Category Archives: Ramblings about this & that!

Just my random thoughts on stuff :)

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February 4, 2009

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My experiences, Ramblings about this & that!

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Bitchin’

Bitchin’ has become a way of life for us Maldivians. We bitch about stuff from next to nothing. For instance the fact that we have to get up every morning to go to work/school or wherever one has to be, the fact that your boss is just a bitch when it comes to dealing with you or the fact that the tea/food served at some restaurant wasnt up to your liking can get one to start bitchin’. And we women have one extra god-given reason to be bitchy as much as we like and that would be PMS my friends.

Anyway, what started me on this was, I have been cooped up inside a meeting room with 8 or so colleagues from my work place for the past 2-3 weeks from morning till evening finalizing some work stuff, and I realised just how much we really bitch about stuff..

Dont get me started on our bosses (if i may say so).. they just tend to make me grind my teeth and like joey in Friends says, you just wanna rip your arm off so that you would have something to throw at em’. And then starts the political grumbling and whining and that gives me a headache literally.

Workmate 1: Why did the government have to change the working hours from 8-4? (the fact that we had been working from 7:30 to 4:30 prior to that didnt even matter)..

Workmate 2: Its all political. You know conspiracy and shit. It must be most prolly cause Anni cant make it to work if he has to report to work at 7:30.

Me (silently talking to myself): Hello!!! He doesnt even have to report to work at anytime.. Hasnt anyone ever heard of the “rules” that allow the “responsible” folk in the office to come and go as they want???

Workmate 1: This is ridiculous giving lunch break at 12. (prior to that we had been taking lunch breaks between 12 and 2 for one hour).

Workmate 2: How do we eat?? We cant all go home and come back.

Me: Hasnt anyone heard that people in other countries too work from 9-5? And their homes arent within a 10 minute walking radius? And that they still manage to finish work without grumbling? And what do you expect? With a pay hike to work even lesser hours than before. aaargh!

Workmate 3: i dont get hungry even by that time (grumbles some more and we all turn back to work)..

some 2-3 days later, after receiving the news of foreign investers signing up MOUs to open up their business and hospitals in Maldives.

Workmate1: Its ridiculous. Why is he so hell-bent on opening that many hospitals? Whose gonna go there to get medical attention? We dont have that many people here in Maldives.

Me: Goodness me.. It jst amazes me how these people think. Hello! Dont we always talk about the lack of receiving adequate medical attention and care here in the Maldives. What more do these people want? To go back to the 1920’s or something.. Darn!

So you see why i am bitchin’ about them here in my blog. It just frazzles my nerves every friggin’ time they start condemning something without even really bothering to make any sense when they open their mouths. Anyways, it has been a “fun” filled three weeks.. Am gonna miss the bitchin’ (or NOT) when our meetings would be over tomorrow. So until then.. the bitchin’ continues!

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January 5, 2009

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Ramblings about this & that!

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CNN vs. Aljazeera on the War in Gaza

Anyone who even remotely comes out of the comfortable bubble which surrounds them to peek into the world outside would know whats happening in Gaza these days. I for one have always believed that when it comes to reporting on crimes that are committed by the “rich” and “elite” countries of the world against Muslims, CNN tends to be always biased in reporting their views. However, even believing all that, I was shocked at the extent to which they are trying their damnedest best to convince the world that it is the folk of Israel that are suffering and not the Palestinians. Here is which convinced me why:
CNN reporting on the situation: Citizens of Israel who live near the Gaza neighborhood are “disturbed” or “inconvenienced” to say if i may, by the sound of gun fire and other types of explosions in Gaza.

Aljazeera reporting on the situation: Interviews one of the families who spent the last fortnight or so huddled inside their living room, whilst gun shots and other explosions were going off all around them. One witness reported that bodies of the dead and injured littered the streets, where medical staff found it too dangerous to venture into.

CNN reporting on the situation: shows a picture of the New York mayor, visiting a small boy who was injured in the blast at a hospital with his teddy tucked at his side, with this mother lovingly looking over him. No visible signs of injury are to be seen.

Aljazeera reporting on the situation: streams a video of injured Palestinians being rushed into a hospital that was already bursting at its seams. The video shows people and small kids lying on the hospital grounds, with IVs hung from curtains and any other props that could be found. Reporters claim that doctors are saying that their medical supplies are running thin and there was no way that they could get fresh supplies before a ceasefire. No loving mothers and wives to be found at the scene because everything is in chaos with people running around trying to get help for the injured as fast as possible under the circumstances.

CNN reporting on the situation: 4 Isreali SOLDIERS killed in the clashes.

Aljazeera reporting on the situation: 400+ CIVILIANS dead in the clashes, 2000+ injured.

Whether for political, religious or any other reason, what Isreal is doing is WRONG. It is just as easy to label the Israelis as a terrorist group as the West can label the Muslim populace as terrorists. It is heart wrenching to see these acts of genocide being committed, whilst the those who hold all the power seem to give them encouraging slaps behind their backs for the heinous crimes Palestinians are being subjected to.

I guess once Israel has quenched their thirst for the blood spill of Palestinians, they will retreat. And then we will begin to see the United States of America and other nations who are allies of Israel in this war, pet Israel’s back and congratulate them on time well spent fighting the “holy” war on “terror”. We will see the United Nations who piss in their pants whenever US and their allies vote on a situation commend the efforts of Israel to once again bring “peace” over the region!

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January 11, 2008

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The Disciplinarian and the indulgent Parent

They exist in most of the nuclear families. The disciplinarian instills discipline in his/her kids, enforces on them to choose the right path over the wrong one, and punishes them if the disciplinarians authority has been put to test. As the children grow older, and if the disciplinarian doesnt change his tactics to suite that to the age and wisdom of his/her kids, most of the time, the children would tend to form a “distant” bond with that parent. The kids would tend to begrudgingly respect the disciplinarian. However once they grow older and have kids of their own, the kids do come to realise that the disciplinarian was necessary in order to keep them from letting their lives go for ruin.

However the indulgent one in the family pets and cossets his/her children. He or she tends to become the “coolest” parent in the family. That parent wil be the one who comforts the child when they come running from one of their rows with the disciplinarian, this parent tends to cover for their children at times when he/she feels that the children has had enough of being “disciplined” for the day and as the children grow older, they would tend to form a closer bond with the indulgent one.

Its rare for a family to have both parents acting as the disciplinarian parents. If this were so, the some of the joys of being a kid would never be felt. The kids would always be browbeated by either of the parents and the kid would grow up resenting the fact he was born to that set of parents. Its rarer still to see both sets of parents being indulgent ones. If this were so, the society would be rampant with misbehaved and ill-disciplined people who have no regards whatsoever to the rules of civilization.

From my parents I would have to say my father was the disciplinarian. He was the one who taught us our religion, enforced us to practice it, gave us ear-deafning lectures when we misbehaved and turned the “you may cry now” stare after the hour long lectures. Back then sometimes I resented the fact that he always found some fault with how things were done by me. However as I have grown older and wiser, and eventhough I do not have kids of my own I do realise that he did all that he did to turn me into what I am today. And I love him and respect him for that. Though he tended to make shivers up and run down the spine with fear even in the neighbourhood kids, he has become one of the coolest parents as I have grown older. Though conversations still do turn out into argumentative ones, we have developed a relationship that ensures that I can laugh, joke and be a “friend” with my father.

And my mom tended to be the indulgent one who ensured that food was properly made and put on the table, that we were clean and ready to sleep by bedtime. We could always count on her to sympathise with us and dry our tears when we were crying about some stupid childhood stuff. And even though we drove her crazy when dad wasnt around the house by running around the house with the neighbourhood kids, she was the epitome of patience.

I believe that each nuclear family should have one of each in order to ensure that the children they bring out into the society is a benefit to it as a whole rather than a hindrance. The parents should learn to “let go” as the children grow older, become their friends later on so that they would always be sure that their parents could be counted on through the best and worst in their lives.

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January 8, 2008

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Men, the pampered gender of our society

I am not being sexist but, this is something I have always wondered about.. Why do men in our society (at present times) have it so easy? Why are they always pampered and cosseted by every female in the household as if they are imbeciles or something? It is as if the male population might just evaporate into thin air if they have to lift one of their precious fingers to do a “domestic” chore @ home.

I’ve seen this happen to many Maldivian men and I am sure most of those who have been abroad for longer periods of time, mostly for higher studies have experienced or seen the same thing. Since the male *population* have been petted, pampered and every need of theirs seen to by the female *population* of the household, and for the first time in their lives, they have to take care of themselves, and it tends to *domesticate* most of these men even though it might be for a year or three (that is for those who havent been lucky enough to get married to an unassuming gal and dump all those chores into her lap).

Most of the time you tend to see a change for the good in men’s attitude whilst they live in foreign countries. No longer is chopping vegetables to cook a meal considered as a chore that might cause the guy to shed one or two layers of his masculinity *eyes roll*. And hanging up a few clothes to dry after a laundry session doesnt trigger the magical transformation from a guy to girl. Those who are married and whose wives are also on their studies, tend to help out the wife in doing the domestic chores like cooking, cleaning up etc. Its as if they do *realise* that the women folk are also human beings rather than slaves who are there to do their bidding at the drop of a hat.

However disappointingly, upon completion of their studies and once their feet hit the Maldivian soil, the dramatic transformation from the *domestic* male figure to the *pompous* arse comes upon them swiftly. God forbid that they enter the kitchen for a purpose other than to eat or drink a glass of water. It might just get them labelled as “anbi dhashuvefa” or & please, please do not let their mother see them helping out their wife. The wife becomes completely unsuitable for her Almighty son and the *I knew she wouldnt be able to take care of him the way he should be* conversations take place behind the wife’s back within the household “Oh-puhleeze!!”.

Even though there are a handful of Maldivian men who are secure enough in their masculinity not to be bothered about such trivialities, the majority of the male population tends to relax, lay back and let the ladies of their lives do all the domestic work. Cos us Maldivians deem that its the right way of things, that its how they should be. Cos we have been brought up that way and God forbid that any change be brought to the way we live our life!

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January 2, 2008

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Blogging Rocks!! :)

Blogging and reading blogs have become a sort of an addictive habit. Its hard to get through a day without getting a dosage of blogging and reading various blogs that I come across on mvblogosphere. It is one of the perks of the day to get a dose of the blogging community’s perspective on different day-to-day stuff. A blog post about a really small issue can turn out to be really interesting based on the comments exchanged back and forth amongst the blog readers and the owner.

Through the short period of time that I’ve been blogging I’ve found that:
1- I like it when theres a bit of humour injected into ones blog posts.
2- I like the different templates and designs that bloggers tend to have. Each tidbit adds to their individuality and gives an insight into their personality.
3- I lurrrve it when blog owners reply to the comments left by readers. It tends to establish a sense of *closeness* amongst bloggers via an anonymous mode ;)
4- I like the fact that I can rant and rave @ the *fates* and get away with it :P
5- Though I understand why blog owners tend to moderate their comments on their blogs, it does take *diminish* the joy of commenting on blogs.

Though there are numerous lil things that add to how fun blogging can be, the best thing about it all is that you *meet* a new blogger *buddy* every fine day! :D