A Brand New Day: 2008年3月

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3月26日

Queen of the Blue Mountains: Ooty

   Imagine living out your childhood fantasies of small, dear English cottages, a crackling fire-place to keep you warm in chilly nights, lush green lawns with summer blooms peeping out from the grass, lady-birds, butterflies, fresh mountain air,blue skies, and Pine Forests! What better way to refresh and rejuvenate the senses, than plan a quick getaway to the Hills in the summer months, and return with a complexion and buoyancy which is the envy of many?
           Ootacamund or Ooty (now Udhagamandalam) is one of the many British-era hill-stations, which still has an old world charm about it. The weather didn't seem very promising in the beginning, and most tourists sported glum looks. Who wants rain, wind and chill as companions on a dream holiday anyway? However, the Queen of the Hills didn't disappoint her subjects for long. Twenty four hours later, the clouds started lifting, and with it lifted the hopes and spirits of many a tourist, trekker, back-packer and photographer. Armed with our cameras, my family valiantly covered the main must-see sights of the quaint hill station: the Botanical Gardens, the Bee Museum, the Ooty Lake, Doddabetta Peak, and a drive to the pictureque, verdant valley of Coonoor, known for it's tea estates and herbal medicinal remedies.
We were delighted to see that the Ooty Botanical Gardens, aged around 150 years, is still well maintained and bears a regal look. I sat on a stump of an old Pine Tree, and got myself photographed, while the rest of the family were busy spotting photogenic sights, plants and sights. We were luckier than most: by the time we'd completed our round, a steady drizzle, which threatened to progress into something more serious, had started.
              Ooty is famous for it's bakeries and chocolates: again a legacy of its British Raj Days. We scanned most of the shops selling confectionaries, and many calories later, were in a position to compare the quality of chocolates sold at the different shops. Of course, one should not forget to mention the country-famous Ooty vegetables, known for it's flavour and freshness. The soil of this lush green hill station, is so fertile, that even die-hard non vegetarians will start munching on garden fresh sweet carrots, and juicy fruits.
              Up a little further, lies the scenic Coonoor- known for it's tea estates, which are a sight for sore eyes. Row after row of tea hedges line the hill sides neatly, and many tea shops urge you to taste the vast variety of tea that is sold here. I found myself sipping on; herbal tea, masala tea, chocolate tea, plain tea, and mixed blend teas. Somehow, the ambience of the place adds so much extra flavour to every sip! I couldn't help but buy a few sample packets for home. We were shown many famous film-shooting spots here and to our delight, were able to recall the names of the related Hindi movies.
              The fresh air of Ooty and Coonoor have an instant calming, soothing, and almost balm-like quality, that soothes the senses. The greenery and fresh mountain air is just what the doctor recommended in his prescription. I'm sure, that one visit to this pristine hill station can add energy and zest to the most weary, angry, hopeless, or lost soul.
Do visit Doddabetta; the highest point in the Nilgiris. It stands around 8500 m above sea level, and the best part is, that there is no climbing involved here; one can just drive up easily and soak in the atmosphere over a cup of steaming tea or coffee. There is an old telescope tower here, and for those who care, can view the major areas that lie on the hills below.
               The Savoy Hotel, now known as the Taj Savoy, is an excellent place to re-live the days of the British Raj, when many a Lord and Lady came up to this fine place called Ootacamund, and made it their summer getaway. Like it's northern counter-parts in the Himalayas, (like Mussoorie, Simla, and Darjeeling,) Ooty still carries an air of regality, grace and poise. Famous residential schools like Lawrence School and Good Shepherd, who have a good deal of history going around them, are still much sought-after by parents who are affluent and desirous of giving their children the best of school-life, with an atmosphere to match.
               For those with a flair for adventure, don't miss out on the famous Bandipur and Mudumalai National Wildlife and Game Sanctuary: these lie on the way to Ooty,and should not be missed. There are efficient forest staff, offering the best amenities for the avid traveller and wild-life and nature enthusiast.
               One trip is not enough for me: I dream of a little holiday home up in the hills of Ooty, where I shall spend a dream of a retired life.....one day!!!

3月18日

Gleanings from the Gulf ( Why Indians still prefer to work in the Middle East)

             Tens of thousands of Indians go abroad to the Gulf to work every year, in the hope of bringing back fabulous sums of money. Ever since I was a child, I'd see some distant relative or friend coming back with, to what appeared to me then, symbols of his success : digital watches, a tape-deck with dancing lights and features like a woofer and tweeter, foreign perfumes, chocolates and, last but not the least, gold.Much to the envy of onlookers, these Gulf-returned successful people regaled us with stories of life in the Middle East and now, come to think of it, these were stories often more than not, tinged with half-truths.
            Today, I have a few close relatives scattered in the Gulf region: Dubai, Sharjah, Muscat, and Kuwait. Whenever these relatives come home, they always seem happier, wealthier, more radiant, glowing, glamorous, and flamboyant than us poor country-cousins. They drive long, expensive cars back home, where petrol is as cheap as water, and live life king-size, as the stories they tell us reflect.
              On the other hand, there is a huge section of labour-class workers from the Indian sub-continent, who have a different story to tell. They are a vastly exploited class of people, who have no insurance or human rights guarantee. They are under-paid by Arab standards, and live like cattle, around 15 odd people together in a one room apartment. When their use is over, they are simply thrown out of work. Yet, for the past three decades, workers from our country undergo all sorts of hardships to earn the kind of money doled out to them, at the cost of living away from their families, with a dream of growing rich. Some do succeed; there are entire villages in Kerala which boast of palatial mansions, all built through Gulf-earned money. The women who stay behind are called "Gulf widows", as they have stayed away from their husbands for so long.
                The women who go to work in the Gulf comprise of two classes too: the educated force consists of engineers, doctors and female nurses. The less fortunate ones go in the role of house-maid to some rich Arab family or as part-time domestic help for expatriate Indians. Again, these women have come at a great risk, and our newspapers mention how the latter group are tortured, starved or mis-treated by their employees. Most of the uneducated women go in the quest for more money, and, since they have nothing much to lose having left their home country (most are single women), they prefer to stick on in foreign lands for years on end. Even the few married women who have children, avoid returning home to face ground realities: they prefer to send money home rather than face family problems headlong.
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                     One of my acquaintances, "J", returns from the Gulf every year to visit her family. Here in India, she shops, eats, enjoys life to the fullest, and then leaves for her home. This time around, I found J a little introspective. Her husband was planning to call it quits after spending a successful run of almost three and a half decades in the Gulf. The idea was unsettling to her, and not a bit to her liking. And why not?
                        In Kuwait, the country where she lives, there are no taxes to be paid.Petrol flows like water.Electricity is free and uninterrupted. Crime is an unheard thing of here, as the punishment doled out is harsh,swift, and almost irrevocable.There is a huge, bustling Indian community thriving there, and the standard of living that they are used to is just, to put it simply, the best of the East and West. She lives in an apartment complex populated by Indians, and, when husbands go to work, the women are out, busy partying, shopping or planning an event: birthday celebrations, festivals, kitty parties, get-well-soon visits, engagement parties, pre-exam party of children, trips to the Beauty Salon, and so on and so forth. Working and living conditions are glitzy, clean, and modern, at least for those in white-collar jobs.Money is no problem; due to the tax-free economy, the moolah is always in excess. Even the phone calls you make are for free, irrespective of the duration of the call. House-maids are affordable. The hostile weather conditions of the desert are made up by free air conditioning and heating. Unlike in the West, there is no snow to be shovelled in winter, and lawns to be mowed during summer.
                      Are there any disadvantages for Indians living in the Gulf? Yes, there are! But clearly, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and hence, people once addicted to the wildly materialistic culture of the Middle East, cannot do without it. There is no religious freedom: Hindu festivals are celebrated in secrecy or privately. You HAVE to regard Muslim observances of Ramadan (Ramazan in India) and other Islamic festivals: not doing so is liable to severe punishment. You cannot buy or own property in the Gulf, nor become a citizen.
                      There are other preferential treatments given to Gulf nationals. In Kuwait, for instance,every citizen lives virtually free of cost: the King will look after you and your babies FOR FREE, from the cradle to the grave. Medical benefits are, again, free for Kuwaiti nationals, but not for workers from other countries. Kuwaiti families are urged to have more children (which they gladly do), and the incentives for doing so are also very attractive.In short, the more the children you have, the better life will get for you!

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My analysis of why Gulf settled Indians should at all want to visit their home-land?
1. Meet up with the rest of the family, (without having to be overly involved in the family issues).
2. Catch up with the latest in fashion and shopping (which they need for their frequent partying)
3. Shop till they drop.( The escorts of these wild shoppers are mostly the ones to drop first).
4. Get recognition from home spun cousins for their materialistic successes.
5. Curiosity about what's happening in the mother country, so that they don't miss out an opportunity to be their first and lose out an opportunity to brag about it to friends back home.
6. Do their moral duty.
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Bye friends...hope you enjoyed this entry. Sorry for being away for so long....I was just too caught up with several issues which cropped up all together!