Eskimo jackets in Saudi!
What happens when you get drunk? -
“Drunkenness is not disinhibition. Drunkenness is myopia” - Malcolm Gladwell.
So, here I am, on this offshore rig called Freedom. Ironic? I know.
2 hours to Feb 14th 0000 hrs.
I am sitting in the recreation room, playing iBomber on my iPhone (which is a great game BTW). A Bangladeshi cook is sitting on a chair, next to the table by my side. He is calling his wife from an IP Phone on the table.
Let me give you a brief background of cooks who work in Saudi (or Gulf) offshore rigs. Most of them hail from the sub-continent and had initially stepped foot here with the dreams of going home rich after a few years. Once in Saudi, they are made to sign contracts, which entails them to go back home once in 2 years. For 1 month. And for the rest 23 months, they are offshore. Cooking. They earn around 600-800 Riyals (around 200 USD) a month.
Is that a lot? Think again. For 23 months, you are stuck in the middle of nowhere. On an offshore platform, doing the same thing everyday. You call home once a day, spending almost 30 USD a month. You have no recreation (fishing and some TV, maybe), no break, no freedom. The only satisfaction you have is of sending a little under $150 back home to your wife and children, every month.
Now, coming back to the moment, the Bangladeshi cook next to me, says in Bengali (I could definitely make out the first 2 lines)
“Hello <wife name>, Happy Valentine’s Day! …. you don’t know what it is?… well, it is a Kiss Day… so here’s a kiss to you! <air kiss>”.
He was smiling. Flushed with joy. With the image of his wife on the other end of the phone, returning the kiss embarrassingly. I realized then, that no matter how good/bad life is at the moment, nobody forgets those who matter the most. Nobody forgets love.
So go ahead, even if you think that V-Day is a big farce (like me), and call the folks who matter to you the most. And tell them that you love them.
Asia:
India, Malaysia
Middle East:
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE
Europe:
France, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Vatican City, Germany, Austria
That’s 13 countries out of the 30 I hope to visit before 30. I need to quickly visit one more country to move out of the square titled ‘13’.
The guy who runs the BITS Pilani fan page, got drunk. On cheap liquor.
“People like talking about people. Makes us feel superior. Makes us feel in control. And sometimes, for some people, knowing some things, makes them care.” — Dr. Gregory House. MD
I love cheap imitations. Really.
If you ain’t a Manc, you’re a wank!
Buddy Farhan stares into the horizon as we set sail in the evening.
Land ahoy!! In pitch darkness, the oil city of Khafji glows!
The promised land: Docking to a rig after 15 hours at the sea with no food.
“You sweat so much you can’t pee, not for days or weeks. It’s like all the liquid comes out through your skin and you stink.” — The dark side of Dubai. Horrifying read.
“A city seemed to fall from the sky in just three decades, whole and complete and swelling. They fast-forwarded from the 18th century to the 21st in a single generation.” — The dark side of Dubai. Absolutely riveting read.
I made a life-size cardboard iPad and some paper sketch templates for Instapaper interface design.
One surprise when fake-“using” the cardboard iPad: I can use the whole keyboard with just my thumbs, holding the iPad in the air. And I can use it surprisingly quickly. My assumptions about input limitations may have been premature.
Hmmm… that’s interesting. Very.
What oil does to oilmen