The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has always been a second home to my family and I. Each time i visit, i reminisce on the years i resided in the kingdom and try catching up with those who are near and dear over a cup of Arabic coffee with a slice of kunafah or my favourite basboosah. During my recent visit, i had the opportunity of meeting up with two really good friends who have been my pillar of strength and support for a decade. They both hail from two unique different backgrounds and im extremely proud of their achievements. The first person i met when I landed in Riyadh in 2008 was Fasahat. We were both new to Riyadh. I had just landed and needed to make a call home notifying my family that i arrived safely. I was told by the security personnel at the hospital that i needed to obtain a Saudi sim card etc from a specific department inside the hospital. Whilst trying to make my way to the relevant department, i bumped into fasahat who could tell that i was new and visibly lost. He was full of smiles and directed me to the relevant personnel who eventually provided me with a Saudi sim card and a home internet solution. From that day onward we became best of friends. We use to enjoy dinners together, visiting the annual janadriyya festival and of course when mom visited for 2 to 3 months yearly, Fasahat was our driver taking us shopping and spoiling mom on her birthday. When i worked night shift, he would send doughnuts and food to the pharmacy. At 7am when i was half dead after working night shift, id find him enroute home with a big smile, saying..' we going for breakfast to pancake house".Fasahat was born in Saudi Arabia into an aristocratic nawaab family originally from Hyderabad. Both his parents were specialist physicians. Whilst his dad passed away a few years ago, his mom is now semi retired. He is an engineer and an MBA graduate. He is intellectually inclined, technologically savvy and just so smart coupled with a great sense of humour, naturally we became great friends. Together, we experienced and encountered many hilarious situations with the Saudi religious police. We were mistaken for being Saudi on a few occasions. I was asked to change my tarha or head scarf to plain black as opposed to black with a pink border. I kept on questioning on what religious grounds or rulings was i not allowed to wear a tarha that had a pink border. My questioning didn't sit well with the mutawwah who assumed i was Saudi and asked for me to summons dad to the police station. As soon as I showed them my access control card and department i worked at, at one of the best hospitals in the world, I was let off the hook. My Saudi manager was also asked to intervene as they were not convinced that i was not a saudi.. Of course, with the new Saudi vision 2030 implementation by the crown prince MBS, the religious police or the mutawwah as they were referred to, are now a thing of the past. Fasahat and i both left KSA a few years ago to spread our wings and pursuit our dreams. Whilst i have returned to SA permanently, he travels extensively within the middle east and is now resettled in KSA due to his demanding job. We both resided in ksa at a time where women were invisible and unable to drive. I must admit though, i enjoyed being chauffeur driven. It was a time when there were no big cinemas like imax or vox.Hospital staff however enjoyed movie nights at the central hospital auditorium, a night we all looked forward to. There were no major concerts, stage shows or theatre productions. Sometimes however, we would get invited to the indian or pakistani embassy to attend a live private mehfil gathering. There were some parts of Riyadh where i had to adorn full abaya with niqaab or complete face covering to avoid unnecessary issues with the religious police who always assumed i was saudi. I had hilarious encounters with men who sold make up and underwearat all major retail outlets. Women at that time were not allowed to work in many sectors of the retail industry. The winds of change are blowing in KSA and its a breath of fresh air. When i landed in the kingdom 2 weeks ago i was so surprised to see women immigration officers carrying out their duties as efficiently as their male counterparts. I noticed young women driving on the busy roads of Jeddah. I noticed women in beautiful coloured abayas with matching tarhas as opposed to the monotonous black. The jeddah of the past is being revived where Saudi women wore traditional jalabiyyas heavily embellished with embroidery and beads. The concept of the black abaya is in actual fact foreign to Saudi culture. Many Saudis believe it was a dress code adopted from Shia iran and was used as a form of control. Believe it or not,there was an era where moderate islam was practised in Saudi and that era is being revived once again where Saudis are now saying, we want to show the world our culture, traditions, customs and faith. We want to show the world what Islam is all about through our hospitality as opposed to what is shown on television. Young Saudi men and women have welcomed and embraced the changes with many saying, " Finally we are now residing like the rest of the world'. However, there are many staunch hardcore fanatics within the kingdom and abroad who are quite apprehensive of the changes. Whilst standing in the queue at the immigration counter upon arrival, i overheard the ultra conservative South african couple standing in front of me say, "la howla wa la kuwwata illabilla-now we must be served by women". I asked myself why the hypocrisy. In SA muslim women in niqaab drive and there is a constant interaction here between men and women in all spheres of daily living. It does not mean that because the most important religious sites in the Islamic world are located in Saudi, that all Saudis now are saints. No. They reside in cities just like ours. They have the same dreams, wants, aspirations etc like the rest of us.A few days ago i met up with another good friend of mine, Abdullah who now resides in Jeddah. Despite the waiter at the posh Brazilian restaurant billing his card for an amount that was 10 times more the actual bill in error, we had a blast catching up, chatting about our past interactions as friends. Watch the headlines coming out of Jeddah this week, ' SAUDI MAN SLAUGHTERS WAITER AT JEDDAH RESTAURANT' as he is yet to receive his refund lol.Abdullah is half Saudi, half Egyptian with stunning emerald green eyes. He has two adorable kids Basma and omar.He hails from a very broad minded educated family. His younger brother is highly educated employed at a world class university. He married an Indian woman and they now reside in America. Abdullah was over the moon at the fact that recently when he requested for an Uber, he was picked up by a woman in full niqaab. In his opinion, this is a great victory for women residing in the kingdom. Women are now empowered to work, earn a living and support their families. Not all Saudis hail from rich homes. There are many homes where women have now become breadwinners as their partners or parents have passed away and so they have no one to support them or take care of their needs. They can now support themselves. For me the best part of being in the kingdom is undoubtedly the safety factor. It was a breath of fresh air walking at the Jeddah Corniche at 2am. The city is buzzing 24/7. There isn't this constant fear of being robbed or hijacked. I noticed construction and development in almost all major cities. Roads were being repaired and the Saudi government has invested billions in education. Whilst i do not agree with many of the Kingdoms foreign policies, credit needs to be given where due. I noticed drastic improvements in all major cities since i last visited in December 2016. The government has launched a massive clean up campaign encouraging citizens to keep the country clean. Citizens are now fined for littering and due to extremely tough driving laws implemented with jail terms enforced for minor offences, the driving culture has improved tremendously. The hop on hop off red city bus in medina is a must do activity especially for all first time visitors. The private and public sectors are all working together to make vision 2030 a reality. The state of the art train service from Medina to Makkah is fully functional at a reasonable price. Whilst our country is riddled with stories of crime, corruption, failing government parastatels, a stagnant economy, a 20 percent pass rate at school (why the helI attend school in the first place), I found the opposite within the kingdom.Of course, every country has their own fair share of issues and problems but nothing compares to whats happening in SA currently. Trust me, the world has taken note. I was told that many Saudi businessmen would not in a hurry invest in SA due to high crime rates and corruption. Mr Ramaphosa wants businesses to invest here but he has failed to create an environment conducive for investment. As much as we want our country to be a champion country or a global player on the international stage, our country is in essence a banana republic. The mass looting is now done openly and there are no consequences for those in power who steal tax payers money. Steal, rape, murder, do as you please, you will be granted bail and life goes on. Mr Ramaphosa is just as useless as his predecessor's. Our government is not for the people. Its a government that satisfies the whims and fancies of the elite few at the top. With all systems go working towards making vision 2030 a reality,the winds of change are blowing in the kingdom and its a breath of fresh air.
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