My Letters to the Editor(UAE)-Local daily

Khaleejtimes(25/10/05)

Scene at an accident spot
25 October 2005

• THIS is the scene when an accident happened on Shaikh Zayed Road. The huge mass of humanity that had collected itself there made me think. Were all of them there out of concern? Was sympathy, empathy, pity and all other synonyms for that fellow feeling we have, the reason? Or, was it just curiosity? Or, were people so bored with their routine life that any event was a welcome change?To me, that definitely seemed a reason when the vehicles stopped and formed a long queue on the scene. Many drivers and passengers got down from the vehicles and rushed to the spot. While they returned to their respective vehicles, they promptly gave answers about the event they just witnessed to the heads popping out of the cars from the vehicles. I wonder if this helps in any way to those who are affected or to the paramedics who are desperately helping the victims. It is only a hindrance to them.However, having said that it is just a human inclination towards some happening, the news of that will soon spread like wildfire by word of mouth. Whatever it is, one thing is sure — humanity swarms at any spectacle, be it an accident or anything else. Can’t help it, can we?
  

— Ahsan Ghori, Abu Dhabi

Khaleej times 23/10/05 (www.khaleejtimes.ae)

Importance of education
23 October 2005

• EDUCATION is very important for any man or woman. If one is not educated, one is not enlightened. Since women are forced or rather kept away from education, it is easy to suppress them, so that men can have their way.I think what Mr Galadari says is that woman’s education should be the number one priority for any government, (Comment, KT, Oct. 14) let it be a developed, developing or underdeveloped world. There is a saying if you educate a man you educate one person, but if you educate a woman you educate an entire family.Since women are less educated as per statistics, this should be the top priority. By education, one widens one’s knowledge, understands basic rights, and fights for those rights. This, I think, is empowerment. People have a mistaken belief that economic independence will lead to women’s empowerment, thereby to their emancipation from all problems, which is not always the case.I have seen many women earning more money than men by doing hard labour, but still suffering at the hands of men who get drunk and beat up their wives. Educated workingwomen supplement the family income, and men look out for educated women as partners to double their income, but the woman’s rights do not change and it remains the same as before. So many women end up doing dual roles. In short, they get exploited.I think education is important for them to understand and fight for their rights. Also the system, the culture, tradition all should be understood and changed with the times so as to suit and keep pace with the developing world. Many ridiculous, traditional customs, which suppress women, are still practised. Each and every activity should have sound reasoning.For one to be emancipated, people’s attitudes too should change. Money is power and too much of it can do more damage than good if one has a wrong attitude. Therefore, along with education, a whole lot of things should change, and somewhere, we need to make a beginning. The whole world should consider all human beings as equal and do away with discrimination of any kind.
  

— Ahsan Ghori, by e-mail

Khaleej times, 22/10/05

Rules are for human beings
22 October 2005

• MUCH has been talked about workers’ timings and its effect on productivity. A couple of months ago, it was about midday break for workers during the summer months. Now, it is about reduced timings during the holy month of Ramadan. I feel these reductions in timing are given, taking into consideration the ability of human beings to cope with extreme temperatures or to accommodate the rigours of fasting the whole day without even drinking a drop of water. In both the cases, the body is prone to lose its vital requirement of water and get dehydrated.This could sometimes turn out to be fatal if the body is strained beyond its limits. Production is not everything. Human beings are not machines. Therefore, the rules laid down by the local authorities are justified. The labour authorities also are doing a good job by bringing the culprits who violate the law to book. However, as the number of people on vigil is proportionately less than required, some companies are flouting the laws. One should obey the laws of the country either as employers or as employees. The least any country would expect is that people obey the laws of the land as long as they are here. I hope we all adhere to the rules laid down in this fast developing and tolerant country.
  

— Ahsan Ghori, Abu Dhabi

Gulf News 18/10/05(www.gulfnews.com)

Quite proportionate

• It is common sense that the fasting person cannot be productive beyond 6 hours.
  When a person is fasting, he cannot even drink a drop of water and hence the body is prone to dehydration.
  The labour law stipulates 8 hours of work for a normal human being, based on the capacity of the human body for maximum productivity.
  Now, can anyone tell me how efficient a dehydrated human being can be? Got to be less than 8 hours, therefore 8-2 = 6 hours is fair enough.

From Mr A. Ghori,Abu Dhabi

Note: This letter was written in response to an article where the author adovacates normal working hours for everyone.In gulf countries the working hours are reducedby 2hrs during ramadan month.

Khaleej Times, 16/10/05 (www.khaleejtimes.ae)
Wastage of food
16 October 2005

• ‘IT CANNOT be more precise than this’ is my response to Mr Galadari’s Comment on ‘Fasting and Ramadan’ (KT, Oct 13). The basic problem of Muslims is that they don’t understand or misunderstand the real objective of following the rituals. During Ramadan, I have seen many families inviting their friends and relatives for Iftar and often, one could witness a palatial arrangement of various dishes to break the fast, and then a lavish dinner follows after prayers. It has become a sort of competition.The womenfolk talk about the dishes they prepared and try to outdo the other when their turn comes to serve the platter. Do they think about the poor man who works so hard in the sun with just one meal for him and his family to survive. I think they do not. Many take advantage during the Ramadan month by being lazy at work. I have seen many a time work getting delayed because people are lethargic even early in the morning when they start work. The reasons could be celebrations dragging into late in the night in many cases.It has become common for people to say that if you want to get any job done, do it either before or after the Ramadan month, because during Ramadan, work will take its own time to get done. Already, with shortened working hours and sluggish workers, it’s obvious that this is what one can expect.The majority of our ‘ummah’ is illiterate, and it is the obligation of the educated to educate the illiterate the right way, so that people understand why God has commanded us to follow the rituals the right way by first understanding and then practising. It’s not the ritual that is important, but the real factor hidden behind each ritual. That is what purifies our soul and gets us closer to God.

— Ahsan Ghori, by e-mail

******

• I AGREE 100 per cent with Mr Galadari and again request my Muslim brothers and sisters to please refrain from unnecessary expenditures, and instead divert that money towards the poor and the needy. In general, it is observed that the public here in this region wastes a lot of food. There are millions of Muslim infants, women and children dying every day due to hunger around the globe, especially in Africa. So, think about them and exercise your responsibilities accordingly.
  — Arif, Sharjah
  

Khaleejtimes

Demand and supply
11 October 2005

• WITH reference to Francis’ letter about demand and supply (KT, Oct 6), I feel what he says is logically correct, but it’s not always right to use the statement ‘If you don’t feel like it here, just leave.’ Many who come here to work and live in this country consider it as their own. So, to say ‘just leave this place’ is not only inappropriate, but also downright rude. Housing here has definitely become a nightmare due to escalating rents, especially for low and middle income employees.The real estate industry has taken over the market and trying to gauge the people by creating a hype. People who have lived comfortably as per their earnings suddenly find themselves squeezing into one room to make ends meet. The sudden escalation in rents — in some cases as much as 50 per cent — has made people appeal for help to find a place to live. The government has also announced about building low-cost houses. This has to be expedited. Right now, many people are priced out of the market and living in sharing accommodation which also reflects in the standard of living in this country.So, to project a vibrant UAE, the government needs to swiftly take action in this regard, as many have started to live frugally. Hope the UAE becomes the best place to live on the earth in all respects for all people, the poor included.
  

— Ahsan Ghori, Abu Dhabi

Gulf news 3/10/05
Put it to vote

• I refer to the news item "A taboo waiting to be broken" (Gulf News, September 29) regarding women driving cars in Saudi Arabia.
  Why don't the authorities solve the problem by involving women themselves as it concerns them?
  Why not ask Saudi women their views about being allowed to drive cars by conducting a poll.
  Based on the result, the authorities can have a clear idea whether to allow women to drive and thereby stop undue outside interference in their country's internal affairs.

From Mr A. GhoriAbu Dhabi

Khaleejtimes 2/10/05
Stress — the great killer

• 2 October 2005
• WITH reference to your article ‘Mental stress needs proper attention’ (KT, Sept 27), I agree with your views and my views are very much close to yours. I feel sympathy and anger at the same time that an entire family was wiped out in a brutal way, presumably because of some mental disorder of one man. Cannot imagine the horror the children or his wife would have gone through when this man (suspect) or any man would have attacked them due to an insane mind caused by stress and various factors. When it comes to the mind, it is difficult to read anyone’s mind unless you say it out.Many times, I have heard people say it’s all in the mind. It’s the mind that matters, but the fact is many neglect this grey matter. Stress, if not properly managed, is a killer. Not only does it take a person’s life, but it also has a ripple effect on the society in general. I used to wonder why so many institutes related to human conditioning have mushroomed in the UAE, which was not the case 10 years ago. Many would have heard in the media about these stress-busters like hypnotherapy, laughter therapy, aroma therapy, Yoga to ‘Art of living’ centres .When did we forget the art to live? Perhaps, due to the incredibly fast-paced development in this part of the world, human beings are not conditioned to cope with the pace, without being stressed. Therefore, we need this external support in the name of institutes for de-stressing ourselves, but it reminds me of the wonderful support system God has devised in the name of family for us and its role of being supportive to each other.

— Ahsan Ghori, Abu Dhabi

Khaleej times (www.khaleejtimes.ae)
Stress kills

• 29 September 2005
  
  WITH reference to your ‘Comment’ (Mental stress needs proper attention, KT, Sept 27), I am in agreement with your views. I am also sympathetic and angry at the same time. An entire family gets wiped out in a brutal manner, presumably because of the mental disorder of one man. I cannot imagine the horror the children or his wife would have gone through when this man went about insanely attacking and slaughtering them.When it comes to the ‘mind’, it is difficult to read it. I have heard people say ‘it’s all in the mind’. It’s the mind that matters. Yet, many of us neglect the grey matter.Stress, if not properly managed, is a killer. Not only does it take a person’s life, but it also has a ripple effect on the society in general. In recent times, many institutes related to human conditioning have mushroomed in the UAE. This was not the case 10 years ago. The media has spoken about hypnotherapy, laughter therapy, yoga and art of living centres. When did we forget the art to live? Perhaps the incredibly fast-paced development in this part of the world is to blame. We need this external support in the name of institutes to de-stress ourselves. Meanwhile, we have forgotten about the wonderful support system God has devised for us in the name of ‘family’. Instead, what we have is the ‘nuclear family’.Nuclear families kill interaction between people. Men and women are ruled by materialism, and success is measured in terms of the bank balance. The culture of showing off and other social evils creep in. The outcome is an increase in the divorce rate, and broken families.The author, fortunately found support in his family with which he was able to handle the situation. I agree wholeheartedly with him. There can be no wrong in the system God gave to humanity.
  

Ahsan Ghori-by e mail

Gulf news 28/9/05 (www.gulfnews.com)

Survival of humanity

• If the contracting company is not able to pay wages on time, it is unfit to be in the business. Also, if the market is unable to pay money to the contracting company for the job done, the company must stop the work immediately and the government should expedite the process to rehabilitate the handicapped market players. The question here is not about the system but survival of humanity and human rights.
  

-From Mr A. GhoriAbu Dhabi

Khaleejtimes(www.khaleejtimes.ae)
Issues and approach to faith
26 September 2005

• WITH reference to your article ‘Liberating faith, rigid followers’, I think you have missed certain dictums from our book which clearly state that Muslim women and men should be modestly dressed. Now, the question is, how modest is modest? I think the dress Sania wore at the US Open left nothing more to the imagination and was certainly not acceptable if she claims to be one who follows the faith. I am a great fan of Sania and I believe she has the capability to reach the top 20 in the world. Being a tennis lover and player myself, I appreciate her game and am proud of her achievement. About the question of the so-called scholars giving out a fatwa, I agree with you, the members of the community have to put their heads down in shame. The prepostrous statements of the so-called ulema does not speak for the majority of Muslims. We need not be too liberal like the Westerners, which is against our faith, but a somewhere-in-between solution could be found, to keep pace with the world and at the same time not to be left out.
  

— Ahsan Ghori, by e-mail

Gulf news 11th sep 2005,(http://www.gulfnews.com/)
Pride and prejudice

• President George W. Bush says he will not ask for help but will accept any help that comes from anywhere.What is the problem if he asks for help? How can one think of ego at a time when the country is reeling from a disaster?When calamity strikes, we realise how interdependent we are on one another.That is the reality. However, as time passes and with our short-term memory, we soon forget all this and are back to our 'normal' self and our false ego.That is the irony.
  

- From Mr A. Ghori,Abu Dhabi

Khaleej Times: 10th Sep 2005(http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/)
The ‘superpower’ too is vulnerable
10 September 2005

• WHY would the world’s richest country accept donations, but not ask for it. Isn’t it false pride? We proclaim we are independent and proudly brag about being so. We go on with our life until some sort of calamity strikes us and makes us realise how interdependent we are with one another. However, as time passes, our memory being short-term, soon we forget all that and are back to our so-called normally abnormal selves. Right from the things we eat, walk or drive to work, each and every activity is linked to a system of dependency. Even our life depends on another person. Take for example you are driving to work and though you are a good driver, for you to reach the destination safely, your life depends on how good the other person drives or follows the system. Nevertheless, if nothing unfortunate happens and you reach your destination safely, you feel elated about your driving capabilities. You even proclaim that you no longer have to depend on anyone to reach the place, but the fact is you are dependent on the machine that you drive and so many other factors. You think you are independent, but in reality you are not. You are actually interdependent. A ‘feel-good’ factor is always there when you can satiate your ego by saying I am independent. That is the irony. All are interdependent and not independent. Even after your death, you are dependent on another person to dispose of your body. The world will be a better place if we all accept the fact that we are interdependent and not independent. I feel the term ‘independent’ should be removed from our vocabulary as we all need each other. Katrina, nature’s fury, taught us a lesson that I hope people won’t forget, especially the so-called superpower.
  

— Ahsan Ghori, Abu Dhabi