Cultural Truths

I came across a newspaper article today that really broke my heart. The rest of this post is going to be a reflection on the cultural truths of Dubai (heavily influenced by my opinion).

Those of you unfamiliar of the Middle East, I'll give you some background information. When a woman is going to have a baby in Dubai, she has to provide concrete evidence that she is married. If she can't provide the hospital with proper documentation, then the baby's custody will be given to the hospital and the woman will be sent to jail. This is standard procedure for all, in fact we had to do the same when Iman was born.

Cruel or harsh as it may seem, it's Dubai's way of preventing unmarried women from getting pregnant (a contraceptive method if you may...)

My heartbreaking story is about a poor Indian house maid who worked at several houses. She "accidentally" became pregnant, and when she couldn’t provide the hospital with a marriage certificate, they took her child and shipped her to jail. Lucky for her, their was an organization, which does social work, who bailed her out of the mess, reunited her with her child and sent her back to her home country.

I can't imagine what the woman must have been through. Having to leave her first born after birth and spend many nights in a jail cell, her future so uncertain. In this part of the world, if you aren't part of the financially secure elite, there is very little that you can do if you have a run in with the law. Fortunately for her, there was escape, but there are so many others... hired maids who are victim to household prostitution and abused by several men. We can choose to ignore this violent reality, but the truth is that maids in Dubai lead very insecure lives. Most of them work for less than minumum wage (actually there is no minimum wage here) and most of them will be victim to regular sexual abuse, not by one, but many men. And when innocent women get impregnated, and choose to give life to their child, they will sentence themselves to imprisonment.

To read the article, please click here.
And also... read this... "My Torture Hell"

Broken Nose

Nope, it's not as tragic as the title reads.

Iman woke up this morning with a blocked nose, and she declared to me and Omair...

"My nose is broken, it's not working any more."

Baby Bananas

Many mothers out there have faced this problem...

Our kids like to eat bananas, but the damn things are SO big, that the kid can't finish it, and you don't want to eat the leftovers.

Recently I saw the cutest thing at the supermarket... itsy bitsy tiny bananas!! A perfect snack for a midday break. Big enough to satisfy those small appetites, and just too adorable in those little hands.

It's a must share picture...

Our daughter... the fashion critic

Recently Iman has become aware of dress sense. She's picking out her own outfits and matching her own accessories (often more colorful than I like!). But her opinion of dressing isn't only restricted to herself, she's moved on to us!

A few weeks ago she said... "My Baba is cute and stylish"

I was shocked! Those were pretty thought out words, so I tried to pry into her mind to get HER definition of cute and stylish.

She replies... "He wears nice clothes and he's clean".

Hmm... so she MUST have an opinion on me too.

I say: "What about Mama, am I cute and stylish?"

She says: "You're beautiful, but not stylish, you only wear pajamas."

:(

And then there were two!

Sorry for the delay. I took this picture a long time ago, but things were so hectic at home that only got the chance to post it up now.



We're really enjoying the wait for the baby birds to hatch. Iman's excitement has been infectious and Omair and I can't help but get caught up in the whirlwind of it all. As a token of our appreciation and support towards Mr. and Mrs. Bird we've set out a bowl of food and water for them and their growing family (Iman's idea). Now we're just waiting for the big day!

Our New Addition...

The most exciting thing happened in our house yesterday.

But let me give you some background...
Over the past week I had noticed that a bird had started "nesting" in the flower pot outside our window. At first I tried to shoo it away, but this was a tough bugger. She made it a point to hold her ground.

A couple of days later, I had a feeling that she had picked this spot because it was snug and secure, and in all likelihood, she was going to have her babies on our window sill, and sure enough... yesterday Iman came screaming to me...

"There's an egg in the flowers!!" I followed her to the window, and there it lay, snuggled between the leaves and flowers, a small little egg, carefully being watched by its mommy. I was equally excited, as we both looked at the tiny (but adorable) addition to our window garden.

In this whole ordeal, Iman's main concern has been that the bird (who spends most of her time sitting on the egg) might break it. She has been pleading with me to bring it in where we can keep it safe. I enjoy explaining the intricacies of life to Iman. She listens with so much attention, as though she is literally absorbing the information into her mind.

Mama bird has also given me the opportunity to explain my motherly love to Iman. Telling her how much a mommy cares for her young and looks after them and saves them from all the dangers that surround them.

The egg and its mother have reassured my little one that her parents love her more than the stars in the sky. And in this realization, I have seen an unspoken happiness in her eyes. A feeling of safety and security that allows her to test the waters and have her own small adventures, all the while knowing that her parents have their wings around her, protecting her from harms way.