India Visitor

Meeting Asha Parekh on December 16, 07

2008-12-16T14:57:00.000-08:00

Asha Parekh at her flat on

Sunday, Dec. 16, 07

Today, one year ago, I left Mulund West area of Mumbai in the morning and moved to the Sea Side Hotel, which is in the same vicinity of Sun & Sand Hotel in the Juhu area. This way I would be closer to Asha Parekh's flat, the Arabian Sea, the Prithvi Theater

and the airport as I was scheduled to depart on Monday December 17.

After I arrived at the hotel, I had a quick breakfast, packed my two cameras and rushed to get a three-wheeler taxi forgetting to take my gifts to Asha. I was so eager to arrive on time that I forgot to take the gifts I intended to give Asha. I realized I forgot them at the time when I entered her flat after having gone through a dramatic scene with a stranger, who decided to ride with me voluntarily in the taxi expecting money at the end. At one point when the driver didn't know the way to Asha's flat and stopped to ask people in the street, I realized what the stranger was up to and I requested in front of the police officer that he exit the car. That is when I got a call from Asha inquiring about my arrival time. I gave the phone to the policeman to take directions from Asha and instruct the cab driver, which was very helpful.

On that day, I was very tired physically, so with inconvenience of moving in the same morning and after experiencing this dramatic incident with the stranger and the police, I arrived at her flat feeling somewhat shaky and distracted. Despite that, my interview with Asha Parekh was wonderful. Because of the quiet environment and of the availability of electric plugs in convenient places, I was able to use two cameras and have a good quality voice.

After we completed the interview, I took few editing shots including of the beautiful views from her balcony. She then offered delicious snacks and tea, but because she was heading out, I rushed out again forgetting to take still pictures of her and to ask her driver, as she suggested, to take me to the hospital, which has a section named after her. Even though I apologized about forgetting the gifts and promised to give them to the driver who dropped me at the hotel, I was upset at myself.

As I indicated in earlier postings that I intend to produce a documentary film about Asha Parekh and Shammi Kapoor, which I have been working on for the last three weeks and plan to release in the fall of 2009. My trip to London and Germany in November (2008) delayed the editing.

Asha's flat was beautiful. She looked wonderful. Her eyes, bright smile and intelligent personality are her great features. Elegance was her attire!

*************

An hour after I returned to my hotel, I met with Kala Ramnath, a professional violinist at the Sun and Sand Hotel, which was next door to my hotel. The meeting was brief and we took several pictures at the end.

Shammi Kapoor's Birthday on October 21

2008-10-21T20:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Shammi

This clip is dedicated to Shammi on his birthday and it has a small part from my interview with him in Mumbai on Friday, December 14, 07

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-ea6SbLm_s

October 2, 08

2008-10-02T09:44:00.000-07:00

October 2 is

Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday!

Wishing ALL Readers a PEACEFUL DAY.

It is also the birthday of actress Asha Parekh

Wishing You a Joyful Birthday Asha

Wafaa' Al-Natheema

Stay tuned for the trailer from the documentary film featuring Shammi Kapoor and Asha Parekh, scheduled for release in 2009.

Pushkar Kumar and the Prithvi Theater

2008-09-29T14:03:00.000-07:00

Mumbai on December 15, 07

I had contacted Pushkar Kumar; a young artist, on Saturday morning, December 15, 07 to arrange a meeting for us and help me find reasonable hotels in the Juhu neighborhood of Mumbai.

So we decided to meet at the Prithvi Theater * (established in Juhu by Shashi Kapoor and wife Jennifer in 1978). I was pleased that Pushkar suggested to meet there first. I loved the theatre, its outdoor café and the atmosphere in general with the aroma of coffee and Chai. Before Pushkar's arrival, I wanted to take video footage of the theater's outdoor cafe and of theater's sign, I was told I couldn't without prior permission, which was not granted even after I asked the manager.

After a short discussion about the café, India and politics, Pushkar decided that we should leave the café and look for a hotel. We did and after about one hour, we found a reasonable hotel in the same block of the Sun n Sand hotel. It was the Sea Side hotel, which had good rooms. After I made reservations for Sunday night, which was my final night in India, Pushkar and I had a nice walk on the beach and I took video shots of him and of the lovely activities taken place near the beach, then headed to have dinner at a restaurant overlooking the Arabian Sea. It was one of two most relaxing days I had in Mumbai. The other day was when I spent it in the same beach area with my friend Pankaj.

At the restaurant and after about forty-five minutes from taking my first bite, I strangely felt weaker. With time, I began to feel heavy eyes and couldn’t finish my drink and food, so I asked Pushkar to leave and head to the street to get a taxi. At one point, I looked at my phone time and it registered in my mind as 9 pm, so I got worried because it takes an hour and a half to reach my friend’s house. That was the other reason why I decided to leave. But after I greeted Pushkar goodbye and the taxi began moving, I checked the time again and it was 8 pm!! How could that be? I felt sorry for rushing Pushkar to leave.

When I arrived at Santoshi’s apartment, she took pictures of me, and welcomed ten children and two adults at her apartment to introduce me to them and take my pictures with them. I felt awkward and overwhelmed. One of the children asked me cutely whether I was French. I did not understand why she thought so. But after I heard Santoshi make a comment about my “white skin,” I realized why the child thought I may have been French. It was surprising because though I had slightly lighter skin than hers, my skin was not white. After they left, I gathered my belongings and made them ready for my Sunday morning move to the hotel.

If I were familiar with the distances between the areas I was visiting and their characteristics, I would have met Shammi Kapoor at the Sun and Sand Hotel on Friday and moved to the adjacent Sea Side Hotel on Friday night. It would have been so convenient and more fun.

* First founded as a touring theater by Shammi Kapoor’s father, Prithviraj in 1944.

Meeting Shammi Kapoor in Bombay, India

2008-06-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

Shammi Kapoor at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay

Friday, December 14, 07

It has been four months and twenty days since I've last published my diaries of the trip to India in December 2007.

A variety of problems, work-related deadlines and the gloomy news of war on IRAQ interfered with my writing. But today, I plan to continue recording the details or rather (by now they should be called) memoirs from my India trip.

Wednesday, December 12, 07 was the day on which I left Kochi, Kerala heading to Mumbai. At 11:40 am, the Indigo flight departed Kuchi arriving at 2:30 pm in Bombay. The flight was on time and very comfortable despite that IndiGo is not considered among the top Indian airlines. I was impressed. At the Mumbai airport, my friend, Pankaj, and his friend, Santoshi, came to pick me up. From Wednesday all through Saturday, I stayed at Santoshi's apartment. She is a single mother and at the time of my visit was looking for a job, so she had some spare time to take me places.

Having to wait two full days before meeting with Shammi Kapoor and interviewing him felt a long time. During those days, Santoshi and I, and sometimes Pankaj visited malls and hotels. Although I took a brief video footage of a Hindu temple from the outside, my friend was rushing so I couldn't enter it or see one before leaving Bombay. Visiting temples and mosques was on the top of my list of things to do in India not for religious reasons, but unfortunately I visited only one temple in Kuchi, Kerala.

After few phone calls, Mr. Kapoor and I fixed a day and place for our meeting: Friday, December 14 at 4 pm at the Taj Mahal Hotel. I think it was a mistake to meet at this hotel. It was far from where I was staying. I witnessed for the first time in my life, the worst traffic jam ever. When I completed the interview with dear Shammi and headed back to meet my friends, it took the taxi driver two hours and some minutes to arrive at the hotel where they waited to make it more convenient for me and closer from the Taj Mahal Hotel than Santoshi's apartment!!

Regardless of that, my meeting with Shammi Kapoor was the highlight of 2007 and the best thing that ever happened to me since the departure of my beloved father, Mahmoud, on July 24, 2006. Putting in mind that Shammi was one of three men, besides my dear (paternal) uncle, Dawood, and my father, who put a smile on my face and filled me with warmth as a young child growing up in Baghdad, IRAQ.

At the instance of his entrance to the hotel restaurant pushed on wheel chair, I felt profound comfort and warmth. I finally met with a man whom I passionately loved between the ages of three and seven. As a young child, no one could negatively speak about Shammi in front of me. I would protest saying words that sounded cute for adults, so they purposely teased me and entertained by my reaction. From the ages of three to seven, I used to love watching Hindi films, songs and dancing. For whatever reason I stopped watching Hindi films at age eight and older! I began listening to, watching and appreciating Arabic, Russian and other western music and films. But the interesting thing was that as a young child, I loved Hindi music and dance more than any other art including Arabic! I am sure most children would fall in love as well no matter where they live because Indian dancing involves extensive facial expressions that specifically children find entertaining. Some of the expressions and body language are similar to what many children express in their daily routine of playing and talking with themselves. It is an uninhibited form of dancing, nothing is impossible, from eyebrow to toes; everything moves. Although Shammi Kapoor's body was not trained to dance, his soul was the guidance, which led to his graceful, energetic body in addition to his superb and unprecedented facial expressions.

Decades passed by without me listening to Hindi songs or watch Indian films until I heard the Sabri Brothers and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan on USA radio in the middle of 1990s. So when they came to the USA for a tour, I attended their concerts, promoted them on radio when I co-hosted or filled in for radio hosts, and even interviewed the Sabri Brothers and published an article about their life and art in my quarterly newsletter, Al-Wafaa News. At that time, I enjoyed their music and singing tremendously. Their Qawwali music was spiritual, so intoxicating that I refused to buy a CD of Nusrat's singing and preferred to listen to him only on radio or live on stage so that I won't repeat his singing over and over again and get tired of it. However still this did not bring me back to watching Hindi films and songs until one month after the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Those September events, the hate crimes that followed and, shortly after, the war on Afghanistan, put my mind and soul in a shock and awe phase. All of that was not sufficient for the "civilized" west, a real Shock and Awe campaign was being planned against my beloved home, Iraq. Several concepts and beliefs within me since the 2001 events were shaken by these events, which were intensified after the 2003 war on IRAQ. So a desperate need to escape from reality was inevitable. That is when my Lebanese close friend brought a DVD of the film "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" for us to view. I watched that film over fifty times. I stopped counting after fifty. I loved the film's story and acting, but I appreciated more the songs, music and especially the dancing and wonderful attire. Sanjay Leela Bhansali's directing of this film was very good. But his "Khamoshi:The Musical" and "Black," which I saw later, were better directed and the story and acting were superior. I watched "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" (HDDCS) so many times even though it was more than three-hour long and I didn't like some of the film's melodrama. It taught me so many Hindi expressions besides the originally Arabic ones.

It was one of two best films for both actors Aishwarya Rai and Ajay Devgan besides "Raincoat" Their acting was brilliant in these two films. In fact Rai's acting in HDDCS was better than in Devdas. Aishwarya did at least fifty facial expressions in this film, so her role here was more challenging than in Devdas.

Hearing Shammi Kapoor at the Taj Mahal interview praise this film at length and favor it over Devdas surprised and impressed me a great deal. Are we that similar in taste? This was interesting knowing our age, ethnic and linguistic differences! True, art is universal, but I found the closeness in our opinions and word usage, comparing both films, fascinating. This was not the only matter about which we both had exact agreements, likes or dislikes. I will mention other instances later.

Flashback

By February 2002, I became anti-social hugging my two cats, Ghazala and Nimir, and writing poems in English. The Guantanamo fiasco, the war on Afghanistan, my nostalgia to IRAQ while simultaneously missing my maternal grandmother, Natheema (who died on February 16, 1997) had raised so many questions and concerns in my mind including international laws, social codes and life in general. All of this combined made me (in September 2001) vehemently boycott all western products and companies, USA airlines and completely change my attire to Arabic and Indian. I also changed my family name (in February 2002) to the name of my maternal grandmother, Natheema, which was changed not only due to gender-related issues, but also for other personal and family matters.

I had thought that facts, like how the USA got a way with accusing Arab Moslems of executing the 9/11 attacks without evidence, with the number of people killed on that day and with the killing of hundreds of Arabs and Moslems (and few Sikhs) during the hate crime wave around the industrial west, how it quickly succeeded to create Guantanamo torture camp (thanks to Iran and Pakistan for selling innocent Arabs and Afghans to the CIA) and how it went to war against Afghanistan, would be the utmost savagery we would witness from the "civilized" industrial west. I never imagined that all of the aforementioned violations and crimes were just an icing on the cake and were the USA-UK-Iran-Israel collaborative's warming up exercises before the Goddess of All Crimes (as I began to call it later); the war, the Shock and Awe bombing campaign on beloved IRAQ.

When on March 19, the USA bombed Baghdad, I didn't go to work on the next day in protest. I changed my outgoing voice messages for both of my business and home phones denouncing the war and openly stating that I would not be working for American companies until the USA is out of IRAQ. I kept those voice messages for one month. Because I boycotted working for USA companies, I had to think of a quick way to bring cash and support myself. I sold the only thing I owned (besides my car); my condominium. I put it on the market in late April and was sold in June. I gathered my belonging and moved on June 4, 03 leaving behind a place in which I had fifteen years of memories!

Since March 20, 03, I have not worked in any USA company even though I live in the USA. So my life's rollercoaster all through January 2006 did not include watching Hindi films. Between July 2003 and December 2005, my rollercoaster took me six times to the UK, once to Texas, twice to Jordan, once to Syria, Russia and South Korea and three times to IRAQ.

A family problem in November 2005 while in London made me disappointed and very sad. So, in 2006, I returned to my habit of watching Hindi films. I watched them because they were highly entertaining and colorful. They have the ingredients for an escape from reality.

Later in June, I participated in the Second World Congress on Middle Eastern Studies in Amman, Jordan and gave a presentation on "The History of Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra." It was an unnecessarily expensive trip that caused me problems during and after I returned to Boston.

I will never forget July 2, 2006. It was the day on which I spoke with my father at length through the Internet Skype and for the last time. Twenty-two days later he departed from our world and was buried in London. I still have not recovered from this great loss. Within one week from his death, I arrived in London and began another very turbulent chapter of my life with the family. Out of desperation and need to spiritually connect with my father, I left London on my birthday for Syria and Iraq to be with people and in places that reminded me of him.

These utterly sad and helpless events made me enter 2007 with no hope and was constantly thinking of death, until I was shaken by a major car accident on February 15, 2007. The accident caused me to go to regular physical therapy for seven months to treat my muscle spasm. Funny how fate works; when we lose hope and think of death, somehow we get awakened by more devastating events to occupy us away from these negative thoughts:)

In a later routine check up, I was told that I needed surgery. So on Friday, May 18,07, I underwent surgery for the first time in my life. I left two days later. Fate seemed to be running out of ideas for me to desire life; it brought me a major car accident and surgery within three months. 'Good, let her get busy now to stop nagging about death'. One week after this surgery, Bollywood's famous actors Shammi Kapoor and Asha Parekh showed up in my life again.

During my rehabilitation period, I enjoyed the company of a laptop searching through the Internet reading and watching art-related material. The news about Asha Parekh receiving the life achievement award in New York appeared in my search. I then began to search for Shammi Kapoor. His website was the top second on the google list. It provided an email address. Before I send him a letter, I was able to call Asha Parekh at her New York hotel room few hours before the award ceremony on Friday, May 25. An employee at the Sony company sponsoring the event gave me her hotel telephone number and informed me that Shammi Kapoor was still alive. I was so eager to travel to NY to attend the award ceremony and meet Asha, but I couldn't go alone one week after my surgery. When I hang up the phone, I sent an email to Shammi's address. On the following day, Saturday, I received his reply. It filled me with joy. Never have I had events happen in such speed, grace and ease in my life. Fate was indeed up to something!

In less than two months of my correspondence with him disclosing my desire to meet and interview him, he called me on an unforgettable Saturday, July 7, 07 (lucky sevens). I was so honored and humbled to hear his voice. After the call, I cried.

In September, I went to the Indian embassy in New York and obtained a visa. On October 2nd, I called Asha Parekh in Bombay to wish her happy birthday and talk about my desire to interview her. I remember chocking as I talked with her.

On October 20, I phoned and interviewed Shammi Kapoor in celebration of his 77th birthday on October 21). I quickly edited four minutes of the interview and posted it on Youtube in the evening of October 20th. I then emailed him the link as a birthday surprise and then to people around the world.

Finally, on December 2, 07, I arrived in India, a country I've been wishing to visit since childhood. Who was there to pick me up? My dear friend, Pankaj, whom I have not seen for 20 years since he married and left Boston in 1987. He attended Northeastern University at which I was studying civil engineering. If I watched what happened to me between February and December 2007, I would have said this only happens in the movies!

Back to My Interview with Shammi Kapoor

When I began watching his films again in 2007, I didn't think he would have the same effect on me as he did when I was a young child. Yet even as an adult he still made me smile and enjoy his boyish spirit and energy! How can this be possible? am I that addicted on history and my childhood memories? Or was it his attitude, positive energy and great talent that captivated me? I couldn't answer those questions until I met him, and the answer was definitely yes to both questions. As for the resemblance between our personalities in terms of our reaction to events and our likes and dislikes; it was astounding!

Shammi and I agreed on another matter, we were like a carbon copy: We both thought that he did superb acting in his film "Professor" and that he deserved the Filmfare award for best actor. His role in this film was more challenging than in "Brahmchari" film, which brought him the Filmfare award for best actor. After I watched the film, I googled his name and was surprised to learn that he did not receive the best actor award for "Professor"!! At our interview, Kapoor expressed the exact same feeling. In fact he added that he was hurt for not receiving the best actor award for that film, and that when he received the award for "Brahmchari," it was sort of too late, he was not exuberant about it.

When I watched the "professor" film for the first time as an adult, I jumped from joy as I listened to two songs I grew up with as a child. Not only I saw the movie at age four at a Baghdad Cinema, but later my father, in seeing how much I loved Hini films and songs, brought me a reel tape with a collection of Hindi songs including my favorite song from this film. The other song I enjoyed was "Main Chali". When I viewed these songs in 2007, I was amazed by how my memory remembered every shot and movement by the actors!

One of our taste exactness cases was about our desired career, which topped them all: Mr. Kapoor indicated that he was interested in flying and aeronautics; airplane mechanical engineering! I remember my mind froze. I tried unsuccessfully to use the word "aeronautics" as I talked after he mentioned it appearing as though I was unable to pronounce it, but my mind stumbled by the thought 'how could this be?' When I came to the USA, my desire was to study aeronautics and become a mechanical engineer maintaining airplanes. The subject was fascinating to me. Even the study and training for a pilot license intrigued me. But upon arriving in Boston, few friends discouraged me indicating that the subject matter can be studied only in Seattle, a very cold and far destination, not to mention more expensive. I am sure when they discouraged me from pursuing aeronautics, there was another issue on their mind, they didn't dare to disclose it, which is my being a woman!

Shammi's bright smile and deep fatherly voice as well as the overwhelming experience of being with him made me forget taking still photos of him in the digital camera. His nephew, who accompanied him to the interview, took few still pictures of both of us using my video camera, which produces lesser quality photos than the digital camera.

Our interview lasted one hour. He offered to give me a ride to a nearest taxi area, so I collected my belonging and took the ride with him driving. Why was he driving when his driver was with us in the car? Because he loves to drive and does not like to be driven, again just like me!

After two hours and few minutes, I arrived at the hotel to meet Pankaj and Santoshi and have dinner. While in the taxi on the way to meet them, Shammi called to check if I was fine. I appreciated his gesture. He put a smile on my face again:)

(*_*) Don't forget to click on all the blue words.

Last Day in Kerala

2008-02-06T10:03:00.000-08:00

December 11, 2007

My last day in Kerala was the most annoying and tiring of the entire trip. I even cried of frustration. I went to a store that sells luggages and bought one, but didn't have enough rupees, so I took a receipt with the amount paid and owed, which showed the store's address and telephone number. When I took the taxi to get foreign exchange no one was accepting Citi Bank's traveller's checks. I had to go to three places until one of them finally changed them for me. Then I took another taxi (three-wheeler) back to the store to pay the left-over balance and get the bag, but the taxi driver took me to a completely different location!!! Neither he nor anyone in the neighborhood spoke English, which was strange in India, unless they were faking it. I was stuck in that one residential street for twenty minutes trying to make sense of the problem and why I was taken to this strange place!! Finally a postman passes by and translate my anguish to the driver. He called the telephone number on the receipt and told me to wait for someone.

Ten minutes later a guy shows up riding a motorcycle and begins to talk to me in broken English. After arguing back and forth, he told me that the address and telephone number on the receipt belong to the factory (which is in a different section of the city) and not the store. When I heard him say this, I yelled "what is this crazy country!" He laughed and promised to arrange to take me to the store. He stopped another three-wheeler taxi, told the driver where to go and paid him too. When I arrived at the store, the employee was standing at the door holding my bag for me. I guess he heard my story and was trying to show courtesy! Of course I shortened the frustrating story dramatically, but it ended fine. It was a movie scene.

After I rested a little at the hotel room, I felt like going to the beach and I did, but this too proves tiring and problematic. They kept making the distance to the beach sounds close "only 25 kilometers", yet I had to take two buses and then a taxi for a total of 1.5 hours. I felt I was in a country that no one tells a stranger the truth! When I arrived to the beach, it was around 4 pm. Very few people were at the beach and it bothered me how they stared at me. I didn't dare to swim at first, but later when more people showed up and when I noticed tourists were also swimming, I swam for 30 minutes. I then had a very delicious dinner at a beautiful restaurant in a well maintained hotel. Then left back to the hotel. I felt bad because it took me three hours to commute to the beach, yet my total swimming time was 30 minutes!! I didn't want to stay longer because I wanted to have dinner before I head back to the hotel and so I didn't want to arrive late.

It was indeed a tiring and annoying day!

The next day, Wednesday, December 12, I took the flight back to Bombay.

Monday, December 10, 07 in Kerala

2008-01-12T15:58:00.000-08:00

It is 10 am now and I am sitting in a boat viewing backwater scenes, very beautiful and relaxing. There are twenty of us, from different countries, including the maintainers of the boat. We've been on a the boat since 9:10 am.

A mini van picked us up from the hotel and the driving distance to the water area took us about forty minutes. The city was very crowded, noisy and disorganized again! I finally realized and convinced myself that I am not in a normal country: This is one of the most populated countries in the world, so obviously I will see crowd, noise and dirt, so I'd better accept the status quo and stop whining and moaning! After
giving myself a lecture and was busy to teach myself to relax and take it easy. The mini van arrived to the water area, then we took our chairs in the boat.

About 10:45 am, we stopped at a village where they process sea shells and produce coconut and other medicinal plants. We learned that 'Kerala' means the land of coconut, that Kerala produces the largest sea shell powder providing pharmaceutical companies in Northern India with Calcium, and that coconut is largely produced in Kerala, but only sufficient for local consumption.

Sea shells get burnt for 12 hours under temperature of 600 C. The resulting powder is not only used to make Calcium tablets, but used also for white cement.

We then left the village to continue our excursion around the water and landed in a small village where lunch was served at 1 pm. The food was delicious and less rich than in Goa and Bombay.

Following lunch, the mini van took us to a different location to take another water excursion, but with smaller boat passing throw narrower water ways, an area that somewhat reminded me of the marshes in South of Iraq, although with distinct differences! Here, we stopped at another village to watch the process of coiling/rope making and watching coconut picking followed by drinking its juice and tasting its white filling. They gave each of the tourists one coconut. It was tasty and healthy sampling.

The beautiful tour ended at 4 pm. After I headed to the hotel room, rested a little, I went to the Tripunithura Poornathrayeesa Temple. It was a unique experience. There was a major festival on that day. Hundreds of people were standing in line to enter the temple. It took me half an hour to finally get inside of it. It was a huge square-shaped, open-roof temple flavored with incense everywhere, decorated with endless array of candles and filled with thousands of people standing to watch the presence of 15 elephants decorated in glittering and colorful attire. I video taped twenty minutes of footage, but was not sure what was going to happen later, so I decided to leave after half an hour. I asked few people what normally happen following the music and the viewing of the elephants, but no one understood me. So I decided to leave. It took me fifteen minutes to exit the temple.

When I exited, I continued taking video footage as I was walking through an adjacent-long street that was blocked from car traffic for people to display their goodies and products for sale. I enjoyed walking around the various bazaars, but was feeling tired because again I did not sleep enough the night before.

When I reached the street's end, I asked a policeman to help me find a taxi to take me back to the hotel. He was so nice and helpful. He called a guy driving the famous three wheeler (meaning a small car with three wheels) and asked him to give me a ride to the hotel. The policeman inquired about the cost of the ride back to the hotel and translated that to me. When I agreed, he took his car's plate number at the presence of the driver to ensure my safety and I made believe I was giving my number to the police when the cab driver was walking back to his car. He did all of that with slight smile on his face; very impressive. His was not the only positive story about policemen in Kerala; as I had three episodes dealing with nice mannered and helpful police!.

I returned to my hotel room and went directly to bed.

Sunday December 9, 07 in Cochin, Kerala

2008-01-09T13:16:00.000-08:00

I took the above pictures on the same day of my arrival in Kuchin, Kerala. It was an early evening perade/rally, which was organized by Kerala's Christian Society due to the elections. I also took video footage of this event, you can view it on youtube at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjnmHtVuJS0

The train to Kuchi (Cochin) arrived at 8:30 am instead of 4:30 am. After taking the taxi to the hotel and checking in, I walked in the area around the hotel and then headed to Balgotti Island. I had lunch there. It was good. In this island surrounded by water from all sides, there were a hotel with Ayuverdic center, restaurant, clothes store and swimming pool. The whole hotel complex is called the Balgotti Palace and was Built by the Danish in the 18th century.

After lunch, I walked around the palace enjoying the view of green landscape and lake. I sat (for forty minutes) facing the water as it is the most relaxing thing for me to do. I then asked the hotel receptionists for hotel room rates and other general information. One of the two women sitting behind the desk seemed more more dominant than the other as she interrupted the other one to answer my questions. We ended up talking about various matters and one thing led to the other and she informed me about a ferry to take to the other side of the river bank. She also told me about a famous temple called Tripunithura Temple and promised to accompany me to it, but after meeting her brother on the other side of the river, she changed her mind. I also learned from her about a famous clothes store (for Saris and other Indian clothes) called Joy Alukkas Wedding Center. It was located few steps from the river bank, so I walked to it instead of going to the temple. As I was trying to cross the street to enter the wedding center, it was kind of closed for the perade/rally. That is when I stopped and took the pictures appearing above after the battery of my video camera expired.

In Goa

2008-01-09T09:13:00.000-08:00

I took a taxi upon arrival in Madgaon (Margao) train station to Anthy's guest house, which is located in the Sernabatim Beach. It is a quiet and lovely beach.

I was surprised by the city's darkness and filthy roads. The city's design and crowded streets did not appeal to me. Indians' driving is bad. I had to tell the driver twice to slow down.

After few requests I made to improve the hotel room, I settled in Anthy's guesthouse, had dinner, then went to bed. I was so tired: twelve-hour train (from Bombay) plus the stress from the taxi driver and having to walk on sand with my luggages and getting angry at the staff of the guest house who did not help with luggages. The hotel room cost 1400 rupees (or about $38) per night despite lack of air conditioning. It had no soap, toilet paper or trash container. I had to request all of that before I settle in the room. Luckily the bed had a mosquito net. But the location of the guest house was perfect, right on the Arabian Sea with a very romantic setting especially during sunset and evening time.

As usual in this trip I didn't sleep much and woke up at 5 am and couldn't sleep. After the breakfast (at 7:30 am) followed by an annoying episode with a near-by travel agency, I couldn't last beyond 1:45 pm. So I surrendered to sleep until 4 pm. Knowing that I am here for only four days, I considered half of today to have been wasted. After waking up, I immediately took a 20-minute dip in the sea and left at about 5 pm to the train station to cancel my train ticket and purchase a different one to Kerala. I also needed to make flight reservations from Kerala to Bombay. These errands took me three hours to complete with some dosage of aggrevation. While taking care of these errands, I passed by the main market, and other neighboring markets. The market area was crowded, dusty and with badly paved streets; not my idea for a vacation. So I looked so forward when I finished to escape the city and be at the quiet area where my hotel and the Arabian Sea were. When I returned to my hotel, I was instantly relaxed by the sound of sea waves, took deep breaths, had a delicious dinner, chatted with a stranger, and then went to bed.

The Next Days:

Thursday, December 6 was a day on which I did one hour massage, yoga, dancing and (more than yesterday's) swimming; all while at the hotel and Sea shore. I also walked to the neighboring Bernakulim Beach and bought few items. Overall, it was a slow day. Because of this and to avoid boredom, I decided to travel to a different area the next day.

Friday, December 7

Today, december 7th at 1:30 pm, I am sitting at Madgaon (Margao) train station waiting for the 2:30 pm train to Canacona station to visit the Palolem Beach.. The train staion smells like a fish market and is filthy.

I decided to go to Palolem Beach because I was told it was the most beautiful beach in that area. But when I arrived in it, I was surprised again, Is this it? I took video footage of some of the huts and restaurants. Goans are obsessed with the word "paradise". So one sees so many restaurants and geust houses/hotels are called Paradise, but in my definition they far from being a paradise. Overall, it is a small three-quarters of a circle, cozy and naturally beautiful beach, but it has been over rated. Also the tendency is that some waiters follow white tourists and ask them to dine in their restaurants. Something I hated watching. People's behavior tremendously affects the appreciation of beauty and the worth of a place.

The interesting thing was that knowing I look Indian, I was not approached by waiters to dine in their restaurants because this style of what I call begging is only done with white western tourists. Little do they know that westerners do not appreciate this approach. I was upset at Indians' and Nepalis' obsession with western music. At the restaurant, they play nothing, but American/western music, what a complex!

A Nepali waiter at a restaurant on Palolem Beach twice resisted my request to play Indian music. When he told me he doesn't like Indian music ( and began mocking and mimicking Indian songs in front of me), I asked him to play Nepali music. After another hesitation, he played Nepali music fused with western music, making it seems like a disease with no cure-:):)

In fact, his was the only empty restaurant on the beach. The restaurant's menu included Arabic food under an "Israeli Food" title. I brought this fact to his attention and that it should be called Arabic, not Israeli. He said, "you are the first one to make such a comment. Israeli tourists come here and they say it is Israeli." Had there been enough Arab tourists to visit India or good coverage about them in Indian media, people like this ignorant waiter wouldn't have answered so primitively. Had Arabs, again, not been obsessed with the west and spent their money vacationing and living in it, instead had they invested, vacationed, studied and lived in China, India, Japan, Korea and other Asian countries, they wouldn't have been so forgotten and under credited here!! Sadly Asians take most of their news coverage and references about the Arabs and non-Arab middle Easterners from the west. That is what I witnessed from participating in a conference in Amman, Jordan in 2006 on Middle Eastern studies, which was attended by Asians from and Japan and South Korea and from visiting South Korea in August 2005. When uneducated, in fact ignorant, people like this waiter know of Israel and the so-called Israeli food and know nothing about Arabs and simple matters like their cuisine, there is a serious Public Relations (PR) problem here! This is aside from the disappointing Indian politics since the 1990s by shifting toward the right; collaborating with the USA-UK-Israel politics and adopting the corrupt "anti-terrorism" program, which is literally anti-Moslem program! This is also evident in many Hindi films stereotyping Moslems as terrorists!

After I saw how much attention this Nepali waiter paid to white western tourists and how he relatively ignored my requests, I decided to have dinner elsewhere! So he basically lost me, and none of the white western tourists chose his restaurant; not appreciating his begging-style approach! So I had a delicious dinner elsewhere and ended the night with one-hr massage and Hinna foot design. It was a lovely night facing the Arabian Sea with candles all around. Then I took the taxi back to the Margao train station and from there I took another taxi back to Anthy's guest house. I gathered my belongings to be ready for my next-day trip to Kerala.

Part of Saturday, December 8th was in Goa. I enjoyed my last breakfast there, paid my bill and took a white taxi to the train station. This taxi driver's car was very clean and his driving was very good; the first positive experience (and only) with taxi drivers! On top of that, he drove me through beautiful streets and made me see the good sections of Margao city (for a change). He also drove me to a nice store to buy thermus and a tea cup for my train trip. He gave me a ride back to Anthy's guest house to finalize my packing, exchange currency and take my bags to the taxi. When we arrived at the train station, I gave him a generous tip and took his name and number to recommend him to others. He was so polite; the kind you see in movies with the rich and famous:)

Between Two Cities

2007-12-29T04:52:00.000-08:00

Pankaj, his friend Santoshi and I came to the sea shore on Monday (December 3rd) night after having a buffet lunch at a nice restaurant. Walking near the shore during sunset was beautiful. It was my first modest exercise since Wednesday when I walked last. I have been preparing for the trip since Thursday, which followed by prolonged periods of sitting in the car, on airplanes and in airports.. Plus the stress from standing in lines to be checked at airports. After the walk, we went to my hotel [Four Seasons in Juhu area] and planned our Tuesday morning schedule and then they left.

I slept at 11 pm, then unfortunately woke up at 1 am. Shortly I slept, but woke up again at 2:30 am and was unable to sleep! This is the first foul.
By then, both body and mind felt like they became hareesa (a mushy dish) having spent six hours on flight to London, then fifteen hours of waiting in London for the connecting flight, then taking a nine-hour flight to Bombay followed by two nights of sleeping only two to four hours!

Not only I felt like hareesa, but was severely dehydrated. At 5:45 am, on Tuesday, December 4, Pankaj picked me up from the hotel to take me to the train station. Everything went fine until three minutes before reaching the station. The car had a flat tire! This is the second foul. The interesting thing was that I did not panic or was disappointed or angry the way i feel sometimes in these scenarios! Maybe this happened because I was shut down, being very tired and had no energy to react. But I had another reason: I was watching Pankaj's refreshing calm. At first he parked the car near the side walk thinking of leaving it with flashing lights on and taking a taxi to the station! I didn't like the idea. I discouraged him from doing so. Then he decided to change the flat tire. As usual, he didn't want me to help. During those ten minutes and while standing on the sidewalk, I viewed a very tragic scene. I could count ten, definitely more, homeless people sleeping on the sidewalk. They were not just homeless, they looked destitute. Some looked like corpses because they covered their heads as well!

When I first arrived in the USA in January 1980 from Baghdad, I was shocked by the facts that there were so many homeless people in the streets, yet saw not one homeless animal. I was also shocked to know that women get paid less for equal jobs and that they change their names when they marry to their husband's like a property changes its name according to the owner. Matters that we, Arabs especially Iraqis have not experienced and took them for granted. Technological advancements while policing the world did not seem to fit in with homelessness and gender inequalities!

The tragic scene in this Mumbai's sidewalk was the second heart-breaking and shameful scene after witnessing the large number of beggars, mostly women, children and teenagers. These are third and fourth fouls for my system.

Fifteen minutes later, Pankaj and I were in the car heading to the train station. We interacted as if nothing happened.

The train departed at 7:05 am. Although I was in a six-people cabinet, I was alone most of the time. The train was air conditioned and comfortable. Seeing sellers come to sell their products (drinks, sandwiches and other goodies) every two hours or so yelling their products to alert people brought back memories of Iraq. I once smelled the delicious aroma of masala tea, but couldn't buy it unfortunately because I forbade myself from taking any dairy products while in India.

At around 10 am, I slept. Then woke up at 3 pm. When I woke up, I felt refreshed and magically even the severe dehydration on my face became noticeably less. Shortly after, I began noticing the lovely scenes through the window. We are scheduled to arrive in Goa at 8 pm.

So far I saw not one beautiful building in Mumbai. I am talking about modern buildings. I think the internationally renowned Iraqi woman architect, Zaha Hadid, and other local and foreign architects with vision should be invited to design some buildings in Mumbai! I saw no clean streets either. I witnessed crowd, severe noise, high pollution and many beggars and homeless people! Just like New York, Mumbai (Bombay) is not for me.

While on train, I read today's newspaper, 'The times of India'. Again no coverage on the war on IRAQ, which is amazing! No wonder India has the highest numbers of supporters in the world for Bush, what a shame! This was according to a poll done in the USA. Usually, I don't take information and news in the USA about the rest of the world for granted. But the direction Indians have taken and what I witnessed so far indicate such possibility!

It is now 7:05 pm. We are scheduled to reach Madgaon in Goa at 8 pm.

Flying to Bombay (Mumbai)

2007-12-23T09:18:00.000-08:00

I could not wait to leave London airport. I hate crowd, noise, germs and authoritarian people. This is typical in most airports, but thus far I have mostly hated London and New York airports.

We arrived in Bombay at 10 minutes before noon. Bombay airport was less hectic and dramatic than that of London. The difference was not only in the way the airport looked from inside, but even the way people interacted with and stared at each other. For few hours after my arrival, I kept assuring myself that I am in India and it was not a dream.

Pankaj, my friend since 1982, whom I haven't seen since 1987 (when he left Boston with his wife), was waiting to pick me up from the airport. When I reached the hotel, I was surprised by how it was maintained and its location considering the price. It charges 3500 rupees per night or about $95!!

The room was okay, but it has been used before by smokers. Knowing I have allergy from cigarettes, I spotted the smell. Despite sleeping at 1 am (after brief reading), I woke up at 4:45 am coughing and feeling a little short breath. I called the reception desk to ask for time. "It is 5 O'clock" he said, so I went back to bed trying to sleep, but couldn't until about 5:45 am. At this point, I decided to arrange my luggage in a way convenient to me and not to there majesty the airport authorities. After I finished, I began writing my diaries.

Time now is 7:10 am. I have been writing for 45 minutes.

Last night, Pankaj and I finished few errands including buying a sym card for my mobile). Later I had dinner at the Pearl of the Orient Restaurant, which is located at the top of a hotel overlooking Bombay (Mumbai).

Bombay is a darkish city. It reminds me of Baghdad during war and occupation!

Monday, December 3, 07

At 9:37 am, actor Shammi Kapoor returned my call while in hospital. It was so wonderful to hear his voice. The call was dear to me knowing that he called me from hospital while waiting for his dialysis routine!

Today's newspaper, Indian Express (which is in English), covered nothing on the war on IRAQ!!

Meeting My Brother

2007-12-22T18:38:00.000-08:00

After dinner at Logan airport, the Virgin Atlantic flight to London took six hours and ten minutes instead of the usual seven and a half. "There was a wind," they said! So basically, our flight was tampered with by air:) As as a result, we arrived in London at 6:10 am on Saturday, December 1st.

My next flight connection to Bombay was at 9:45 pm, so I had more than fifteen-hr stay. I spent some time in the airport to charge my phone and make some calls. Then I called my brother and we met at the cemetery where my father was buried since both my brother's flat and the cemetery were close to Heathraw Airport. We went to two places after the cemetery including a restaurant to have dinner and then we headed back to the airport. I hadn't seen him since the dramatic family day of September 24, 2006.

November 30 Evening At Logan Airport

2007-12-21T05:30:00.000-08:00

She took my brand new toothpaste (not yet open) and three water bottles. "Yes, but why?" I said. They were not even opened." We can't let you take that much liquid. "OK, let me drink one right here in front of you." Then she said the most impractical and unreasonable thing; "you will need to stand in line to be checked again." She said this putting in mind that my water bottles were the smallest size sold in stores, which means it takes about 15 seconds to drink all the bottle. When they use threatening and ultra unreasonable vocabulary and rules, of course one would give up and let go. Stand in line again? The annoying thing was that I was not only thirsty, I was dehydrated. So seeing my spring water bottles taken away from me was really upsetting. This image http://zennobia.blogspot.com/2006/11/usa-soldier-makes-iraqi-kids-run-for.html came to mind as I was grinding on my teeth with frustration.

Another security woman, in the middle of this conversation, had the audacity to tell me to go buy water from the store!! How much more can people put up with experiencing this absolute USA government power, which had infected European, African and Asian airport regulations? The world's airports have been aping the USA's model.

I would have exploded at these corrupt so-called security, impractical and ultra authoritarian staff had I not been IRAQI and had I not kept George Carlin's comedy in the back of my mind. He is the USA's best stand up comedian ever and a rare case of political correctness. Some of his funny punch lines came to my mind as a way to ease my suffocation from airport employees' senseless interrogation and expectations, most of whom don't even have college degrees:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFW6NHbWX0E&feature=related (airplane safety)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBxzvSbGJ2w (airport security)

The virgin Atlantic flight was average and the food was barely OK. Eventhough I made prior reservations for my meal and seat, they changed the seat number and so I requested to move again.

Friday November 30

2007-11-30T04:58:00.000-08:00

This Friday morning, I woke up (fifteen minutes before the alarm) from a funny dream with Prashanat in it. The last part of the dream was that I learned from him that he has been awarded a special phone line at the university cafe where he studies and to which he has been receiving many calls-:)

Prashanat was introduced to me in New York by my Iraqi friend, Hayfaa'. I have known him for only five months, and he is already in my dreams? He was the first person to give me an encouragement to go to India and was helpful in providing information as well as introducing me to two of his Indian friends in Mumbai in case I need something when I am there. This along with the presence of my old friend, Pankaj, in Bombay helped encourage me to finally make this long-awaited trip happen. Prashant is studying for his Ph.D. in New York.

Last night I received a mobile text message from beloved Shammi Kapoor telling me that he can see me after December 10 because his house was being painted. He basically made my day as I was worried having not heard from him for two weeks.

First Post

2007-11-29T07:40:00.000-08:00

I will be writing my diaries while in India.

This is my first visit to India.

I am excited and worried at the same time!

Why?

I will answer this question upon arrival in India

I have traveled all over Europe and the Arab world, around the USA, to Turkey and to South Korea, never have I felt before the desire to write my diaries and publish them except once when I visited Baghdad in 2005!!!

Till today, November 29, 07, I have not found
direct contacts for glorious Vandana Shiva
May the positive power of nature works its way to lead me to her

I love to contact and, if possible, to meet Shabana Azmi, but her email address bounced back with a failure notice when I replied to an email that included her address!

I look forward to meeting with old friend
Pankaj Patel (after 20 years), Shammi Kapoor and Asha Parekh

Today I called the violinist sisters, Lalitha and Nandini, who live in Channei. Last time I called them was five years ago. Luckily they

are still reachable at the same number. I had to call long distance a second time to get their email address spelled, and then found out that their address is still the same!