3 September 2010

This country excels in many things. As the number of migrant workers swell, others aspire to come here and work. Once we happen to taste the life here it is hard to let go.
Development here is at par with any other developed country. The most advanced, sophisticated and modern facilities are available here.
However, the medical facilities here, as far a common man is concerned are barely up to the mark. On the other hand the comparatively good facilities and care available in a few hospitals are beyond the reach of middle and low- income people. They usually approach the clinics or low profile hospitals to get medical attention. Here doctors prescribe strong antibiotics in the first instance with an aim to suppress the disease. What is really worrisome is how often children are exposed to strong antibiotics by doctors. I feel that there is undercover manipulation with some insurance companies that may have ties with many clinics that then prescribe wrong medicines to patients in an attempt to reduce cost of a prolonged treatment and give strong medicines in the first instance.
In an appreciable move, the doctors would get the licence only after passing the stipulated exams and process. This shows the authorities’ concern regarding the health of people living here and taking every possible way to assure good services. It should also ensure that incompetent doctors would not be endangering the lives of others.
I hope that doctors would stop administering high-dose medicines. Pharmacies are always under scrutiny by the authorities to detect banned or fake substances. Doctors also need some guidelines through classes or seminars. It would also help if other doctors shared their experiences with resident doctors here so the people would benefit.

3 September 2010

As the UAE develops, it is becoming more and more cosmopolitan with people of all nationalities and backgrounds flocking to the country to enjoy the shopping, sight-seeing and the culture. However, there are a few who do not make an effort to read about our culture and religion or understand our background. I would like to point out that the first thing any global business course emphasises is learning beforehand about the culture and customs when undertaking an international venture so as not to be humiliated or disrespectful towards the host country and its people upon arrival.
We tend to come across stories of expatriates who dress indecently. There are also stories of individuals performing indecent acts in public. Fingers are then pointed at expatriates who do not take the time to read about and acquaint themselves with the culture and customs or at the country for not clearly communicating what is and what is not acceptable. No matter who is to blame, one thing has been made clear: that such acts of rebellion and indecent exposure or activities are not acceptable, especially not to UAE citizens. It is true that more efforts should be made to highlight what is not acceptable before an expatriate enters the country, such as through informational videos on aircraft or at customs. However, it is crucial that people entering any country—not just the UAE —should read up and familiarise themselves with the customs and culture of the country. It then becomes common sense and a must to respect them, which in turn means respecting yourself and following the rules and regulations.

3 September 2010

I am appalled at the level of unnecessary ostentation and unwarranted showiness that has come to characterise the ongoing saga of the Shashi Tharoor-Sunanda Pushkar marriage, the third for each partner. It reeks of pretentiousness, tawdriness and wasteful expenditure for the pair and their ill-advised sponsors and their acolytes.
What should have been a quiet, private affair has boomeranged into a tawdry spectacle with the idle media tailgating the couple and graphically detailing their every move from the ceremonies in Kerala to their honeymoon in Spain and more lavish private and public ceremonies in Dubai. We are just not interested and the continuing episode has only left a bad taste in the mouth of the readers.
Tharoor should focus on his constituency and more important issues facing the public. This was the reason he was elected MP in the first place. Unfortunately, the erudite, articulate IPL-tainted former UN official has fallen victim to the honey trap of power, indifference, ennui and pursuit of self-interests.

3 September 2010

Since the beginning of June, hot and humid climate has persisted in the UAE. In vain, I have been looking at the weather reports for the past three months hoping to see anything less than 34-44 degrees. Since the hot and humid conditions persist until late hours, people, especially kids and teens who usually walk, run or play outdoor games prefer to remain indoors in front of the T.V or the computer.
Being a keen distance runner I find it very hard to keep up training. The heat increases the heart rate and drains the body of it’s energy very quickly. It is impossible to run as long or as fast as in cool weather. There is the option of running in a gym on a treadmill but the pleasure disappears when you’re just moving on a belt with no particular forward motion. Interval training, which involves repetitions of short or middle distances that are run fast with short breaks are also difficult on a treadmill. Since many events organised by local running clubs are coming up, I am praying that September brings cooler weather!

3 September 2010

Some of the returning soldiers from Iraq think that they won the war in Iraq. They don’t realise that what they are doing is putting their tails between their legs and running away as they did in Korea and Vietnam. All they have achieved in Iraq is the deaths of thousands of innocent men, women and children. The same is in store for them in Afghanistan. The USSR was the most powerful country at the time, even they could not cope with the Taleban and had to flee from Afghanistan. Let us not forget that it is the United States that created and armed the Taleban to fight against the Soviets.