There were cars parked haphazardly, dirty streets, footpaths occupied by shops and Hindi songs playing in the background. I was in central Manama, bahrain it felt like mini-India without the honking.

Sachin Tendulkar reacts after his dismissal on 94 runs during the fourth day’s play of the third Test cricket match between India and West Indies at The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, in this photograph by Indranil Mukharjee of afp. Text overlay is mine

The theory went on the lines of people believing what they want to believe in and acting as if there was nothing more to it. Pfft selective exposure in the age of new media, ya right!

Well turns out, I was partially blinded by this toxic cocktail of ignorance and arrogance. The bigger issue seems to be selective perception. This issue is not restricted to Bahrain alone where localites seemed to be so sectarian in their mindset that it’s just unhealthy for such a small place. Selective perception is a problem in India as well, but I’ll come back to that on a separate post, may be. The issue I face is in Bahrain, a place I now live in and work at.

The first time I noticed this theory in practice was when the protests started in February. Being an avid twitter user (at that point) I watched tweet tweet after Bahrainis who were convinced that only one side could be right. I thought education would make more people (if not all people) think rationally, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Over here hardcore Sunnis hate Shias and hardcore Shias hate Sunnis, period. I don’t have a problem with people hating people, the problem gets serious when extremists outnumber moderates.

Extremists don’t see logic even if it is presented in front of their eyes is as many  mediums as possible. Both the sides are so intent on rewriting history that they have forgotten the point altogether.

The first thing people here need to do is to admit when you screw up or admit their weaknesses. As of now everyone thinks they are perfect and ignoring the views of others is the best way to take things forward. How can people be so blind? Whatever happened to the middle path? Is extremism the way Arabs solve their issues?

I was so irritated by the garbage that was thrown around on twitter that I almost stopped tweeting. I don’t feel like it because I run into a tweet with sectarian undertones some time or the other no matter how many people I block. AND I HATE IT. These days I poke my head in and head out.

Sometimes selective exposure is a blessing

It was a Saudi registration Audi.

According to an Arab friend of mine NUA in Arabic means something on the lines of OWN. This makes it the most awesome number plate I have seen in my life

On another note I have started using PicPlz, which unlike instagram, gives me the option of retrieving the original photograph. You can see my PicPlz photos here.

On a sidenote, the burger joint in the pic has some of the best burgers! This pic was taken before the protests =P

I gave up on this search very early, put down by the complication of the language, its pronunciation just to name a few. Turns out it is indeed one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn.

Now, after spending almost eight-months here, I have finally figured out the most awesome word in Arabic. When I say the most awesome word, I am talking about one of those words which can be used in multiple contexts, but multiple meanings. In English I can think of two four letter words, but neither of them are “family-friendly”. (HINT: ONe starts with F and ends with K the other one starts with S and ends with T).

This arabic word could help you make new friends at coffee shops, it can make strangers smile and do more awesome stuff if you know how and when to say it. The word I’m referring to ‘Yella’. It rhymes with fella only there’s an extended stress on the ‘l’s.

It’s typically used for ‘hi, hello’ scenarios, but it can also be used in cases of thank you or cool. Some use it as good bye or see ya later and I have even heard it being used in context of “Wow! really?”

I don’t know what other circumstances it can be used under, but it’s the sheer flexibility that surprises me. Are there any words in Hindi/Malayalam which have similar depth and flexibility? Something I have overlooked may be?

In Batman universe, with great inheritance, comes great swag.

When I was a kid I used to buy a lot of products because there was something free with it. My favorite was Milo; man did they have some interesting stuff.
Though I grew up ( at least physically) I still have this tendency to pick up stuff because they have something free with them.
Thanks this obsession I have a lot of Kung Fu panda figurines lying around which I got with some corn flakes.
That said the number of products that ship with free stuff has reduced drastically. So what happened marketers? Is it financially unviable or is it that kids don’t like these cheap plastic toys any longer?

Stop or snooze? Corn flakes or fruits? Twitter or Facebook? Red shirt or blue shirt? Hot or cold? Cable or xbox? Reader or twitter? Stream music or download? Cable or xbox? To do or not todo? Burger or pizza? Card or cash? Talk or chat? Yawn or coffee? Vanilla or double chocolate? Is choice a bad thing?

I have been taking random pictures of this country ever since I came here, about time I uploaded at least a few of them =)