Aditya Kripalani - Author of Back Seat

 

Aditya Kripalani, has a passion for writing in its myriad forms—short stories, poems, scripts screen plays and magazine write-ups, on topics as varied as watches, films, fashion and fitness.He is a post graduate, qualified in Script and Film Screenplay writing from the Film and Television Institute, Pune, and has also taught screen writing at St. Xavier’s Institute of Communication, Mumbai. 31 year old Aditya is fond of cooking, music, travelling, observing and analyzing people. He has the ability to get into the psyche of the characters, male and female, and view situations from each one’s unique perspective. He has spent a major part of his life in Mumbai city which has moulded and influenced him tremendously. Multi-faceted Aditya has a degree in fitness training from the Reebok University and is a Karateka practicing Karate in the GoJu form of Karate. His first book 'Back Seat' has received widespread appreciation and was placed in the top ten amongst 3000 other book titles in the 2009 Hollywood book festival. Read on to find out more in his own words....

Nationality: Indian

Pet Peeve: Racial discrimination. Sexual discrimination.

Drink that you would order at a coffee shop: I don't drink coffee or tea. I need things to calm me down not wake me up.

1. Firstly, thank you for agreeing to be interviewed despite your very hectic lifestyle.So tell me who is Aditya Kripalani? Tell me a little bit about your background. Where were you born? Basically a brief synopsis of your life from a child up until university.

Smart. This way you don't need to rack your brains about specific questions! ;) rebellious child due to strictness and too much disciplinary action at home. Mischievous school boy. Used to be punished for hours at a time and made to stand outside the class. I suffered from a tremendous inferiority complex physically in school as I looked goofy and had no subject I could excel in. Every other boy beat me up and ragged me. None of the girls really paid attention. When I went into college I began working out and suddenly saw people reacting differently. In college I became this super mean guy who used to make people cry just by pulling their leg. Not something I'm proud of. Then I met my wife and I began to change. Went to the FTII for a post grad in Script and Film Screenplay. There were 2000 applicants competing for 8 seats. I stood second or first and I realized that there's something they see in me which I did not seem to have discovered within myself. Did my post grad in film screenplay writing alongside a course in psychoanalysis. Really turned my life around, that one year. Back to Mumbai and very very trying times as a writer. 20 email exchanges for example arguing for 5000 rupees, having to wait for hours in film offices for my money after calling for days and being refused. Fought, cried, became depressed, put on 25 kilos. Low point.

Began Karate, lost 25 kilos in 6 months, regained confidence, understood genuine happiness and the power of cardio and things started looking up. Worked as a fitness trainer certified by Reebok to make money, began working at a film company as a script reader. Moved up to being the Creative Head of the film company (I Dream Production, makers of Bend It like Beckham and Monsoon Wedding) over 4 years. Then moved on to Percept Picture Company as their Creative Head. Credited on 6 films as SCRIPT CONSULTANT of which two, TAHAAN (won 11 international awards) and JOGWA won 37 national and state awards. And then frustrated that I couldn't write a film without a hundred opinions which were uninformed, I wrote a book. Rejected by every, yes EVERY Indian publisher. Depression again. And then I finally decided to self publish. My wife and I stood on roads, outside restaurants and sold the first 1000 copies. Then a national distributor took it up (names VASANT KAMAT) and it entered stores a year after publication. Became a best seller slowly over the next few years and now its a double best seller with over 40,000 fans on FB and another 10k on twitter. The power of social media is invaluable to independent film-makers and publishers alike.

Now I am in the process of releasing my second book FRONT SEAT which is a sequel to BACK SEAT.

2. Was writing always your passion? When did the realization set in that you wanted to pursue a career in writing?

I had no clue that I could write or that I wanted to write. I wanted to become a film director and had assisted on 2 feature films and shot for one of them at the FTII in Pune (the film institute). After being in that campus for a while I felt that I must learn more from 'here'. So I applied for the film appreciation course. Then I wanted to apply for a Post Grad in feature film writing and this was purely from a direction perspective. I got in and a month into working on my first screenplay I decided I want to write for life and not direct. This was 9 years ago and the feelings has n't changed.

3. Your first book 'Back Seat' has received worldwide recognition. Of course the journey was not all smooth sailing. What were some of the hardships you faced in terms of following your dream and wanting your book to be a major success ?

Bringing the book into bookshops was a tough one. Self published books hardly ever make it into book stores. Then finding a distributor was tough. However, having received fabulous reviews from many people who have expressed how the book has touched them has certainly made the journey a worth while experience.

4. What topics and subjects are you the most passionate about?
Equality. I hate to admit it but sex. Since it seems to form such a strong theme in both my novels. psychology. marriage. writing. novels. films. the lives of inspiring artists. art in general. Music, to a great extent. friendships.

5. If someone could grant you one wish and you could choose to have any skill or talent in the world, what would it be?

To be able to write like Gabriel Garcia Marquez in 'Love in the time of cholera' or to have written a book like 'Life of Pi' or in what I feel is the highest degree of quality writing 'The old man and the sea'.

6. What are your favourite websites?

Facebook.com which has enabled my book to succeed. Flipkart.com where I buy all my books from now, goodreads.com where I get my recommendations from and apple.com and legalsounds.com where I buy music from.

7. What are your thoughts on polygamous relationships?
They have their own flavor just as monogamous relationships. no right or wrong. Just what the deal/understanding between you and your partner is. So if its going to cause tremendous hurt to your partner personally I'd say stay away from it. Again human beings do falter. If your partner falters but you see scope in him/her to change, grow, move on, and if that seemed like a phase fair enough. Else take a stand and don't allow yourself to be taken for granted. Also, there are no real rules for relationships which are universal. Hence its all about your particular deal/equation.

8. If you were not a script writer/author what would you be doing?
Writing songs and performing them.

9. What is your opinion about interfaith marriages?
They rock. Best of two worlds. of course you might get the worst of them both in terms of their regressive thinking but you can try to glean the best out of them both.

10. Who or whats inspires you?
Steve Jobs, Bob Dylan, U2, Miles Davis, good music, paintings, books, stories in general good films. I watched DDLJ (Dilwale dulhaniya Le Jayenge) 32 times in the theatre. My grandfather and grandmother and masi.

11. Define success...What does success mean to you?
Success to me means being able to stay in love, to build in love, to grow in love with your work and your lover.

12. Where do you see yourself five years from now? What are your future plans?Having written another novel. Being able to have gotten some more credibility as a writer. Met some more friends. Understood a little more about love and what it takes to keep it powerful.

13. What advice would you give to a young student who wants to pursue a career in writing?
Be ready for cartloads of heartache but then the highs are unparalleled too. Low lows. Super high highs. so if you want a placid peaceful life, leave writing.

14. Are there any additional comments you’d like to add for the blog readers?
Sumayya's observations about life is interesting. Watch this space.

Once again, thank you Aditya for taking the time to answer these questions. Desert Moon wishes you all the best in your future endeavours!!!
Aditya's website address : http://www.adityakripalani.com/

BACK SEAT - A LITERARY MASTERPIECE

 

Wow, Wow, wow!! Aditya Kripalani's book 'Back Seat' has left me speechless. It took me two nights to get through 244 pages and when I came to the last and final page I continued to scroll down wishing that there were more pages that I could read. Aditya has an excellent command of the English language and lots of effort is placed on detail in the book. There are a number of colourful characters within the story line and each character is described in much detail. Every character can be visualized in terms of physical appearance and personality.It is almost as though you know the character on a personal level. I have visited India and I loved the vibe of Mumbai city. Aditya does an excellent job in describing Mumbai city as it is in reality.He simply brings the city to life. There is one scene in the book where Vijay stops the car opposite Shatranj Napoli and Olive and I had a huge smile on my face as I remembered having a sumptuous meal at the Italian restaurant during my trip. I recalled my experiences on Carter and Linking road as I read through this adrenalin pumping roller coaster ride. The only negative aspect of the book is its abrupt ending. I wanted to know more.I guess Aditya's rationale behind this, is to allow the reader's imagination to run wild. A more thorough spelling check could have been done as I picked up a few typos. Back Seat is a story that revolves around 15 year old Asawari Jog also known as Nikita who lives in a beach town called Ratnaghiri. Due to unfortunate circumstances she makes her way to Mumbai where she works as a dancer at Atithi dance bar, that is until a local politician imposes a ban on all bar dancers causing many of the girls to turn to prostitution in order to earn a reasonable living. Nikita's dream is to have her own restaurant so that she can escape from the body trade industry and after much effort she secures a restaurant premises by handing over a deposit to Mr. Louis for this dream venture.In order for her dream to materialize, she now requires to make up the rest of the money as soon as possible.

Nikita was never comfortable with the idea of prostituting herself to many men. She therefore,chooses the lesser evil by becoming Shashank's escort for one month . He is the troubled son of Mr. Inder Mehta, a Mumbai based film producer.I loved the way Aditya portrays Shashank's character. There were times that I actually felt sorry for him. I could feel his pain, hurt and all the emotional turmoil within him. The plot takes a twist when Nikita falls in love with Vijay, Shashank's driver. Vijay's past is equally painful and traumatic. Mumbai for him is an escape route, an abode where dreams come true. At this point in the book, you are desperately trying to get to the end of it to find out if Nikita's dreams do reach fruition or not.The book is captivating and Aditya does well in revealing bits and pieces of Nikita's life, leaving the reader constantly intrigued at every moment.Back Seat is a well written, thought provoking realistic tale that reaches the depths of human character and emotion. It has all the ingredients to turn the book into an award winning Madhur Bhandarkar type film. If you have not read a book in a while, I suggest that you get hold of "Back seat" right away. This is one book that you just have to read. My heartiest congratulations to Aditya. I wish him all the best and I am looking forward to his next book Front Seat

 
About The Author ( As taken from his book)
The author, Aditya Kripalani, has a passion for writing in its myriad forms—short stories, poems, scripts screen plays and magazine write-ups, on topics as varied as watches, films, fashion and fitness.He is a post graduate, qualified in Script and Film Screenplay writing from the Film and Television Institute, Pune, and has also taught screen writing at St. Xavier’s Institute of Communication, Mumbai. He currently heads the Script Department of one of the film industry’s established corporate film houses, I Dream Production. Thirty one year old Aditya is fond of cooking, music, travelling, observing and analyzing people. He has the ability to get into the psyche of the characters, male and female, and view situations from each one’s unique perspective. He has spent a major part of his life in Mumbai city which has moulded and influenced him tremendously. Multi-faceted Aditya has a degree in fitness training from the Reebok University and is a Karateka practicing Karate in the GoJu form of Karate.
Readers can interact with him by email at backseat.theauthor@gmail.com

Extraordinary People

The best thing about traveling is being able to meet really fascinating extraordinary individuals.A few months ago at King Abdul Aziz International Airport, I had the opportunity of meeting the lovely couple below.Both the husband and the wife are dentists. They are originally from Germany but were enroute to Malawi via Jeddah. It was the first time that they landed in Saudi Arabia and they were fascinated with the abaya clad women and the Arab men dressed in their thobes and shemaghs or Ghutras...I was really impressed and honoured to meet them. There are few good people still left in the world and it is because of these people that the world is still functioning....The couple chose to leave their first world country and carry out voluntary work in Malawi under the auspices of an NGO organisation. They were filled with enthusiasm and pointed out to me the importance of helping others...A thought ran through my mind whilst talking to them...In our narrow minded South African Indian and Muslim communities we tend to brand anyone who is not a Muslim as a nasaara or a kaafir etc etc...And yet look at the good work that many of them are doing...How many of our South African Muslim doctors would leave their practices and luxury homes to render out voluntary services in poor, impoverished areas across the globe....How many of them will leave their money spinning businesses to assist another human being? Sadly my friends, its just a handful!!!!!

Three days ago I met a fascinating French couple who were also in transit at King Abdul Aziz International airport in Jeddah. This couple travel from country to country in a caravan . They have driven from France to New Delhi, India three times already passing through Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan . So you probably wondering what do they do for a living. The woman does nothing and is more like a companion to her partner. Her boyfriend Ritcha, is a tattoo artist, musician as well as a fire juggler. The couple spend an average of six months in one country travelling from city to city . At each city Ritcha does fire juggling shows and plays music on the street attracting the public who give him money. He also does tattooing from his caravan. The couple are not religious and do not follow any specific religion as such. However, Ritcha was quite upset about the French government banning Muslims from wearing the headscarf. He mentioned to me that even Christians in France are not allowed to wear a cross. In his opinion, all women across the board should be wearing a headscarf as a symbol of modesty and respect.His favourite country in the world is India. He told me that he is taken aback with the warmth and hospitality of Indian people in general. "In India I feel free.The people are simple, down to earth and humble...I am yet to see another country like India." he said. I suggested to them to write a book about their travels and experiences. After having a short conversation with the couple I bid them farewell and a safe trip. What incredible, extraordinary people indeed!!!!! 

 

LUSTROUS HAIR;TRY CAMEL URINE

For those of you who are acquainted with me on a personal level will know that I love 'the ships of the desert'. At least once a month I go out with my Saudi friends to the desert to ride camels. Saudis in general love their camels too and they take much pride in looking after their camel herds.In Saudi Arabia camels are utilized for their meat, milk, wool and of course for camel racing. Many Saudi families also have camels as pets.In rural Africa, in areas like Mali and Djibouti,camels are still utilized to transport blocks of salt from the desert.

According to the Huffington Post, camel milk is the closest you can get to a human mother's milk, with ten times more iron and three times more vitamin C than cow's milk. I was quite surprised when I seen camel milk for the first time. It is very thick and frothy and from a distance it looks like thick fresh cream. Camel milk has numerous medicinal properties and health benefits.Low fat camel milk not only contains healthy vitamins and minerals but is also a rich source of insulin. The milk reportedly has a quart of insulin in each liter, making it a potential treatment option for diabetics.There are also claims that the milk can be used to treat crohn's disease, autism, improve male virility and also treat a variety of allergies.Camel yoghurt is also manufactured from the milk and camel milk chocolates are also produced by a company called Al Nassma. From a beauty perspective, camel milk is believed to treat a variety of skin conditions thereby improving skin tone and reducing wrinkles. I have a patient of mine who is in her mid forties. I always compliment her on her flawless skin tone. Her secret believe it or not is a few drops of camel milk and camel urine mixed with a little bit of aqueous cream. She told me that this mixture keeps her skin germ free and also gives her a lighter skin complexion. I guess this recipe will be able to rival 'fair and lovely'. She has asked me repeatedly to try this concoction for a few skin blemishes I developed after my skin burnt from incorrect dermatological products that were prescribed to me years ago. May be I should give it a try but I am not so sure if I really want camel milk and urine paste smeared on my face.Recently there has been much hype created about camel urine. In a 2009 article published in the Saudi gazette, it was mentioned that Saudi doctor, Faten Abdel-Rahman Khorshid has discovered that nano particles in the camel urine can attack cancer cells with tremendous success.Speaking to the Saudi Gazette, Dr. Khorshid claimed that she was inspired by Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) medical advice and that camel urine consists of natural substances that work to eradicate malignant cells and maintain the number of healthy cells in a cancer patient.“This treatment is not an invention, but rather, taken from our Prophet’s legacy,” she remarked. A Hadith narrated by Al-Bukhari (2855) and Muslim (1671) claims that some people came to Madina and fell ill with bloated abdomens. The Prophet (pbuh) told them to combine the milk and urine of a camel and drink that, after which they recovered. A swollen abdomen may indicate edema, liver disease or cancer."

During the reign of Cleopatra, Egyptian and Arab women dipped their hair into camel urine to produce sleek and shiny hair. This practice is still carried out in today's times amongst Bedouin women with the belief that camel urine is efficacious against dandruff and other diseases of the scalp. It is also claimed that camel urine promotes hair growth thereby producing thicker, longer, stronger, and a more lighter lustrous looking crop of hair.Camel urine is also said to be an excellent potassium sparing diuretic. Whilst watching a documentary on travel channel a few days ago, I was quite amazed at the fact that the Samburu people of Kenya who are closely related to the Masaai people, drink cow and camel blood to survive. Meat is only eaten on very rare occasions.

It is only in recent times that many studies have been conducted on camel milk and camel urine. It is in general a very new field of study that many Saudi scientists have now undertaken to pursue.Already in India, Russia and Kazakhstan, patients are prescribed camel milk to treat a variety of diseases like, Diabetes, Crohn's disease and tuberculosis. With only minimal studies carried out thus far the possibilities are of course endless. By simply marveling at the sheer beauty of these animals and pondering over the variety of ways in which these animals are a benefit to mankind, I can not help but realize that this is the reason perhaps why God Almighty specifically mentions these creatures in the holy Quraan."Do they not look at the Camels, how they are made? And at the Sky, how it is raised high? And at the Mountains, how they are fixed firm? And at the Earth, how it is spread out? Therefore do you give admonition, for you are one to admonish." Quran-Al-Kareem: Surat al-Ghashiya ~ 17-21

Source:

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009071143333

http://www.livestrong.com/article/409153-health-benefits-of-drinking-camel-milk/

http://goafrica.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1%2FXJ&zTi=1&sdn=goafrica&cdn=travel&tm=4833&f=00&su=p284.13.342.ip_p531.60.342.ip_&tt=29&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.al-nasma.com%2F

http://cougarclause.com/2012/02/strange-beauty/

http://hadhramouts.blogspot.com/2010/07/of-camel-urine-and-milk.html

Down Town Shopping

Women's Health Day Charity Event 2012

This was a function that was held earlier on in the year. I just did not have the time to upload the pictures on my blog. Since I am at home this morning with some free time on my hands, I decided to do a quick blog post of the event. It was certainly a fun filled entertaining afternoon. I will never forget this day simply because after the event I had to rush off home to prepare dinner and then head straight off to the airport to pick up mom who was arriving for her annual two month vacation in the Kingdom which is more like a mother daughter bonding experience and of course a shopping trip for mom.......

VISITING THE SICK IN SAUDI

The culture of visiting the sick in Saudi Arabia is very much the same to what I have experienced in South Africa especially amongst the South African Muslim community. Muslim families in South Africa are usually very close knit and hence when one family member is admitted to hospital it is not unusual to see the whole family gathering at the hospital including, uncle and aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews and oh yes let us not forget the 45th cousins, neighbours and the extended family as well. Gori Khala and Choti Khala will most probably take turns to cook up a storm for the patient preparing soup, kheer or badam dood ( almond milk) and oh yes there is always plenty of extra pies and samoosas for the visitors that drop by the hospital to visit the patient. The first time I visited a sick patient in a Saudi hospital was a few years ago. Ummi was a frail octogenarian Saudi woman. She hailed from a very well educated and illustrious family. Month after month she would accompany her son to the pharmacy to collect her medication. Over a period of time I got to know her pretty well. She was not very fluent in English but she spoke enough to make me understand what she was trying to say. Most of the time we would converse with each other in Arabic. Her youngest son is a medical engineer and is part of the Medevac transplant team. Her eldest son is a successful businessman owning a few well established companies.Her daughters are all married and scattered around the Kingdom. She has a daughter in Makkah, Jeddah, Damaam and of course Riyadh. Whilst visiting her daughter in Damaam, Ummi fell from a flight of stairs and fractured her femur bone. Ummi was hospitalized for a few days in Damaam and then asked to be transferred to our hospital as she is more familiar with the medical staff here. On the night she was admitted, I received a call from her son informing me of his mothers plight. The next day I decided to pass by the ward and visit Ummi. Before making my way to the hospital, I stopped by a flower shop to get Ummi a bouquet of flowers to cheer her up. Arriving at the ward I was quite flabbergasted at the number of visitors Ummi had. All her kids, grandchildren, son in laws, daughter in laws and extended family members were in attendance. Ummis daughter from Makkah was her Miraafiq. A Miraafiq is basically a "sitter";someone who stays with the patient in the hospital and makes sure that the patient is comfortable throughout their stay. The sitter will assist the nursing staff in terms of bathing the patient, feeding the patient and also taking the patient to the toilet. The sitter is usually a close family member or a relative although I have seen families hiring people to be sitters. A few minutes into my visit, Ummis eldest grandson arrived with his wife and new born baby. He lovingly kissed his grandmother on her forehead and hands as a sign of tremendous respect. They wheeled in a huge trolley that had a large pot of food on it. A beautiful big carpet was laid out on the floor and everyone was asked to partake in the food including the nurse on duty who was from New Zealand and was pretty new to the culture and customs of the country. After digging into the rice and chicken we ended the meal on a sweet note with an assortment of Arabic pastries and chocolates. Ummis two grandsons are huffaaz, meaning that they have memorized the entire Quraan. So after having lunch, they sat beside her and were reading verses of the Quraan. Ummis daughter from Makkah brought for her zam zam water as well and they were all encouraging her to drink as much water as possible.The Prophet (saw) said,“For whatever object Zam-Zam is drunk, that object will definitely be fulfilled. If one drinks it with the purpose of being cured, then Allaah Ta’ala will grant cure for the drinker, or if one drinks it for his thirst to be removed then Allaah Ta’ala will remove his thirst. Because it is the well of Jibraeel (alaihi salaam), and with it Allaah Ta’ala quenched the thirst of Hadhrat Ismaeel (alaihi salaam).

The nurse from New Zealand was astounded at the fact that the two grandsons kept on blowing over their grandmother after reciting verses of the Quraan. This is known as Ruqya. Ruqya is seeking a cure for any illness by reciting verses of the Quraan and praying to God Almighty. As reported in Sahih Bukhari, the Prophet Muhammed (saw) used to treat with ruqya saying, "O the Lord of the people! Remove the trouble. The cure is in Your Hands, and there is none except You who can remove it (the disease). "

Within Saudi culture tremendous emphasis is placed on being kind to the elderly and looking after old and aged parents. This stems from the fact that the Quraan has mentioned quite clearly how we should be treating our parents. In the Quran, there is a very beautiful description of how parents are to be treated; Allah Says: "And your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him, and to parents, good treatment. Whether one or both of them reach old age [while] with you, say not to them [so much as] 'uff' [i.e., an expression of irritation or disapproval] and do not repel them but speak to them a noble word. And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say: 'My Lord! Have mercy upon them as they brought me up [when I was] small.'" [Quran 17:23-24].

Many Saudi families hire full time nurses for a sick family member. I know of one family that has two nurses and five other helpers for the mother of the house who is mentally ill after falling from the third floor accidentally. She is cared for like a queen. Her sons are by her side throughout the day and her every wish is fulfilled. The beautician comes to the house once a week to make sure that she is properly groomed and before every Eid she has henna applied to her hair and hands. Every effort is made to keep her happy despite the fact that she is not well mentally and physically due to a slight paralysis. Unlike in South Africa, in Saudi all patients admitted to hospital are provided with their own private room. Privacy is of utmost importance. The rooms in our hospital are all elegantly decorated. Each room is furnished with state of the art medical equipment. The doctors and nursing staff visit the patient with a laptop that is mounted to a stand. The doctor is able to gain instant access to a patients medical records, x-rays and blood tests. The doctor is also able to enter a prescription for the patient which is sent to the pharmacy immediately through sophisticated computer programs. In general, the hospital strives to be a paperless environment.Each room also has a beautiful leather relaxing chair with a foot rest.The bathroom is also specifically designed to be patient friendly.

A few months after visiting Ummi in the hospital she passed away quite peacefully after the morning prayers whilst sitting on her rocking chair reciting verses of the Quraan. She was a remarkable human being. She took me like a daughter and made me feel very much a part of her family.She is one woman that I will never ever forget in my entire life. The day she passed away I was filled with an inner sadness and emptiness. I felt as though my own grandmother had passed away.May God Almighty have mercy upon her and grant her the highest stages of paradise. Ameen!!

Saudi father pardons his son’s killer

A Saudi father pardoned his son’s killer if he successfully memorized the Holy Quran, a local newspaper reported on Saturday.
Rabi’a al-Dousary, father of the slain young man named Abdullah, promised to pardon the convicted felon, Faisal al-Ameri, if he successfully memorized all of the Holy Quran before leaving prison, al-Yawm Saudi newspaper reported.

Ameri was sentenced to death for killing Dousary during a quarrel that erupted in their neighborhood.

The Higher Committee of Correction in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom has persuaded the father to forgive and pardon Ameri.

The father, who refused to receive any blood money, to teach Ameri a far more valuable lesson, insisted on one condition: the killer to fully memorize the Quran before his acquittal from prison.

Source:

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/14/243752.html

YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!!

                                                          memsaab.com - Picture

So chatting with a member of the nursing staff last night, I was shocked to discover that a young married woman was admitted to the emergency department a few days ago as she overdosed on sleeping tablets. When she finally came around, it was discovered that she wanted to scare her husband as he did not allow her to go to her sister's wedding a whole week ahead. The reason for this is because he did not have the money to buy her a plane ticket and meet her demands of a few extravagant evening gowns with shoes and matching accessories. He promised to send her two days prior to the wedding as he would have received his salary by then. What a bizarre reason to try and commit suicide in my opinion. This incident proves yet again that a relationship that lacks tolerance,compromise and understanding will ultimately lead to dire consequences. I am pretty sure that this relationship is on the brink of a divorce.

RED ONION RESTAURANT - RIYADH

This restaurant was established in 2006 and is situated in the heart of Riyadh city. The first time I visited the restaurant was four years ago with a group of South African friends prior to going to the airport to pick up mom. Whilst the decor in the restaurant does need a little bit of an upgrade, the food is simply divine and very reasonably priced. Whenever my best friend and I feel for true, authentic 'desi' food we usually hop over. Mom also loves the flavour and the aroma of all the dishes and makes it a point of visiting the restaurant whenever she travels to this part of the world. Best friend and I have virtually tried most of the dishes on the menu, however our favourite dishes are usually the chicken tikka, chicken malai boti, chicken samoosas for starters, prawn karai or mutton karai for the main meal along with vegetarian fried rice. During our last visit to the restaurant a few days ago, we decided to try the fried shrimps with chips and tartar sauce. It was absolutely delicious. The shrimps were nicely spiced and fried crisp to perfection. All the meals are served with a choice of naans. Best friend usually likes the plain butter naan whilst I love the garlic naan. The restaurant also offers free home deliveries and a special lunch buffet menu as well. Like most restaurants within the Kingdom, the red onion has a family section as well as a single male only section. The waiters at the restaurant are very efficient and friendly. In fact we now know many of them on a personal level. To find out more on what the restaurant has to offer kindly visit their website http://www.redonionrest.com/

TRAGEDY STRIKES THE KINGDOM

Just a few days ago I posted an article on my blog regarding the celebratory usage of gunfire at weddings whereby the minister of the interior, Prince Ahmed called for a country wide ban on the use of live firearms during wedding celebrations amid public concerns as there has been numerous fatal accidents that have occurred thereby marring what should have been a happy and blissful occasion. The ministers stance was definitely not taken seriously as proven this week. At least 25 people were electrocuted during a wedding ceremony in the Eastern province on Tuesday. According to Abdullah Khashman, an Eastern Province official, celebratory gunfire brought down an electric cable at a house in Ain badr village where the wedding was held on Tuesday night.Thirty others were injured in the incident near Abqaiq, a centre of the Saudi energy industry.

In a separate incident, 25 people have been killed and scores of others injured when a truck carrying flammable liquids crashed in Riyadh city causing a massive explosion yesterday morning. The accident occurred on Khurais road, where the driver of the tanker was trying to steer clear from an accident scene. However, his efforts failed dismally causing the back portion of the tanker to slam into a concrete flyover. Eye witnesses at the scene reported that the driver got out of the vehicle and started running after realizing that there was a gas leak. The explosion was so huge that my friends residing in the Olaya area, approximately 20 km from the epicenter could hear the blast. Apparently the blast measured 2.2 on the richter scale. My colleague Abdulla informed me that his brother resides one km from where the blast occurred. All of the houses in his neighbourhood are damaged with shattered windows and broken doors. Most of the victims were from the National Guard hospital as they were reporting to work in the early hours of the morning. An industrial building, several storeys high was brought to the ground. Various other buildings in the vicinity were also destroyed. In the wake of all the disaster, the Saudi government has stated that it would compensate all the families of the victims that have lost their lives or are critically ill in hospital. Damaged property and vehicles will also be compensated for by the government two fold. Critically injured victims were rushed to the National Guard hospital.

Source:

http://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/saudi-arabia-wedding-guests-electrocuted-094239354.html

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/11/201211152712448325.html

http://www.almuraba.net/news_view_4924.html (For more pictures of the aftermath, click on this link)