Different Perspectives

I went to my first Hindi movie last night... It has been sometime coming but I am glad to have gotten there in the end. My friend from work Shibu took me with his mates and I sat there in the cinema, the only white person and enjoyed the romantic comedy "Honeymoon". And well minus the fact it was all in Hindi I didn't really see too much difference from western romantic comedies, well minus the sex and add a tendency to be a little more "wholesome" in it's themes, although it dealt with the perplexities of relationships, homosexuality and feminism. But I guess what became apparent to me again last night as we watched the movie, went out to dinner and then went to the beach to chill and play the guitar is how we learn so little from staying in our box...

I apply it to myself. Now I have spent much of my time in Dubai to myself, surfing the net, reading books, travelling for work, and on MSN with Farah. And it became apparent to me last night that to some extent I had forgotten why I had come here... for different perspectives. A night out, chilling and doing nothing completely special... was a nice change for me... and I had to contrast it to what a night would entail with a westerner.... inevitably drinking... It is funny. What is it with western culture and drinking? Well I can't judge as I love a drink too, especially if Farah and I have a few wines together, it's always nice. But it is the occasionality of the drinking that I prefer. Why do westerners drink so much? Are we so keen to forget all the troubles of our material abundances at the bottom of a bottle? I don't know what I am trying to say.

I guess it is the non-western vision I came in search of here. I mean I realised a while ago that something was going wrong with mainstream culture in the west. The move towards consumerism and individualism was not sitting right with me. I couldn't sit and just flow into that life thinking it was normal, nor did I want to spend my days banging my head against the brick wall that is pop culture. So I left... In search of new ways to live something that I worked with and that felt right, healthy and sustainable. Alas I confess to not having found it yet. Western life still has the lure of familiarity for me, although when I see it, especially in it's characaturic forms here in Dubai, I am sickened and want to run even faster in the opposite direction. But where do you run to? I mean Indian pop culture is running toward the west as is much of the world. And the sad thing is that they're running away from some pretty damn good things. Close families and communities, social capital that the west could only dream of, but they destroy it in the name of progress and economic and social liberation. Mmmmm... Why do we always think the west knows best?

I mean granted the west has offered so many great things, education, research and development on a scale only dreamed of the world over 100 years ago... But what has it taken from us? The meaning of belonging to something bigger and more important than ourselves, the freedom to sit down and relax to not be coaxed to buy at every turn, to value our fellowman more than the bottom line... And it has destroyed nature.. or at least subdued it to a shadow of it's former self....

Why one way? Why can't we mix with rather than replace other cultures? We are living in a time of social and biodiversity destruction... I see it before my very eyes here in Dubai...And I have seen it since leaving home... When will people realise what they lose when they exchange culture for a mobile phone, ipod and a Japanese sports car?

We have made it past half way...

We have made it past half way! I say we as truly this something both Farah and I are going through. Time apart has been the hardest thing I think either of us has ever done, but I seem to think it is a testament to our dedication toward each other, especially for Farah as she was not the maniac that thought this a good idea, myself being the maniac.

Well thanks to the wonders of technology we have managed a somewhat functional relationship over the wondrous communication channels of the World Wide Web.

So thanks for putting up with this babe… and also for supporting me with your love and affection as it does get lonely out here in the land of sand dunes and camels.

So where is my head at now? I have lived here for six months now; I have been to all the Gulf States and more or less done what I had come here to do in a personal sense. Well all I want to do now is move on and start my life with Farah. Every day down is a day closer to Farah and I getting back together and not having to say goodbye anymore. Wow, the amount of goodbyes we have both had to go through….

I can’t help but reflect on the lives of so many of the expats out here (non-white ones) who experience what I am going through as a matter of course in their lives. I mean this is normality for them. For Farah and I it is just one year and then it is over. For many out here it is their whole life…. Spent having one month a year with their wife and family and eleven months working twelve hour shifts for seven days a week. How and why do they do it will be one of the questions I will be leaving this place pondering for some time to come. I mean is life that bad at home? Are wives that happy to see their husbands go 90% of the time…? Just to have more money to raise a family the father never sees? Well given there are millions doing it there must be some rationality to it… but I fail to see it. I guess I come from a different generation, one that values the moment and pleasure and happiness for the self. These guys focus on the life of their family and especially that of their children.

I often think of my parents and especially my father when I think of these guys out here, driving their taxis, working on construction sites and the like.

My father is about to retire after working 40 years… yes FORTY YEARS at the steelworks in Wollongong!!!! And all this time on shift work… constant battles to organize a life and sleeping patterns around the production of steel and the provision for a family he dearly loves. Now although he is focusing on taking the time to prepare his finances for the rest of his and mums life I would like for him to know that I am truly thankful for the gift he has given me; a great life, education and opportunities that he never had. A selfless man in every sense of the word… Self-Less… a life without self, dedicated to others, something we don’t see enough of in the western world.

Thank you Mum and Dad for raising me…. Without you I would not exist and without your love and support I would not be where I am…. And thank you Farah… without you I would not be the man I have become in the past year and a half of knowing you and without you I will not become the man that I will be in the future.

Yes a soppy post, but a needed one, as I am a lucky person for the people God has blessed me with in my life.

Saudi Pics

Just uploaded a couple of pics of Saudi...

http://lucas.intercate.net/gallery/Saudi

Now taking photos was made legal a few months back... but I don't think people knew this... well I guessed this from the look on their faces... so photo ops were few for fear of being stoned... and no I don't mean stoned in the refer madness sense....

Enjoy :-)