo is efficient & extremely beneficial to anyone who doesn't have their own means of transportation in this city or who doesn't want to drive here.

Areas to live in :
Maadi : The choice of a majority of expats. Close to many international schools. Maadi is a lot greener than a lot of other areas in Cairo. It boasts plenty of organizations catering specifically to or of interest to expats like the Community Service Association (CSA), Cairo Rugby Club, Studio 206, Ace Club - Association of Cairo Expatriates, Cairo Hash House Harriers, Cairo Petroleum Wives, Maadi Womens Guild, Serafis among others.

There are bungalows (stand alone houses) 2/3 floored buildings as well as a couple of high rises.

Rents are higher in this part of town. But it is worth it for the benefits of the greenery, community living and established conveniences for foreigners.

Zamalek : An Island on the Nile in the centre of the city. It is the location of choice for embassy employees (a lot of embassies are located in this area) and students. The old AUC hostels are located in this area. The constructions are older here but not necessarily in bad condition. The apartments are really huge and spacious with high ceilings and wooden floors.

Garden City: Similar to Zamalek. The rent rates would be slightly lower than Zamalek. It is just across the river towards Maadi and boasts wonderful views of the Nile from most apartments.

Mohandaseen: The business part of town. It started as a residential area for and is an extremely busy part of town. A lot of offices are based in this area. There are plenty of restaurants and cafes in this part of town.

Dokki: A residential area between Mohandaseen and downtown. Slightly secluded and not as chaotic as downtown for those who have to travel there for work or to study.

Most of the restaurants and clubs are clustered around these areas of town.

There are other areas of town that are comfortable to live in too. These include downtown Cairo, Heliopolis, Nasr City, 6th of October city and El Rehab City.

Excepting downtown (which is logically in the centre of the city and close to everything) the others are on the outskirts of the city and it takes some time to reach the city centre from these locations. But they are better planned with more greenery, parking spaces and less traffic.

Nasr City is also home to City Stars the largest mall in Cairo. A shopaholics delight with tons of stores, restaurants, food courts and cinema halls.

There are plenty of malls planned for 6th of October City, Rehab City, Kattameya, Ain Shams and other newer parts of town. A lot of the universities have been moving out of the congested heart of Cairo into these new and developing areas. In some places like Kattameya it may be difficult to find furnished apartments right now. So the choice would be between apartment fixtures and time taken to travel

This is just a quick primer on some residential areas in Cairo. Rates will depend on size of apartment/house and location. For example within Garden city itself similar apartments may rent for different rates based on quality of construction, amount the owner has spent on doing up the place etc.

So find yourself a good "semsar" - real estate agent - and happy hunting.

Karishma Pais (Kim) is an expat trailing wife in Cairo. She has a Masters Degree in Human Resources and Behavior. She consults on HR projects, delivers intercultural training at the CSA, counsels new and experienced expats, writes for several magazines – online and offline, she runs whazzupcairo@yahoogroups.com and whazzupcairo@googlegroups.com among other activities. Her Social Commentary and blog about life in Egypt can be read at http://whazzupegypt.blogspot.com

BCA Chronicle - Birqash

2008-09-06T02:04:00.002+05:30

The text is very similar to this.

Won a Cookery Contest

2008-08-26T21:15:00.002+05:30

Rushina from A perfect bite... had a Hot and Spicy Pakora contest! sometime ago.

I submitted a favorite recipe of mine for Prawn Pakodas

I was one of the 3 winners of the contest. So I guess Rushina and her judges (family) liked it :)

Here's the link to the announcement and links to the recipes of other winners and participants.
http://a-perfect-bite.blogspot.com/2008/08/results-of-hot-and-spicy-pakora-contest.html

My Article on the Marico India Website!

2008-08-12T03:54:00.003+05:30

My Article on "Life in Egypt" was picked up and posted on the Egypt section of Marico India's corporate website at

http://marico.com/marico_worldwide/egypt/kims_article.pdf

Book Review : Diplomatic Baggage: The Adventures of a Trailing Spouse

2008-07-27T19:18:00.000+05:30

As a Trailing Spouse to Egypt, this was a book recommended at an Inter-cultural training session that I attended.

I am glad I waited 2 years to read this book (I might have been terrified of the move) although I'm kicking myself for spending money on it, even though I got it at a discounted price on Amazon.

I got carried away by William Dalrymple's (an author I greatly admire) review of it: "Brigid Keenan, is a new comic genius.... very, very funny"

Later in the book, I figured out that he spent time at their house in Damascus, while researching his book From the Holy Mountain.

Why did I hate the book so much?
Except for the last chapter, the author was constantly whining and groaning about the hardships that life had tossed at her. This after choosing to marry her husband of her own free will, knowing the kind of job he did and loved would take him to obtuse corners of the world. It was a fully informed decision that she took. Even spending some days with him, in what she calls a "chicken shed" in Kathmandu before deciding to marry him.

She constantly whines about everything from the help, to the kids, to her husband, to location.... in short, she whines about Everything.

The life of a Diplomatic Trailing Spouse is much easier than that of other Trailing Spouses. Accommodation, household help, office help, everything is put in place before the diplomatic family even arrives at their new location. Brigid's grouse is that some of the other European embassies provide more services to the spouses than her husbands European Commission ambassadors office does.

She promotes herself as a glamorous, successful young London fashion journalist, but later in the book accepts and acknowledges that her children were the worst dressed in their school.

I do not know Brigid personally, but what I read in her this autobiography of hers, made me think of her as a spoiled, over indulged wife who can never find anything positive and good in life.

Granted she had a few scares like the maggots that got under the skin and had to mature and grow and eat their way out, but those kind of experiences were less than you could count on one hand. For the most part, she was preoccupied with how to find whit gloves for a 6 fingered servant in India and wondering why there was no association to put beggars to sleep the way Animal friends does it for animals! At the same time brushing aside her daughters experiences with pedophiles and exposers as casual asides.

Brigid has written about Kashmir's art and crafts and co authored a book on Damascus; which may be worth looking at, but Diplomatic Baggage is not a book you want to buy or gift a friend who is going to be a Trailing Spouse, not unless you want them to cancel all plans and send their spouse to live abroad on their own.

Published on desicritics.org

Camel Market at Birqash, Egypt

2008-07-27T14:39:00.001+05:30

Egypt's Largest Camel Market - Birqash Camel Market is 35km away from Cairo. The best day to visit is supposed to be Friday, when the market is most lively in the earlier parts of the morning 7am-9am. The market is open till 1pm but most of the trading happens before 11am.

This market used to earlier take place in Imbaba, but as the city expanded, the camel market was moved to the suburb of Birqash which is at the edge of the Western Desert.

Hundreds of Camels are sold here everyday. But this is definitely not a market for the Animal lover. The animals aren't in pitiable condition, but they could be treated much, much better than they currently are.

Camels from Sudan are brought into Egypt on the 40 day road via Abu Simbel to the market in Daraw. The unsold camels are then loaded into trucks and brought to Birqash after a 24 hour drive. Camels also arrive from the rest of Egypt and sometimes from Somalia. These camels are traded for other livestock or cash and are mostly bought for farm work or consumption.

Photo opportunities abound, if you can get the angles right since the camels are almost monochromatic in color. The traders have wonderfully charactered faces and I would have loved to be able to take close up portraits and talk to them and listen to their stories. Unfortunately as a woman, taking close up pictures of men is not the sanest thing to do. And my Arabic is too limited to have had a proper conversation with them.

As an obvious foreigner, you will be charged entry to the market. (it has a gated entry) 20LE per person. Then they may try to charge you an additional 10LE per camera. Once you enter, you will not face any obvious resentment. The traders are pretty welcoming of foreigners and try to make a buck or so by posing for pictures with them. There were at least 10 other foreigners the day we visited.The only thing to be aware of is to not behave like an Animal Rights Activist and they will pretty much maintain their distance for the most part.

The market extends inside for a distance with sections cordoned off by walls for certain traders. Small single level constructions provide basic housing for traders. The roofs of which are covered with bales of hay. There are basic ramps built for loading and unloading camels from the trucks.

Obviously not all the camels are sold and some of them may not be worth carrying back. Some don't even survive the truck ride to Birqash. Their corpses are carelessly strewn about the desert as you approach the market. There are a few pictures of that at the bottom. Please don't scroll to the end, if you are squeamish.

Thanks to all my online friends who helped me find directions to the market. The best ones were provided by Karim who said Take Cairo/Alex highway to Abu Rawash road. You take a right onto Abu Rawash road which is right before the Carrefour/Dandy mall parking lot. You take this until you reach the end of the road where it intersects with the Mansouriyya Canal road. Take a left onto the Mansouriyya Canal road. Keep going for a ways and start looking for signs, either the suk il gamaal sign or Nimos Farm sign, on the left-hand side of the road. Take left onto small canal road and go until the end where you hit a midaan/circle. There will be a sign pointing towards the suk and it's only a little ways down the road from there. Leaving from downtown on an early Friday morning, this way can get you there in 45 minutes if you use the Mahwar.

Thomas also gave a good alternate route if you are closer to the pyramids

The road that leads there is accessed from right next to the Giza Pyramids, but I can't easily describe how to find it. (Kim's note : at the main circle take the road that goes to Kerdasa/ Mansoureyya) If you ask a couple people in the area, one should point you in the right direction.

Once on this road, you end up following it straight about 20-25 min and then you make a left at the camel market sign (in Arabic) and drive about 1-2 kilometers to the market.

Good luck.

Alex gave me a good tip. He said that the road would make the car smell and it would be better to take a Yellow Cab. While this is extremely true if you take the Imbaba canal route (the road was piled high with garbage on both sides for the most part and quite nauseating even with our windows up and the air conditioning on), the Pyramids, Kerdasa and Abu Rawash routes are more scenic and pleasant and can be done in a regular car.

The Drive through the Nile Delta makes you forget that you are surrounded by the largest desert in the world.

and is very reminiscent of the UP and Punjab fields. The River Nile in the background is of course, unique to Egypt

Some of the camels have one of their legs tied to prevent them from running away.

Walled Compound

Quality check of camels like horses is done by inspecting the teeth. This one showed us his teeth voluntarily.

Unloading of Camels

Sold camels being taken away in a pick-up

Some of the character filled faces

Warning: The pictures below are quite gory.
Please do not scroll down if you are easily upset.

Death is inevitable, but I wish, they could at least dispose the bodies in a less conspicuous and more humane fashion, rather than just leaving it out to the elements.

Some of the facts, come from the Lonely Planet guide for Egypt

Many of the pictures were taken by my husband

Published on desicritics.org

Book Review : Cherry Bomb

2008-06-30T04:44:00.004+05:30

The entire title Reads - Cherry Bomb : The Ultimate Guide to becoming a Better Flirt, a Tougher Chick and a Hotter Girlfriend, And to Living Life like a Rockstar

I don't read "how-to" books, but the title for this one by Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna had me intrigued and itching to get my hands on it, to read more.

Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna has been a music and entertainment journalist since the last 20 years and is best known for her books on Nirvana and Kurt Cobain, her sex and relationship advice column “Dr. Love” for the Gene Simmons Tongue magazine and her music related articles in People, Billboard, Spin, RollingStone.com and Alternative Press magazines.

The title "Cherry Bomb" comes from the song by Joan Jett of The Runaways. Carrie says "Joan Jett's attitude, style and music has always inspired me so I'm happy to reference the Runaways song (in the title) even if some younger people won't know what it means right away. That's ok because cherries are sweet and bombs are badass and the book is all about being a sweet badass! To me, those two words, sum up the book nicely and it's a killer song to boot!"

Cherry Bomb is an alphabetized reference from Absinthe (the new Drink of Choice for the Rock and roll set) to Zig Zags (The Cool Way to Roll a Joint) with Celebrity Pick-up tips, Fetishes, Infidelity Pacts, Orgasms, Piercings, Strip Tease and Tour Bus Etiquette in between .

The tips and techniques are invaluable to a rock chick. There are tips and detailed instructions on how to tie a cherry stem into a knot (using just your mouth- no hands), how to get backstage without being a whore, using bottle service to buy VIP status at the hottest nightclubs, how to perform a striptease (by Burlesque star - Ditta Von Teese) The tips are practical and easily doable, no matter who you are or what kind of budget you are on.

Being in the music industry as a writer and as a wife to a Grammy winning Rockstar - Chris Vrenna who plays keyboards with Marilyn Manson and drums with Gnarls Barkley- Carrie is more than qualified to write this guide. Most of the tips come from her own real life experiences. For the few areas that she did not have first hand experience with when she started writing, she enlisted the help of her celebrity friends including
Cherie Currie of THE RUNAWAYS (on "Cherry Bomb," the song that influenced the book)
Tori Amos (Life Advice)
Betsey Johnson (Breast Cancer Awareness and Personal Style)
Anna Sui (Fashion Inspiration)
Dancing with the Stars' Cheryl Burke (Dancing Tips)
Celeb hairstylist Dean Banowetz (Rockin' Up 'Dos)
Master Chef Dave Rubell (Black Vodka Recipes)
and Stylist Cynthia Freund (Rock Chick Style Tips) among others.

My favorite guest how-to chapter is the one by Peaches' drummer Samantha Maloney on how to play the Drums. It re-ignited an old flame and I just might be inspired enough to go out and get myself into classes and buy myself a drum set. My favorite chapters by Carrie are Jet Setting, Jobs, Money and Networking.

I always thought I had a more than fair knowledge about rock music and rock stars, but on reading Carrie's book, I know I have a lot more to learn and a lot more musicians that I need to listen to at least once. Her list of songs at the end of some chapters seems to be a good place to start. The lists are mood based - songs to Vacuum fast To (the Anger Stage), songs to Eat a Pint of Ice Cream to (the Depression Stage), Funk Fixers etc.

For the Relationship kinda quiz addicts, there are a couple of quizzes as well, to check if you are rockstar girlfriend material and which rock chick you are most like.

The illustrations by Liz Adams are apt and cute (not a word you would associate with rock, but thats truly what they are.)

There is something for everyone in this book. Men can find a lot of the chapters interesting and relevant too. The title hooked my husband and he browsed through the book and loved what he read.

You don't need to be in the rock industry or dating a rock star to use these tips. These tips are great for any independent, confident woman who is comfortable with herself and who she is. From a gangly pre-teen to a grandmother in her 60's, any woman with self assurance can find something of value in this guide and for someone who lacks self assurance, Cherry Bomb is a great place to start.

This book is due for release on the 5th of August 2008 and can be pre-ordered on Amazon. For anyone who has ever been interested in the lives of Rock Stars and been envious of their lifestyle, this book is a definite must-buy as it shows you step by simple step how to lead their life with panache and confidence. Cherry Bomb delivers on all its promises and does impart relevant and easy to follow tips on how to become a better flirt, tougher chick and hotter girlfriend.

Published on desicritics.org

BCA Chronicle - My 7 Favourite Magazines in Egypt

2008-06-26T17:59:00.003+05:30

Appeared in June 2008 Issue.

There are tons of magazines that are printed in Egypt in Arabic & English. Many new printing companies start up a new publication every day & an equal number of them shut shop everyday.

Magazines that are printed in Egypt are frequently distributed free of charge at coffee shops and other "youth hangout" locations, feel free to pick up a copy at these places.

The ones that I love and personally recommend (in no particular order) are :

1. Egypt Today: A well written magazine to let you know what is going on in town. Lots of current events, well researched articles, profiles of locals who are great at their fields of interest but not very well known. You can expect all this and more from this magazine.
You can view the latest online copy & archives at http://egypttoday.com/
You can subscribe to the magazine online or pick them up individually from a variety of bookstores. It costs 15LE per copy or 135 LE for an annual subscription.

2. Business Today: A sister publication of Egypt Today. This covers the Business developments in Egypt. Reviews into existing businesses, interviews with the movers and shakers in the corporate world among others. They also have an Annual bt100 ranking of companies based in Egypt.
You can view the latest online copy & archives at http://businesstodayegypt.com/
You can subscribe to the magazine online or pick them up individually from a variety of bookstores. It costs 15LE per copy or 135 LE for an annual subscription.

3. Business Monthly: A free magazine brought out by the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt. The insight is American Oriented and the articles are extremely thoroughly researched. This is a more technical magazine than Business Today.
You can check the archives online at http://www.amcham.org.eg/Publications/BusinessMonthly/Business_Monthly.asp
You can also sign up for your free subscription at http://www.amcham.org.eg/Publications/BusinessMonthly/Subscription/Subscribe.asp. It will be delivered to you free of charge into the comfort of your home.

4. Community Times : A lovely fun magazine to read. Although they have been advertising their website for over a year, it still isn't functional :) But the magazine is very good. It covers a wide variety of subjects that anyone living in Cairo would be interested in. It has a huge event listing at the back along with a restaurant listing etc.
It used to be available on sale for 10LE at the big supermarkets, but now it seems to be restricted to some major bookshops (refer 7 Favorite bookshops in BCA Chronicle – April 2008, page 105) & some restaurants. It is available free of charge at some of the bigger cafes in town. But I would recommend that you subscribe to it to ensure you get your monthly dose.

5. The Croc: Available free of charge at multiple locations around the city including cafes & BCA. It gives you a brief on the events coming up in the month. A nice list of restaurants, cafes & bars with recommendations on what to eat there and little notes about the ambiance at times.
Its tiny- pocket size, so its worth carrying around in your purse for those moments when you are hungry in a different part of town and can't decide where to eat or suddenly find yourself with a free evening & longing for a dose of culture!

6. The Oasis: a free magazine published by the CSA (Community Services Association) in Maadi. The article content isn’t high but it has a lot of ads for services in Maadi that can be extremely helpful, especially to expats. Pick up your free copy at the CSA centre on Road 21.

7. The BCA Chronicle: An excellent resource for expats. Lots of relevant articles to life in Egypt and travel around the world. More articles than ads, unlike the Oasis. Pick up your free copy from the BCA clubhouses among other locations.

Karishma Pais (Kim) is an expat trailing wife in Cairo. She has a Masters Degree in Human Resources and Behaviour. She consults on HR projects, delivers intercultural training at the CSA, counsels new and experienced expats, writes for several magazines – online and offline, she runs whazzupcairo@yahoogroups.com and whazzupcairo@googlegroups.com among other activities. Her Social Commentary and blog about life in Egypt can be read at http://whazzupegypt.blogspot.com

Oasis - Summer Coolers

2008-06-26T17:53:00.002+05:30

Appeared in Summer 2008 Issue.

Summer Coolers

Karishma Pais (Kim)

Now that the temperatures are regularly crossing 40C, maybe most of you like me are more interested in consuming cooling liquids and eating light salads.

While the aerated beverages are easy and seem convenient, they are most definitely not the best thing for your family’s health. There are the easy options available like the fresh orange juice sold at Metro (clean & healthy) and the many bottled fruit juices from Isis. I find the Isis juices a little strong and like to dilute them a bit with water.

Options with a little work involved are milkshakes with Nesquick or Vitrac’s flavored syrups. The almond one is especially yum.

But if you don’t mind putting in a little effort, then there is a vast mouth watering and thirst quenching range of drinks that you can prepare by yourself at home, with ingredients easily available in Egypt. The advantage is that you know that you have prepared them from healthy ingredients without any additives, artificial colors or preservatives. You can easily substitute the sugar in any of these recipes with Stevia or Splenda. Please note that the quantities mentioned are indicative. You can adjust them to your own taste.

Fresh Lime Juice/Lemonade

Squeeze the juice of 5-8 lemons (depending on size) into a pitcher. Discard the seeds. Add sugar and salt to taste. Fill with water. This can be kept chilling in the fridge and consumed over a 24 hour period.

Fresh Orange Juice

Squeeze 2 oranges and strain the juice. Add sugar to taste. Cool in the refrigerator before serving. If you want to drink it really fresh – store the oranges in the refrigerator before squeezing.

Almond Sherbet

Blanch half a kilo of almonds and skin them. Make a thin puree of the nuts in a blender/liquidizer adding a little water if necessary. (You can do this in multiple lots depending on the capacity of your blender)

Make a syrup with quarter kilo sugar (1.25 cups) and one liter water, cooking till it reaches single thread consistency.

Pour the almond puree into the syrup and cook till thickened, taking care to keep stirring.

The syrup should be thick but of pouring consistency.

You can add a teaspoon of rose water at this stage if you like.

Cool and fill into bottles.

It can be refrigerated for 2 weeks.

Serve diluted with water or milk and crushed ice.

Tamarind Juice

Very refreshing in the summers.

Clean 1/4 kg of tamarind, cover it with water (about 1.5 liters) and boil for 5 minutes. Then let it soak in that water for at least 6 hours.

Strain the liquid of any solid pieces. Add 2 cups of sugar.

Bottle & refrigerate.

Dilute with chilled water when you want to drink it.

Home made Karkadih

Rinse ¼ kg dried karkadih. Add one liter water and boil for 5 minutes.

Let it soak in that water for at least 1 hour.

Strain and sweeten with 1 cup sugar.

Bottle and refrigerate.

Dilute with chilled water when you want to drink it.

Lassi

This is a staple in most Indian households during the hot summer months. It cools down the body completely and can be had in sweet or salty versions. There are so many flavors that you can add to the basic lassi. Below are a few versions to get you started.

Whisk together 450ml yoghurt (plain) with 300ml cold water. The consistency should be that of full cream milk. This is your basic lassi.

Flavor with a pinch of ginger or 1 sliced green chilli or cumin powder or a teaspoon of shredded mint or a teaspoon of chopped cilantro. Stir well. You can add salt to taste.

For a sweet version, add sugar to taste (about 1 teaspoon) to the yoghurt and water blend. You can flavor it with a dash of rose essence or orange blossom water.

For a really fancy lassi, garnish the sweet version with a tablespoon of crushed almonds or pistachios.

For a healthy lassi, whisk the mixture with 2 tablespoons of pureed fruit.

Amar al Din- Apricot juice

Get those pressed Apricot sheets from the grocery store (they are normally sold in yellow cellophane paper and are widely available during Ramadan, but even now you can find them)

Cut the Apricot sheets into thin strips and cover with cold water. Soak them until the strips dissolve.

Strain away the solid pieces and sweeten the juice to taste.

Bottle and refrigerate.

Dilute with chilled water when you want to drink it.

Watermelon Cocktail

Cut watermelon into small cubes and deseed.

Sprinkle some lemon juice and sugar on top.

Add a few shredded mint leaves.

Cover and chill.

Serve in cocktail glasses as is or after pureeing the mix.

Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Fresh Juices

There are a wide variety of fruits available in the market. You can prepare fresh juices by pureeing the flesh of these fruits, adding sugar to taste and diluting with water or milk.

Remember : Citrus fruits don’t go very well with milk.

Try out some combinations on your own and maybe next year, you could be writing your recipes for the Oasis J

Kim has a background in HR and freelances as an Intercultural Trainer, Writer and HR Consultant. Currently she is a trailing wife in Egypt and uses her training, counseling and empathy skills to help other expats adjust to the move. She blogs about Egypt at http://whazzupegypt.blogspot.com

WhazzupEgypt Blog recognised by Culture Crossing

2008-06-15T03:41:00.001+05:30

The good folks at http://www.culturecrossing.net/ have recognised the relevance of the posts on my WhazzupEgypt blog and included it in their list of blogs for travelers/expats to Egypt.

The link is here

Korba Street Festival - Heliopolis

2008-05-14T12:08:00.001+05:30

Last Friday was the annual Korba Street festival in Heliopolis - a residential suburb in Cairo.

Baghdad street was closed off to traffic and stalls were put up along the sidewalks. There were stalls from the Asean countries selling native food and some handicrafts.

The Indian stall just had posters urging visitors to visit India. Nothing else. :(

There were tables along the sides for families to relax and grab a bite and the main road was left free for kids to express their creativity on the road with chalk and paints.

Marriott's Bakery, Swiss Inn, Sultana Ice Cream had tables on the road and were serving food there. The Swiss Inn even had a buffet set up on the road. But the more exciting stuff to eat were the street stalls which were selling things like cotton candy,the hummus drink and beans.

I attended in the morning half and left by 1:30pm, before the crowds really started to pour in. This meant I missed out on the musical performances (by Wust el Balad among others) and the puppet show, but what I managed to catch was great anyway.

My friends tell me, there was a short parade later in the noon with flower covered floats and giant coke bottles. More of advertising than Spring flowers was a comment I heard.

What I got to see, kind of reminded me a bit of the Kala Ghoda festival in Bombay, but just a little bit. The concept is similar, but there is so much further that the Korba festival can go. Its a good start though, just to have an open air event in a residential area of Cairo.

I would definitely catch it again next year.

Also published on desicritics.org

Oasis - Saying Goodbye to Egypt

2008-05-09T06:54:00.008+05:30

Saying Goodbye to Egypt

Karishma Pais (Kim)

The time has come to leave this country where you have just spent a reasonable amount of your lifetime. How do you say goodbye?

You have just been informed by the company that its time for the next transfer. If you are among the lucky few, you are given at least one months notice about the move. If not, you may barely have a week.

Where do you start on closing things up? Do you have the time to finish it all before its time to leave? Will one parent need to stay back while the children finish their semester at school/college? All these questions are best settled ahead of time rather than trying to resolve them once the transfer orders are in.

Below is a little checklist to help you prepare for sudden and planned transfers out of Egypt.

Financial Matters:

Try and have a system with everyone’s financial details organized on a computer or in files to help speedily close things up.

Online banking is a remarkable tool and it is reasonably safe too. If you have activated online banking, you can transfer your funds from your Egyptian bank account to the new country, even after you are physically out of Egypt.

Try and pay all credit card and other debts before you leave the country, you never know when it will catch up with you and affect your credit rating.

Medical Matters:

Collect your medical files from all doctors and veterinarians concerned.

Take any preventive medicines and inoculations if necessary, for the country that you are moving to.

If you are transporting your pet, then check that it has received all necessary shots and its paperwork is in order for the country you are moving to. (If you have a pet and don’t plan to take it along with you- please try and find a loving home for it before you leave. It isn’t fair for a domesticated animal to be thrown out into the streets. It would be kinder to have them put down by the vet.)

Closing up the House:

If your rental apartment is on a personal lease, then you will need to contact your landlord/landlady and terminate the lease and get your deposit back.

If you share an apartment and the other flatmates are staying behind, do your bit to help them find another room-mate rather than leaving them in the lurch – its good karma.

When packing your belongings, you may want to separate them into different categories: carry along, sell at a discounted rate, donate to charity and throw away. Given the poverty levels in Egypt, unless something is absolutely useless and should have been thrown out long ago, don’t put it in the throw away pile. It is surprising how much more mileage your bowab or garbage collector can get out of it.

If the company isn’t footing your bill and baggage weight is a huge constraint you can consider selling some things and using the extra cash or look into alternative methods of transporting your things to your new location.

Souvenirs & Memories:

There are so many beautiful places to visit in Egypt and so many things to do in Cairo. Try and cover all the highlights as soon as you can. Places like Siwa Oasis, Nile Cruise and Petra, Jordan need advance planning and a couple of days off, which will be difficult to organize, once you have your marching orders.

Take plenty of pictures and frame some of them to remind you that there were good days too.

Troll the khan-el-khalili and elsewhere for souvenirs of the years in Egypt. There is such a large choice of papyrus paintings, mashrabiya furniture, brass, copper, silver work, carpets and rugs. If you plan this in advance, you can order items to your specification and not be too frustrated at “Inshallah, Bukhra”

Saying Goodbye to Friends:

This is the toughest part and no amount of preparation can dull the pain of separation. Most trailing spouses would have a solid network of friends whom they leaned on for support to get through those tough days in Cairo when nothing seemed to go right. These are the people it will be hardest to say Goodbye to.

Allocate enough time for a final meal/get-together with everyone and make plans for them to visit you at your next location.

Leave enough space in your baggage to accommodate the last minute gifts that will come your way. Egyptians especially are extremely sentimental and they will definitely press some gifts upon you and they will be offended if you refuse.

Kids:

Younger kids will feel additional pain at leaving behind good friends. Help them prepare too.

Arrange for them to spend quality time with their friends.

Make sure they exchange email addresses and phone numbers, especially in case of little ones. You never know when your 7 year old is going to turn around and demand to talk to her best friend in Egypt when you are in Hong Kong or Mexico.

Get all their paper work from school or college so that admissions in the next country aren’t a problem.

Reverse Culture Shock:

Be prepared for changes in lifestyle in the new country.

McDonalds won’t deliver home.

You may not have a battalion of household help.

But you managed before and will be able to manage again.

These are the minor details. The best advice I can give is to “Be Prepared” As long as you are mentally prepared for the move, it won’t be hard. You moved to Egypt, you adjusted, you survived. You are a Graduate from the Egyptian School of Survival. You should now be able manage in any part of the World.

Kim has a background in HR and is an Intercultural Trainer, helping other expats adjust to the move. She blogs about Egypt at http://whazzupegypt.blogspot.com

Pictures are by her & her husband Brajesh.

My Egypt blog - considered worthy of study at AUC

2008-05-03T06:28:00.008+05:30

I found an extraordinarily high number of hits to my Whazzup Egypt blog from a particular site called wetpaint

On further investigation, I figured out that my Whazzup Egypt blog was one of the blogs the students of the LALT 101 course at AUC had the option to review and evaluate.

How Wikipedia Conquered my Reality Soap/TV Addiction

2008-04-26T04:27:00.002+05:30

I was typing a comment on Uma's post A Bad Habit Called A Reality Soap and realised I had written a comment long enough to be a post :)

Most of the reality shows that I used to watch - I realised I was watching them because I liked seeing who would get eliminated next.

I was lucky, because most of the reality shows I watch are the American ones which come to India a couple of months after they are released in the US. So after losing a couple of hours spent unproductively watching reality shows, I realised that just checking the Wikipedia entry for that season cured me of it.

Wikipedia lets me know who got eliminated and why and who won & thats it, no longer any compulsion to watch the show. Thats because my trigger to watch most of them was the suspense and surprise.

With my location change and different seasons playing in different countries on different channels, I was getting confused with sequence of events on serials like Lost, Prison Break, Desperate Housewives. Wikipedia also helped me catch up on all the seasons of Lost with 3 hours of reading. Same for the other serials too.

Of course there are the shows like "So you think you can dance?" which I watch for the performances but I'm not too interested in the results show the next day because I know I will figure out next week who has been dropped anyway.

I used to be a huge fan of American Idol till Constantine, Latoya, Jennifer Hudson, Melinda, Daughtry consecutively kept getting out, way before their time while lesser performers were still kept on. I just stopped watching each season when my favorites got out because I no longer felt it was worth watching. Proof of the flawed voting system is that only 2 of the winners of this show in its 6 seasons - Kelly Clarkson (Season 1)and Carrie Underwood (Season 4) - have received commercial success while many of the finalists who were dropped on the side have had a better success rate. Season 7 which is currently on does not have a single finalist who seemed interesting enough for me to follow the series and Simon is now more obtuse than brilliant, so I just watch it intermittently.

With Rockstar INXS and Supernova seasons, I had slightly better luck. My favorites made it to the final 3 each season although they lost out to the person I least liked from the entire bunch both times. While I have reconsidered my opinion on J D Fortune, I still think Dilana was the best of the second bunch.

I used to love The Amazing Race till it started blurring the lines with Fear Factor. When competitors on The Amazing Race had to start eating weird stuff it grossed me out too much to follow it.

Each of my favorite reality shows/contests gave me its own reason to stop me from being addicted and obsessing about watching it on time every week. The downside is that I seem to have replaced it with an addiction to Wikipedia.

Published on desicritics.org

Book Review: The Innocent Man - John Grisham

2008-04-21T18:30:00.000+05:30

After lying unread on my bookshelf for over 9 months, I finally got around to reading John Grisham's latest offering and first work of non-fiction - The Innocent Man.

Growing up on a steady diet of Erle Stanley Gardner and in love with Perry Mason, it was but natural that I become a fan of John Grisham's legal works of fiction. But other than Skipping Christmas which was moderately interesting, his non-legal fiction did not excite me at all. So I wasn't sure what to expect with his work of legal non-fiction.

Fortunately it was interesting reading for the most part except the botched trial that got really slow and repetitive. Since this was a true story and Grisham was using actual court transcripts, he had to keep it so, but could have edited it a bit to make it crisper. Maybe all the legal serials we watch - The Practice, Law & Order, Boston Legal, and others of their ilk have gotten me to expect snappy, sharp detective work, logical but persuasive arguments by counsel and crisp closing statements. The way the case was handled was completely slip shod and pathetic and makes you wonder at the possibility of truly getting justice unless you are in a TV serial.

Little wonder that a libel suit was filed against John Grisham on 28, September 2007, by Pontotoc County - Oklahoma, District Attorney Bill Peterson and Gary Rogers, a former Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent.

This true story, is remarkable for the fact that the main accused Ron Williamson who was framed by the law enforcement team of Pontotoc County was not just a "white" man, he was a semi-FAMOUS "white" man.

Ron Williamson was a local hero on the baseball field and was also the 41st pick in baseball's 1971 amateur draft, a second-round selection by the Oakland Athletics. Due to poor performance, he did not hit the big time but he was still quite a local celebrity when he was accused as the murderer of cocktail waitress Debra Carter.

His co-accused Dennis Fritz had nothing to implicate him except that he and Williamson were occasional "drinking buddies". Ironically Fritz's own wife had been murdered 7 years ago.

The police used forced dream confessions, convicted felons as snitches and witnesses, junk science and other dubious means to get them both convicted. Williamson got the death penalty which automatically set a series of appeals in motion while Fritz got a life sentence.

Through his incarceration, Williamson deteriorated physically and mentally despite the efforts of some good hearted souls until the Innocence Project - (basis for the serial In Justice) helped get them both acquitted after 12 years on the basis of the new technology - DNA testing.

Grisham read Williamson's obituary when he died (5 years after being released) and was inspired to research and write this book.

I started out reading the book, knowing that the main accused was innocent (could the title have been more descriptive?). Grisham wrote the book, knowing that Williamson was innocent. But even someone who didn't know some of the data presented here in hindsight, could have seen that this was a wrongful conviction. And it appalls you that even though the case came up for appeal multiple times, each person upheld the original wrongful conviction.

Hence Grisham seems to have achieved his major goal in writing this novel.

"If you believe that in America, you are innocent until proven guilty, this book will shock you.
If you believe in the Death Penalty, this book will disturb you.
If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate you"

Published on desicritics.org

Shajar al-Durr - The Only Sultana of Egypt

2008-04-20T03:00:00.000+05:30

Shajar al-Durr was the only female Sultana to have ruled Egypt for 80 days in 1257 A.D.

She was of Turkish origin and was originally a slave in the harem of the Caliph of Baghdad. She was later gifted to the Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt and Syria who fell in love with her and married her.

On the Sultan's death, his son took over. The son alienated the Mamluk slaves, who soon assassinated him and the step mother Shajar al Durr was proclaimed as Sultana.

Several months later-- due to political pressure for a male sultan-- Shajar al-Durr married an important Mamluk officer, Aybak. Together, they initiated the first Mamluk Dynasty of Egypt and Syria. They shared power for seven years. She thus was a Sultana of Ayyubid Egypt and also the co-founder of the Mamluk dynasty.

She later murdered Aybak, her second husband when she discovered that he had been plotting against her. She was subsequently beaten to death with shoes by the rest of Aybak's concubines.

To date, to the best of my knowledge, she has been the only female ruler of Egypt other than Cleopatra and Hatchepsut.

Her tomb can be visited even today in Cairo. My friend Camel, who is extremely knowledgeable on these matters (location and history of various monuments in Cairo) gave me these directions:

Dear Kim, I visited the Tomb of Shajar al-Durr before, and it sure is around Ibn Tulun Mosque, a walking distance from it. It is not the most pleasant of neighbourhoods, but the locals know the place, and they call it "Obbet el-Sitt Shagaret el-Durr". Just before Ibn Tulun, there is a street called al-Khalifa. Ask anyone to point the direction. If they don't know, ask them for the Mosque of al-Sayyeda Sakina (it's in al-Khalifa Street). Walk that street till you reach al-Sayyeda Sakina Mosque, then go on straight ahead in the same street, and you will find the Tomb of Shajar al-Durr to your left. If you go on in this street, you will reach Midan al-Sayyeda Nafisa, and you can visit her mosque too. Enjoy! Camel - Keeper of the Temple

Published on desicritics.org

Travel Report: A Short Trip to Egypt

2008-04-09T13:03:00.001+05:30

Being in Egypt for the last 18 months, I receive a lot of requests from friends asking what they should plan in their itinerary in Egypt. We have been here for ages and manage to do a lot more than an average tourist can hope to accomplish unless they are the type with endless vacation time)

This article is written in my 18 year old sisters voice. So it may not read like anything I have written before, but please bear with me. Its a new style, I'm experimenting with. Comments on the style are welcome, provided they follow the Desicritics code of conduct :)

I approach the city of Cairo from the air and the first thing I see is the river Nile, which shimmers and glistens catching the rays of the rising sun. I am lucky enough to be on the left of the plane and catch my first view of the Pyramids of Giza, right outside the city which still stand majestically even after 5000 years – a silent testimony to the grandeur and glory of ancient Egyptian civilization. We circle and then land. It's been over 5 hours since I got on this flight & I’m ready to come back to earth. I rush through Customs and baggage claim, eager to meet my sister (who currently lives in Egypt with her husband)

We then drove back to my sisters house, while she pointed out a few statues, an obelisk and some other famous constructions along the way. Cairo pretty much resembles Bombay. The Shanty towns, crowding, pollution and above all non-observance of any rules related to traffic.

Our first visit was to Saqqara, the site of the Step Pyramid. The Step Pyramid is the oldest and the first of the Pyramidal Structures from which all other Pyramids evolved (Tombs of early Egyptian kings were flat mounds called mastabas) The step pyramid was designed to serve as a gigantic stairway by which the soul of the deceased pharaoh could ascend to the heavens.

We then proceeded to Giza, the place of THE Pyramids. The pyramids of Giza are the only remaining wonder of the 7 ancient wonders of the world. The Pyramids were built by Khufu, his son Khafre and Khafre's son Menkaure. The biggest and tallest Pyramid of all (the Great Pyramid, as it is referred to) is the Pyramid of Khufu. The Sphinx (built by Khafre) was supposed to guard the pyramids.

The next day we went to the Egyptian Museum. This place is filled with artifacts taken from various ages. Most notable of what I saw were the innumerable gold treasures taken from King Tut-Ankh-Amun’s tomb and the mummies of about 30 famous kings and queens.

We spent the next few days visiting the Citadel, which is the old city enclosed by a huge wall built by Saladin. We climbed inside the wall and visited the beautiful Mohammed Ali Mosque (Incidentally Cairo has the most number of mosques compared to any other city in the world).

We visited quite a few old Coptic Churches (Egypt has a lot of significant churches along the path taken by Mary and Joseph when they fled to Egypt after the birth of Christ) and a Synagogue .

We finally went to the Khan-el-Khalili market. We climbed the Bab Zuwayla – one of the 3 remaining gates of the original walled city – and both its minarets (about 8 floors high) and had a wonderful view of the whole city around. You get all sorts of hand crafted items in this market – hookahs, colourful tents, Pharaonic souvenirs, galabeyas and belly dancing outfits to name just a few

We also went to Fayoum Oasis and took a boat ride to observe the water birds. I also rolled down a sand dune thrice near the Oasis which was loads of fun (It was the only safe place to do this as there were no scorpions in this part of the desert)

The next day we took a flight to Luxor to embark on a 5 day cruise on the Nile between Luxor and Aswan stopping along the way to see places of Interest. After breakfast, we boarded a Bus to go to the Temples of Karnak and Luxor. (The Ancient Egyptian Kings built temples to Glorify the Gods / themselves) One of the biggest reasons these temples / monuments are almost intact is weather oriented. As it hardly ever rains in Egypt, the low humidity has protected the structures except for the ravages of time over 5000 + years.

After Spending around 2 hours at Karnak, we drove to the temple of Luxor. The Temples of Karnak & Luxor are about 3 Miles apart. During the reign of the Pharaohs they were connected by an avenue lined with Sphinxes on both sides. The Pharaoh used to go in a grand procession from one temple to the Other. Today you can find about 40-50 metres of Sphinxes before each temple. Civilization has crept in in-between with Houses and roads.

We left on the next day to the West Bank & started with the Valley of the Kings where most of the Pharaohs are buried. King Tut's tomb and treasure was found here. We visited the 3 tombs opened for that day. These tombs are shafted deep into the mountains and are decorated with a lot of paintings from the book of the dead on the walls and ceilings. Some of the colours can still be seen today .

Next stop was the funerary temple of Queen Hatshepsut. She is famous for declaring herself as Pharaoh and ruling as one, depicting herself as male (with a false beard) in all the representations around her temple. She was recently in the news for her mummy being successfully identified.

After that we got back and set Sail for Edfu where we visited the Temple dedicated to Horus.

From here we sailed to Kom Ombo crossing the locks at Esna which was an interesting experience to say the least. As we waited for our turn to cross the locks at Esna, we were besieged by rug sellers in tiny boats who surrounded our moored boat and engaged everyone on board with hectic and loud bargaining and banter.

After dinner we had a "Galabeya Party". Galabeya is the long gown traditionally worn by most Egyptians. Almost all of the tourists, had bought Galabeyas from the boat salesmen and got all dressed up. We had some singing and dancing to the melodies of Nubian Music.

The Next morning we docked at Kom Ombo and visited the temple dedicated to two Gods. Sobek (the Crocodile God) and Horus. This temple is located at a bend in the Nile where crocodiles used to congregate until their movement downstream was stopped by the construction of the dam at Aswan. Hence the need for a God to protect the Egyptians from the crocodiles.

At Aswan the next day, we took a motor boat from a small ferry landing, to the Island of Philae. This is one of the many monuments that was affected by the building of the ASWAN dam. This temple was submerged (partially) under water before it was moved block by block to its current place on the Island of Agilika. The project was one of the two funded by UNICEF. The other was the masterwork of moving the temple of Abu Simbel.

The temple of Philae, dedicated to Isis, contains a lot of Greco-Roman and Egyptian architecture. As these lands changed hands frequently in ancient times, you tend to find some of these temples containing influences of various cultures. (Greek, Roman & Egyptian) There are even some Coptic crosses etched in some of these temples from the days when the Copts hid from Muslim raiders on these premises.

We then proceeded to the Aswan dam and then took a bus to Abu Simbel. This is the second temple that was moved to a higher ground to avoid being submerged by the water from the Aswan Dam. This temple is dedicated to Ramses II and his queen Nefertari. The Main temple dedicated to Ramses, has four 18 Metre statues of Ramses in a seated posture at the entrance. A couple of metres higher than the Gomaeshwara at Shravanabelagola! This is followed by a hallway lined with eight standing statues of Ramses (4 on each side). The Inner sanctum contains the statues of Ramses and 3 other Gods. Twice a year, on Ramses' birthday and on the day of his ascension to the throne, (February 22nd, October 22nd) the rays from the rising sun stream all the way into the inner sanctum about 100 metres deep inside the temple.

This happens to this day, even after the temple was moved from its earlier place. A work of sheer genius on the part of the ancient architects and the modern ones who shifted it. The modern architects constructed a huge dome before relocating the temple over it, to ensure that the phenomenon would continue.

The adjacent temple of Nefertari, has Six 15 Metre statues at the entrance (4 of which are of Ramses and 2 are of Nefertari). Ramses, just did not get tired of his face !!! The notable feature was that for the first time, a Pharaoh depicted a wife at the same height as himself. Otherwise wives and children were always shown below knee level to emphasise the Pharaoh as a God and everyone else as his subjects.

We then took the 4.5 hour bus ride through flat arid desert back to Aswan and boarded the flight back to Cairo.

The last day we drove to Alexandria (A port built by Alexander the great) explored the complex Catacombs a couple of feet below the ground, visited the Bibliotheca Alexandria (One of the largest libraries in the world, at the site of the original Library of Alexandria) the Qaitbay fort - built over the site of the Ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria (another wonder of the ancient world) and we admired the wonderful Mediterranean sea and its many shades of blue.

We returned to Cairo the same night and packed our bags and left to the airport. As I looked out of the window I felt despondent to leave Egypt with its 7 centuries of historical monuments, its wonderful feteer, koshary and Cinnabon rolls and my darling sister.

Published on desicritics.org

BCA Chronicle - My 7 Favourite Bookshops in Cairo

2008-04-09T05:19:00.000+05:30

You can read the text of this article here.

Child Artists - Prodigies Or Fodder For Pedophiles?

2008-03-23T13:16:00.000+05:30

There are a surfeit of reality programs/contests geared for kids on TV these days. There are also a number of kids who act/dance in TV serials and movies.

I have a few basic issues with child performers and their overall development as human beings, after being thrust into the limelight at a young age. But at the end of the day, their parents are their custodians should be taking care of the mental development of their children.

Coming to the singing and dancing contests, most of the judges do try to be gentle with the children, but some of them are quite rude and fancy themselves as the Indian answer to Simon Cowell. This is terrible for the self esteem of young children who have not yet developed the coping mechanisms of dealing with negative comments directed at them (especially on National TV)

A friend of mine in the advertising industry, told me of an audition they had called for, a week ago in Bombay. It was on a week day during school timings. More than 5000 parents turned up with their children. Obviously the company could not see them all on the same day. The parents whose children did not get a chance on Day 1 were prepared to come back every day of the next week and longer, if it meant getting their child a chance to audition. Not a chance to act, not a chance to be in a movie, but the chance to audition. They were willing to have their child miss school for over a week for a chance to audition for a silent role in an advertisement.

My mom would have turned down Karan Johar or Yash Chopra themselves, even if they had guaranteed me or my siblings a leading role in their upcoming movie, if it meant missing even half an hour of school.

Parents these days are trying to push their children into the limelight too soon. We do not have much data on grown up child stars in India. But look at Hollywood. With the exception of the Olsen twins (who also had their weight problems) which of the child stars has emerged as a balanced human being ?

In spite of all this background, my main issue is with the kind of performances that some of these children are being coerced into displaying here in India.

They are dancing to item number songs. 6-12 year olds dancing to the steps of Helen or even worse - Rakhi Sawant and her ilk. Rakhi is old enough and smart enough to know what kind of effect her jhatak mataks & clothes can have on the adult male population. What do these little ones know and why should they know it so early in their life?

Look at the kid in the "cutting-shutting" paint ad. She was memorable for being what a normal 7 year old child would be. So why is the media trying to con us into believing that 6 year olds are old enough to be dancing as vamps and item girls? Why are they sexualizing young children?

The US has a long history of child beauty pageants and an equally long history of pedophiles who follow the child beauty pageant circuits. Mental health experts almost all agree, that exposing young children to the sordid world behind the glamor is completely unhealthy for their well being. And the end result of making children dress, dance and act like adults makes them easier targets for pedophiles.

Agreed we do not have a well documented history of Indian pedophile cases. The only ones that make the news are when foreigners abuse children under the guise of orphanages or children's homes. But that does not mean that pedophilia doesn't exist in India.

The actions of these children is perfect fodder for the appetites of pedophiles. They even look obscene to the general public (I hope its to the general public and not just a minority of people like me)

So why are these children doing this? Is it pressure from parents or from the media to be all grown up and dance like a vamp? Or is it because the Shiamak Davar dance classes makes them seem OK? - His dances choreographed for children are reasonably age appropriate, but he sometimes has a couple of children dancing with the older members of the troupe and performing the same steps as the 20+ year old troupe members.

Fortunately Javed Jaffery tried to bring about a voice of sanity in an episode that I watched today of Sansui Boogie Woogie - he is the first Indian celebrity who I have heard talking about age appropriate steps. But he wasn't strong enough in condemning this practice. As the celebrity anchor on the biggest launch pad for dance talent in India, he could afford to be much more stronger on his disapproval of some of the steps.

I hope parents begin to see sense some time soon. They are always going to try to live out their own dreams through their children - that isn't going to change any time soon. But I do hope they stop turning their children into adults before their time.

Published on desicritics.org

BCA Chronicle - Quick Guide: Moving to Egypt

2008-03-08T05:34:00.000+05:30

A Longer Version of this article is visible here.

Oasis - Online Education

2008-03-06T03:26:00.001+05:30

Printed in This Month's CSA Magazine - OASIS visible online in plain text format at @ http://www.livinginegypt.org/Default.aspx?tabid=573

Online Education

By Karishma Pais (Kim)

Are you a trailing spouse? Have you followed your husband to Egypt because his job brought him here? Do you find you have a lot of time on your hands once your husband leaves to work, the driver takes the kids to school, the maid does the cleaning/cooking, and the gardener the gardening? Then maybe it’s the right time to get that degree you always wanted or research an area you have been interested in. Because lets face it, there’s no time like today, with the conveniences on an Expat life in Egypt, to get started in this direction.
The AUC has a School of Continuing Education (SCE) that allows you to take courses in subjects as diverse as Management and Education to English Language. The SCE provides certificate programs, non-credit term-length courses and variable-length customized courses to fulfill the continuing education needs of individuals and organizations in Egypt and the Middle East. Classes are held in the evenings twice or thrice a week in each 12 week term.
62.3% of the student population is male while 37.7% is female. 95.4% are Egyptians and 4.6% with other nationalities. The educational background of students is roughly split between secondary education (47.5%) and bachelor’s degrees (45.3%), with 7% of the population below secondary education level.
But if evening classroom sessions don’t fit into your schedule, you can always consider online education which is a type of distance learning.
Distance Education dates back to at least 1728 when an advertisement in the Boston Gazette advertised that Caleb Phillips- Teacher of the new method of Short Hand was seeking students for lessons to be sent weekly.
The University of London was the first university to offer distance learning degrees, establishing its External Program in 1858.
Electronic learning or eLearning is a term used to refer to computer-enhanced learning. The worldwide e-learning industry is estimated to be worth over 38 billion pounds according to conservative estimates. Developments in internet and multimedia technologies are the basic enablers of e-learning.
In 2006, nearly 3.5 million students participated in on-line learning at institutions of higher education in the United States. The Sloan report, based on a poll of academic leaders, says that students generally appear to be at least as satisfied with their on-line classes as they are with traditional ones. According to the same report, about two-thirds of the largest institutions have fully online programs. Online education is rapidly increasing, and even online doctoral programs have been developed at leading research universities.
When choosing an Online Degree, what you need to watch out for is Accreditation, to ensure that the program provided by the institution meets acceptable levels of quality. In the area of online education, it is especially important to avoid diploma mills that offer fake degrees at a cost. If you are looking for a valid online degree, you should make sure you obtain proof of accreditation from a regional or national/specialized accrediting body. For example, the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) is recognized as the accrediting organization for online degrees in the USA.

How to get started:
Choose the area/topic that you are interested in studying/researching. (You could get a degree in almost anything: Archaeology, Art History, Alternative Medicine, a Teaching Degree, Law or even an MBA.)
Google for the website of the University/Institute you would like your degree from. You can start with this list if you like: http://www.elearners.com/colleges/index.asp

Then check if they offer a course to your liking.
If they do, sign up.
If they don’t, look for another institution or another course.
It’s truly that simple.

Costs vary across Universities and Courses depending on duration and topic. For instance UCLA offers a one week course in Writing for 125$ and a course on Principles of Accounting for 525$.

The good thing about online courses is that they are totally flexible.

You decide which time of the day you plan to catch up on your course work: early morning, when the baby is napping or after you get back from work. Anyone can take these courses at any time.
You don’t have to spend time or money on commuting to classes.
Your geographic location is not a constraint.
You set your own learning pace.

The potential drawbacks are that:

You need to be self motivated to complete your work on time. It’s very easy to slack off when you are setting your own pace.
There’s a lack of face to face interaction, everything is online in virtual classrooms. Auditory Learners may not be very comfortable with the visual medium of instruction.
You miss out on the social aspects of classroom training and traditional classes.
If your course requires practical sessions in laboratories, online learning is no substitute.

If after reading this article, you are considering online education, you can be assured that it will work well for you as long as you have reasonably good computer and internet skills and are self-motivated.

To get you started, here are some websites that will help guide you in the right direction with more specific information about courses.
http://www.exed.hbs.edu/
http://www.uclaextension.edu/
http://www.dmoz.org//Reference/Education/Distance_Learning/Online_Courses/
http://www.educationworld.com/OnlineDegree.shtml
http://www.elearners.com/
http://www.worldwidelearn.com/

Happy Learning!

Oasis Magazine, March 2008

2008 : Africa Cup of Nations

2008-02-09T13:28:00.001+05:30

As I confessed last time, I'm not an avid sports person at all. Not even a spectator.

But with Egypt's recent win against Ghana in the semi finals of the 2008 Africa Cup and the celebrations that erupted all over the city 2 nights ago. I could remain ignorant no longer and had to brush up before the finals tomorrow. Because Football is all that this country is talking about right now.

Football is to Egypt what Cricket is to India. An insider tip in Cairo is that the best time to travel around the city is before the midday prayers on Friday, during Iftaar time in Ramadan and during a televised football match (when Egypt is playing another country or Al Ahli is playing Zamalek) This is when traffic on Cairo's otherwise congested roads is almost non-existent. The city looks like a ghost town.

Al Ahli and Zamalek are local clubs. More often than not it is the Al Ahli club that wins, but that doesn't distract the Zamalek loyalists. Matches between these 2 clubs are so fierce, that they are almost always officiated by foreign referees.

Coming to the Africa cup, its been held almost every alternate year since 1957 (making it older than the corresponding European championship). This year is the 26th edition. Winning this tournament is a big deal because the winner gets to represent the Confederation of African Football at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup which is a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Egypt has been a semi finalist 12 times thus far, but reached the finals just 50% of the time. So when Egypt won the semi finals against Ivory Coast (their co-finalist in 2006 Africa Cup of Nations) on the night of the 7th, the city turned 4-5 times noisier than usual. To those who have been in Cairo and thought it wasn't possible to get any noisier, I humbly invite you to be here during the finals and witness it for yourself.

Egypt is the nation that has won this cup the most number of times (5 of the 6 times that it has been in the finals) The other semi finals this year were between Ghana (host nation) and Cameroon - both 4 time winners of this cup.

The finals tomorrow will be between Egypt and Cameroon and the whole city is gearing up towards it. Flags are being sold on every street corner and major road (you might as well buy something patriotic when you are stuck in 3 hour traffic jams) Absenteeism will be at its highest tomorrow. If Egypt wins tomorrow, I don't even want to hazard a guess as to how long the celebrations will continue.

So if you are around during the finals, get home before the scoring starts and stay in no matter what the outcome because there will tons of people on the road post the match either celebrating or taking out their frustrations. Because whatever you may have heard: "It's not just a game!"

Published on desicritics.org

Kim is a Bonafide Cairene

2008-02-05T01:50:00.002+05:30

.........According to the Daily News Egypt article by Peter Carrigan.

Peter writes a weekly column for the Daily News Egypt called "A Khwaga's Tale"

This week the extremely interesting topic he undertakes is a checklist to help you recognise if you are a Cairene.

& Kim's whazzupegypt blog has been mentioned in the article as having a "Hip Name"
although there's an extra "t" in the name, which is sad Kim because that could have been huge potential for more eyeballs.

The article in its entirety can be read here http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=11654

Thanks Peter, glad you like the blog & its name.

A KHAWAGA' STALE: You know you’re a Cairene when…

By Peter A. Carrigan
First Published: February 3, 2008

You know you are a Cairene when you leave the airport and sign your name as Donald Duck in that book administered by a lonesome policeman, who records your vehicle registration and destination.

I mean really, what is that register of vehicles leaving Cairo Airport all about? There must be hundreds of those dusty journals back at police HQ dating back to Agatha Christie. I wonder if she was the first to write down Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse.

So, are you a Cairene? Following is the Khawaga’s Tale’s check list to whether or not you can consider yourself truly immersed in Cairene culture.

You know you are a Cairene when you don’t care for haggling with taxis and just take the airport limousine service. Your bawwab pays for your ride when you arrive home and your luggage is brimming with pork products.

You know you are a Cairene when your phone rings in the cinema. You have a friend in Maadi who you’ve been meaning to call and you’re unsure whether Palestine is a State or a state of mind.

You have a delivery menu from your neighbourhood fuul and ta’amiyya spot. You have sushi home delivered for dinner parties and your morning coffee is also delivered on weekends, when you answer the door in your pyjamas.

You know you are a Cairene when you have eight random phone numbers of black & white taxis saved in your phone. You don’t know who Ahmed, Mustafa or Jane is, but you also have their phone numbers. And you have left a phone in a taxi, restaurant or on a felucca.

You are always busy when invited to Maadi for lunch or a genteel afternoon tea. You have attended more leaving parties than you have friends and you’ve been to Aswan, Luxor, Siwa and Dahab, but prefer Moon Beach.

You know you are a Cairene when you say you support Al-Ahly after realizing the Club is based in Zamalek, but feel you should be supporting Zamalek because that is where you live.

You always nod with authority when asked if you have read Max Rodenbeck, Robert Fisk or Noel Barber. You have two or three Arabic language books on your bookshelf, but spend most of your time weighing up whether or not to have both Showtime and Orbit.

You make an effort to go to historic Cairo and Khan Al-Khalili when you have visitors, but send your visitors off to the Pyramids by themselves.

You know you’re a Cairene when you have kissed a diplomat, fallen in love, fallen pregnant because there is something in the water here and fallen out at After 8.

You have a wallet full of unused bar tickets from the Canadian Club, BCA, Rugby Club and the British Embassy’s Phoenix club.

Reading Al-Ahram Weekly makes your head hurt, though you have heard it is more entertaining in French.

You know you are a Cairene because you wear shades inside, you think it is rude to be on time and you’ve finally realized that IBM is not a computer brand. You’ve stopped flicking the wing mirror in after parking as you’ve also realized that you never use it and you need constant noise to get to sleep.

You pine for the African Cup of Nations. You can’t remember that sailor’s name from Alexandria’s Spitfire bar and you have finally realized that you could never leave your cat and couldn’t afford quarantine anyway.

You write a blog with a hip name like; whatzzupegypt.blogspot, for expatriates.

You have started a cottage industry and gotten lost in the Mogamma.

You know you are a Cairene when you are wearing your blue jeans inside your knee high boots. You have one blow heater which you carry from room to room during January and you are wondering whether or not to join the exodus to Dubai.

Though, you realize you have been in Cairo too long because you remember your home country through rose tinted glasses; where politicians were honest, the streets clean and the service brilliant.

You have a thousand and one taxi stories. Your weekend starts on Wednesday night and you’ll never get used to going to work on Sundays. Your apartment has the ugliest chandelier in Cairo and your maid must have drunk that second bottle of gin!

And of course, you know you are a Cairene, because you never miss reading Khawaga’s Tale every Monday in Daily News Egypt.

The Egyptian Museum, Cairo

2008-01-20T05:28:00.000+05:30

The Egyptian Museum, Cairo was established by the Egyptian Government in 1835.

The present museum building at Tahrir Square near Downtown Cairo, was built in 1900 in the neo-classical style by the French Architect Marcel Dourgnon.

The museum pieces are scheduled to be shifted to a new venue closer to the Giza Pyramids as soon as the building is complete.

The current museum exhibits over 1,20,000 objects, some of the important groups of these objects are:

* Artifacts from the tombs of kings and members of the royal families of the Middle Kingdom found at Dahshur in 1894.

* The contents of the royal tombs of Tuthmosis III, Tuthmosis IV, Amenhotep III and Horemheb and the tomb of Yuya and Thuya.

* Artifacts from the tomb of Tutankhamun, consisting of more than 3,500 Pieces, of which 1,700 objects are displayed in the museum (the rest are in storerooms)

Some of these objects can be viewed online on the museum website.

Entry to the museum is 50LE for tourists.
Students with ISIC cards can avail a 50% discount.

Entry to the mummy rooms (1st Floor) is an additional 100LE.

You get to see about 30 mummies of Pharaonic Royalty. These are split across 2 rooms at opposite wings. So do remember to visit the mummies in the opposite wing too. There is no prominent marking about the second room.

(If you aren't that serious about mummies but want to see at least one Egyptian mummy on your trip to Egypt, then the museum at Sakkara has one on display and entry to the museum is included in your entry ticket at Sakkara)

The museum is open from 9am to 5:45pm everyday.

Washrooms are reasonably clean, but better to carry your own kleenex.

Cameras aren't supposed to be used inside. Food can't be consumed inside. You can carry in water and small chocolates/nutrition bars. There is a left luggage counter outside the museum where you can leave your cameras and food stuff. This service is complementary.

There is a Cafeteria on the museum premises which is overpriced. The ticket that you buy for the day, allows you to go out on a break to eat lunch and return back on the same day. A better option for food is one of the many Koshary joints downtown, which are just across the road.

Avoid the tourist trap souvenir and book shops in and around the museum. Most of the books they sell are from the AUC Press which you can buy at source across the circle for less than 1/3rd the price.

Souvenirs you can get dirt cheap at the Khan el Khalili depending on your bargaining skills.

There are plenty of licensed guides available inside the museum in case you do not want to carry a guide book along with you. My personal favorite guide to navigate the museum is the Lonely Planet, Egypt. (Please note : Not Lonely Planet, Cairo) The Lonely Planet, Egypt succinctly and quickly captures the highlights of the museum in an orderly manner.

The exhibits are grouped in historical sequence. But to avoid museum fatigue, I would recommend visiting the Tutankhamun galleries on the first floor right in the beginning. The BBC Galleries have a lovely photo collection as a trailer of what to expect.

Then you can go back to the start of the First Floor or to the ground floor to finish up the rest of the museum.

If you are following a book guide, don't be worried if you can't find things exactly in the rooms were they are mentioned to be. Articles are often temporarily loaned out to other museums.

Browsing the museum could take anywhere between 1 hour to several weeks depending on interest levels. Hitting the highlights would take about 2 hours.

After the Pyramids of Giza, this is the second most visited site in Cairo and is definitely worth a visit.

Note : Summers can get very hot within the museum as only a few rooms like the Tutankhamun galleries and the mummy rooms are air-conditioned.

Published on desicritics.org

Christmas in Cairo

2007-12-12T16:53:00.001+05:30

The Ashera - The Latest in Indulgence

2007-10-10T05:30:00.000+05:30

After Uma's post on Vodka with a dash of Diamonds I was left wondering what the next flagrantly expensive "in" thing would be.

I seem to have found an answer of sorts. But this time, its Alive. Its the latest - Lifestyle Pets. Although its not as expensive as the vodka and it lasts longer!

These aren't your run of the mill pet cats.

Its the ASHERA (please note the name is trade-marked) The worlds rarest and most exotic domestic cat. (so they say)

The Ashera is priced at $22,000, plus any applicable sales taxes and is due at time of order. Generally, the delivery date from receipt of payment is 9-12 months. However, for those customers who simply can’t wait to own an Ashera, a few selected kittens are available earlier for an additional cost of $6,000. All Ashera kittens are provided with a Certificate of Authenticity that will include an image of each kitten's DNA “fingerprint”.

Wait, it gets better :
All Ashera kittens are hand delivered to their new owners and hand carried on the transporting aircraft by a Lifestyle Pets representative. Total cost of delivery within the United States is approximately $1,500; outside of the USA they will quote you by location.

Included with the purchase of your Ashera kitten are the following:
* Complete and updated vaccinations through delivery
* Mandatory spaying or neutering
* Microchip Identifier implant
* One year of premium veterinary health insurance through Pets Best (USA customers only)
* Airline certified electronic climate controlled cat transporter
* Veterinary Health Certificate (required for travel)
* One set of nail caps already applied (these are vinyl nail caps applied to your kitten's claws that effectively cover the claws so no damage occurs to furniture, etc.)
Starter Pack (includes premium kitten food, additional nail caps, cat toys and other kitten sundries)
* One year guarantee (see purchase agreement for terms and conditions)
* 10 Year consultation access to Dr. Roland Tripp, internationally recognized animal behaviorist.

What's so special about these cats you may ask : They have been (bred and genetically) developed by blending exotic bloodlines of the African Serval and the Asian Leopard cat with the domestic cat. The cat weighs upto 14 kilos they are specially bred to have Leopard spots on their body and stripes on their limbs.

As an additional service, they have even introduced a limited payment plan to facilitate the purchase of an ASHERA kitten.

My concerns :

What happens to the kittens that don't come out with their stripes and spots in the advertised places? People aren't going to pay 22,000$ for those!

Whatever they may claim, these cats are bred from wild felines. They grow upto the size of 14 kilos/30 pounds. How safe can it be to have them around, especially with children? Some may argue that they grow to the same size and weight of large breed dogs, but these cats have a much closer link to their leopard forefathers.

They are currently developing a new breed of a very small dog. Wonder how much that would cost!

You can sign up for their newsletter on the site. I have, I definitely wanna know, what's next! Simple curiosity, I'm re-discovering that from my own cat (she's a naturally conceived mixed breed)

Published on desicritics.org

Twenty20 - Reactions From a Non-cricket Watching Indian in Egypt

2007-09-24T05:32:00.001+05:30

Nothing personal against cricket, but I don't watch sports ! (This is my first post where I've chosen "Sports" as the Section) Except gymnastics, ice skating and synchronized swimming.

Equally crazily, I am married to the ultimate cricket fanatic, who watches matches, repeats, highlights and replays on the news (that's all of them - not an either/or choice). Who remembers statistics from games I never knew were played. For eg. He just said "We have never lost to Pakistan in a world cup" OK, not a great example, but it needed repeating :)

Another of his gems just before the last ball "For a moment, I thought about the last time a Haryana bowler named Sharma had the last over against Pakistan in a final. New Sharma, New ending"

Now these nuances are lost on me, but I'm sure there is a large group out there who can appreciate them. (Like the employees of various MNCs in India who officially closed office at 4 P.M. today.)

Being away from India for the first time on a long posting, he quickly ensured that we got all the right technology installed at home for regular access to cricket matches.

There's a small population of desis in Cairo (about 500) and an even smaller subset of cricket "fan"atics. The previous matches in the last year went by without much community feeling and viewing in this country. But this 20/20 brought a large portion of the Indian community together.

A couple of rational reasons for this would be the shortened timings in offices due to Ramadan (offices close by 3, the matches started at 2 - Egypt time) and the BCA showing the matches on a big screen where desis could get together and watch the matches in a group with alcohol available to drown sorrows or celebrate victories.

The group did avoid meeting at the club on the day of the India-England match because of the larger number of British supporters. But they regretted doing that by the end of the match.

Many of the Indians met up at the BCA for the days the Indians were playing. The non cricket watching wives would sit around and watch each others husbands bemusedly, wondering which of them would make a bigger scene at a missed catch or a wide ball.

We were of course happy that the matches were shortened, it meant less time sitting around. But it also meant shorter, almost non existent ad breaks (except 2 very irritating Horlicks & Sensodyne ads on Ten Sports) to try and communicate with your cricket lover.

Some of them would sit in the same crazy position that they were in when the last 6 was hit or wear the same clothes/shoes to every match. All kinds of crazy stuff that only fans can indulge in.

This was a good opportunity for us to get together and celebrate being Indian outside of India. Yuvraj's 6 sixes was obviously the biggest highlight till today's match. He does deserve the quarter-million and its good to see the BCCI giving something back to the players.($2 million for the team)

We watched today's match at home, but the phone calls kept coming and going throughout the match from across the world. Reactions & moods of the husband were oscillating from wild elation to extreme dejection at each ball. The little bits of the match that I did watch, I found it difficult to keep track since I couldn't recognise more than half the players (I had completely lost track of cricket from the time the slide started, plus this team had tons of newcomers to the international field)

But it was good to see a young team selected and though they had their health problems, they kept at it. Their confidence and perseverance are to be commended & rewarded. The cup and the 40 lakhs each are just a beginning.

Dhoni from all the conversations I caught, more than proved himself as being an able captain willing to take risks (who else would play a complete newcomer as opening batsman in a world cup final?)

He also showed more class in taking his shirt off and giving it to that little kid (I didn't catch who the kid was) rather than waving it around :)

From the strange tie breaker at the last India Pakistan match to the 6 sixes, to the final world cup win, it was an amazing journey even to the part time spectator.

The final run around the field with the Indian flags was a "rungte kadhe hone wala" scene that would warm the cockles of any Indians heart.

Way to go Indian team. This is a victory to savor for a long time and I hope it paves the way for more new comers into the playing Indian team.

By the way, we did this without a coach !

Photo Credit : Cricinfo.com

Published on desicritics.org

The "Animal" Attraction - Why Do We Love Pets?

2007-09-23T05:34:00.001+05:30

My personal love affair with pets began before the moment I was even conceived.

My nana (maternal grandmother, not grandpa in our part of the country) loves animals. In her younger days she nursed peacocks, deer and sundry other birds & animals back to health. The family household always comprised of a couple of cats, dogs, cows, goats, pigeons and various other species including a monkey at one point of time and a rat snake who would regularly appear to eat the pigeon or chicken eggs. All this was obviously long before the government started poking their noses into which species could or could not be allowed in family spaces.

Living a half day bullock-cart ride away from the nearest neighbours (while on the estates) made domesticating animals (for food and otherwise) a necessity.

By the time I came along, nana was pretty much restricting herself to dogs, cats, poultry and dairy animals. In most households, dogs were for guarding houses, cats were meant to keep the mice away. They were always fed a little below satiating point to keep them hungry enough to catch pests and scare away the people who had no business hovering around the gates.

Not in nana's house. Our cats & dogs were always overfed. So the dogs would sleep at the gate when they had to be guarding the compound and the cats would sleep in the attic when they were supposed to be catching mice ! All because she did not have the heart to leave them in the least bit hungry.

Nana's children - my mom, aunts and uncles - all absorbed this instant love for animals and most of her grandchildren were born to it. we were always surrounded by them and our dogs and cats were our friends too.

Even if the rest of the cousins ganged up against one, the dogs and cats would not take sides.

If you needed to cry away from anyone else's view, you could always take one of the dogs for a walk - who would silently lick your hands or cheeks (whichever was in closer proximity to their height)

If you wanted unconditional love - the dogs/cats provided that.

Non judgmental - bingo.

Non questioning - sure.

They know exactly when to come sit in your lap and when to give you an adoring look. As Dee elaborated about Zoey in Love, Grief, Pain, and a Kitten no matter how many times you push them away, they keep coming back to you.

They never judge you for anything - Feeding them late, not getting home in time, being pissed drunk, being lazy, being a few pounds overweight......

They will accompany you anywhere and everywhere where you let them and sometimes even if you don't. Our little munchkin (whom we adopted a couple of days ago) watches cricket with the husband. My husband is absolutely thrilled to have a cricket viewing partner in the same household.

They just keep coming back and give you more love. They insist on following you into the bathroom, but you don't mind since they aren't going to scrutinise your flabby thighs or beer belly. They just want to be around in your presence.

With a pet around you can never feel worthless. Because you are the world to them and they make it very evident to you.

How can you resist adoring eyes like these ?

Published on desicritics.org

Buying and Sourcing Spices in Egypt

2007-09-19T05:37:00.003+05:30

Since I obviously can't cover everything in one shot, I'll just do the best that I can.

The best place to buy whole spices in Egypt - cinnamon, cloves, cardamom etc is the Khan el Khalili near Al Azhar Mosque.

There are various shops, some have better quality of some spices than others. So you may need to mix and match a bit. If you are here for the long run, then I would recommend that you keep going back to the same spice seller to build up a relationship with him and his shop. He will then start keeping aside your favourite spices for you and also give you the better quality spices which aren't ever displayed to the transitory tourist shopper.

The Attaba (spice and herbs section) market is also a great place to shop for whole spices. But not recommended to any expat in Egypt who has still not got the hang of navigating Cairo's streets & traffic (human and vehicular) or brushed up on their negotiating (bargaining) skills. Even after a year here, I prefer to accompany an Egyptian friend who does all the talking (I give my shopping list to him/her before time and quietly point to anything I find interesting)

I still get most of my whole spices from home (imported from Kerala - the best & strongest potency) except for cinnamon which I find the quality available in Egypt to be many degrees higher, especially if you like the fancy versions (all rolled up in little curls - called quills)

You can get really long cinnamon quills (1-2 feet long) at the 2 spice markets mentioned above.

Chilli powder - not really found a really spicy brand like the "Everest - tikhalal" that I use from back home. What you get in Egypt as Chilli powder is normally paprika powder and has a slight sweet tinge to it, but its not in the least bit half as hot as "Everest-tikhalal"

Dried Chillies - I have seen the Sudanese dried chillies at some of the supermarkets - they are quite potent and worth buying.

Green chillies - the fresh chillies sold in most markets taste more like bell peppers (capsicum) than chillies to the Indian palate. A couple of shops sell Thai Birds eye chillies like Maadi Fruit paradise and Miriams Market in Maadi. (It seems Alfa in Zamalek used to stock this stuff before, but there's a lot of stuff that's gone AWOL on their inventories)

Turmeric Powder, Cumin (jeera) powder, corriander (dhaniya) powder, onion powder, garlic powder are easily available. I pick up the "Nour" - Small flat round plastic boxes with red tops or the "Spicy Trade" - Tall slim round glass bottles with purple tops.

Do remember that sometimes powder is spelled as "bowder" on the bottles. Its the same thing, not a new spice :)

Spicy trade also offers baking soda (soda bicarbonate / meetha soda) and mono sodium glutamate(ajinomoto) in its range. They also sell whole spices.

The National Brand of masalas from Pakistan has started retailing here, too. They sell spice blends but only in their ultra mild versions (in Egypt). I add My India brought chilli powder to the mix, but the rest of the balance and blend is fine. The blends are very similar to Indian blends. I've seen biryani (kabsa), kheema/queema (mince), Tandoori (barbequed chicken), Broast (roasting or frying chicken), kaleji (liver), kofta, and tikka mixes among others.

They come with recipes printed on their packs. Don't be worried if you only see instructions in arabic on the outside. There will be an English version on the inside of the pack. Else you can always get the recipes online by clicking the links above.

This is what I can think of for the moment. Let me know if you are looking for anything in particular, by writing a comment on this post. I should reply within 24 hours unless I'm out in the desert :)

These spices are available at most of the major supermarkets and the local grocery store too.

Also see Papads & Pickles for more details on Indian foods.

Published on desicritics.org

Book Review : Cairo - The Family Guide

2007-09-18T05:39:00.002+05:30

In a previous article, "Bookshops in Cairo " I heavily recommended this book, but I never mentioned why.

The current issue of the Cairo Family Guide is the 4th edition (the first edition was in 2001). It has been revised each time to update the data and make it more current & relevant.

It's written by Lesley Lababidi in collaboration with Dr Lisa Sabbahy and printed by the AUC Press. It's one book any person planning to check out the sights of Cairo on their own, or living here for more than a week should most certainly pick up.

The book is categorised location wise and then each place worth a visit in that area is listed out with complete details.

For eg. there are 3 different itineraries for the Egyptian museum depending on a person's interest. It also helps split the museum into manageable trips so as to be able to absorb maximum information.

Special attention has been given to understanding and recommending activities based on a child's age and interests. So the book is especially handy for those visiting with kids.

Maps to the areas, the closest Metro stop, the timings (including changed timings for Ramadan), Entrance fees (for foreigners, residents, students & Egyptians - yes there are multiple rates), Photography and video fees if any, (or whether they are allowed at all), the telephone numbers to that location, facilities available (bathrooms, gift shops, cafeterias) the best place to park (this is a major issue in Cairo), relevant websites if any, activities organised at that location if any, how much to tip and whom. These are just some of the gems of information that she shares about each and every location.

This is a goldmine of information especially given the monumental difficulty of gathering such data in Cairo. This is one of our few books where the book has completely lost its crispness (I don't even like the spine cracking in my books)

The only drawback is that since this is a 2006 edition some of the data has become obsolete especially with the recent adding of a digit to all land-line numbers at some of the telephone exchanges. Some sites have revised their charges (upwards of course) But the changes would hardly be in 5% of the data in this book.

So go ahead and pick up your own copy today. At 70LE it's a steal! Make sure it is a blue coloured bind with the picture of children sitting in a donkey cart. This is the latest edition. Many smaller bookshops still stock the older versions with the green colour binding. The information in those would be about 25-30% irrelevant and/or obsolete.

The details on the AUC Press page are available at here.

You can buy it at any major bookstore in Egypt. Its one of the most popular books. Or even buy it off Amazon.

Published on desicritics.org

Book Review : The Other Side of Me, Sidney Sheldon

2007-08-29T05:43:00.000+05:30

The winner of an Oscar, a Tony, and an Edgar Allan Poe Award, Sidney Sheldon has over 200 television scripts, twenty-five major motion pictures, six Broadway plays, eighteen novels (which have sold over 300 million copies) and one memoir to his credit, ranking him as one of the world's most prolific writers.
The style of this autobiography is uniquely Sheldon and completely engrossing. As he explained in a 1982 interview : "I try to write my books so the reader can't put them down, I try to construct them so when the reader gets to the end of a chapter, he or she has to read just one more chapter. It's the technique of the old Saturday afternoon serial: leave the guy hanging on the edge of the cliff at the end of the chapter."

The book starts with his impoverished childhood during the Great Depression and surprisingly ends before his meteoric rise as a successful novelist.

Born Sidney Schechtel in Chicago in 1917 to German & Russian parents, Sheldon's life had more ups and downs than a month of roller coaster rides. A long time sufferer from manic depression or bipolar disorder as it is now called, he often turned away at critical moments from paths that were just opening up to him.

Success took time coming his way and even when it did, it didn't stay long. (Not until his writing career took off, then there was no looking back) In his words - "Success is an elevator that moves up and down". His ups included having three musical hits playing simultaneously on Broadway, the Oscar and the Screen Writers Guild award for Best Musical for "Annie Get your Gun" The downs included long periods of unemployment and blacklisting by the studios.

There are so many anecdotes about so many famous people that are a pleasure to read. Groucho Marx was an extremely close friend and also Godfather of Sheldon's daughter Mary. Having seen the Hollywood industry as a writer, producer and director his insights are precise and delightful.

My only disappointment was is that I wish he had written a part two before his death on January 30th, this year. He does throw a few morsels about his writing life experiences, but they just aren't enough for his adoring fans.

I highly recommend the book to all Sheldon fans. This is the first autobiography I have ever read which I did not put down even once.

Published on desicritics.org