the rug rats are growing up

our little rug rats are growing up. Azad is always intent on hugging and kissing his sister, who has learnt, to cry foul constantly. he just doesn't understand that body tackling her, is not her idea of fun. Foi (that's me) doesn't have a problem rolling around on my rear, while being attacked by the rats.
Iman, has learnt to throw tantrums, is attached to mummy and daddy, can sleep only in her own space. she is the spitting image of my late paternal grandmother, but it seems her personality, is very different. she sure knows how to put on the snot and trane. she has just started walking, looks like a wobbly old lady from the back, but ever so cute. don't think she will ever holiday with dadi and foi, without the parents in tow. oh but the girl takes after foi, in one respect, she does justice to the meals put in front of her, now that is where Azad misses out, he has an aversion to food, unless it is a sweet, and he can have many.

that gorgeous precocious little one, has ,yes, you've guessed it found language, and happily chirps away about everything. currently we are into all kinds of construction vehicles, diggers, loaders, trucks, trucks, trucks. the favourite litany being, foi i need this, buy it for me now, this after perusing the brochures that accompany his latest purchases.

how it happened, that Azad is a boys boy, and iman a girly, girl, i cannot fathom, she loves kissing her dolls, hugging teddies, and is just heartbreakingly affectionate, he has to be bribed into hugs and kisses. Are we genetically programmed at birth, or perhaps its because he never gives little sister the time of day with the cars and trucks.

Azad is now 30 months, and Iman 18 months, they are a joy and pleasure to have around, what is even better, they can be returned to sender, when foi lies exhausted on the lawn, finished after a hard days play. rug rats we love you. the pictures were all taken on the day of Eid ul Adha 2009/11/17. i have as yet not lost my trigger happy camera finger...:)

what do i say?

thanks to rachelle potgieter for the pictures

Imraan Saloojee 10 November at 17:38
Hi Rouhana. I love you FB updates. sometimes funny, sometimes angry but always good.
On another matter, I am trying to get views from a few people whose opinion I trust. Being out of the country for some time, my constant news source for home has been the Internet. Reading the news bulletins for South Africa is really depressing! We seem to be lurching from one crisis to another. The rhetoric on all sides is becoming sharper and there is a real lack of respect. It seems that collectively we are as polarised as the bad apartheid days. What is going on?

i read this message sent to my inbox, by a school mate, and i can claim a good friend, and in that moment my mind hit a blank. what would i say in response.
i love this country of ours warts and all, but what do i say, our political and social landscape is just that depressing. i have blogged ad nausea, about corruption, general lack of accountability, lack of respect etc.

Imraan the sad truth is, i believe we have a people that have no understanding or comprehension of what democracy can mean to us as a nation.
sadly the liberation movement that brought us great joy, in breaking the shackles of apartheid, have failed to translate this into good governance.
our fear of falling into the racially divisive trap has meant that every failure, in terms of service delivery, infrastructures,etc. is never adequately dealt with, because it deteriorates into "you are saying this because we are black" litany.

spear headed by the likes of julius malema and others of the same ilk. when one cannot take responsibility for ones failures it is easier to blame race.
what we need is to believe in ourselves,the idea of entitlement has resulted in gross mismanagement, racial incitement, and a loss of patriotic fervour.

the struggle for equality was to give every South African a chance under our African sun, it did not discriminate when it came to race, since we have addressed these indiscretions it hasn't resulted in those in positions of power whether in government or within business putting the country and its people first, it has resulted in a demand for more material wealth and possessions, and once again a small majority have risen to financial highs while ordinary South Africans pay the bills. and watch the noose tighten around our necks.

what we need to get beyond is the issue of colour, to call a spade a spade, so if you are not performing, you should be fired, not kept in employment, ad infinitum.
the result is a general feeling of discontentment amongst South Africans who see their efforts being squandered, when this discontent is voiced, then you are automatically accused of racism.

the way i see it, it is about taking ownership of our mistakes as well as our failures, and until employment is not seen as an endless cash cow, but rather a privilege, that allows us to be a productive, developing nation, proud of our history and our achievements. we will remain a nation of whiners who's demands out way our pride and our morality.

what it is, is plain selfishness, an inability to love and put our country first on the part of government, big business corporations.
and when Joe public absorbs this, he to becomes selfish and abusive of his surroundings, his country, his people. why should we say no to crime, if government is crime riddled, and so the issues continue unabated an unresolved.

there seems an inability on any ones part to be honest and up front about these shortcomings. alas i have rambled on imraan, but i know without a doubt that this the land of my birth, is not doomed to failure. i believe there are more South Africans out there with a vision, to be a non racist,non sexist,united people. and until we get over our embarrassment regarding the race question, until we can say hey, you have failed to do what you have been mandated to, and we are going to utilise someone more competent, without playing the race card, it will be a long hard journey, but i believe we can get there.

lets just hope julius malema does not become a South African president, for then i know not what the future will hold. there is a lot of dead wood out there, the favours for comrades, friends, have all been attended to, now i think is the time to be accountable. i believe that people like you and i could make a difference, and the future lies in the hands of children, who are brought up with the right degree of respect, morality and pride in there nationality. what we need is to put the greater good ahead of the good for myself.

i attended the remembrance day parade on Sunday, and watched the young and old men and women of the SANDF, proudly march past city hall, i felt a sense of pride and belonging, this army was used to suppress , now it holds its head high in defense of all South Africans, these men and women, had pride and a loyalty to this country, a remembrance of our failings, and an acceptance of the best we can be, united and strong. i believe this is the South Africa we should be building. and i do believe given the right governance it can be achieved.

from the free to the dom

in all this time, one would imagine there would be something new to talk about.
things in South Africa seem to remain the same for a huge period of time.
lets see:

1. julius malema, has grown even dumber than before,mmmm, thats a change. his bigotry is so asinine and i thought we had outgrown that symptom.
then perhaps not, i have not been referred to as a "darkie"/"koelie", in years but there you have it, the slanderous label headed my way out of the mouth of dare i say it a jealous female. so when you have nothing to say, or are just plain dumb, as is Malema, you should resort to racial slurs. it might make you feel better.

2. then there is President Jacob Zuma, who is visiting, rustenburg, and other unrest municipalities, where people are rioting, because of lack of service delivery, more like they don't have their finger in the pie, and now want some. the Pres however, has is task team of useless ministers, i will call them the "talk shop", appearances, make them seem more hands on, and effectually they will accomplish nothing.

3. recession is a new word for spending more tax payers money, it hasn't stopped all the freebies for ministers, free luxury cars, free flowers, free domestic service, free first class travel, free satellite tv, free, free, freedom, just meant free to be having my luxury cake and eating eat, and Marie Antoinette was going to feed the peasants cake,...she would be rolling in her grave now.

4.Electricity, now that is not free, by the year 2010, the average 3 bedroom house, will have a 3000.00 rand a month electricity bill. will the increase involve the mines, big business etc, who enjoy rebated electricity, obviously not. so here we are give or take 5 million tax payers, being further taxed,...do we mind paying the bills so that the less fortunate of this country, would have access to services, education, housing, we sure as hell don't. but, ...how much can you milk this cow, till she drops dead, while all the time her precious milk is squandered on maintaining the elitist life style of government, municipal,BEE fat cats, who higher yachts, have tv in their cars, drink moet, eat caviar, and the masses still languish in squalor.

5. then theres the sorry excuse of an education system, first year varsity students, cannot read or write in English. and now we should blame poverty, and lack of language usage, surely when you enter grade one, you should be taught in English, but it was that genius Kader Asmal, who made it impossible to fail a student, if they failed a written exam, they should get an oral, if they passed or failed that, they still got bummed up the ranks, are you surprised then, that varsity students, can't read,write,or do simple arithmetic, poverty is just the excuse to cover up, ministerial failure, outcomes based education my ass. you are breeding a nation of bigoted idiots, and passing the buck to poverty shame on us.

6. lets not forget Selebi, our embattled police commissioner, who will get off with no more than a wrap on the knuckles, the singing canary, Agliotti, is possibly going to come off the worse for wear, Selebi of course must still be on the government payroll. so what real effect will changing the ranking of police people, make to that corrupt institution,.. obviously nothing. And our army, lets not discuss those hooligans, if disciplined armies reflect the state of a nation, what do our hoodlums say about the state of our nation. surely by the time you are over thirty, you should have moved up the ranks or out of the army. thank God these guys are not having to defend us against attack, oh shit what am i thinking, we are under attack, attack from bigotry, greed,stupidity, arrogance, shall i go on.

7. where are the patriots, where are the good intentions, hard work, integrity, that we were building our new free nation on, well free exists, just in terms of material upliftment for the few free, while dom, encapsulates the rest of us idiots who believed in the integrity, and decency of our leaders. but then i forget myself, we have actually attained freedom in South Africa, based on this rather rudimentary analysis....hallelujah.

i suggest opening the links on this blog, and it will effectively show the idiots we are breeding in south Africa. Julius, cannot be blamed on outcomes based education, to his credit he has no education,..but this does not bode well for the future.
however we do great adds even when lampooning ourselves.

ramadaan mubarak

i have a friend who always jokes, no,no, not Mubarak...can't wish that on anyone.
Hosne Mubarak, surely has everyone running, to avoid, the Mubarak taint. so instead i should say Ramadan Kareem.

it is that time of the year again, and for some reason, i am not having a sense of the spiritual,perhaps the every day reality of life, is more adapt at occupying my time and energy. the gifts of dates have been coming in fast and furious, i would love to know how many tons of the stuff are consumed over Ramadan, interesting, i should google that.

my one concession to the food drought over the next month was to cook up a great jummah lunch, the effects of which are lulling me to sleep at my desk, but then its friday who needs to work right?

so here's wishing friends, family, loved ones a happy and joyous Ramadan. may you be blessed and come out all the better for it.

3 years between them

pahad 1 and pahad 2..both reached birthdays in july. azad celerbrated his second and iman her first. i have the amazing joy of seeing little people develop. first everythings, solid food,steps,words.

Azad has his three word sentences, grandpa and Azad time, involves trips to the glenhove petrol station, to watch trucks roll off the highway, eat ice cream and get the car washed, the last trip, the car wash was faulty, so i heard "foi...machween bwoken.." in response to what is your name...he says "bik..boyee"..who's a silly billy? Dada...the list is endless and his mischievious streek just shines right through.

Iman has the cutest dimple and a face that is always wreathed in smiles, a temperate nature, that can take flight when bik boyee, harasses her, which he does for the hell of it. she has a penchant for the telephone much like her aunt, and i shudder to think what daddy will be paying in phone bills.

i avoid the television like the plague, believing that we can entertain and educate without use of it, much to my chagrin i have succumbed, The sound of music, popcorn and chips is good for a snatched 10 minutes, in which i can achieve a grown up thing or two. music gets iman jiggling and wiggling those hips, and cbeebies, can get you 10 minutes more.

suffice to say, that the kids are the most amusing little people, who keep you busy , and when they are not around we talk about them constantly...

Proudly South African

fisherman....umdloti beach


monkeys in the backyard



night skies...bela bela



bela bela....mpumalanga



johannesburg from westcliff

what is it about ex pats/immigrants...or those people who leave their home countries and settle "where the grass is greener"....more often than not they spend their time, trying to convince themselves that they have done the right thing.it is a lifelong comparison between what they left behind and the lives they are living.

what beats me is the superior holier than though attitude, they exude, especially when they have settled in first world countries. i attended a family dinner some time back, in attendance were family and neighbours (note i do not say friends) now settled in Toronto Canada, my dander had risen octaves at the dinner conversation, because they spent the evening lambasting all the ills that is south Africa. pray, tell me ,why do they take retirement packages and return to this horrible savage land. or why are their kids enjoying cheap university educations in South Africa? when they are now citizens of another country.it's cheaper,... dunh!!! . and here i am paying my tax, living in the third world and not enjoying all these benefits. when they left for greener pastures, nary a thought was given to this country or its development, so why rape our good nature now. if you have nothing good to say then don't say anything at all.

i am a firm believer,that, when one decides to immigrate the objective is to embrace your adoptive home warts and all, having one foot in South Africa and another (for argument sake) in Canada serves no purpose. it manages to ensure that the immigrant remains rootless and unhinged, never knowing where they belong. the same applied to my forefathers when they arrived in South Africa, the difference is that we became and are South African. yes my grandfather was born in the village of Kholvad in the state of Gujarat in India, and that makes us of Indian origin. the Indian we are is a cultural and ethnic one, what i truly am is A South African. my accent, my manner,my obligations, when i sleep at night the sounds of the African night, my neighbours dogs, the cursing drunk walking down the road, the screeching cars, the smells these are all African, they belong to the soul of me,

my eyes do not close nor my nose smell, the spicy scents of India, the smell of raat ki raani, jasmine,vendors singing their beautiful tunes in Hindi,Gujarati,Malayalam, the flat guttural tones of South African accents are my lullaby.the vast blue skies, the ever present smiling sun, the browns of the highveld,....these speak to my soul.

i am but a visitor in the land of my ancestors, the shiny brown of my skin, the lustrous curl in my hair, my little nose and almond eyes, they are evidence of my ancestry, a history that adds value and spice to my home, the land that is South Africa.

this is the feeling you should have when you immigrate to another country, lording it over what you deem your country bumpkin cousins, and feeling superior because you have made it out,...is not testimony to being of any country. it smacks of displacement and anxiety, a feeling of non belonging. so i can say i am South African and proudly so.

see the link

strike boys strike for better wages, strike boys strike for better pay....

pete seeger, in the year unknown to me, but i remember this ditty, much like the song that went:
little boxes, little boxes, all made of ticky tacky, little boxes all the same.
ahhh!!, the 60's flower power, when hippies were hip,....and Seeger was making a point, about the conformist suburban or urban middle class life. when daisies were fashionable, beards were cool, and not attached to an islamist fundamentalist terrorist. just guitar toting, dagga smoking, anti Vietnam activists. who were chilling in the sun, and striking for better wages. the sixties a time for fairies
and picnics in the sun.

roll in the the year 2009, there isn't even a cool, thing to say about the decades beginning in the year 2000. having a beard is just criminal, flower power fashion is just so out dated, and who smokes weed anymore, it's all kinds of things, like crack,Ecstasy, drugs with names i cannot remember. we have become clones of American advertising. it's called globalisation.

but the "Strike", now that has taken on a new form in good old RSA, it has been tweaked to resemble, a great mafia organisation, that extorts money from God fearing, corner store owners.
there is Zwelinzima Viva, who's blustering rhetoric,continues to rake in the membership fees. he lives well, eats well, drives a nifty car, gets paid really well, and his job, is to make you strike, never to worry if it cripples the economy, increases debt, closes down businesses, just as long as he strikes for his pay.

the "strike" is there to bully government into submission. to extort deals that otherwise would not happen. government folds, as it's hands are so deep in the cookie jar, it's ministers so incompetent, it has no other option.

there are the "medical doctors" on strike for better pay, better working conditions,( you think they would like spa treatments included),..
better services. the better pay is paramount. so what happened to the Hippocratic oath, it took a back seat to an incompetent ministry, and a money hungry work force.
if patients die tough luck, that is the mafia at work, if the hospitals are dirty, doctors are to educated to pitch in, but not educated enough to get their staff, to pull finger and get on with it. surely since you are on the ground, working in state hospitals, and supposedly educated, you could get all the necessary people together, and start implementing better more efficient health services. oops i forget, that takes work. instead, call on Zwelenzima, and strike. work is not what we get paid for.

medical studies are state subsidised, intern doctors, have to give back by doing a two year community service, for this they get paid, paid to learn good deal, i would imagine. instead they are on strike for more pay. and still they believe they are there to give back to the community, by striking?...i would pay you for that to.
I forget i am paying for that. my tax money, is contributing to the state subsidy. in that case why don't i strike. oops then i would have a business that closes down, debts i couldn't handle, five people unemployed. so i must continue working so that others have the luxury of striking.
my proposal:
1. fire all the striking doctors
2. if people die because of the strike, sue the doctors on strike
3. hire doctors from other countries who are willing to work.
4. stop government subsidies to medical studies, let the students pay for their education.
5. if students don't like it, they can pay for educations at overseas institutions
6. the above ensures they need not suffer through community service.
after all it's not about community, right?

this is blackmail, to get government to screw people like you and i for more tax, and if i need medical help, i still have to rely on private institutions for which i pay a hefty medical aid. can i strike for my money back?

then the taxi's threatened strike action if they were not used for the confed and world cup. the threat of looking like asses in front of sepp blatter and his crew ensured that government and SAFA acceded to the threats.

public sector strikes have become the norm, from garbage collection, through to the revenue service. how about we utilise the same tactics, strike and not pay tax, or strike to get taxation reduced. so would all the public servants stand and support us when their pay packets get delayed. or they just dont get paid because there is no income tax revenue.

strange terminology."public servant"...i believe they forget they are in these jobs to serve us, instead we serve them, and the strike is the threat that keeps us serving. Zwelinzima wanted the "doctors" strike to end before they lost public support. the idiot doesn't realise he had no public support and it was lost before the srtike action started.

i need to get in on this action. who needs picnics in the sun, strike boys strike.

sporting headlines

seems my life has been filled with cricket recently. the IPL left our shores, and once again we were glued to a forty inch box, to watch the ICC limited over cricket at lords. i have discovered that i am a great fan of cricket, most especially the armchair sports variety, though attending a limited overs game now and then is great fun.for me possibly the doughnuts smothered in melted chocolate is the attraction.

i supported the proteas with a great deal of vigour and hoped that the bad luck fairy, would be kind, and we would finally see a cricketing trophy gracing the south African cricket board shelves. alas it was not to be, once again it was so near yet so far. i thought after watching Sri Lanka demolish the West indies.an unbeaten 96 runs from tillakeratne dilshan, some impressive bowling from muralidaran, made me believe that the final, up against boom boom Afridi, was going to be an edge of the seat experience. i should have known better. it was a final after all.

Sri lanka folded like a bad poker hand. the game was over, before the first ball was bowled,...Pakistan had the good luck cricketing fairies on their side. Afridi did a brilliant job with both bat and ball,as i witnessed the Sri Lankan batting order collapse i couldn't help but believe, that South Africa, might have given Pakistan some tougher opposition.

the cry of Pakistan Zindabad reverberated the world over, as every expat immigrant Pakistani, found their patriotic voices, which only seems to rise out of the ashes, when the men in green, find victory on the cricket pitch. i have not witnessed such zealousness, and patriotism at any other time, either on my visits to Pakistan or in my dealings with Pakistanis outside of their country.

the next morning my facebook homepage was awash with congratulations for Pakistan, my own status, hailing their win, it all deteriorated into disappointment, when some of my Pakistani friends, assumed that celebrating victory, was reason to humiliate their opponents. i am firmly of the belief, that in victory, their must be graciousness and humility, that as good as the victor gives, so his/her opponents
give of their best, when i read these headline notices on facebook, i could not help, but be moved to respond.
"well played boys! Koi nai! Koi nai! No big deal"
"70 to 6 baby!"
"come on boys! show the suckers the power of green"
Un-beatable? Un challenged eh??...Die- suckers Die!!! PAKISTAN ZINDABAD"
AND THE ONE THAT KILLED ME:
"do i see my SA friends choking on their words?
shahid afridi a big chumma!....Sri Lanka go back to blackland. the future is green. PAKISTAN ZINDABAD!.....

Modern day sports is much like ancient gladiators locked in battle to survive, the spectators baying for blood, anticipating death, like wise we cheer on our national teams, cry tears at their losses, and bay for our opponents blood, but all in the name of good sportsmanship, healthy rivalries. what shocked me to the corp, was the blatant aggression and racism inherent, in the remarks above. we have carried the colonial flag, that black is weak, black is bad, black is to be opressed into our lives.

having lived and been born into a country, where my every moment in life was governed by the colour of my skin, where i could eat, where i could sleep, where i could shit, "DIE SLEGS BLANKES " (ONLY WHITES) signs of my life, ingrained deep within my psyche and those of every south African. has left scars and a deep rooted pain. i find tears roll down my cheeks as i write this, and i cry for the losses incurred by being racist. my stomach churned at the words "GO BACK TO BLACKLAND"...how can any young educated woman, as strongly as her patriotic fervour had arisen in her heart, show such disrespect, to a team and a country, who had acquitted themselves so well during this tournament. i could not help but respond.

the sad part was realising, that both arrogance and stupidity are a lethal combination, as my response was totally misunderstood, the fact that Pakistan was victorious was justification enough to be racist, and her friends were in agreement.
never once in two days of comments going back and forth, did anyone apologise for being racist. it astounds me and boggles the mind, Pakistani immigrants, find themselves being racially attacked on a regular basis, the slur of "paki go home", resounds around the streets of London,and other countries that people have immigrated to. i say this, having been attacked in this manner, on a visit to london. as i walked down a suburban street, uncouth ill mannered british "white" construction workers, yelled out "paki go home", it cut deep, and i could only excuse it away, because they were uneducated, manual labourers who were just jealous...right?
having witnessed Pakistani pilgrims in Saudi Arabia being manhadlded just because they are Pakistani, and South Africans torch Pakistani businesses, because these immigrants are seen as a threat.i cannot condone then that pakistani's would behave in the same manner, surely we treat others as we would like to be treated.

knowing all this it irritated me, that (I am generalising here i am sure)...that Pakistani nationals themselves could exhibit, such demeaning racist behaviour towards a sporting opponent, who were both gracious in defeat as well as in victory.
has our education an evolution as a species, been so sorely lacking that we are so unforgiving in our approach to other people. my mistake was believing that the woman i addressed had intelligence and grace, i obviously credited her with more than she deserved.

she became a sore indictment to Pakistan, and reason in my mind at least, that Pakistan has a long way to go, before she can progress and become a respected player in this world. if the people that make up a nation, more importantly their mind set has not evolved beyond the gutter, than how can a country make any progress in the world. political change happens, rulers and ruling parties come and go. unless the thinking and mindset of a people are not changed their can never be any hope for a country to prosper and be better than it is. if you cannot respect yourself, never believe that the world will ever respect you.