My Oxford experience

Today I have graduated from my Malay university college of Help with a diploma in Headmaster accredited only by Maldives board of accreditation. I will be going back to my atoll to join as the Headmaster of the school where I was boned. Today I would like to thank a lot of people. First of all my boss who with his connections with lots of people of both regimes facilitated my education and job

Second all the instruments in my Farugaalu Foshi (The Oxford Set of Instruments). Without which I couldn't have finished my P.H.D (Preschool Headmaster Diploma) so easily. It was so instrumental in bringing me close to my soul. Specially the points of the dividers which I sometimes pinch myself with. The great Divider which divided me and my islanders, is one of the little things in the set which I have only recently discovered its function.

The compass helped me navigate the rough seas of the Kaashidhoo Kandu, and also helped me draw the circles. I can draw them on various sizes just by adjusting the lever! wow. Only from Oxford that kind of thoughts can come from.

The two Set Squares are so useful when I forget my rulers, I used them to draw straight lines. I use the inside part to draw decorative triangles on my thesis papers.

The rulers, without which there will be no lines in my world. The short rulers which I call the pocket rulers, I carry them with me where ever I go. It is so helpful to draw lines even long lines. The accompanying little (pocket) pencil is also very helpful. The yellow ones, sometimes I tell my friends that the Malay Ikea people copied their pencil from my Oxford set.

The paper which is usually kept inside as a lining for the very useful metal casing also deserve equal thanks. I wrote my name and phone number on the paper. And the day I forgot it in a nearby Bukit, they called me to return it.

And last but not the least is the metal case. It is by far the best designer box I have. I have this idea which I want to sell to Gucci or Giodano to make a Male purse shaped like this. I have been using mine for a couple of years now, and now it's a bit rusted. It's an antique now which I intend to donate to the Oxford museum with my thesis.

And last of all I would like to thank Helix for making it possible. I arrived Male' lastnight's flight, and Male' is so changed now that I have a lot to write soon. Until then, Good Night from Galolhu.

Revolution Begins: Me and my bird's experience

The Man:
Without a 2nd thought I accepted the invitation from my hero and the famous businessman Gasim. I have been friends with him for a long time. He was the person who helped me out during the days I suffered when I was studying for my law degree in KL. When the government cut funding, he helped me financially. Since then we have kept in touch and I have professionally handled a lot of his cases during my lawyer days. In the Majlis we both were on the same side, and he is a kind man with a big heart. Often too big. He is one of my idols. He has money, wives and slaves. Though he resigned from DRP, we still maintain a good relationship. He calls me for legal advice for many of his ventures. I don't mind his party copying the manifesto and the policies of DRP. After all he is someone DRP created over the last 30 years. We are proud of it and I too am someone who wants to be him.

The Band:
On the rock-festival with an audience of over 500 children and adults his band were to perform tonight. When I entered I saw Gasim wearing a black T-Shirt and a blue jeans. Dr. Munavvar shirtless with bleached & torn levis jeans. Both were backstage doing their final practicing before the show begins.

"The Republicans" - the heaviest metal band ever to form in the Maldives. I could not wait to see Gaasim's performance. When the drummer rolled his power roll, Gaasim's head banging like it had no control. He was wearing a wig, make-up like "Kiss" on his face. The children watching the show banged their head to Gasim's. 360 degrees and more. Munavvar is shirtless. Shihab running up and down the stage.

I too played a bit of guitar in my young days. I also performed once during Valencia's "Happening" music shows in the eighties. I was a newscaster then. Under my blue shirt tonight I wore the black Slayer T-Shirt I bought from my last trip to Singapore. When Gasim signaled me to come and join the band for a jam session, I tore open my shirt and with my black Slayer Black T-shirt I came to the stage and did my power cord. "WE ARE IN HELL".

Two sales Garls Wanted! Salary RF3,500/-

For a new shop selling assorted goods located near Galolhu Stadium.
If selected should be willing to work starting 1st September 2008.

Quality:
GCE O/L
Computer Certificate (Microsoft World & Office 2008)
Friendly
If possible spoken voice in the audible range (without the customers having to point their ears to your mouth).

Extra bonus:
Air Conditioned shop.
25" TV
Very good sound system in the shop for music lovers
A collection of Hindhee DVDs to watch movies.

Mobile Phones:
Shop policy does not allow using of mobile phones during working hours. It cuts productivity down and customers complain when they hear sales people saying 'irukolhakun ebagulhan... eey migulhaneeyeh... customeraku ebahuri... hmmm dhen baavanee'.


(The shop will open for Roadha mas. Now registration in trade. If no girls available we also take boys who use perfume, hair gel and facial cream)

mOscar awards 2008 (Maldives)

Baftas, Oscars, Crystals and Moscas. In slightly less expensive cafes everyone is talking about awards. In the last 4 months this country has held 3 film festivals with 3 award ceremonies. Mollywood industry which produces less than 2 feature films on average a year holds an award ceremony every other month. About 150 people work in this industry who need constant reminding of how great their work is. According to industry sources each of these ceremonies costs about 10 times the budget of a typical Maldivian film. And 2 times the budget of the most expensive Dhivehi movie made in the past 10 years.

A year, 2 movies, 3 awards shows. Half a million Ruffiyaa for each of the shows. Note: this is excluding Hotel and transport charges.

The latest show was held at Dharubaaruge and the participants were invited to stay in Male' at Nalahiya Hotel for the ceremony. They were offered to stay in the lobby free of charge for 30 minutes (from 8:00 to 8:30pm). They can use free toilets and were served with Taza mineral water at this time. Taxis were washed and turned into limos by placing a sticker on the number plate and on top of the word "Taxi". Everyone was greeted well at Dharubaaruge which hosted the latest of the awards. Government owned newspaper Miadhu and lots of government related businesses sponsored the event. The actors danced with the sponsor's name boards at the end of the show. Sponsors were made very happy looking at their bodies move with the brand logos.

I am happy to have watched all 3 shows live on MTV.

Jumhooree Celebration

All corners of Maldives are celebrating. A celebration which is self organized by all small and large communities. All most all junctions of the populated areas of Maldives is in festival mode. Dances, music, public speeches etc. All the mosques filled with believers thanking god with happiness. Like a huge eid extended over weeks. A fresh smile and a sense of ease and relaxation on everyone's face.

As a tourist I was looking at all these things kind of puzzled. Because my guide warned me that this country is officially in a "mourning" period and the flags are on half mast. Because their president passed away while serving his 29th year.

A very Happy News

I was working really hard in the office this afternoon when suddenly my phone started vibrating. I checked my phone and it was my sis calling. I thought something big happened but on the other end she was sounding very happy. phew!! her happy tone calmed me alot :)

And we were having a very happy sisterly talk when she came up with this happy news. One of her very closest friend is living in Malaysia with her family. She has 2 little beautiful princess aged 4 and 2 (Lulu and Laiko). well, it seems that sister told her friend to check my bloggy.

And she checked...like others she wasn't xpecting much i guess. However, all of a sudden this bloggy of mine cast a magical spell on them. This has become one of the really interesting and cool blogs. And the most important part was Lulu and Laiko loved this bloggy and they didn't even let their mom to comment even :)

Anyways Rash ill try to make my blog more interesting for everyone.

And thanks sis it was a really happy news that relieved me from the tense mood i was having b4 u called. love you all :)

edited the names and reposted from here. Thank you. It's so inspiring.

Raif is very busy

Rifle is his nick name. I'm talking about Raif. He's a busy man. Busiest man in Male'. Just like every other Malean. So busy with a quick temper. But he's a friend. I visited him today.

He was watching TV. Switching channels. He said 'Nothing good on this f**king TV, So many F**King channels, F**K Mesco and Cable net. What a monopoly". Just then his grandma said there's no onions in the kitchen for tomorrow.

Raif at once said 'Hello boys, we've got a job'. I went after him. He took out his high speed Wave motorcycle. I sat at the back. Woo Wooo, he raced. Honk Honk he tested his horn. He took off like a jet. I told him 'Raif, we don't need it so fast. There is 18 more hours before the onions were needed tomorrow.' But Raif did not listen. He says that if he doesn't go fast he'll not be there in time. I asked him what time? He did not reply.

And the traffic on Majeedi road was very slow. Raif made sure that he made good use of his loud horn. He gets so angry if even a kid crossing on the zebra crossing slowed him down. He goes 'Fucking B*lh*nthah'. If there is a taxi stopped to pick up an old person from the house a roads get blocked. Opportunity for people like Raif to use their horn. Peep Peep. They say that it's impossible to see Male' from NASA's space station. But they hear the sound of the horns of Wave cycles from up there.

Raif thinks that places in Male' are so far away. So he needs to speed up as much as possible to save time on transportation. Honks help to clear the paths for him. His house is near Central Hotel. He bought onions from the new Hyper Market in Male' Agora (just one block away). His cycle adventure is something that makes him feel busy in this town.

When Raif brought the onions home his wife was so happy. The End.

Riyaz is Sad. Because his skin is dark.

This is about my good friend Riyaz 33 years old. (Not the real name)

Riyaz has been a good friend of mine since grade 7. He has very beautiful skin. Very dark very manly. The kind of skin super models of America dies to get. But Riyaz is not happy. He is under a lot of pressure. Pressure began the day he was born. The first question his mother asked the Foolhumaa (mid-wife) was "Is he fair or dark?". Not that his parents loved him any less for being a dark skinned boy. Racism in that level is not considered as racism in this country. Day after day as Riyaz grew older different comments come to him regarding his skin color. Riyaz likes to swim. But his uncles and aunties would comment "If you go to the sea you will get dark". He likes fishing. But just like most in his generation he is not going fishing because the sun makes his skin too dark. And the comments he gets get worse.

When we were in grade 9 together Riyaz started to walk a bit different. When I asked why he explained. He was only walking in shades. He rides his bicycle faster in the sunny part and slower in the shade. Because there is a pressure around him which made an inner voice of him to speak to him "Riyattey, be fair. Bituns like fair boys. Beautiful is fair."

It is not just the pressure from within his family. These skin color comments come as very innocent ones mostly as jokes. These are not just for guys. It's worse for girls. Rarely a female Maldivian escapes the trap of putting 'Fair and Lovely' on their skin. The advertisers and the film industry does a good job on promoting these kind of ideas. (Shah Rukh promoting skin paling cream). Some girls I see on the street put so much white powder on their face that they look like dead ghosts. Some make-up on dhivehi film actresses make them look worse. But they had to do something. Because there is a unwritten social law here. "Dark skin is dirt". Black is not beautiful. It does not come as racism. It has nothing to do with race in this case. Racism also exists. But this skin color thing is beyond that. Its roots go beyond the Indian cast system influence or the barbaric British colonization of Maldives.

Now Riyaz has bought something called 'Fair and Handsome'. It's really expensive. But he feels that he's getting fairer now. Though he is married with three kids now he is still not happy about his skin color. But I have told him that even if he puts all the cream in the world his skin will be dark. And if it's ugly. I'm sorry. For me dark is beautiful.

Male' Jihad living on 2.5th floor with a cupboard bedroom

Surprise Surprise! Today I was at Juway's Cafe and I met my friend Jihad (Jihattey) who is a assistant to the junior accountant grade B in a big company in Male'. Jihattey was very happy and said he's married and now living in his own apartment. Jihattey invited me to his apartment to meet his wife.

Jihattey's Bajaj scooter was very quick to take us to his apartment in Kuda Henveiru. It was a house I used to go. But from the outside it looked a little taller. We went in. The house would have been no bigger than a typical Boakosha Kada (hair saloon) in Male'. About 12ft by 12ft.

The downstairs is the saloon. The hair artist with posters of Tamil film stars design the Maldivians hair to look cool. The first floor was used by the family of the house. We climbed to there on a ladder. The family of 8 lives there with some of their in-laws. Then comes Jihattey's floor. Another ladder we climbed up.

First thing i noticed is that the floor height is a bit low. It ' look odd to my friend Jihattey because Jihattey and Maumoon are just about the same height. But Jihattey's wife who introduced herself to me as Zulfa lives there a bit bended over. Zulfa says she's very happy with Jihattey and to my surprise she invited me to a surprise party she's planning to have there tonight. Zulfa is very busy preparing cakes and things.

I got more surpized with Jihattey when he showed me their maid who came out of a cupboard. Their maid lives in the cupboard. Jihattey says the maid makes things easy for Zulfa and the maid is from Bangladesh.

Now Jihattey is saving to buy an air-corn and a sports car to make Zulfa happy.