Kish Island

Recently I happened to visit Kish Island.

I must admit that I had never heard of this place before. I'm sure most of you would also be as unaware of Kish Island as I was.

So how I ended up there?

Let me start form the beginning.

I got a job offer from a hospital in UAE. They wanted me urgently so they accepted to let me join on a visit visa from Saudi Arabia. But soon the status had to be changed to employment visa. That required exiting the UAE and re-entering on the newly issued employment visa. Now this "visa run" is quite well-known in the UAE. The usual destinations are either Oman or Iran because of close proximity to UAE. However, a recent change of immigration rules meant Oman was unlikely. So the choice was to exit to Iran. The two most-frequented areas in Iran are Kishim and Kish Islands.

So it was actually suggested by Joseph George in HR department to go to Kish and there was no special reason for the choice. He arranged a return ticket to Kish with the return date kept open (usually kept open until visa is received). It was expected to take three to four days for the visa to be issued. They told me the hotel offers free first night stay and subsequent night stays, if required, have to be paid. The Kish Island requires no visa to enter it as long as the visit is expected to be less that 14 days. However, for visits more than 14 days or if the stay extends beyond 14th day, then the visa is needed to be applied. Quite amusingly (and thankfully) I thought for a moment that it could one of those territories in the world that could be counted on the fingers of one hand only where Pakistanis don't require a visa to enter.

I researched a little. A small island in the Persian Gulf in the south west of mainland Iran. It is an Iranian territory but they want to develop it as a Free Trade Zone not unlike Dubai. I just had a notion that both Iran and UAE would be very much interested not to let our Gwadar Port develop.

So, on September 7, I arrived in Dubai Airport to get the 2pm Kish Airways flight only to find it delayed. Hmmm... Nice start.

Eventually we flew at around 4:15pm. It was a rusty-looking Fokker with almost all the passengers travelling with the same intention of Visa Run. The actual flying time was hardly 25 minutes. I was already bored and looked forward to more. The first view of the island from my aircraft, however, captured my attention.

The first glimpse of the island

Not bad!
And as the aircraft flew over the island I got a view of the city with its lush green trees and bushes with some high-rise buildings and under-construction malls. Not bad for a country plagued by economic embargo for such a long time.
Kish Airport appeared quite simple and small. And it was so hot and humid as we alighted. The airport was quite the opposite of what I read in the internet that the Shah of Iran had wanted to make this airport capable of handling the supersonic Concorde.
The immigration process didn't take long but they assembled all of us 'visa-runners' in a hall in the airport until the last person finished with his immigration and baggage claim. Then they hoarded us into waiting buses. We were taken to a main 'Visa change' hotel in the city center where a plain-clothed immigration officer introduced himself and requested to hand him our passports. That's how it goes there. The passport stays with the hotel management eventually. After that we were taken to another hotel, Khaatim hotel for lodging.

The hotel seemed as rusty as the aircraft that brought me. As they asked us to fill some forms at the reception, it dawned on me that free accommodation came with a price. That 4 to 6 persons were supposed to share a room didn't appeal to me at all. So I requested the man at the reception to give me a single room. He was a bit surprised as probably he was not used to this request from a visa-runner. So when he found out that I was a doctor he started to understand. He informed me that I would no longer be entitled to the free first night offer. I nodded in agreement. But the price was too high and we eventually settled for AED 200 after much negotiation from the ever-chattering hotel manager that receptionist referred me to.
I was taken to my AED 200 single room and the only good thing I found there was a nicely working split AC. It was not worth any star with four iron beds and faded blankets and a miniature toilet-cum-bathroom with a microscopic sink. I happened to say a small prayer at that moment that my visa would be stamped soon.

It was already past sunset and I was really starting to feel so bored. My UAE SIM was on roaming but soon I ran out of credit. Fortunately, the hotel was offering Wi-Fi for sale. 50MB data for AED5. It was a lifeline that had to be taken. At least, I was not lonely anymore.

After 8:30pm the hotel restaurant opened. Probably, the food was the only good thing about that hotel, of course besides the lovely receptionist girl. The chef was Mr. Hayat from Chiniot, Pakistan. And I had chicken curry with crispy hot parathas. That meal was superb.

Mr. Hayat the fantastic chef at Khaatam Hotel

Afterward, I went out of the hotel for a walk around the block. I found a street named after our great poet Allama Iqbal.

It was too hot and humid and I was sweating profusely. I badly wanted to take a shower but I couldn't make up my mind to take shower in that bathroom. I returned to find an American movie "The A-Team" being projected on a screen. I bought a cup of tea and watched the movie for a while. But it was too uncomfortable so I returned to the cool comfort of my room and slept.

Next morning I woke up early. I had decided before I slept to see the island a bit before it got too hot in the morning and try to find rubber slippers and towel from any shop. So off I went for a walk. Sun wasn't up too much and it was warm already and humid.

There was a huge mall being constructed just opposite the Khaatim Hotel. I could see the steel framework being built. That and a lot of other construction works amazed me.

I walked until I could see the coastline. It was still early and there weren't many people or vehicles moving. The view was great. I came to a sort of pier and I saw some men fishing. I could see corals beneath the shallow clear water with fish playing hide and seek among the corals. I could see ships on the horizon. That seemed to be a sort of highway for ships - between Kish and the mainland Iran.



In the pier I saw a metal artwork of a fisherman catching his prey. It was a bit rusty because of exposure to atmospheric conditions but still worth-seeing.

After that I started my trek again. I was sure there were sandy beaches somewhere. I tried to stay as close to sea as possible. I saw a beautiful mosque on my way. Nice calligraphic artwork on its walls.

I looked around to find some sort of a shop but whatever kiosk I could find was still closed. The time was around 8am and sun was rising and it was expected to get warmer and warmer. So I changed my plan and decided to walk towards the main road away from the coast. I saw some buildings and Kish campus of Tehran University on the main road.



I saw something like a shopping complex across the road. To cross the road I saw a pedestrian bridge. As I approached it I was pleasantly surprised to see escalators on both sides. To be honest, I have never seen escalators installed in pedestrian bridges not even in Saudi Arabia. So as I was crossing the road, I got a chance to take pictures.

However, my trip bore no fruit as I found out that this shopping complex, called the Paras Khaleej Bazaar, would not open until after 10am. So I hurried back to my hotel as it was getter warmer and I was getting more and more sweaty. Fortunately, I found the cafeteria open at the hotel and serving our complimentary breakfast of a boiled egg, half roti with small packs of jam and honey and black tea. Afterwards, I slept for sometime and at around 11am I was back at the bazaar. I found and bought plastic slippers, towel and a hair brush. Back at the hotel, still I could not persuade myself to take shower in that microscopic bathroom. I had decided by this time to move to another better hotel.

In the afternoon, I had lunch. This time it was serving deep fried fish and I had it with rice. I must admit that it tasted fantastic yet again. Hats off to you, Mr. Hayat!

After I rested for a while, in the late afternoon, I started my sojourn to find another hotel. somehow, I couldn't make any taxi stop and as I walked I came across wonderful views.

The statue of Sheikh Saadi

I found a lot of statues erected at various roundabouts. Some of them are of Shiekh Saadi. Here is one of the statues.

A windmill I saw on the way. May be it is just used to see how windy it is at a given time.

I found a good looking hotel after sometime and they had a single room for almost the same price but it seemed at least a 3-star hotel. I returned to my hotel and requested check-out. They were surprised that I was checking out. They summoned the ever-chattering hotel manager who insisted to know why and where I was going. I just told him that I couldn't possibly stay in that room for another minute and moving to Aftab-e-Sharq Hotel. He was 'surprised' to know that I didn't have a television in my room and that I didn't get towels and that the room was not liked by me. But he agreed to let me check-out but I had to bring a 'letter' from the new hotel to them. Now what was this arrangement I had no idea about. They just told me Afteb-e-Sharq Hotel is not a visa-change hotel and so this was needed. Moreover, if immigration department got wind of this both the hotel and I would probably be in trouble. I couldn't care less. I went back to Aftab-e-Sharq hotel and requested the letter and brought it back. I had my dinner first and then I checked-out. As soon as I checked-in in Aftab-e-Sharq Hotel and reached my room, the first thing I did was to take the much-needed refreshing shower. There was nothing much to do and so I hung inside the lobby where there was free Wi-Fi. Still no progress regarding my visa.

Good thing about this hotel was the complimentary breakfast was much better than at the previous hotel. Till afternoon there was no news of visa from UAE. I decided to visit the ancient underground city called Karez.

It is like a maze of underground tunnels along with waterways that used to collect whatever rainwater it could. The nature of this labyrinth of tunnels could be gauged by the map of this facility.

Next day around midday I got the news that the visa was issued and in afternoon I received the email. So I rushed to Kish Air office in downtown to book my return flight. Unfortunately, I couldn't get flight the same day but the next day at 8:45pm. So I had a whole day to spend again.

So I went to visit two more places. I visited the Greek ship. They say it ran aground in the sixties and abandoning sailors set it on fire. So its there ever since. The cabbie who took me there was a talkative burly man, Abdul Majed. He reminded me of a character in Jurassic Park-I who stole the dinosaur embryos only to be killed by a dinosaur later. And he also spoke almost the same way as that character with a thick voice. He was so happy when I told him that his English was good. It was part-truth and part-flattering.

The Greek Ship

Beautiful sunset at the site of the Greek Ship

Mr. Abdul Majed the cabbie

Next morning, since I visited the other place. It is called "Darakht-e-Sabz" or The Green Tree. It is a banyan tree said to be hundreds of years old. Surprisingly, I found the Iranians highly superstitious because I saw lots of charms tied to the branches of that tree. Not unlike what we see in our shrines. And all that time I thought we were the only "weak-faithed" people.

The Green Tree




The charms tied to the tree



So with that, my trip to Kish ended. I had uneventful journey back home where Mr. Saud was there at the Dubai airport to receive me. As the car sped back to Al-Ain, I looked forward to a hot shower and a good rest that night and thinking will I ever return to Kish or not.

How about a title change?

Member of Paliament.

Member of National Assembly.

Member of Provincial Assembly.

Their heads in the sky. Their feet on our heads.

What is this???

They have been elected by people for the people. To represent them in the Assemblies. Not to rule over them but to serve them - the nation.

So what shall we do? We can stand up to them whenever they try to be super-humans. Like the passengers of PK370 did.

Another option is to use alternate term for them. A title change.

Instead of MNAs or MPAs, they should be called RPPs. Representatives of the People of Pakistan. That is what they actually are and that is what they should know they are.

Please I advice everyone to use that term and share with others. Change should come from all directions.

The Awakening

What I found today in the news and the video-clips in the social media and the news seemed unbelievable. What happened to Senator Rehman Malik and a PMLN MNA Dr Ramesh Kumar in the PIA aircraft when it was delayed because of their VIP mentality in beyond belief. That the people inside that aircraft decided to unite against them when they were kept waiting for two hours brings a breath of fresh air.

This is just a beginning. The awakening of this nation has started. The so-called crowd of about 200 milllion people is ready to become a nation. I hope this will be the shock our derailed politicians and lawmakers need to come back to track.

Long time, no see!

Its been a while since I had been here last.

I don't know why I don't feel like writing anything. With some great effort I'm just writing. Aimlessly, but nonetheless writing something.

Perhaps its got something to do with the state of my mind. It was crazy to start with, but recently its just running amok.

Aaah.......!

I've got to pull myself together. And try to live.

But again something, some thought, some memories bring me down again.

Hopefully, I'll rise again.

Yes, hopefully...

NATO lifeline restored

The inevitable happened after all.

It was just a matter of time. It seemed that those at the helm of powers in Pakistan had been quivering with desire to reopen the NATO lifeline after it was closed as a protest by the Pakistani Government in response to brutal massacre of Pakistan soldiers at Salalah checkpost. The Parliament had endorsed it and demanded an unconditional apology besides cessation of drone attacks etc. This step by our government in itself was so surprising and it seemed that they have decided to face America eye to eye.

The Americans started to feel the crunch as the alternate supply lines were proving to be too costly. Finally after months they came up with a reply that was short of unconditional apology. Moreover, it also implicated us in the matter equally. But surprisingly, after showing muscles all along, an executive decision ordered reopening of the NATO supply line in such a haste as if a balloon has burst. The matter was not even raised in the Parliament and all the hue and cry earlier about sovereignty of Parliament was allowed to go down the drain.

Now, they will have their cake and get to eat it too. Meanwhile, we will keep on reading about unabated drone strikes in our territory.

The Prime Clown

Hi

I'm back after quite some time. If you see my previous posts and the country now, you'll find quite a change. If the progress of our country is depicted as a graph, it would seem like a descent from the steepest roller coaster. Bad governance would be a very humble term to describe this mess. But if you ask Yousuf Raza Gilani, the ex-PM who was convicted from court for contempt, he would say he did great. He became the longest governing PM, presented five budgets and, and.... Sorry can't think of any more. But he should thank Asif Zardari for these 'achievements', who somehow made their allies blind, deaf and dumb.

So now there is flurry of activity among the politicians to elect the next PM. But surprisingly, the party chief, Mr. AZ couldn't come up with better candidates than Makhdoom Shahabuddin & later Raja Parvez Ashraf. Both are questionable characters. Is there no one in PPP who has no blemish? But then, why would AZ want a person who'd put country ahead of personal or political gains to be the next PM, knowing well that the first job the new PM would be expected to do would be to indict AZ?

Despite the arrest warrant for Makhdoom Shahabuddin looming over him, his nomination papers have been approved nonetheless, which is a surprise! Raja Parvez Ashraf has allegedly corruption charges on his head in dealing with the rental power plants. He probably is solely responsible for the power crisis in the country. Then we are seeing Maulana Fazl in the race also. That's really funny to see. What can I say about him?

So that leaves Kaira and Mehtab in the race. The latter is unlikely to win as he is a nominee of PMLN and it doesn't have enough numbers in the house to back him.

So, if our elected parliamentarians are still blind, deaf and dumb then we might not be much surprised.

The Modern East India Company

I just returned from a month-long vacation to Pakistan last week . A lot is being said in the print and electronic media about the political situation in the country. I had a chance to witness some of the things first-hand.

There is a lot to write about. But we need to see the larger picture. It is emerging now bit by bit. Like pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle gradually finding their places. It seems to me a lot like a takeover.

There is now a crisis situation everywhere and in every department. Corruption is at its worst and look set to get even worse. You need to bribe even to get legitimate petty jobs done in the government departments. Even in the courts!!

There seems to be no national dignity left. Only money makes the mare go. Look at our pathetic cricketers. I mean I'm not referring to their lowly performance but the way they are stooping so low and begging to be included in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The IPL organizers and the franchises then, probably as a result of (silent) national mandate rejected all of our players. Look at them and look at us!

No national dignity and no national pride. And no sense of responsibility. There is ample sugarcane harvest and plenty of sugar can be made available. But the sugar mill owners have created a situation of shortage and waiting for increase in the price to release their produce. And they can remain scot-free as most of them are influential politicians. Poor masses! They could be seen outside Utility Stores in long queues to get cheap sugar. Then there is severe power shortage. A severe water shortage. And list goes on.

So people are being made to suffer and to struggle to make ends meet. May be to prevent them fro analyzing the situation. And see what is happening in the political front. America is fast spreading its venomenous tentacles around our country. There is a sort of in-fighting among brothers in NWFP and the Tribal areas and our Armed Forces. There is going to be a similar situation soon in Balochistan. Karachi is being paralyzed financially and with it the country. Our politicians are just sitting there doing nothing, as if they are a part of the Great American Plan. There is Blackwater (with its new name) and Americans using our military and police bases (for what?) where not even the local military or police officials could be made to enter them! And now they plan to send 'experts' to Afghanistan and Pakistan to help in reorganization. Sounds ominous, isn't it?

Everyone in the street can talk for hours about the mythical 'American future map' of the region which shows a truncated Pakistan yet no one is noticing how they have started doing this. Of course this requires Mir Jaffers and Mir Sadiqs which are aplenty here!

Isn't it similar to what happened a few centuries ago when East India Company arrived in India. The rest, as we all know, is history!

Still no sight of the tunnel's end

This is a post after a while.

After around four months.

A lot had happened since then. But nothing that could bring a smile or a sigh of relief. Each day had been worse than the day before.

It seems as if worst is not over yet.

There is an uneasy calm. Some sort of eerie quietness. As if it is brewing some storm.

But why is it that I am having these negative thoughts? Why am I being so pessimistic? But then, being optimistic till now had been any good for us? Didn't it only bring disappointment? Didn't we feel let down?

If one is at the top, the only way is to go is down below. But if one is already at the bottom, the only way to go is up above. I think our nation is at the bottom right now. If I am being pessimistic, any step towards the only available way would be a welcome relief.

However, one can choose to stay at the bottom. This would be too bad. But then, what if we decided to make the bottom deeper!!!

That's even worse!!!