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www.blackandwhiteoman.com<br />
Puppet power p22<br />
Suniel Shetty to champion Autism cause p43<br />
It's<br />
S u 2 3<br />
5 6<br />
8 9 d<br />
k u<br />
1<br />
4<br />
7<br />
1<br />
4<br />
7<br />
o<br />
1<br />
4<br />
7<br />
2<br />
5<br />
8<br />
2<br />
5<br />
8<br />
3<br />
6<br />
9<br />
3<br />
6<br />
9<br />
time with B&W p28<br />
Vol.3 Issue 45II May 21-June 6, 2012<br />
FREE Fortnightly 30 Jumada II - 16 Rajab
An autistic child, like any child, possesses the potential for great achievements.<br />
Like any child, all it takes is love, respect – and a little extra understanding and<br />
support when they need it.<br />
Can you see the genius?<br />
www.renaissance-oman.com
www.omanonlinesearch.com<br />
Coming Soon!<br />
Oman's first<br />
comprehensive<br />
online directory<br />
More details: oos@blackandwhiteoman.com
Contents<br />
22<br />
Xclusive<br />
Puppet power<br />
The puppet can say whatever needs to be said without implicating the puppeteer in the<br />
eyes of the audience. The potential of youth can be tapped only if you know which button to<br />
press. Involvement is the button that should be pressed.<br />
Meditate men, meditate<br />
Men have to meditate –<br />
10 meditation is not about<br />
gender. Meditation is a way<br />
of life; we need to tap the<br />
vast reservoir of energy in us,<br />
lying unused and untapped.<br />
Sudoku<br />
Special Celebrity Guest of Honour:<br />
Bollywood star Suniel Shetty to give<br />
away prizes at the Grand Finale of<br />
the B&W Sudoku for a Cause event<br />
on June 1 at Al Bustan Palace Hotel.<br />
43<br />
Published by: Muscat Press & Publishing House SAOC<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong><br />
Postal address: P O Box 86, PC 115, Madinat Sultan Qaboos<br />
Office location: Hatat House A, II Floor, Suite No: 212<br />
Ph: 24565697 Fax: 24565496<br />
Website: www.blackandwhiteoman.com<br />
Editorial: editor@blackandwhiteoman.com<br />
Printed 6 May at 21-June Oman Printers 6, 2012<br />
52<br />
Too busy women,<br />
beware!<br />
Women are so busy that it seems<br />
like they are caught in some kind<br />
of national epidemic. It is true that<br />
women need to juggle between work<br />
and family responsibilities, but if they<br />
are so caught up in it, where will they<br />
find some time to have a personal<br />
life?<br />
Editor-in-chief Mohamed Issa Al Zadjali<br />
Managing editor Priya Arunkumar<br />
Work editor Adarsh Madhavan<br />
Design & production Beneek Siraj<br />
Advt. & marketing Shannon D'Souza<br />
Priyanka Sampat
Show the power<br />
of your pen!<br />
By Adarsh Madhavan<br />
Is the pen really mightier than the sword? Why not, it<br />
could be, but I am just wondering about the power of<br />
the pen in Oman. Not to mistake it for anything else.<br />
I do not mean that the pen has to be used to fight<br />
against the establishment, no. I mean it only in one<br />
sense.<br />
To do good; to right the wrong, yes, but more<br />
importantly, use it to help, to change (for good), to<br />
better ourselves, to assist someone in trouble, to<br />
become a force that the community can depend on<br />
when the need arises. Worldover, the power of the<br />
pen is witnessed, not just in toppling the corrupt, but<br />
in the sheer sense of assisting the weak; helping<br />
the deprived; to calming the nerves; to bring in<br />
confidence; to wipe off a tear; to bring a smile to a<br />
face…<br />
Can the pen in Oman be used for such a change?<br />
Will it work? Will the power of the pen also work in<br />
Oman? Scribes have a job to do here; they have<br />
to break news; there is competition; they have to<br />
look after their jobs, their career and they need to<br />
make money; they are not here for charity…I agree.<br />
But once in a month, just once…each one of them<br />
can find a story from somewhere about someone’s<br />
plight; someone’s misfortune; someone in dire straits;<br />
someone in trouble; someone in need; someone<br />
who wants a shoulder to cry on…is that too hard to<br />
ask of scribes here? It may sound trite; it may sound<br />
mushy; it may sound silly, but even if it is so, just<br />
think of how one story that highlights one simple<br />
issue, one simple case, one simple but true tale of a<br />
man in trouble and make it to reach out to the public<br />
domain; make other people read it; comment on it,<br />
feel about it and make them perhaps open their eyes<br />
and hearts to a tale of someone’s misery; someone’s<br />
problem and if in someway they could help, that<br />
would bring the winds of change that could develop<br />
into a real storm of happiness for many. Each story<br />
speaking of someone somewhere around here who<br />
is in some kind of trouble or is in some need of<br />
help and when that is let out and many people get<br />
to know about it, there would be a mass stirring<br />
of hearts for that poor soul who needs help; for<br />
him, it could be something major and something<br />
unassailable, which in a collective effort would make<br />
it possible. I don’t want to delve on the cases, or<br />
even give examples, because the problems that<br />
a man would encounter are too many and it could<br />
be varied. But when a helpless man or woman’s<br />
plaint is let out to the public, someone there would<br />
be moved enough to act, to help, to assist, to put<br />
the person out of that misery. It can happen. Why<br />
the doubt; why the shaking of the head and why the<br />
scorn? Try it out, there is always someone waiting<br />
for the world to help them out their doldrums and<br />
this can only be reached out to the public by a<br />
scribe.<br />
Yes, a social worker would take it up, and even<br />
solve it, but to reach it out to the world, a scribe’s<br />
help is needed and that is where you all come in.<br />
Yes, you need to break that news before anybody<br />
else; there is stiff competition and you have other<br />
scribes breathing behind your neck, but don’t tell<br />
me you cannot spare some moments to highlight<br />
an issue of a poor soul mired in a trial that fate<br />
has dumped on him. It can be anything, physical,<br />
medical, monetary, mental…<br />
While you win accolades and climb the ladder of<br />
success and shine, just give a glimpse into the<br />
man on the street; that poor soul in despair; that<br />
poor wretch who has given up on everything,<br />
including him; just pick up the thread and spread<br />
the message; it may be of no benefit to you, but<br />
someone somewhere will give more than a glimpse<br />
to what you have written and perhaps be moved to<br />
do something; perhaps may even have a solution…<br />
Do it, at least for the sake of the man on the street<br />
and show the power of your pen.<br />
editor@blackandwhiteoman.com<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong> 7<br />
All about X, Y & Z
Reader's column<br />
8 May 7-20, 2012<br />
First things first<br />
Parents with autistic children should never think that they<br />
are at fault (Sudoku for Autism, May 7 to 20). I know it is<br />
easy to say that and I personally know of a case where<br />
both the parents believe that somehow they are the reason<br />
why their six-year old child is afflicted with autism. It has<br />
never crossed their mind that they have nothing to do with<br />
the sickness of their child. But then the problem with autism<br />
is that although there is awareness and although there are<br />
people out there now doing all that they can to bring this<br />
problem out into the open, very few people actually know<br />
what autism is. Ask for a simple explanation on autism and<br />
you will find that even the best-known doctors give out a<br />
vague medical statement about autism. What is autism and<br />
is there any way to prevent it? If not, is there any way to<br />
manage it? We should address these issues first before we<br />
make any further step.<br />
Manitha Saunder, Qurum<br />
Don’t look for the reason<br />
There is no reason why parents with autistic child/children<br />
should feel guilty. There is some reason why you have a<br />
child. God gave the child to you and even if he/she is not<br />
normal, then you have to live with that fact. We cannot run<br />
away from truth. God has given us such children and yes, it<br />
is a challenge, and let us all be strong enough to take up this<br />
challenge. There must be a reason why God has given us<br />
such a challenge. Instead of wasting time trying to find why<br />
and why we are singled out, let us utilise the precious time to<br />
look after and take of our special child/ children.<br />
Nirmal K, Seeb<br />
We are of different species<br />
Communication between men and women, like Bill Cosby<br />
says (May 7 to 21) is still in its infancy. I also agree with<br />
the article one hundred percent. Men are from some other<br />
planet. They don’t belong here. Somehow, they are not able<br />
to open up with us and we feel we are hitting our head against<br />
the wall. Whatever they say or do is never a response to our<br />
queries. Men need to improve their communication skills big<br />
time and let us hope it happens sooner than later.<br />
Sangeetha Suman, Al Khuwair
The yawning gap<br />
While we are on the subject of autism, let us not forget the simple fact adults<br />
with autism often fare worse when it comes to work and educational experience<br />
than people with other disabilities, including those who are mentally disabled.<br />
Many studies have proven that young adults with autism do not have paid job<br />
experience, college or technical schooling even after many years of high school<br />
education. That is a very sad and scary situation and it is also a point that needs<br />
to be driven across to the authorities concerned in Oman.<br />
Salim Abbas, Wadi Kabir<br />
Before it is too late…<br />
Having a young child itself can keep you awake at night. So imagine the<br />
plight of those parents who have children that are autistic. Such parents may<br />
not be sleeping at all. Most of the autistic children have trouble reading and<br />
speaking; besides this, they have difficulty in understanding social cues and<br />
body language. All of this can make other people uncomfortable. Parents of<br />
such children may also wonder about what happens when these kids grow up.<br />
Great amount of work is yet to be done in this arena. We need to do more about<br />
bringing awareness and also fight for a society that accepts autistic people and<br />
give them a chance to integrate. Let us start now before it is too late!<br />
Yasmin Mohammed, Ruwi<br />
Mail your views and opinions at<br />
editor@blackandwhiteoman.com<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong><br />
9
Men read<br />
Meditate men,<br />
MEDITATE<br />
Decrease in blood pressure, decrease in stress symptoms, boosting of concentration,<br />
brain power…in short, a healthy body, mind and soul is what you get if you meditate<br />
right. So, let us get rid of the misconception that meditation is not for men. Meditation<br />
is not just for men – it is for real men!<br />
In a world where we are forced to live with nerve-wrecking<br />
competitions and challenges each and every single day;<br />
in a world where we are confronted by an explosion of<br />
problems and difficulties, where stress is the byword and<br />
pain is a necessary evil and confusion is the anthem,<br />
life for even the tougher one among the lot, can crack.<br />
There are people out there fighting mental problems and<br />
suicide is on the rife and there is a real danger of even<br />
youngsters catching the mental bug because the times<br />
we live in is fraught with tension and some of us are living<br />
on the borderline… So, don’t even ask the question why<br />
meditate? Or don’t shake it off by saying that men need<br />
not meditate? Men have to meditate – meditation is not<br />
about gender. Meditation is a way of life; we need to<br />
tap the vast reservoir of energy in us, lying unused and<br />
untapped.<br />
MEDITATE RIGHT<br />
All you need to keep in mind is that, meditation is not just<br />
closing your eyes and sitting in one place. It is improving<br />
your concentration in a way that suits you. So, meditate<br />
right in order to get a healthy mind, body and soul.<br />
NO EXCUSES<br />
Now, the biggest excuse you could come up with is that<br />
you find it difficult to meditate and you had tried it so<br />
many times and have given up on it. Enough with such<br />
excuses... Just focus. First, close your eyes. Allow some<br />
moments to pass and then slowly try to realise how you<br />
are breathing. Focus on that only. Then after some time,<br />
try to concentrate on each body part, yes, from your toes<br />
slowly edge up. Don’t bother about your mistakes and the<br />
problems you are having in your life. Forget about it for<br />
the moment. You are not going to be bothered about your<br />
doubts, confusions and the problems in life. Just focus<br />
on now and your body. Breathe. You will find that your<br />
feeling completely at peace.<br />
RAY OF LIGHT<br />
Now, without touching on spirituality and the like, just try<br />
10 May 21-June 6, 2012<br />
this form of meditating too.<br />
Close your eyes and try to imagine an image of<br />
something peaceful, very peaceful. Like flowing water. Or<br />
better still imagine a ray of light falling on you. This will<br />
help you develop a positive mind and will also let you stay<br />
focussed.<br />
FOCUS BETWEEN YOUR EYEBROWS<br />
Yet another method is to close your eyes and try to<br />
concentrate between your eyebrows. Keep your eyes<br />
closed and stay focussed at this point. You can also keep<br />
your eyeballs in a 25 degree angle. If it seems difficult<br />
initially, place your index finger between the eyebrows<br />
and try concentrating at a point on your finger. This will<br />
also reduce the fluttering of the eyelashes and improve<br />
your concentration.<br />
CHAOTIC MINDS<br />
The easiest thing in the world is to get distracted. Now,<br />
add a chaotic mind to that and you will only be doubly<br />
confused. Now distraction is not all that good for you.<br />
So, you need to select a serene spot in your home when<br />
you embark on a meditation spree. Chose a quiet corner<br />
which has a blank wall. You can either close your eyes or<br />
stare at a point on the wall. The only thing that should be<br />
there on your mind is that you need to concentrate at the<br />
given point and there is nothing around you that is more<br />
important.<br />
DE-STRESS AND ATTAIN PERFECTION<br />
Also, give some time every day – after finishing all the<br />
work that is – to go back into the activities that you<br />
have done for the day. Or, if you are keen to do it in the<br />
morning, then make a preview of your day and what you<br />
should be doing. This was you can de-stress and attain<br />
perfection.<br />
MUSIC TO MEDITATE<br />
Now turn to music. What you need to do is to get yourself<br />
introduced to soft music. You can use music to meditate.
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong><br />
11
Off the wall<br />
As dirty as<br />
my cuppa<br />
By Adarsh Madhavan<br />
He thinks I am a boy. Like him. The boy who makes tea<br />
at the office. What he thinks, I am. I make tea. For myself<br />
and others in my office. But, I also make my tea and have<br />
it too. That is another story.<br />
We often bump into each other in the men’s rest room<br />
outside my office. He is from some company in the same<br />
floor as ours. Whenever he happens to dip his tea and<br />
coffee stained cups in the office bathroom sink, I would<br />
somehow be reaching there with my own contribution. He<br />
would glance at me, my cups, and give a wry smile. Like,<br />
ha, I have almost finished mine; yours is going to take<br />
a long time! And mine does. Even one cup takes longer<br />
than his six. Most of the days he is in an hummable mood,<br />
pausing only for the moments given when I interrupt with<br />
my entry and he makes his side glances and goes on<br />
humming the song of life. I want to hum along, but I don’t<br />
want to spoil his mood, and anyway, I have nothing to<br />
hum about(oh hum!).<br />
I don’t know what makes me think that he views me as an<br />
office boy; something in the way he looks at me; there is<br />
that hey brother of the same tribe, country cousin of the<br />
clash of the cups, we are in the same boat sailing in the<br />
same suds of the sink.<br />
Anyway, in the brotherhood of the bathroom, we are<br />
all things equal. Besides, I am always holding on to a<br />
cup or cups and I am almost always dressed casually.<br />
Or, perhaps, it could be the way I look. I always look<br />
casual, I think. My friends say that I look depressed. Do<br />
office boys look depressed? No. Not this one. He hums<br />
several happy tunes in the space of five minutes and he<br />
splashes water from the sink on to the mirror and on to<br />
the bathroom floor but I don’t have the heart to tell him<br />
that the floor was scrubbed clean by the cleaners just that<br />
morning. Who am I to tell him what to do and who am I to<br />
order him around and who am I to burst his little bubble<br />
12 May 21-June 6, 2012<br />
Off the wall<br />
(not just the ones floating from the sink) of happiness?<br />
Not me!<br />
He is a picture of happiness with or without his cuppa.<br />
But, somehow, there is that sudden peculiar look of his<br />
when he encounters me. It is a small, fleeting moment,<br />
hardly discernible to any, but it hits me. I know that<br />
my presence somehow disrupts his smooth song flow.<br />
Perhaps, he also senses, in the same breath, my<br />
discomfort, or he discerns that his presence actually<br />
rattles some part of my conscience, which is saddled<br />
with a trace of envy too. I don’t know how fakes like<br />
me exist, for, deep inside me, although I do it every<br />
day, I am still not sure I like the idea of washing<br />
the cups in the presence of strangers; there is this<br />
unpleasantly small feeling in me that perhaps, if they<br />
see me washing cups in the sink, they would actually<br />
think I am an office boy.<br />
And, from my side, there is this tiny and as silly a<br />
feeling in me to somehow shake awake this boy from<br />
his happy reverie and his misguided notion that I am<br />
of his ilk, whatever that is supposed to mean. However<br />
strong I shake myself from such foolish feelings, I still<br />
realise that I have a long way to go. A long, long way<br />
to go. I still belong to the pompous clan that believes in<br />
their status, in their position, in their so-called dignity…<br />
so much so we don’t stoop down to any lower level<br />
and don’t mix with the hoi polloi. However much I hate<br />
such people, I realise I am just a mutt barking at my<br />
own shadow; I am one of those whom I myself detest.<br />
If only I could wash my heart in the same sink that<br />
I wash my cups, perhaps, I could perhaps make it<br />
clean. Now I know why that boy is humming his happy<br />
tune, and why I never can…<br />
His heart is as clean as his cup.<br />
adarsh@blackandwhiteoman.com
SME’s need<br />
more support<br />
By Qais Al Khonji<br />
Small and medium enterprises are<br />
the backbone of any economy,<br />
and here in Oman there are some<br />
obstacles that SME’s face and I am<br />
highlighting some of them from my<br />
own experience. The government<br />
has been trying to minimise such<br />
obstacles, but I believe that more<br />
could be done. Some of the obstacles<br />
are highlighted below:<br />
1- New products mean creating a<br />
lot of awareness, which is not easy.<br />
Marketing is the biggest challenge any<br />
small business may face; we require<br />
more of marketing support for a better<br />
kick off.<br />
2- The other kind of support needed<br />
is simple: you need family and friends’<br />
support in disseminating the news and<br />
also initially promoting and using your<br />
business.<br />
3- Big companies are already<br />
dominating the market, so I assume<br />
one solution would be that the<br />
government represented by the tender<br />
board to work out a mechanism to<br />
segregate tenders for large corporates<br />
and small businesses.<br />
4- Administrative issues: from finding<br />
a commercial name to registration,<br />
which is also known as bureaucracy,<br />
and the high annual chamber of<br />
commerce registration fees has to be<br />
looked at and re considered.<br />
5- Market condition: being a very<br />
small market, is a tough challenge. In<br />
Oman, people are more into saving<br />
than spending and when they spend<br />
it all goes to necessities rather than<br />
luxury products. So, it is a tough<br />
market to penetrate.<br />
6- Labour regulations: this makes<br />
life complicated for business owners.<br />
Forced Omanisation makes it very<br />
expensive. This has to be looked into<br />
and a new mechanism should be<br />
adopted.<br />
7- Education: Again the government<br />
represented by both the ministry<br />
of education and the ministry of<br />
higher education have to take an<br />
intuitive; the MOE has to think about<br />
including ‘entrepreneurship’ in the<br />
curriculum of students of grades 11<br />
and 12; the MOHE has to think about<br />
adopting a new concept in the region<br />
by establishing an academy that<br />
promotes the essential concepts of<br />
entrepreneurship.<br />
8- Financial infrastructure: we need<br />
more venture capital funds, such as<br />
Sharakah, which has brought in lot<br />
of success stories. We also need<br />
a society of angel investors to be<br />
established. It’s a new concept to the<br />
region but I think it’s time for such a<br />
thing to start in Oman.<br />
So entrepreneurship is a window into<br />
job creation and more support towards<br />
all the above from the government will<br />
lead to expanded job creation.<br />
alkhonjiqais@gmail.com<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong> 13<br />
Biz views
Wordpress<br />
Affordable new<br />
Renault Duster<br />
in Oman<br />
The New Renault Duster, a strong and reliable SUV<br />
with genuine off-road ability, was officially unveiled at<br />
the Al Bustan Palace Hotel by Mustansir Lakdawala,<br />
managing director of Renault GCC, Sheikh Ahmed<br />
Suhail Bahwan, chairman of Suhail Bahwan Auto Group<br />
and Divyendu Kumar, managing director of Suhail<br />
Bahwan Auto Group.<br />
The New Renault Duster is a particularly versatile 4x2<br />
and 4x4 vehicle, which combines a spacious interior<br />
with saloon-car comfort, while its compact footprint and<br />
high ground clearance ensure that it is at home in and<br />
about town as it is on country roads or off the beaten<br />
Al Bustan Palace awarded<br />
'Best Business Hotel'<br />
Al Bustan Palace, A Ritz-Carlton Hotel has been<br />
recognised once again by winning Business<br />
Traveller Middle East award for the “Best Business<br />
Hotel in Muscat” at the award ceremony in Dubai<br />
on April 29. Commenting on the awards Bernard<br />
N. Viola, General Manager Al Bustan Palace, A<br />
Ritz-Carlton Hotel said: “Al Bustan Palace has<br />
over the years become a national landmark that<br />
complements the country’s heritage and I would like<br />
to attribute this remarkable success to our ladies<br />
and gentlemen who create unique and memorable<br />
experiences for our guests.”<br />
14 May 21-June 6, 2012<br />
track. The New Renault Duster will be available in the<br />
Sultanate, from the 7th of May 2012 in 4x2 4-speed<br />
AT and 4x4 6-speed MT versions powered by a 2.0<br />
16V (135 hp) engine, especially tested in the GCC.<br />
Mustansir Lakdawala, managing director of Renault<br />
AGCC said, “we took on the challenge of offering an<br />
all-terrain vehicle that was less complex but still reliable<br />
and affordable, that combined the design of a real 4×4<br />
with the comfort of a saloon, it’s a very popular concept<br />
specially following the world economic crisis, which hit<br />
household budgets hard and made many people think<br />
twice before buying a new car”.<br />
Omani legends and stories<br />
Since March this year, over 40 Omani artists have been<br />
working with Dillwyn Smith a UK, artist, to explore Omani<br />
stories and legends and work together to communicate<br />
these through a series of drawings, sketches paintings and<br />
flags.<br />
The 42 artists working in collaboration with Dillwyn have<br />
been encouraged to develop a personal narrative through<br />
looking back into their family history. What are the stories<br />
and legends that have been retold through generations<br />
within their families? Workshops led the artists to the<br />
production of a series of flags, which will be flown together<br />
as a testament to the fabric of Omani society and the<br />
journeys and adventures undertaken by their families. The<br />
artists all visited sites where it is alleged legends began<br />
and where wall drawings date back 6,000 years and a<br />
storyteller was invited to come along to help the creative<br />
process by sharing their stories with the group.<br />
The exhibition at the Omani Society of Fine Arts shows<br />
the creative process of telling the legends. Each piece of<br />
art is a personal story conceived and developed through<br />
storytelling, imagination and communication. Each artist<br />
tells their story through words as well.
BankMuscat<br />
innovative assessment<br />
Bank Muscat recently launched an innovative assessment<br />
programme for staff to identify and train prospective<br />
branch managers. Over 140 potential branch managers<br />
participated in the second batch of the Assessment and<br />
Development Centre programme.<br />
The evaluation process involving five stages aims to<br />
improve the quality of branch managers’ selection<br />
decisions by objective data. It provides transparent, fair<br />
and equal opportunities for potential branch managers by<br />
using multiple assessors and assessment instruments to<br />
reduce subjectivity.<br />
Salim Al Kaabi, DGM – HR, said: “The innovative and<br />
unique initiative will enable the bank to considerably<br />
improve the standards of customer service extended<br />
by branches and enable the bank to benchmark the<br />
development of branch managers with the international<br />
best practices. BankMuscat is keen to develop its<br />
leadership pool from among the young Omanis, thereby<br />
contributing to Oman’s future by investing in talent which<br />
is the real wealth of the nation.”<br />
Hyundai’s New Generation i30 now available in the Middle East<br />
The New Generation i30 has<br />
now arrived in the Middle East.<br />
Exemplifying Hyundai’s ‘Modern<br />
Premium’ philosophy, the New<br />
Generation i30 offers consumers a<br />
stylish and refined compact-size car<br />
with enhanced quality, performance<br />
and efficiency compared to the<br />
previous model.<br />
Designed and engineered at the<br />
Hyundai Motor Europe Technical<br />
Centre in Germany, the New<br />
Generation i30 will build on the<br />
success of its predecessor, which<br />
was the first ‘i’ product in Hyundai’s<br />
range and introduced new standards<br />
of quality and driveability to the<br />
company’s product line-up. It comes<br />
to the Middle East in two models, the<br />
GL and GLS, and is set to appeal to<br />
young, progressive buyers who want<br />
a car that not only performs well but<br />
also looks great.<br />
The New Generation i30 is the latest<br />
expression of Hyundai’s ‘fluidic<br />
sculpture’ design ethos. This visual<br />
philosophy utilises flowing lines to<br />
give a constantly impactful threedimensional<br />
presence to Hyundai<br />
vehicles.<br />
On the road, its visual impact is<br />
also raised by the LED daytime<br />
running lights which are standard<br />
on all models. The New Generation<br />
i30 also bears Hyundai’s signature<br />
frontal feature – the hexagonalshaped<br />
grille.<br />
Thomas Bürkle, chief designer at<br />
Hyundai Motor Europe Technical<br />
Centre, commented: “When<br />
designing the New Generation i30,<br />
we used strong, fluid lines to sculpt a<br />
car that looks athletic and exudes a<br />
sense of constant motion, even when<br />
stationary.<br />
We gave the car a bold stance,<br />
transmitting a confident attitude<br />
through sporty characteristics and<br />
dynamic proportions. The strength<br />
of Hyundai’s design DNA is easy for<br />
people to recognise.”<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong> 15
Wordpress<br />
Khimji Ramdas launches<br />
insurance broking services<br />
Khimji Ramdas group announced the launch<br />
Khimji Ramdas Insurance Services under the<br />
umbrella of the Khimji Ramdas Shipping LLC,<br />
part of Projects and Logistics Group of Khimji<br />
Ramdas. This new division will offer professional<br />
risk and insurance intermediary services across<br />
all lines of business.<br />
With more than two decades of experience as<br />
insurance agents with Blue Eagle Shipping and<br />
Insurance Services under the group, the new<br />
insurance agency division will now graduate into<br />
full-fledged insurance brokers and address the<br />
growing needs of the market.<br />
M. C. Jose, Ceo, Projects & Logistics Group,<br />
Khimji Ramdas highlighted that “We have learnt<br />
the intricacies of insurance business for more<br />
As part of its victorious history in the<br />
Motorsport arena and its commitment<br />
towards innovative education,<br />
Mercedes-Benz Middle East has<br />
chosen to support and sponsor the<br />
Safire Racing Team from the German<br />
School in Dubai for the Formula One<br />
Technology Challenge in Schools in<br />
its latest edition.<br />
The Formula One Technology<br />
Challenge in Schools is the world’s<br />
leading multi-disciplinary challenge<br />
for nine to 19 year-old students,<br />
involving 22 countries. With acquiring<br />
the franchise in the UAE, Yas Marina<br />
16 May 21-June 6, 2012<br />
than two decades now. We have a highly qualified team of<br />
professionals who are capable of offering superior quality services<br />
at most competitive prices.<br />
With insurance added to the portfolio, we are proud to offer all<br />
transport related services with Khimji Ramdas, which was our<br />
vision when we started KR Shipping LLC in 1985. All our service<br />
offerings provide value, reliability ant trust to our clients. We are<br />
confident that we will soon be a leading player in the insurance<br />
segment too.”<br />
Mercedes-Benz Middle East sponsors UAE’s Safire Racing Team<br />
circuit hosts an invitational national<br />
final of the competition for the second<br />
year in a row for school teams,<br />
scheduled to take place in Abu<br />
Dhabi. Among the participating teams<br />
Second Cup coffee cart proves popular at Comex 2012<br />
The Second Cup Coffee Cart was recently featured at<br />
one of the largest exhibitions in Oman, COMEX 2012,<br />
where it proved to be exceptionally popular drawing<br />
impressively large crowds given the high demand for<br />
specialty coffee. For the first time, the Second Cup Coffee<br />
Cart was set-up for maximum capacity use. Jannat<br />
Moosa, marketing director at Bin Mirza International,<br />
said that the six-hours needed to assemble the cart was<br />
insignificant in comparison to the number of customers<br />
that flocked to order their Second Cup signature drinks<br />
and snacks from the large variety on display.<br />
the Mercedes-Benz backed Safire<br />
Racing team will be competing in the<br />
challenge, seeking to book one of the<br />
two places for who will represent the<br />
UAE at 2012 World Championship.<br />
“Being part of the Formula One<br />
Technology Challenge for Schools<br />
this year will be a perfect platform for<br />
us to prove the vision of Mercedes-<br />
Benz in enhancing the innovation<br />
and providing support to the<br />
motorsports engineers of tomorrow,”<br />
said Frank Bernthaler, director, sales<br />
and marketing, Mercedes-Benz Cars,<br />
Daimler Middle East & Levant.<br />
Encompassing 12<br />
square meters,<br />
the Coffee Cart<br />
featured four<br />
working stations<br />
to serve a<br />
wide selection<br />
of signature hot and cold beverages available at any<br />
Second Cup branch across Muscat. Moosa went on to<br />
say that the Second Cup Coffee Cart is now available to<br />
rent for private occasions and functions.
Oman Football Association unveils new team kit and official logo<br />
The Oman Football Association (OFA) has launched<br />
the new official team kit to be worn by Oman in their<br />
forthcoming push for 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil<br />
qualification. The new kit, launched today together with<br />
a new OFA logo, comes as football in the Sultanate is<br />
enjoying huge success. The Oman national team has<br />
reached the final stages of qualification for the 2014 FIFA<br />
World Cup Brazil, whilst the U23 team recently narrowly<br />
missed out on a place at the London 2012 Olympics in a<br />
winner-takes-all qualification play-off against Senegal.<br />
The new kit, designed for the Oman national team by Taj,<br />
a new Omani-based company, has been created using a<br />
unique performance fabric which will give maximum aid to<br />
the players on the field especially during the hot season<br />
experienced in Oman.<br />
The kit has been designed to showcase the colours of the<br />
NBO announces ‘<strong>Customer</strong> <strong>Consultant</strong> <strong>Award</strong>’ programme winner<br />
<strong>Customer</strong> care has always been a<br />
priority at National Bank of Oman<br />
(NBO).<br />
In keeping with its commitment to<br />
being a customer centric, progressive<br />
bank, the bank introduced the<br />
customer engagement programme<br />
known as “NBO <strong>Customer</strong> <strong>Consultant</strong><br />
<strong>Award</strong>”, which allows customers to<br />
win an award, for innovative ideas<br />
(that will further help improve and<br />
enhance the quality of the Bank’s<br />
products and services, in aspects<br />
seen viable and important to the<br />
Bank), presented by them.<br />
To be eligible for the “NBO <strong>Customer</strong><br />
<strong>Consultant</strong> <strong>Award</strong>”, all customers<br />
need to do is to email their innovative<br />
ideas, suggestions or feedback,<br />
to: Retail Banking - Service Quality<br />
Division - Email: servicequality@nbo.<br />
co.om.<br />
The first winner of ‘NBO’s <strong>Customer</strong><br />
<strong>Consultant</strong> <strong>Award</strong>’, Salim Al Jahwari,<br />
NBO’s Qurum Branch customer, was<br />
Omani flag and all the profits generated from its sales will<br />
be injected into the OFA’s grassroots football programme<br />
in Oman.<br />
The new OFA logo has been designed as a fresh<br />
representation of the Association’s core values of passion<br />
for football, fair play, social responsibility and ambassador<br />
of Oman. The logo will be at the forefront of the OFA’s<br />
new marketing campaign – Everybody Loves Football<br />
- aimed at getting more people playing and watching<br />
football across the Sultanate.<br />
Sayyid Khalid bin Hamad Al Busaidi, OFA chairman, said:<br />
“This is a very exciting time for the Oman national team<br />
and the Omani community and this launch marks yet<br />
another milestone ahead of the highly anticipated 2014<br />
FIFA World Cup Brazil qualifiers happening in June.”<br />
recently recognised and awarded<br />
for his valuable suggestion, which<br />
resulted in the bank introducing an<br />
additional feature in the ‘real time<br />
balance order’ transaction process.<br />
During the function, Harsh Munjal,<br />
NBO’s general manager – retail and<br />
private banking, presented Al Jahwari<br />
with a certificate and cash cheque, in<br />
the presence of senior management<br />
members and branch staff.<br />
Speaking on the occasion, Salim<br />
Al Jahwari expressed his sincere<br />
thanks to the bank and said: ‘‘This<br />
recognition means a lot to me not<br />
because of the certificate or the<br />
cheque, but because all of you<br />
showed me that you cared”.<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong> 17
Wordpress<br />
Omanoil hosts<br />
renowned islamic<br />
speaker<br />
Oman Oil Marketing Company<br />
(omanoil) hosted prominent<br />
Islamic speaker, Sheikh Suleiman<br />
Abdulaziz Al Jubailan, as part of<br />
its collaboration with Rekaaz to<br />
campaign against peer pressure.<br />
Hosted at the company’s head<br />
office in Mina Al Fahal, the Sheikh<br />
reiterated the worth of ethical<br />
collective practices in cultivating<br />
social development. Hailing from<br />
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,<br />
Sheikh Al Jubailan expressed that<br />
our social fabric is sewn together<br />
18 May 21-June 6, 2012<br />
with the threads of virtue and<br />
benevolence, and a great society<br />
consists of people with self-respect<br />
as well as respect for others. A<br />
model corporate citizen practicing<br />
goodwill and integrity, omanoil aims<br />
to transfer the company’s values<br />
to the nation’s people through its<br />
employees. The pioneering fuel<br />
and lubricants marketing company<br />
advocates youth engagement and<br />
The Oris Rectangular Titan<br />
empowerment programs to create<br />
agents of change and nurture a<br />
new generation of leaders. Under<br />
the theme, ‘Your Friends Make You<br />
Who You Are’, the Rekaaz campaign<br />
addresses underlying sociobehavioural<br />
concerns among the<br />
youth. The three-month programme<br />
has witnessed a series of omanoilsponsored<br />
interactive seminars by<br />
influential figures in Islamic teachings.<br />
Oris proudly presents the first Rectangular with a titanium case. The skeleton<br />
hands with luminous inlay make an appearance here. The bold luminous<br />
numerals are a world away from the usual Oris culture look.<br />
The cut out view of the date function allows a glimpse of the circular<br />
movement. As the dial turns, the central horizontal stripe indicates the current<br />
date although the full range remains visible. The multi piece case is big and<br />
chunky rather than slim and delicate, but the curved profile of the lightweight<br />
titanium construction ensures a snug fit on the wrist.<br />
The Oris Rectangular “Bob Dylan” Limited Edition<br />
In one of his most well-known songs, Bob Dylan sings that “The Times<br />
They Are A-Changin” but the great artist himself remains constant in his<br />
decades-long influence on our culture. In the 60's he came to prominence<br />
as the unofficial voice of the counterculture and has since become one of<br />
the most important and popular artists of all time. Bob Dylan’s impact on the<br />
world spans generations, reaching all who hear him with his distinctive voice<br />
and poetic lyrics. He is quite simply a multi-talented living legend: singer<br />
songwriter, performer, poet, musician, author and painter.<br />
As a tribute to Bob Dylan, Oris has created a special edition Rectangular<br />
model, limited to just 3000 pieces worldwide. The stainless steel cased<br />
watches carry Bob Dylan’s signature on the finely patterned dial. His portrait is<br />
engraved on the case back along with the limited edition number of the watch.<br />
A small glass window offers a glimpse of the complex mechanical movement<br />
with the famous Oris red rotor.<br />
Bob Dylan has experimented in more different fields than any other artist but<br />
has always returned to his musical roots. The watch design reflects this in its<br />
use of slick modern proportions, which make it stylish rather than fashionable.<br />
This exclusive Oris limited edition comes in a presentation box set with a<br />
Hohner Marine Band harmonica – the instrument for which Dylan is best<br />
known. The Oris Rectangular “Bob Dylan” Limited Edition: an<br />
exception to all the rules. Solo and unplugged.
The Sultan’s school hosts seminar<br />
The Sultan’s School, the only Omani<br />
school to follow the International<br />
Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum, will<br />
host the prestigious Information<br />
Technology in a Global Society<br />
(ITGS) exam standardization<br />
meetings for the first time in the<br />
Sultanate. Traditionally held in the<br />
United Kingdom and the Netherlands<br />
where the IB headquarters are<br />
located, the meetings determine the<br />
standards for examination marking in<br />
IB schools worldwide.<br />
As part of the visit, The Sultan’s<br />
School will welcome Senior IB<br />
Examiners Elizabeth Orams based<br />
in Peru, David Cousens from The<br />
Koç School, Istanbul, Turkey,<br />
TEDxMuscat 2012<br />
TEDxMuscat, the event that brings<br />
people together to share a TED-like<br />
experience, will take place on May 16th at<br />
the Millennium Resort Mussanah and will<br />
feature inspirational talks, performances<br />
and a full day of networking and dialogue<br />
for all TEDx fans. “Last year’s TEDxMuscat<br />
was a great success and provided a<br />
platform for innovations; the talks and<br />
performances were awe-inspiring”, said<br />
Arun Raj, a TEDxMuscat event organiser.<br />
Inspired by the renowned TED<br />
conferences, the key theme of this year’s<br />
TEDxMuscat will be ‘Passion for Creation’,<br />
and topics will range from art, innovation, technology, and<br />
above all the amazing power of the human mind.<br />
TEDxMuscat 2012 is an opportunity for leading<br />
Richard Taylor based in the United<br />
Kingdom and Barbara Stefanics from<br />
the Vienna International School in<br />
Austria. They will join The Sultan’s<br />
School’s own IB Senior Examiners<br />
Eli and Ada Bomfim, ITGS Higher<br />
Level Principal Examiners.<br />
Graeme Garrett, Principal at The<br />
Sultan’s School, said, “We are<br />
honoured to welcome such esteemed<br />
and respected figures from around<br />
the world to our school and to<br />
Oman for this important meeting<br />
whose wealth of experience will<br />
add great value to the grading<br />
system. We, at The Sultan’s School<br />
are firm believers in the merits of<br />
the International Baccalaureate<br />
Former Porsche chief designer Anatole Lapine is dead<br />
Dr Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, is mourning it’s<br />
chief designer of many years, Anatole Carl Lapine,<br />
who died on 29 April 2012 in Baden-Baden. Lapine<br />
headed up the Style Porsche design studio from 1969<br />
to 1988. Michael Mauer, Porsche’s chief designer since<br />
2004, paid homage to the deceased: “Anatole Lapine<br />
shaped Porsche sports car design over more than two<br />
decades. As a designer he didn’t follow fashion but<br />
was forever setting new trends with his concepts.”<br />
schooling system and it is vital to<br />
the future of our children that the<br />
marking standards are maintained<br />
so they receive the marks, and<br />
future opportunities, their hard work<br />
deserves.”<br />
visionaries and storytellers to speak to an<br />
amazing group of thinkers and doers, as<br />
well as to the world at large. The day-long<br />
event is not to be missed and will also<br />
be streamed live to various colleges and<br />
universities across the Sultanate.<br />
Satyabrata Acharya, Host and Curator,<br />
and Roopesh Bhatnagar, event organiser,<br />
said: “At TEDxMuscat this year, we want to<br />
bring together tomorrow’s innovators and<br />
engage in a genuine discussion on ‘Passion<br />
for Creation’ with the goal of inspiring,<br />
informing and entertaining the audience.<br />
This year too TEDxMuscat is bringing an<br />
incredible line-up of keynote speakers who, in line with<br />
the TEDx tradition, will be challenged to give ‘the talk of<br />
his or her life’.<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong> 19
Sunny side up<br />
Cricket,<br />
ugly cricket<br />
By Bikram Vohra Bikram Vohra, internationallyknown<br />
Gulf based scribe<br />
Big mistake. Being born Indian and not being a<br />
cricketer. That is like being a scorpion and not<br />
stinging. It’s in your nature, nothing you can do<br />
about it. And I would have been so good at not<br />
playing, like okay half a million and I’ll bowl an extra<br />
no ball besides the three in the deal.<br />
You want to sweeten the pot, okay fine, I’ll give a<br />
snick to the wicket-keeper on ball 3 and we are all<br />
happy bunnies. That’s another 250 thou and that is<br />
a great offer because I am in a good mood.<br />
It’s free enterprise, right. I love all these VIP celeb<br />
cricketers on TV babbling on about the glorious<br />
game and the traditions of the sport and the honour<br />
and dignity that goes with it and there are old hon<br />
and dig writhing on the floor being stomped on by<br />
anyone with a little bit of business sense.<br />
We must protect the reputation of the game. You<br />
kidding, the reputation died and was buried years<br />
ago. Let it be, it is a movie, a circus, an escape from<br />
the humdrum lives of most people. Take the money.<br />
Think about it, people. These cricketers are not<br />
saints. They are not Mother Theresa. They are<br />
performers so they perform and if you ask them<br />
to do tricks they do tricks. The thing is they want<br />
money for their tricks. So, fine you want to pay me<br />
to non-perform let’s hear the sum of money.<br />
Imagine you are in your office and your boss walks<br />
in and says, son (they never say, daughter) you<br />
have a great career ahead of you, what I am going<br />
to do is buy you a 4 wheel drive, invest in a villa on<br />
the Palms, the frond not the trunk and triple your<br />
salary if you promise not to do a good job, actually,<br />
no, let me say, do a bad job deliberately, please, do<br />
we have a deal.<br />
You’ll first think he is barmy, touch of the sun,<br />
summer is here, then the merit of the argument will<br />
seep in, why not, dude doesn’t want me to work,<br />
okay, chief, chief, can you bung in a round the world<br />
first class ticket with hotel vouchers and you and I,<br />
we are okay.<br />
Makes sense to you? Of course not. But it does to<br />
people who do things other people want to watch<br />
them doing. No one wants to watch you work so<br />
that’s why you don’t get the free villa.<br />
20 May 21-June 6, 2012<br />
So, they make money, loads of it, for opening<br />
shops, for cutting ribbons, for just appearing and<br />
I don’t why it is called corruption. If a franchisee<br />
wants to give a bonus so be it. Cricket and<br />
corruption are also buddies, they live in the same<br />
house, what sort of profound sting operation do you<br />
need to figure out these guys must be doing it all the<br />
time…it is now intrinsic to the glorious ‘uncertainty’<br />
of cricket.<br />
I love it when folks express shock and disbelief.<br />
Yes, sure, you live in lala land where milk ands<br />
honey flow through green pastures and the sun rays<br />
dance on your kitchen floor. Get real and smell the<br />
leather.<br />
What does it need for us to realize that this is<br />
exactly what you would do…bowl a no-ball for a<br />
million bucks, wipe out the white line, my daddy is<br />
a postal clerk you know, a million bucks, give me<br />
a break, I’ll gallop down half the pitch and bowl<br />
underarm and stand on my head and roll over for<br />
that kind of bread seeing as how 90 per cent of the<br />
human race does it anyway every day and gets<br />
peanuts for sucking up and rolling over and laughing<br />
at the boss’s jokes.<br />
At least there is big money here.<br />
You know what, leave these tiddlers alone, they<br />
don’t count for nothing. Go for the big boys if you<br />
have the guts. Start at the top, where it stinks.<br />
Get some massive memory Cray computer and<br />
feed in the results of these IPL matches and the<br />
consistency with which huge runs have been scored<br />
in the last ten odd balls and how many last ball wins<br />
recorded and how chaps who were gardening at<br />
the wicket suddenly got this inspiration to whack the<br />
ball over the ropes in a series and the tightest of<br />
bowlers just as suddenly started sending full tosses<br />
(searching for the block-hole) and donkey drops.<br />
Then tabulate the results and ask two questions.<br />
What are the odds that this closeness factor could<br />
occur so frequently? Ten thousand to one??????<br />
Has any tournament including the last four IPLs ever<br />
had such a neck and neck ongoing drama?<br />
Hmmmmm, Mama can I please be a cricketer…you<br />
can then live with me on the Palms.
In <strong>Black</strong>...<br />
Research says the<br />
involvement of<br />
edutainment and puppetry<br />
performances help to<br />
raise consciousness, and<br />
to achieve more probably<br />
a change of behaviour<br />
COMMUNICATION ALTERNATIVE<br />
I am a person who believes that technology can make<br />
lives easier and communication better. The world has<br />
become a better place to live in today because of that,<br />
but, there are still pockets of disconnection around, in<br />
various sections of the society. With all sorts of media<br />
around, the world indeed has become a smaller place.<br />
As a media, we are responsible to all sections of<br />
society, not just in matters of communication, but also<br />
in bringing them together for a cause, by creating<br />
common platforms of thoughts and events. Our<br />
promise is to continue doing so in a progressive and<br />
positive manner.<br />
PUPPETRY AN AID TO EDUCATION AND<br />
COMMUNICATION<br />
Even when technology is leaping ahead, there are<br />
many out there left behind, cut out from the world. A<br />
recent workshop on puppetry held in Oman opened<br />
our eyes to a new world of alternative communication.<br />
Our salutations to those organisations behind the<br />
scenes, trying to use puppetry as an aid to education<br />
and communication, bringing all members of different<br />
communities and talents under one common platform.<br />
Mohamed Issa Al Zadjali<br />
Editor-in-chief<br />
Puppetry is not new. It has been existing for thousands<br />
of years and is a traditional form of entertainment, which<br />
has existed from time immemorial conveying meaningful<br />
messages. Puppets are characters and not people, hence<br />
can be used to spread social messages on sensitive<br />
issues through the youth. Puppetry incorporates elements<br />
of all art forms such as literature, painting, sculpture,<br />
music, dance, drama and enables students to develop<br />
their creative abilities.<br />
Communication through puppets can help to facilitate<br />
feedbacks, to encourage follow-up community actions and<br />
to break the rigidity posed by societal stigmas. Research<br />
says the involvement of edutainment and puppetry<br />
performances help to raise consciousness, and to achieve<br />
more probably a change of behaviour.<br />
SUDOKU FOR AUTISM<br />
We invite all our readers to participate and attend the<br />
upcoming third edition of Sudoku for Autism, which will<br />
be held on June 1. The event will see George Widener in<br />
Oman, a brilliant autistic savant, who in his own way has<br />
ventured out to create awareness for those affected with<br />
Autism.<br />
& <strong>White</strong><br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong> 21<br />
In <strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong>
B&W B&W Xclusive<br />
22 May 21-June 6, 2012
The spotlight is on a small muddled figure in coloured clothing.<br />
He seems to be trying to sleep. Swirling all around him is pitch<br />
darkness. Then, as we watch this figure twitch in his sleep, slowly<br />
from out of the darkness some misshapen figures emerged and<br />
trundled towards the sleeping form. They let off a low sinister wail<br />
that seemed to rise in tempo and the sleeping figure awakes with<br />
a start. Seeing the ghostly figures, he also lets off a wail in sheer<br />
fright. They all howl in unison and with rising inflection.<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong><br />
23
B&W Xclusive<br />
24 May 21-June 6, 2012
THE PUPPET MASTER<br />
“Ok, that is fine, but you have to raise the figures –“ cuts in a wiry agile<br />
figure who spoke as he leapt on to the stage -- where the figures were<br />
being paraded from behind a black screen -- with relative ease. He<br />
goes behind the black screen and then demonstrates how the scary<br />
figures should come and scare the sleeping figure. There is a marked<br />
difference between his presentation and the one we viewed just minutes<br />
ago: The difference between a first and a seasoned attempt; between a<br />
student and a real master.<br />
Mahmoud Al Hourani, founder/director of the Arab<br />
Puppet Theatre Foundation (APTF) moves along with<br />
his newfound students in Oman with an ease that seems<br />
to belie the fact that he has met them only a week or so<br />
before. He is lean, wiry, and focussed on only one thing –<br />
his students have to get their puppet act right. For that he<br />
will go to great lengths, even shoo off nosy scribes trying<br />
to get an angle of what puppetry was all about. And that<br />
is what he did, shooed us off right from the stage and told<br />
us to stay clear and not to distract his protégés.<br />
PUPPETS TELL STORIES<br />
By the way, what is puppetry? Don’t pore into books<br />
and the net for an answer – it is very simple. Puppetry<br />
is an act by talented people who tell a story with their<br />
hands. They act with furry objects (men, women,<br />
children, animals) held over their heads and coordinate<br />
movements to create a living being. Well, actually a<br />
story. These furry hands create magical stories peopled<br />
with furry living beings that can even penetrate the soul;<br />
such is their power that they can move you to do better,<br />
become better human beings; give you an awakening<br />
to the fact that you are a being with a soul and not just<br />
mindless flesh and bones; that you have a mission on<br />
earth to fulfill, not just eat, drink, make money and forget<br />
that it is a world where others exist.<br />
POWER TO EDUCATE<br />
Even if it may not push you to move mountains, puppets<br />
still have the power to educate and this is the reason why<br />
so many have turned to harness puppet power. In Oman,<br />
the UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) organised<br />
the first ‘Puppetry Theatre Training of Trainers – Oman<br />
2012’ (May 8 to 12) at the auditorium of the ministry of<br />
education. “This is the first of its kind in the AGCC with<br />
an emphasis on bringing together various sectors with<br />
a focus on civic engagement, peer education, youth<br />
empowerment, women’s empowerment and reproductive<br />
health – as per the UNFPA mandate. The training hosted<br />
members of the theatre group of the Oman Association<br />
for the Disabled, teachers of the Association of Early<br />
Intervention for Children with Disability, and primary<br />
education and sports teachers from the Department of<br />
Private Schools of the Ministry of Education, as well as<br />
members of the Youth Peer Education Network (Y-Peer)<br />
Oman,” an UNFPA spokesperson told <strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong>.<br />
The aim of the workshop was to train the participants to<br />
become trainers in the art of puppetry theatre to maximise<br />
their outreach to others, particularly young people and<br />
those with special needs, and provide them the skills of a<br />
new method of expression, interaction and teaching, the<br />
spokesperson said.<br />
The puppet can say whatever needs to be<br />
said without implicating the puppeteer in<br />
the eyes of the audience. The potential<br />
of youth can be tapped only if you know<br />
which button to press. Involvement is the<br />
button that should be pressed.<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong> 25
B&W Xclusive<br />
PRESS<br />
THE RIGHT<br />
BUTTON<br />
“Puppetry has been used as a<br />
demonstrative teaching tool, as an<br />
approach to help develop language and<br />
communication skills, as a therapeutic<br />
tool, and as a form of theater and<br />
school arts for many years now. It is<br />
not a new form of communication;<br />
it is just reviving an old form to a<br />
new generation. The youth are very<br />
vulnerable today and it becomes a<br />
responsibility that they are guided and<br />
communicated in the right way."<br />
INTEGRATING COMMUNITIES AND COMMUNICATION<br />
The ministry of education (MoE) has partnered with the<br />
UNFPA to organise the ‘Puppetry Theatre Training of<br />
Trainers – Oman 2012’ hosting 30 participants. “The MoE<br />
has organised similar puppetry and interactive media<br />
seminars and workshops to enhance the quality and<br />
reach of education in the community.<br />
The workshop brought together 30 participants from<br />
different communities and cultures and associations and<br />
trained them to be effective communicators and trainers<br />
in their own field of expertise. The interaction has created<br />
a rapport between them, taught them to face challenges<br />
and communicate in a better and positive way. The<br />
workshop will be a catalyst to reaching out to the children<br />
with special needs and training,” noted Siham Al Riyami,<br />
deputy director for international programmes and private<br />
schools, MoE.<br />
“The language of puppetry has always been a good<br />
one for teachers and trainers the world over. A teacher<br />
is a person who works to facilitate the acquisition of<br />
knowledge. She/he is an important influence in the<br />
lives of the students. If the student does not feel safe<br />
expressing his feelings, his experiences or his questions,<br />
his curiosity may be suppressed and learning cannot<br />
happen.<br />
26 May 21-June 6, 2012<br />
Siham Al Riyami, deputy director for international programmes and<br />
private schools, ministry of education<br />
“The puppet can say whatever needs to be said without<br />
implicating the puppeteer in the eyes of the audience.<br />
The potential of a youth can be tapped only if you know<br />
which button to press. Involvement is the button that<br />
should be pressed. When you involve the youth, they<br />
take up responsibility and spearhead projects, involving<br />
communities. These workshops are very interactive,<br />
bring out the inner strength and talents of the youth, and<br />
involve them socially in the nation building process. They<br />
come out as better human beings.<br />
“The workshop has touched many topics from bullying in<br />
school, to various social causes, traffic safety, involving<br />
students and trainers. The trainers will become better and<br />
interesting communicators to their students, who will be<br />
enriched in the process. We hope to keep this process<br />
of enhancing teaching aids further every year,” Siham<br />
noted.<br />
NOT AS EASY AS IT SOUNDS<br />
But learning and performing puppetry is not an easy task,<br />
although Mahmoud Hourani feels otherwise. Puppet<br />
performing it is not easy and it requires thorough and<br />
consistent practice before one can become an expert.<br />
A puppeteer needs to study different techniques such<br />
as the basic positioning, diction, arm rods and body<br />
movements.
The most common type of hand puppets is the simple<br />
hand puppet (like the ones Hourani’s students were<br />
using) and the larger hand puppet. Each of the puppets<br />
has their distinct usage in puppet shows. The simple<br />
hand puppets have few or no moving parts at all. They<br />
are usually made up of flexible materials and have distinct<br />
facial features such as eyes and nose. The mouth is often<br />
included on the simple hand puppets but it is usually<br />
there just for design purposes. It does not even open or<br />
close unless a thumb enters a pocket allowing it to move.<br />
What may look like child’s play is lot of action and lot of<br />
practice and dogged dedication, and there is no room for<br />
mistakes on stage, because there are no retakes. For a<br />
professional puppeteer, it is not an easy task, because he<br />
or she has to be consistent and more importantly need to<br />
do it before the most demanding audience: children.<br />
RENDEZVOUS WITH PUPPETS<br />
Hourani managed to find some time to speak to us<br />
during the puppet practice break. He apologises for<br />
shooing us off the stage, but explains how and why the<br />
students need to have full focus on their work. Puppets<br />
and cartoons have fascinated him from a very young<br />
age, he says whilst still throwing furtive glances at his<br />
students on the stage of the auditorium of the ministry<br />
of education. “I remember it was in 1992 that I started<br />
my life with puppets. I was a refugee from Palestine and<br />
lived in camps and saw people come in with puppets to<br />
amuse us, communicate and take forward messages. “I<br />
fell in love with puppets at the first sight and I knew where<br />
I wanted to be. My brother was an artist and sparked<br />
my creative venture by drawing and painting images<br />
for the backdrops of my puppetry stages. In 1992, I<br />
hosted my first puppetry show at a UN camp. They say<br />
writing is reading… in a similar ways watching different<br />
puppetry shows opened my mind as well many doors of<br />
opportunity for me in the world of puppets.<br />
“From there I started my life in theatres, learned to be<br />
an actor and started experimenting with puppetry. The<br />
art form left a huge impact on me and I realised that with<br />
proper learning and training I could take this art forward in<br />
an effective manner.<br />
The following years saw me learn the theatre art; acquire<br />
experience and knowledge in formal and informal<br />
education sectors in London and other parts of the UK.<br />
I have been an experienced youth worker and a puppet<br />
theatre teacher.”<br />
A TRADITIONAL ART FORM<br />
The main hurdle in the field of puppetry is that it has a<br />
traditional way of propagation: father to son… “But, not<br />
much could be learned from the family tradition alone.<br />
You have to experiment many trades and techniques to<br />
create better modes of communication,” Hourani says.<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong> 27
Major Sponsors:<br />
Presenter:<br />
Preliminary on May 30, 2012<br />
7pm at Indian School Al Ghubra<br />
Celebrity Guest<br />
George Widener<br />
Autistic Savant & Artist<br />
Let's underst
and Autism<br />
Grand Finale on June 1, 2012<br />
7.30pm at Oman Auditorium,<br />
Al Bustan Palace Hotel<br />
Celebrity Guest<br />
Suniel Shetty<br />
Bollywood star<br />
Co Sponsors:
B&W Xclusive<br />
“Puppetry involves acting out fantasy in behaviour to deal<br />
with real life situations! It is not a new form; it has been<br />
existent for many centuries. It takes away inhibitions<br />
and brings out the inner side of the person performing<br />
the puppet. It helps in knowing the person. Even a shy<br />
person could open up and communicate. For a child or<br />
a student, the puppet could be their best pal. And when<br />
professional training techniques and expertise is added<br />
on, you can sharpen the minds of the youth and integrate<br />
them in to social responsibility,” Hourani noted.<br />
PUPPETS TAKE YOU EVERYWHERE<br />
“The puppet theatre has taken me places. As a young boy<br />
it changed my life and I have done my bit in taking the art<br />
forward, adding on better techniques and experiences to<br />
reach out to the younger generation in a better manner.<br />
People have really identified with the scenarios we act<br />
out through the puppets; I think it quite often touches a<br />
nerve. Through the puppets, audiences learn about the<br />
importance of having empathy, being patient, remaining<br />
calm, and about the power of reminiscence.<br />
30 May 21-June 6, 2012<br />
Using different scenarios, the skits mirrored real life<br />
situations that family members deal with on a daily basis.<br />
“Planning, designing, and performing a puppet show<br />
require a community effort. It requires group cooperation<br />
and the building of a sense of ‘we’. This coming together<br />
for a common cause is another example of experiential<br />
learning. Hopefully, it can provide a good basis for the<br />
understanding of belonging,” Hourani says.<br />
PUPPETS MAKE YOU RESPONSIBLE<br />
“Puppetry requires experiencing many art forms, which in<br />
turn can enhance the learning experience. The process<br />
of finding out material from your own surroundings, giving<br />
it life, a character, a visual representation can enhance<br />
confidence and pride.<br />
The script, dialogues, behind the scene delivery, adding<br />
on music can burrow a path to the soul. It is a very<br />
creative and involving process and I can vouch with my<br />
experience that every person coming out of a puppetry<br />
workshop will be a live and responsible person, ready to<br />
take the art forward with pride and ease,” Hourani said.
NO WRONG ANSWERS!<br />
“The teachers from the association of early intervention participated<br />
with an aim to go back and train others in the team, communicate<br />
and train the special children in novel and exciting ways. Every<br />
workshop brings different communities and cultures together, making<br />
us more tolerant and capable in many different ways.<br />
“When we were asked to make our own puppets, create characters,<br />
all of us were a little shy, hoping to be right in some way. At the end<br />
of the workshop, we learnt one good lesson: there are no wrong<br />
answers in creativity and communication. Every solution is right,<br />
every creation is right in its own way, since there are no hard and fast<br />
rules to limit the learning process.”<br />
ALL SORTS OF PUPPETRY<br />
In a short span of an exhaustive workshop, the participants learned<br />
all sorts of puppet making, from hand puppets to shadow puppets.<br />
It was a learning experience of all sorts. “We learnt to create<br />
characters, scripts, themes, dramas, with simple ideas, but strong<br />
messages. The special kids need understanding and a means of<br />
special communication process. This workshop taught us better ways<br />
to communicate. We chose many simple themes from road safety to<br />
etiquette.<br />
MADE AN ICE CREAM TALK!<br />
“The process of creating live characters’ from dead materials<br />
made our tired minds active and alive. Every time I look around,<br />
“The six-day puppetry workshop has<br />
been a mind opener for all of us. It<br />
taught us to explore, communicate,<br />
coordinate, and participate without<br />
any limitations or restrictions. For<br />
many of us, the exposure to various<br />
forms of puppetry was quite new and<br />
complicated. “We were taught to create<br />
puppets from everything around us,<br />
from pieces of torn paper to bottle caps<br />
and threads. It made us realise that<br />
everything around us is worthwhile<br />
and we could do wonders with what<br />
we have around us,” explained Aida<br />
Suleiman Saihi, who participated in the<br />
workshop. Aida is a special education,<br />
diploma programme coordinator at the<br />
Association for Early Intervention for<br />
Children with Disability.<br />
I see all sorts of things talking to me,<br />
communicating. My hands itch to create<br />
new forms from everything I see around,<br />
add a name, a voice… last night I was<br />
with my family eating an ice cream cone<br />
and I could not help myself from creating a<br />
face (on the ice cream) and even do a talk<br />
show with an ice cream character that I had<br />
created!<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong> 31
B&W Xclusive<br />
CREATIVE EXPERIENCE<br />
“Yes, scripted one of the shows for the closing ceremony<br />
of the workshop – the theme was on marriage. It is about<br />
the values of marriage and of healthy choices. I write<br />
poems too. I feel confident that I can train the kids with<br />
32 May 21-June 6, 2012<br />
Masooma Al Zadjali, another<br />
participant, noted how the six<br />
day workshop proved to be a real<br />
enriching experience. “Every one of<br />
us felt useful and important. We were<br />
taught to look at every little thing<br />
with an open mind; taught to create<br />
live puppets from recycled materials<br />
and made us realise that we could<br />
actually learn from every little particle<br />
of this world,” Masooma, who is a<br />
trainer at the Oman Association for the<br />
Disabled, said. A poetess, Masooma<br />
also wrote the script of one of the<br />
shows.<br />
better skills and in an interesting manner. The workshop<br />
inspired all of us and brought us together under one<br />
platform of thoughts and ideas.”<br />
LIKE READING A STORY BOOK<br />
Another participant that B&W spoke to was the Mazoon<br />
Al Zadjali of the Y Peer group (**). Seven members from<br />
the Y Peer group participated.<br />
Mazoon, who is a young social worker and student,<br />
explained her reasons for participating: “I am a<br />
management student at the Modern College of Business<br />
Studies and also a social worker, part of the Y Peer<br />
Group. I am one of the participants of the puppetry<br />
workshop. As part of the younger generation, I felt the<br />
puppet’s way of communication is very creative and<br />
local. It is like reading a story book, or listening to your<br />
grandmother’s tales. It is an effective communication<br />
tool and I am grateful that I could be a part of this exciting<br />
workshop.”<br />
Though in today’s world, technology has taken the fore<br />
front of communication, these simple puppets capture the<br />
imagination and make it easy to reach out to the masses,<br />
Mazoon added. “I have learnt quite a lot during the last<br />
six days and will take this forward with our group."
Excerpts:<br />
When did the United Nations Population Fund<br />
(UNFPA) start its operations in Oman?<br />
The AGCC area office was inaugurated in 2006.<br />
However, the UNFPA* has been collaborating with the<br />
government of Oman and offering its technical assistance<br />
since over a decade.<br />
Could you highlight the achievements of the UNFPA?<br />
The UNFPA AGCC area office is a member of the<br />
Family and Child Health Committee, UN theme group<br />
and task force that is responsible for the implementation<br />
of the national HIV/AIDS response strategy. One major<br />
achievement was the two year (2008 to 2010) "Let's<br />
Talk AIDS" social communication campaign, which<br />
included in total four phases. Another achievement was<br />
the establishment of the Oman Youth Peer Education<br />
Network (Y-Peer Oman) in 2008 and its successful<br />
operating until today. The Y-Peers tackle and inform<br />
about important social issues and concerns through peer<br />
education, using various methods such as edutainment.<br />
Within its population mandate, UNFPA AGCC area<br />
office offered its technical assistance in 2011 to 2012<br />
to the ministry of social development to conduct a<br />
nationwide assessment of all state income generating<br />
activities (IGAs) for social welfare beneficiaries and train<br />
the ministry's focal points from all the regions of the<br />
Sultanate in IGA monitoring and evaluation; including<br />
standardisation of the applicants sheets and data entry.<br />
The UNFPA was also involved in the translation of the<br />
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against<br />
Women (CEDAW) report of Oman.<br />
PUPPETRY<br />
THEATRE – A<br />
GRAND SUCCESS<br />
Salah Al Saleh, programme associate at the<br />
UNFPA AGCC area office spoke to the <strong>Black</strong> &<br />
<strong>White</strong> after the staging of the ‘Puppetry Theatre<br />
TOT - Oman 2012’ at the auditorium of the<br />
ministry of education.<br />
Why has the UNFPA chosen puppetry as a tool for<br />
training the trainers?<br />
Puppetry, including shadow theatre, can be used to<br />
entertain and communicate with all ages. The techniques<br />
can be imparted quickly and in a very inexpensive<br />
manner, making it perfect and easy to use at the field<br />
work of a teacher and/or educator. You can outreach<br />
to and inform numerous crowds through different plays,<br />
from complicated to basic ones, in a very playful and<br />
effective way; while utilising sophisticated or simple<br />
puppets made for example out of recycled materials.<br />
Hence, this form of theatre can suit the requirements of<br />
various social engaged groups; those who have a specific<br />
budget, and those who don't. Since in Oman puppetry<br />
was used solely limited to some extent for theatre<br />
purpose and speech therapy, we thought to introduce<br />
this art form on a broader level; assuring its continuance<br />
by involving members from various groups such as the<br />
Ministry of Education, Oman Association for Disabled,<br />
the Association of Early Intervention for Children with<br />
Disability and Y-Peer Oman. The common factor of all<br />
trainees is their civic engagement.<br />
How successful was the puppetry experience and<br />
would this continue on an annual basis?<br />
The Puppetry Theatre TOT - Oman 2012 was very<br />
successful. The feedback we have received from the<br />
trainees and trainers themselves, representatives from<br />
the involved organisations such as the Association of<br />
Early Intervention for Children with Disability and Oman<br />
Association for Disabled, and the Ministry of Education<br />
was positive and encouraging. We are currently<br />
discussion various ideas, including a "Training of Trainers<br />
Camp" on an AGCC level.<br />
(*) For more information on the UNFPA, visit the global website on www.unfpa.org or the local website on gcc.unfpa.org<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong> 33
B&W B&W Xclusive<br />
34 May 21-June 6, 2012<br />
Puppet master Mahmoud along with a few of the participants
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong><br />
35
B&W Xclusive<br />
Puppets in politics<br />
Aside from providing amusement and fun, puppets<br />
nowadays have taken a political turn and are also used<br />
in thinly veiled political caricatures and satire. These<br />
political puppets are often modeled on known political<br />
personalities and are often depicted in the characters’<br />
usual political setting.<br />
(**)<br />
Y-Peer Group, Oman<br />
The Youth Peer Education Network (Y-Peer) is a comprehensive youth-to-youth initiative pioneered by UNFPA. The Y-Peer has been<br />
established in 48 countries including Oman. The network is still in progress of expanding by launching in other countries.<br />
Y-Peer is a network of more than 500 non-profit organisations and governmental institutions. Its membership includes thousands of<br />
young people who work in many areas surrounding adolescent sexual and reproductive health. The Y-Peer network target audiences are<br />
young people. It has been found that to put across the information for the targeted audience; the information should be presented in a fun,<br />
interesting and interactive way.<br />
36 May 21-June 6, 2012<br />
Whatever the size or the design, puppets and puppet<br />
shows today still provide wonderful entertainment to<br />
many people of all ages.<br />
Kids love to play with puppets as it allows them to set free<br />
their creative imagination. Puppets can bring great joy not<br />
only to kids, but also to adults, all over the world.
Puppets<br />
as good<br />
as actors<br />
Puppets were first introduced to the<br />
world of entertainment thousands of<br />
years ago. It originated from Greece<br />
as the Greeks then were known to<br />
be fond of theatrical presentations.<br />
Though they enjoyed theater, they<br />
found supporting the actors financially<br />
rather expensive, so that they turned<br />
to the use of puppets in plays. They<br />
soon discovered that puppets were<br />
just as able as actors to elicit positive<br />
response from the audience, so<br />
they continued to patronise the use<br />
of puppets in puppet shows and<br />
presentations, and soon stage puppet<br />
shows became many people’s favorite<br />
past time.<br />
Today, puppets and puppet shows<br />
have come far from their humble<br />
beginnings and still continue to be<br />
popular. Many puppets are patterned<br />
after animals such as frogs, elephants<br />
and birds. Every puppet used on<br />
stage has a distinct characteristic and<br />
personality. The differing personality<br />
is expressed not only by the puppet’s<br />
design but also by its individual body<br />
movements as expressed by the<br />
puppeteer’s hand movement.<br />
Text: Adarsh Madhavan & Priya Arunkumar Photos: Ben<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong> 37
Kidstuff<br />
Fun Facts about the months of<br />
SUMMER<br />
When you think about summer, what comes to mind? The long, hot,<br />
sticky days during the summer make it some people’s favorite season.<br />
For others, thoughts of summer are associated with cold foods, like ice<br />
cream. Here are a few fun facst on summer months:<br />
• June 21st is the first day of summer. And June was named either for Juniores, the<br />
lower branch of the Roman Senate, or Juno, the wife of Jupiter, a Roman god<br />
• July was named by Marc Antony in honor of Julius Caesar.<br />
• August was named for Julius Caesar’s adopted nephew, Gaius Julius Caesar<br />
Octavinus, who received the title Augustus, meaning “reverend.” He named the<br />
month for himself.<br />
• The last day of summer is September 20th. The first day of autumn begins on<br />
September 21st.<br />
• September comes from the Latin word septem meaning ‘seven.’ Julius Caesar<br />
gave it this name, when it actually was the seventh month in the calendar!<br />
• On September 13, 1922, the temperature in the shade in the Libyan Desert<br />
reached 136 degrees Fahrenheit. This is hot enough to fry an egg on a rock!<br />
• On July 4th in the year 1956, a world record for the most rain falling in one minute<br />
was recorded in Unionville, Maryland. The record was 1.23 inches in that one<br />
minute!<br />
• Hailstones weighing 1.67 pounds fell in Coffeyville, Kansas on September 3rd,<br />
1970, which set a world record!<br />
38 May 21-June 6, 2012
Dare to Dream...<br />
Azim Premji<br />
By Dr CK Anchan<br />
Azim Hashim Premji is an Indian business<br />
tycoon and philanthropist who is the chairman<br />
of Wipro Limited, guiding the company<br />
through four decades of diversification and<br />
growth to emerge as one of the Indian leader<br />
in the software industry. According to Forbes,<br />
he is currently the third wealthiest Indian, and<br />
the 41st richest in the world, with a personal<br />
wealth of $15.9 billion in 2012.<br />
Under his able guidance Wipro has<br />
metamorphosed from a Rs70 million<br />
company in hydrogenated cooking fats to<br />
a pioneer in providing integrated business,<br />
technology and process solutions on a global<br />
delivery platform. Wipro Technologies is the<br />
largest independent R&D service provider<br />
in the world and is ranked among the top<br />
100 technology companies globally. The<br />
company’s IT division became the world’s first<br />
to win SEI CMM level 5 and PCMM Level 5<br />
certification.<br />
This is Azim Premji's success mantras:<br />
DARE TO DREAM<br />
All I had with me was a dream. A dream<br />
of building a great organisation. It requires<br />
courage to keep dreaming.<br />
DEFINE WHAT YOU STAND FOR<br />
Define what you stand for as early as possible<br />
and do not compromise with it for any reason.<br />
But remember that values are meaningful<br />
only if you practice them. Values are a matter<br />
of trust.<br />
NEVER LOSE YOUR ZEST AND<br />
CURIOSITY<br />
The natural zest and curiosity for learning<br />
is one of the greatest drivers for keeping<br />
updated on knowledge. The same zest is<br />
needed to keep learning new things.<br />
Dr Anchan C.K.<br />
managing director,<br />
World Wide Business House<br />
ALWAYS STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE<br />
Being the best in the country is not enough;<br />
one has to be the best in the world.<br />
Excellence is a moving target. One has to<br />
constantly raise the bar.<br />
BUILD SELF-CONFIDENCE<br />
Self-confidence comes from a positive<br />
attitude even in adverse situations.<br />
Remember, no one can make you feel inferior<br />
without your consent.<br />
LEARN TO WORK IN TEAMS<br />
You cannot fire a missile from a canoe. Ability<br />
to become an integral part of a cross- cultural<br />
team will be a must for success.<br />
TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF<br />
You will need lots of energy to deal with<br />
challenges. Unless you take care of yourself<br />
there is no way you can take care of others.<br />
PERSEVERE<br />
Finally, no matter what you decide to do in<br />
your life, you must persevere, persevere,<br />
persevere. Keep at it and you will succeed, no<br />
matter how hopeless it seems at times.<br />
HAVE BROADER SOCIAL VISION<br />
I personally believe that the greatest gift one<br />
can give to others is the gift of education. We<br />
who have been so fortunate to receive this gift<br />
and know how valuable it is.<br />
NEVER LET SUCCESS GO TO YOUR<br />
HEAD<br />
No matter what we achieve, it is important to<br />
remember that we owe this success to many<br />
factors and people outside us. This will not<br />
only help us in keeping our sense of modesty<br />
and humility intact but also help us retain<br />
proportion and balance.<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong> 39<br />
Management talk
Nitternatter<br />
40 May 21-June 6, 2012<br />
To refund or<br />
not to…<br />
Too much of a<br />
coincidence?<br />
We have been thinking of it since quite sometime now. Finally,<br />
we have taken the plunge to bring home to you some<br />
offbeat stuff. Here goes, if you like it, give us the green signal<br />
for more; if not, just take it with a pinch of salt. For this fortnight,<br />
here is some nitter natter for the B&W Bitter Batter:<br />
If you don’t like a movie, will you ask the movie theatre to refund the ticket<br />
money? If you don’t like the food you ate at a restaurant, will you ask for<br />
a refund (of course, if you discover a dead roach in it, which is a different<br />
story…)? There are some things in life when and where you are not<br />
able to ask for a refund. But, there is this person who seems bent<br />
upon getting his refund for a paid celebrity dinner function he had<br />
attended because, as he claims, the star did not stay the full part of<br />
the evening. Whether this fact is true or not, the reality is that this man<br />
was seen posing with the celebrity concerned in the pictures taken<br />
during the event and was also seen to have a cold drink on his table.<br />
But, his claim is that he never ate and he wants the money he paid<br />
for the dinner refunded. Should the refund be made or not -- your call<br />
folks?<br />
A supermarket manager commented on how his mart was robbed twice in the<br />
space of nearly eight months and how after this period two new supermarkets<br />
came in the vicinity taking away a chunk of his business away. What is the<br />
connection, we asked and he gave us a sad, but mysterious smile. “Well,<br />
just think about it…we had two major robberies at our mart, which inflicted<br />
a major blow for us. While we were still reeling under this (blow), two big<br />
supermarkets opened in the same vicinity. We lost some of our staff to this<br />
supermarkets and a good chunk of our business too. Now, only the real<br />
loyal customers still frequent us.<br />
We are doing half the business<br />
that we were doing while our<br />
competitors are doing quite well,<br />
compared to us.” That is how<br />
things are, we consoled the man.<br />
You will do well soon, not to worry.<br />
“We are not going to do as well<br />
as we did before. The robberies<br />
were a major blow and then these<br />
supermarkets came and took<br />
away our business…don’t you see<br />
the coincidence?”<br />
D-uh, we said. What was he trying<br />
to hint? We do not get the drift --<br />
do you?
‘Killer’ attitude<br />
Look before<br />
you leap<br />
It would have been great if the authorities concerned actually implemented<br />
the traffic rule, which said that anyone caught<br />
speaking on the phone while driving would be put in<br />
jail for 10 days, comments many observers. Though<br />
they agree that it is harsh, they claim that it would<br />
bring about a difference in the road accidents and<br />
death statistics scene here. Will it? We still think it<br />
is all about attitude, that don’t care attitude, which<br />
is the real cause of accidents in Oman. Many who<br />
drive don’t care if their bad and careless driving<br />
can actually cause harm – forget the fact that it<br />
can cause grave danger to themselves -- to other<br />
motorists or pedestrians. It is attitude that causes<br />
accidents; it is attitude that kills on the road. It is<br />
attitude that has to change.<br />
Sometimes, it is better that you don’t help people who claim to be in trouble,<br />
says a disgruntled part-time humanitarian. This small businessman wanted<br />
to help a man who was sent to him for some help, mainly legal. But, little<br />
did he know what he was getting into. As usual, he went full throttle and<br />
supported the worker in all ways. But, he did not<br />
realise that the worker was only giving his side of the<br />
story and that too, not fully. And, what was left out<br />
was crucial because although the worker painted his<br />
employer as a money pinching slave driver, the truth<br />
was otherwise. Both had their share of the mistakes,<br />
but since the businessman went full on and made his<br />
lawyer take the employer to court (for the sake of the<br />
employee), he got into a quandary when the case<br />
came up. The poor man opened a Pandora’s Box and<br />
soon he realised the worker had only given him half<br />
the truth and had to bear the consequences of his<br />
impulsive action<br />
(Note: Readers who have something bitter to chatter about can either<br />
email on editor@blackandwhiteoman.com or call 99218461)<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong> 41<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong> 41
Sudoku<br />
Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place<br />
the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the<br />
same number only once.<br />
9<br />
6<br />
8<br />
4<br />
4<br />
2<br />
Difficulty Level<br />
9<br />
1<br />
42 May 21-June 6, 2012<br />
Announcing<br />
Grand Finale<br />
On Friday June 1, 2012<br />
Preliminary<br />
On Wednesday, May 30, 2012<br />
9<br />
4<br />
2<br />
7<br />
9<br />
1<br />
5<br />
6<br />
5<br />
7<br />
By Dave Green<br />
7<br />
9<br />
3<br />
1<br />
8<br />
5<br />
8/12<br />
2011 Conceptis Puzzles, Dist. by King Features Syndicate, Inc.<br />
SOLUTION:<br />
8/12<br />
2011 Conceptis Puzzles, Dist. by King Features Syndicate, Inc.<br />
3<br />
1<br />
2<br />
4<br />
9<br />
8<br />
6<br />
5<br />
7<br />
7<br />
8<br />
5<br />
2<br />
6<br />
1<br />
4<br />
3<br />
9<br />
6<br />
4<br />
9<br />
3<br />
5<br />
7<br />
2<br />
1<br />
8<br />
8<br />
2<br />
3<br />
1<br />
7<br />
9<br />
5<br />
4<br />
6<br />
1<br />
5<br />
7<br />
8<br />
4<br />
6<br />
9<br />
2<br />
3<br />
9<br />
6<br />
4<br />
5<br />
3<br />
2<br />
8<br />
7<br />
1<br />
2<br />
7<br />
8<br />
9<br />
1<br />
4<br />
3<br />
6<br />
5<br />
Difficulty Level<br />
4<br />
3<br />
6<br />
7<br />
8<br />
5<br />
1<br />
9<br />
2<br />
5<br />
9<br />
1<br />
6<br />
2<br />
3<br />
7<br />
8<br />
4
SUNIEL SHETTY to champion the<br />
autism cause in Oman<br />
Bollywood’s ‘He’ man will be lending<br />
his muscle to the autism cause here.<br />
Suniel Shetty, Indian film actor,<br />
producer, hotelier, fashion boutique<br />
owner and a known philanthropist, is<br />
all set to champion the autism cause<br />
by attending the third edition of the<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong> You Play Sudoku<br />
Open to All competition – 2012,<br />
which will be held at the Oman<br />
Auditorium of Al Bustan Palace<br />
hotel, on June 1 at 7pm.<br />
The event will feature at one end<br />
George Widener, the gifted autistic<br />
savant, date genius and calendar<br />
artist and at the other is ‘Anna’ (as<br />
Suniel Shetty is fondly known) who<br />
besides being a Bollywood star and<br />
successful businessman is equally<br />
known for his passion to help the<br />
underprivileged.<br />
The presence of both these ‘stars’<br />
-- in their respective fields -- will add<br />
the necessary impetus for the event<br />
to bring the cause of autism more<br />
into the public eye, the organisers<br />
feel. “Other than the genius<br />
George Widener, we are glad<br />
to have also roped in Bollywood<br />
star Suniel Shetty to this event,”<br />
opined Mohamed Issa Al Zadjali,<br />
editor in chief of <strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong>, the<br />
organisers of the event.<br />
Presented by Renaissance Services<br />
SAOG, the Sudoku for Autism event<br />
is also sponsored by Oman Drydock<br />
Company, Samsung – SARCO,<br />
Khimji Watches, NBO, Al Ansari and<br />
Uni-ball.<br />
This year’s Sudoku competition<br />
will feature puzzles created by the<br />
Sudoku World Champion, Thomas<br />
Snyder. The preliminary contests<br />
will be held on May 30 at the Indian<br />
School Al Ghubra Auditorium.<br />
For more details mail to<br />
bweventsoman@gmail.com /<br />
24565697<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong> 43
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<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong><br />
45
Horoscope<br />
ARIES<br />
March 21-April 20<br />
Take your time. A<br />
decision you make will clearly<br />
affect your future earning potential.<br />
Put your best foot forward and<br />
show everyone what you’ve got<br />
going. Your skill coupled with your<br />
determination will captivate a crowd<br />
and help you initiate something<br />
you’ve wanted to do for a long time.<br />
CANCER<br />
June 22-July 23<br />
Make memories with<br />
someone you cherish this week,<br />
but be cautious when considering<br />
products that offer to turn you into<br />
something you are not. Don’t spend<br />
money on someone or something<br />
that will not benefit you personally.<br />
You have to invest in you if you want<br />
to be successful.<br />
46 May 21-June 6, 2012<br />
TAURUS<br />
April 21-May 20<br />
Take credit where credit is<br />
due. Show your feelings and avoid<br />
unnecessary stress and turmoil.<br />
Someone is likely to jump ship<br />
leaving you high and dry. Don’t let<br />
this stop you from following through<br />
with your plans. You have plenty to<br />
offer and can do just as well all by<br />
yourself.<br />
LEO<br />
July 24-August 23<br />
Open up to new ideas,<br />
lifestyles or activities in the early part<br />
of the week and you will broaden<br />
your outlook. There is a whole new<br />
world waiting for you to take part, so<br />
spread your wings and get involved<br />
in something a little different. It’s very<br />
likely you will discover that change<br />
isn’t so bad after all.<br />
Your<br />
GEMINI<br />
May 21-June 21<br />
Don’t let anyone convince<br />
you that you must take part in<br />
something or make a donation. You<br />
don’t want to end up being part of a<br />
scam or out cash that you can put<br />
to better use. Avoid making fresh<br />
investments. Emotions are topped up<br />
causing confusion in your personal<br />
life. Stay away from gossipers.<br />
VIRGO<br />
August 24-September 23<br />
A lifestyle change this week<br />
will help you get out and socialise<br />
with a new group of people who have<br />
lots to offer. You’ll learn a hard lesson<br />
if you let a friend or colleague take<br />
over and take credit for something<br />
you’ve been working towards. Stand<br />
up for your rights or you will set a<br />
standard that will keep repeating.<br />
ANGELINA JOLIE (JUNE 4, 1975) is an American<br />
actress and director. She has received an Academy<br />
<strong>Award</strong>, two Screen Actors Guild <strong>Award</strong>s, and three<br />
Golden Globe <strong>Award</strong>s, and was named Hollywood's<br />
highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011.<br />
Jolie promotes humanitarian causes, and is noted for<br />
her work with refugees as a Special Envoy and former<br />
Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High<br />
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She has been<br />
cited as the world's "most beautiful" woman, a title for<br />
which she has received substantial media attention.<br />
Jolie made her screen debut as a child alongside her<br />
father Jon Voight in Lookin' to Get Out (1982), but her<br />
film career began in earnest a decade later with the<br />
low-budget production Cyborg 2 (1993).
stars<br />
LIBRA<br />
March 21-April 20<br />
Compromise may not sit<br />
well with you, but it will be necessary<br />
if you want to get the support you<br />
need to get your dreams off the<br />
ground. Stick to your story and<br />
eventually you will get through to the<br />
people who count. You cannot give<br />
in to complaints or ultimatums if you<br />
want to come out on top.<br />
CAPRICORN<br />
December 23-January 20<br />
Giving in to someone<br />
who is demanding or trying to get<br />
something from you will send the<br />
wrong message. Stand firm and<br />
refuse to pay for someone else’s<br />
mistakes. You can secure your<br />
position personally and financially by<br />
making a few crucial changes to your<br />
portfolio.<br />
SCORPIO<br />
April 21-May 20<br />
Pull out all the stops and<br />
present, promote and push for what<br />
you want. Working quickly to satisfy<br />
a request will speak volumes about<br />
your intentions. Emotional matters<br />
will surface this week, complicating<br />
issues, if you have ignored<br />
someone who depends on you for<br />
companionship and comfort.<br />
AQUARIUS<br />
January 21-February 19<br />
Educational or travel plans<br />
may be derailed, if you haven’t got<br />
all your papers in order. Don’t rely<br />
on someone else to fill in the blanks.<br />
Settle matters quickly so you don’t<br />
miss out on an opportunity that pops<br />
up. Take your chance with new<br />
opportunities surfacing. Your home<br />
needs some attention.<br />
For men<br />
SAGITTARIUS<br />
November 23-December 22<br />
Be careful what you<br />
promise others. Someone is likely<br />
to back out of a deal or ask for<br />
something back that you’ve been<br />
given. Put your heart on the line<br />
and you can make some interesting<br />
changes at home that are conducive<br />
to love and romance and raising your<br />
comfort level.<br />
PISCES<br />
February 20-March 20<br />
Search for a chance to<br />
try something unique this week. A<br />
partnership with someone who has<br />
as much to contribute is looking<br />
good. You shouldn’t have to use your<br />
own cash or pay for someone else,<br />
in order to get things done properly.<br />
Use your finesse and charm and you<br />
will be the one being paid for.<br />
E-MAIL: marketing@albahja.com, Website: www.albahja.com
Circulation<br />
MUSCAT<br />
WADI KABIR<br />
Bait al Zubair<br />
Bait al Baranda<br />
Marina Bander<br />
Al Bustan Palace Hotel<br />
Oman Dive club<br />
Shangri-La- Barr Al Jissah<br />
Sri Lankan School<br />
NHI<br />
Pencil Building (Stationery shop)<br />
Al Maha bunk –Wadi Kabir<br />
Ajay Enterprises (Khimji) – (Next to<br />
Jingles nursery)<br />
Hotel Golden Oasis<br />
Sana Fashions<br />
Al Maya markets – (Old Rawasco)<br />
Scientific pharmacy – Opp to al Maya<br />
market ( Arab Udipi Rest)<br />
CBD AREA TO DARSAIT<br />
Al Amana Building materials – Opposite<br />
Jawad Sultan<br />
Al Omaniya Financial Services office<br />
Oman oil bunk<br />
Khimji mart shopping mall – (Old<br />
shopping & saving)<br />
Khimjis Bait al Ahlam- CBD area<br />
Pizza Muscat (Opposite ministry of<br />
manpower)<br />
Pizza Hut/TFC – CBD area<br />
Centre point-Splash<br />
Muscat Securities market<br />
Times of Oman<br />
Shell petrol Bunk (Next to Sheraton)<br />
OCCI Library – Oman Chamber of<br />
commerce (OPP MSM)<br />
KFC – Ruwi<br />
Oman International Bank – Ruwi<br />
Palayok Restaurant – Filipino restaurant<br />
Ever ready supermarket<br />
New India Assurance Office<br />
Al Fair – Ruwi high street<br />
Lakhoos Money Exchange, Ruwi High<br />
street<br />
Damas Jewellery/office – Ruwi<br />
Oman UAE Exchange – OCC Centre<br />
Air Arabia Office- Shanfari Travels<br />
Ruwi Hotel<br />
Gulf air building – Gulf air office<br />
Saravanabhavan Restaurant<br />
Sarco – Samsung showroom<br />
Khimji Megastore – Swarovski showroom<br />
OTE<br />
Moosa Abdul Showroom – next to al<br />
Jadeed<br />
Toshiba Showroom<br />
Al Jadeed shopping<br />
Badr Al Samaa<br />
Samara video (next to Talentz, old bait al<br />
ahlam) after 5pm<br />
Ministry of Education – Opp Wearhouse<br />
– Ruwi<br />
Future management consultants -(opp<br />
Toshiba showroom)<br />
Haffa House Hotel<br />
Al Falaj Hotel<br />
Muscat Bakery- Near church<br />
Pakistan School (after temple & church<br />
Darsait)<br />
Naranjee Hirjee office (before Hotel<br />
Golden Oryx)<br />
Hotel Golden Oryx<br />
Bank Muscat corporate office (Opposite<br />
Hotel Golden Oryx)<br />
Kamat Restaurant<br />
Uptown Restaurant<br />
Turtles Book shop<br />
Al Rima Clinic<br />
Lama Polyclinic<br />
48 May 21-June 6, 2012<br />
PICK-UP PICK-UP POINTS POINTS<br />
Oman Air – CBD<br />
NBO- CBD area<br />
Bank Muscat<br />
Bank Sohar<br />
HSBC<br />
Standard Chartered<br />
Oman Arab Bank<br />
Harmony Music Centre – Next to OAB<br />
Bahwan Travel Agencies – CBD banks<br />
area<br />
OTTB – Oman Travels Bureau<br />
Air India office – CBD next to Costas<br />
Costas<br />
Papa John<br />
Supa Save – CBD<br />
Woodlands<br />
Bank Dhofar<br />
Horizon Restaurant – (Next to Moon<br />
travels)<br />
Oman post office<br />
Lulu Darsait<br />
Khimji Ramdas Head office, Muttrah<br />
(Kanaksi Khimji & pankaj Khimji)<br />
Majan College – Darsait junction<br />
(canteen)<br />
Indian Social Club<br />
Melody Music Centre – Next to ISM<br />
German Embassy – Hamriya roundabout<br />
Apollo Medical Centre<br />
Computer Xpress – Hamriya Roundabout<br />
Atlas Travels (Wadi Adai Roundabout<br />
(next to polyglot)<br />
Hatat House<br />
Passage to India<br />
Best cars<br />
Hyundai/Subaru/GM showroom<br />
Al Asfoor Furnishing<br />
Ahli Bank<br />
Shell marketing office<br />
SEAT car showroom- Wattayah<br />
DHL office- Wattayah<br />
Honda Showroom<br />
Sabco Head office wattayah<br />
NTT travels Wattayah<br />
Toyota<br />
Bahwan Advertising – Ist floor – Toyota<br />
showroom<br />
Lexus<br />
Ford showroom<br />
Shanfari Automotive<br />
Wattayah Motors- VW showroom<br />
Khoula Hospital<br />
Institute of Health sciences – opposite<br />
Khoula<br />
Kia showroom- wattayah<br />
QURUM AREA TOWARDS AL KHUWAIR<br />
Al Harthy Complex-<br />
Pizza Muscat – next to Sultan Center in<br />
al Harthy complex<br />
Sultan Center<br />
Nissan showroom<br />
BMW showroom<br />
Muscat Private School<br />
Qurum city centre<br />
Pizza Hut – Qurum<br />
Capital Store<br />
Al Asfoor Plaza<br />
KFC<br />
Hardees<br />
Fono showroom next to Sabco centre<br />
Shah Nagardas<br />
Sabco Centre- Barista coffee shop only<br />
Al Araimi<br />
Panasonic Showroom<br />
NBO Qurum<br />
Al Khamis Plaza<br />
Al Wadi commercial centre – Coffee shop<br />
Mercedes showroom<br />
CCC- Stand<br />
CCC Al Fair<br />
Bollywood chat<br />
Pizza Hut – Qurum<br />
Second Cup<br />
Nandos<br />
McDonalds<br />
Salman Stores<br />
Jawahir Oman<br />
Hamptons<br />
Business Services & Travel<br />
Amex office<br />
Ernst & Young buildg (OUA Travels)<br />
Starbucks<br />
Hawthorne institute- ELS Fahud Street,<br />
opp Qurum park<br />
Mumtaz Mahal<br />
Left bank<br />
Oman Association for the disabled<br />
Ministry of education (20 +20=20)<br />
Muscat Intercon<br />
Jawaharat Al Shatti complex- stand<br />
Oasis by the sea - crepe café stand<br />
LNG Office<br />
Al Qurum resort<br />
Bareek Al Shatti Complex<br />
Al Qandeel head office -, Entrance of<br />
Bareek al Shatti<br />
Al Shatti Cinema - Dunkin Donuts<br />
Al Sahwa Schools– principal’s office next<br />
to Ramada hotel<br />
Hotel Ramada<br />
Al Muriya Offices- next to Al sahwa<br />
schools<br />
Grand Hyatt Muscat<br />
Al Masa Mall<br />
Radio Shack<br />
Al Sarooj Complex<br />
Shell Petrol Bunk- Al Sarooj<br />
Al Fair<br />
Ramee Guestline<br />
Rock Bottom<br />
Classic Institute of Arts- next to Asas<br />
Oman<br />
Asas Oman Apartments<br />
Crowne Plaza<br />
Coral hotel<br />
Qurum Pvt school<br />
PDO<br />
Ras Al Hamraa Club<br />
Omanoil head office<br />
AL KHUWAIR/MSQ TOWARDS AZAIBA<br />
ELS – Al khuwair service road<br />
British School Muscat – MSQ<br />
British Council<br />
Oman oil- Madinat Qaboos<br />
Pizza Hut<br />
Khimjis mart – MSQ<br />
Kargeen Café<br />
Al fair<br />
Family Book shop- MSQ<br />
Tavola – Al Noor Hall buildg<br />
Starbucks<br />
Hana slimming centre – Ist Floor<br />
Fotomagic<br />
Al Noor Hall<br />
Al Jadeed<br />
Eqarat office Above Welcare Clinic – al<br />
Khuwair<br />
Domino Pizza<br />
Oman mobile<br />
Safeer Hypermarket<br />
Mustafa Sultan<br />
Souk Technia<br />
Omantel<br />
Oman international Bank – Al khuwair<br />
main office<br />
Ibis Hotel<br />
Park inn Hotel<br />
Friendi Office<br />
Muscat Bakery<br />
Tropical Ice creams<br />
Subway<br />
Pizza Hut service road<br />
Ice Skating Rink<br />
National Training Institute<br />
Golden spoon Restaurant<br />
Shell Select- Al Khuwair<br />
Mcdonalds<br />
Mct holiday Inn Hotel<br />
Oman Bowling Center<br />
Halliburton<br />
Café Vergnano<br />
Khimji Mart – Next to Verganano<br />
Safeer suites<br />
Axa insurance (opp assarain Al khuwair)<br />
Zakher shopping Mall<br />
PAN Furnishing<br />
Harley Davidson<br />
Thrifty<br />
Al Amal Medical Centre – Dr Bashir<br />
Hotel Radisson<br />
Pizza Hut Al Khuwair<br />
Ozone Video Shop(Next to Pizza Hut)<br />
American British School<br />
Omar Khayyam Restaurant, next to V<br />
kool<br />
Grill House (next door)<br />
V Kool<br />
TAISM<br />
Centre for British Teachers – CFBT<br />
Baushar Complex Café<br />
Aviation Club Restaurant<br />
AZAIBA TOWARDS SEEB<br />
Lulu Hyper market – Baushar<br />
Oman Medical college<br />
College for Business & financial Studies<br />
opp Oman medical, baushar<br />
Azzan Bin Qais school - Baushar<br />
Muscat private Hospital<br />
Dolphin Village – Bausher<br />
Royal hospital<br />
Ghala industrial area – NTI<br />
National mineral water – Tanuf ( next to<br />
Al Madina Holiday Inn)<br />
Oman oil Azaiba<br />
Spicy Village – Rusayl<br />
Pizza Hut – Ghala<br />
Oman oil – Ghala<br />
Towell head office – Enhance & Ist floor<br />
Mazda showroom<br />
Mcdonalds – Azaiba<br />
Select shell Azaiba<br />
Oman Tribune – Al Watan office<br />
New India assurance Azaiba office<br />
Safeer Hypermart<br />
Nawras head office<br />
Zubair showroom and Yamaha corporate<br />
office(two places)- Yamaha Showroom –<br />
close to Zubair showroom – 1st floor<br />
Polyglot Institute<br />
GU Tech – Beach road Azaiba<br />
Chedi Muscat<br />
The wave Muscat corporate office<br />
NACA – national cancer Awareness Assn<br />
MCC – Crepe Café<br />
Al Bahja– Mood Café & food Court<br />
Al Maya Super market<br />
Oman air Seeb office (Below Flyover,<br />
before Golden Tulip)<br />
Oman Tourisn College<br />
Golden Tulip Hotel<br />
Air port<br />
Select Shell – Seeb<br />
Pizza Hut airport<br />
KFC
MUSCAT, SALALAH, SUR, SOHAR, NIZWA, BARKA, KASAB<br />
MUSCAT continued...<br />
Muscat golf hills, SEEB<br />
KOM<br />
SQU – SQUH hospital , SQUH 2- canteen, 3-<br />
Diplomatic Club, 4 – College of Commerce,<br />
5 – Students banking area)<br />
Pizza Hut – al Khoud<br />
Sultan School al hail service road –<br />
principals’ office<br />
Caledonian college – principal’s office<br />
Oman Foot ball association<br />
RUSAYL AREA<br />
Rusayl Industrial Estate<br />
Oman Cables<br />
Sadolin Paints<br />
Jotun Paints<br />
Al waqia shoes<br />
Mehdi Foods<br />
Areej veg oils<br />
MINISTRIES AREA – AL KHUWAIR<br />
Ministry of tourism(Ghala, next to ISG)<br />
Ministry of social Development(next to<br />
Regional municipalities, Bank Mct)<br />
Ministry of foreign affairs<br />
SUR<br />
Al-Hashar<br />
LNG<br />
LNG, Club Sur<br />
Sur Beach Hotel<br />
Sur University<br />
OTE, Sur<br />
Mitsibushi<br />
Rawaya coffee shop<br />
Toyota<br />
Nissan<br />
Sur Plaza Hotel<br />
Mazda<br />
Khimji<br />
Omantel<br />
Private Hospital, Sur<br />
BankMuscat<br />
Sur Hotel<br />
NBO, Sur<br />
Bank Dhofar, Sur<br />
ELS, Sur<br />
SALALAH SOHAR<br />
NIZWA<br />
SHOPPING MALLS<br />
Lulu shopping center<br />
Al- Istaqarar shopping center<br />
(Salalah)<br />
Dhofar shopping center<br />
Bab Al- Salam market<br />
Al- Mashoor (Salalah)<br />
Al- Mashoor (Saada)<br />
Al-Khareef<br />
K.M Trading<br />
Al-Isteqarar (Saada)<br />
Al-Hoq super market<br />
Hamdan commercial market<br />
Fresh super market (Al-Sarat)<br />
Union Salalah Market<br />
Family bookshop<br />
HOTELS<br />
Crown Plaza<br />
Hilton Salalah<br />
Hamdan plaza<br />
Dhofar Hotel<br />
Salalah hotel<br />
Haffa House<br />
Redan Hotel<br />
Al- Hanaa Hotel<br />
BAMSIR hotel<br />
Al- Jabel hotel<br />
Al- Nile suite (Saada)<br />
Salalah Mariott<br />
MINISTRIES<br />
Ministry agriculture & fisheries<br />
Ministry of education<br />
Ministry of defense<br />
Ministry of housing & electricity<br />
Ministry of water<br />
Ministry of tourism<br />
Diwan of Royal court (Salalah)<br />
Ministry of primary court and<br />
justice<br />
Ministry of Commerce & industry<br />
Dhofar municipality (Baladia)<br />
Ministry of man power<br />
PETROL STATIONS, BANKS<br />
Shanfari filling Station<br />
shell select, al saada<br />
Oman oil<br />
Shell Salalah<br />
Bank Muscat<br />
Omantel<br />
Oman Arab Bank<br />
Pizza hut<br />
Dhofar University<br />
Al Maha souk<br />
Spicy Village Restaurant<br />
Lulu Hypermarket<br />
Jumeirah Shopping Centre<br />
Khimji’s Mart<br />
Al Salem shopping<br />
Centrepoint<br />
Moosa Abdul Rahman – GMC<br />
Toyota<br />
Nissan<br />
Mitsubishi<br />
LG showroom<br />
Sohar Bakery<br />
Sohar University<br />
Bank Muscat<br />
Habib Bank<br />
Bank Sohar<br />
Oman International Bank<br />
Al Raffah Hospital<br />
Badr Al Samaa<br />
Oman Arab Bank<br />
Bank Dhofar<br />
HSBC<br />
Travel City<br />
National Travels and Tours<br />
Universal Travels and Tourism<br />
DHL<br />
Dhofar Insurance<br />
Al Ahlia Insurance<br />
Taeeger Finance Co<br />
Omantel<br />
Al Jazeera Group<br />
Narenjee Hirjee (International)<br />
BARKA<br />
Lulu hyper market<br />
Safeer Centre<br />
Al Nahda resort<br />
Al Maha Souk<br />
Oman Oil Rumais<br />
Oman College of management<br />
OIB<br />
NBO<br />
Bank Muscat<br />
Shell<br />
OTE<br />
SARCO<br />
Nissan showroom<br />
Omantel<br />
FREE FORTNIGHTLY MAGAZINE<br />
AVAILABLE ALL OVER OMAN ON 7 TH & 21 ST<br />
20, 500 COPIES (BEING AUDITED)<br />
Circulation enquiries: 98675976/24565697<br />
OIB, Nizwa<br />
OIB, Firq<br />
BankMuscat, Nizwa<br />
BM main branch, Nizwa<br />
BankMuscat, Firq<br />
NBO, Nizwa<br />
NBO, Firq<br />
Bank Abudhabi<br />
Toyota<br />
OTE<br />
Omantel<br />
Nawras<br />
Khimji, Nizwa<br />
Khimji, Izki<br />
Muscat Bakery, Nizwa<br />
Pizza Hut<br />
Discount centre<br />
Family shopping<br />
Al Diyar Hotel<br />
Safari hotel<br />
Al-Nif shopping, Izki<br />
Hungery Bunny, Nizwa<br />
College of Science<br />
College of Technic<br />
Nizwa Medical College<br />
Busmath Clinic<br />
Thalal Clinic<br />
Omanoil, Izki<br />
Omanoil, Firq<br />
Omanoil, Nizwa<br />
Omanoil, Marfa<br />
Shell, Izki<br />
Shell, Firq<br />
Shell, Nizwa<br />
Al-Maha, Firq<br />
Nizwa university -Dept of foreign<br />
lang<br />
Al-Maha, Marfa<br />
<strong>Black</strong> <strong>Black</strong> & & &<strong>White</strong> <strong>White</strong> 49 49
Cooking<br />
Green and vibrant<br />
Go green with spinach salads… you could use<br />
tender baby spinach or a bunch of the mature<br />
large leaf, either way spinach is equally tasty,<br />
raw or cooked. And spinach provides you<br />
important nutrients, such as folate, vitamin E<br />
and lutein, to keep your body strong… here<br />
are a few recipes to try at home:<br />
50 May 21-June 6, 2012
SPINACH & BEET SALAD<br />
Ingredients<br />
8 cup(s) baby spinach<br />
1 tablespoon(s) extra-virgin olive oil<br />
1 cup(s) thinly sliced red onion<br />
2 plum tomatoes, chopped<br />
2 tablespoon(s) sliced Kalamata olives<br />
2 tablespoon(s) chopped fresh parsley<br />
1 clove(s) garlic, minced<br />
2 cup(s) steamed beet wedges or slices, 1/2-1 inch<br />
thick (see Tip)<br />
2 tablespoon(s) balsamic vinegar<br />
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt<br />
1/4 teaspoon(s) freshly ground pepper<br />
SPINACH-STRAWBERRY SALAD<br />
Ingredients<br />
1 (10 to 12-ounce) package baby spinach, washed<br />
and dried<br />
1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted<br />
1 pint strawberries, hulled and quartered<br />
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely<br />
diced<br />
Dressing:<br />
1/2 lemon, juiced<br />
2 tablespoons white vinegar<br />
1/3 cup sugar<br />
1 tablespoon vegetable oil<br />
1 teaspoon poppy seeds<br />
FRESH SPINACH SALAD<br />
Ingredients<br />
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil<br />
4 slices thick-cut bacon or 4 slices pancetta, chopped<br />
3 shallots, thinly sliced<br />
2 cloves garlic, chopped<br />
3 tablespoons vinegar<br />
2 pounds triple washed spinach, stems removed<br />
Salt and freshly ground black pepper<br />
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste<br />
4 hard-boiled eggs, quartered lengthwise<br />
Parmigiano-Reggiano, for topping<br />
Method:<br />
Place spinach in a large bowl.<br />
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.<br />
Add onion and cook, stirring, until starting to soften,<br />
about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, olives, parsley and<br />
garlic and cook, stirring, until the tomatoes begin to<br />
break down, about 3 minutes. Add beets, vinegar,<br />
salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until the beets are<br />
heated through, about 1 minute more. Add the beet<br />
mixture to the spinach and toss to combine. Serve<br />
warm.<br />
Directions<br />
In a large salad bowl, add the spinach, almonds,<br />
strawberries, and cucumber and toss together.<br />
For the dressing:<br />
In a small glass bowl or jar with a tight-fitting lid,<br />
combine the lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, oil, and<br />
poppy seeds. Whisk together in the glass bowl or<br />
shake if using a jar.<br />
Dress the salad right before serving.<br />
Directions<br />
Heat the olive oil in large skillet over medium-high<br />
heat. Once hot, add bacon to skillet and brown,<br />
reserve the crispy bacon bits and add the shallots and<br />
garlic to the pan. Cook 3 to 4 minutes then deglaze<br />
the pan with vinegar, turn spinach into pan and wilt<br />
down a bit but do not fully cook the spinach, just give<br />
it a few turns with tongs. Season the greens with salt,<br />
pepper and nutmeg. Place spinach on a serving dish<br />
and top with quartered eggs, shavings of cheese and<br />
reserved bacon bits.<br />
<strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong><br />
51
Pysche<br />
52 May 21-June 6, 2012<br />
Too busy women,<br />
Why have we all become<br />
so busy? Especially<br />
women! Women are<br />
so busy that it seems<br />
like they are caught in<br />
some kind of national<br />
epidemic. It is true that<br />
women need to juggle<br />
between work and family<br />
responsibilities, but then<br />
if they are so caught up<br />
in it, where will they find<br />
some time to have a<br />
personal life?
We need to be busy and being busy is actually good,<br />
especially when you’re doing things you love and want<br />
to do. But there is a great difference in doing it and<br />
overdoing it and in being busy and being too busy.<br />
You become too busy, then you become too busy for<br />
everyone and yourself. Then you end up falling sick<br />
because of stress overload.<br />
Why is this focus on women and not men? Well, because<br />
women seem to naturally experience more stress. With<br />
their eternal role of balancing between work, family and<br />
other additional obligations, then the stress levels are<br />
more too.<br />
“Some scientific studies also show that female sex<br />
hormones cause females under stress to secrete more<br />
stress chemicals than men do under similar conditions,”<br />
psychiatrists tell us. So where does this all lead to?<br />
Very simply put, women do not find any time to relax and<br />
this is dangerous. Women need to relax and unwind,<br />
otherwise there is this danger of them burning out.<br />
Look at the pattern: being too busy for comfort and then<br />
taking an overload of stress; naturally you will fall sick.<br />
We are not talking of feeling occasionally stressed. In<br />
fact, a little bit of stress is not bad – it is good! But, the<br />
danger for the too busy, too stressed and too worked<br />
up and never ever relaxing woman is a host of health<br />
problems, including heart problems. And you know that<br />
heart attack is the number one killer of women today.<br />
Chronic or excessive stress can manifest in various form<br />
in your body, mind and behaviour. Physical symptoms<br />
include insomnia, headaches, neck or back pain, fatigue<br />
and gastrointestinal distress. Psychological problems<br />
like irritability, depression and difficulty in concentrating<br />
can also plague the overstressed. And then there are the<br />
behavioural indicators: alcohol or drug use, binge eating<br />
and sleep problems, for instance.<br />
Now, if we ask around, we will find that many women are<br />
suffering such problems on a regular basis. So, women,<br />
try to make some changes. If you don’t find some time to<br />
relax you are going to suffer. If you are a woman, then<br />
there are various methods of relaxation:<br />
Exercise, meditation, massage, biofeedback, listening to<br />
music, reading, playing with pets, aromatherapy or getting<br />
together with friends are just a few of the possibilities…<br />
Specific relaxation techniques, like progressive muscle<br />
relaxation or visualisation, can help slow heart rate, lower<br />
breathing rate and blood pressure, and reduce muscle<br />
tension and chronic pain, experts say. Think about which<br />
activities make you feel the most relaxed and work more<br />
of those into your life. Relaxation allows you to be proactive<br />
against the rigours of stress. Busy women need<br />
to rest their bodies and their minds. Taking time to relax<br />
breaks the cycle of go, go, go. As you make time for<br />
relaxation or practice special relaxation techniques, you’ll<br />
begin to recognise that stressed-out feeling as it starts,<br />
and you’ll learn how to cope with it before it becomes a<br />
chronic problem.<br />
For women<br />
E-MAIL: marketing@albahja.com, Website: www.albahja.com <strong>Black</strong> & <strong>White</strong> 53
Hooked<br />
Who are they?<br />
By Priya Arunkumar<br />
They say don’t say you did good to someone.<br />
Just remain silent, it shows your magnanimity!<br />
They say don’t get angry, even if the situation<br />
requires you to be.<br />
You lack diplomacy!<br />
They say don’t be proud of your<br />
achievements.<br />
People will call you arrogant and wait for your<br />
fall.<br />
They say don’t expect anything in return.<br />
You will be termed selfish!<br />
They say don’t keep accounts of your charity.<br />
You are an opportunist!<br />
They say never be frank and call a spade a<br />
spade.<br />
People will call you a rude *#&%@<br />
They say be liberal to your friends and<br />
acquaintances.<br />
Otherwise there will be no one to support<br />
when you fall.<br />
They say forgive and forget.<br />
Makes you a tolerant person!<br />
They say nod your head in unison, support<br />
others.<br />
You are cooperative and adjusting!<br />
They say do as others do.<br />
You are a hero!<br />
They say keep smiling at the world.<br />
And call you silly and irresponsible!<br />
They say never believe anyone blindly.<br />
And when you question, you are being difficult!<br />
They say it is better to let go.<br />
And when you do, you are not strong!<br />
They say never stop giving.<br />
You will be called self-centered!<br />
They say learn to say 'No'!<br />
But when you do, you have changed!<br />
They say you are what you wear<br />
And when you wear a brand, you are showing<br />
off!<br />
They say go for it, unless you attempt, you<br />
cannot win.<br />
And rate you over confident and blind.<br />
They say come lets join hands for a cause.<br />
All they do is propagate their views and<br />
beliefs.<br />
They say you learn from your mistakes.<br />
And when you make one, they say they told<br />
you so!<br />
They say stop trying to be someone you are<br />
not.<br />
And it is they who make you what you are<br />
today!<br />
They say as you sow, so you reap.<br />
But, do you get to decide what to sow?<br />
They say be committed in your work.<br />
And when you do, you have no time for family!<br />
They say don’t fall for vices.<br />
And call you boring and wasted!<br />
They say work hard to succeed.<br />
When you succeed, you are called lucky!<br />
They say don’t try to become someone else,<br />
be yourself.<br />
And when you do, they call you selfish,<br />
arrogant, rude, blind and intolerant!<br />
Sigh! All they do is ‘say’!<br />
They say so many things… they tell you what<br />
to eat, what not to; what to say, what not to;<br />
what to wear, what not to; what to and what<br />
not to!<br />
You never see them at all. It is always<br />
someone else that says they said, they say! It<br />
makes you always wonder, who are they who<br />
makes the rules of your lives?<br />
Who are these people who make you do<br />
things that you don’t want to? Now, what is it<br />
they want you to be?<br />
Is it the same you want to be?<br />
They don’t inspire you; they don’t teach you;<br />
they don’t care for you; they don’t live your life;<br />
they don’t provide for you; they don’t know<br />
you; And they don’t live their own life!<br />
Why listen to them?<br />
Break away from all of them, the unseen ones,<br />
be your silly, stupid, arrogant, proud, selfish<br />
self!<br />
priya@blackandwhiteoman.com