SAUDI ARABIA- A KINGDOM OF UNCONVENTIONAL DREAMS
EDITOR ' S NOTE
SAUDI ARABIA- A KINGDOM OF UNCONVENTIONAL DREAMS
BY JEETHU ELZA CHERIAN
It’ s never easy for me to write about Saudi Arabia, the place is Home in my heart. Whenever I tell someone that I grew up in the Desert Kingdom, I receive mixed reactions. Most of them tend to be negative. It disturbs me and I spend the next few minutes convincing them that their perceptions are influenced from the global and western media’ s depiction of the Middle Eastern country— the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is nothing like that. In fact, I have only fond memories of growing up in Riyadh. Imagine this was during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The magnificent kingdom has only got better with time!
As a long-term expatriate, I find myself wincing when the kingdom gets little coverage except for when there is bad news, such as perceived human rights violations or stories about women not being allowed to drive. But even when I was back there, women could ride around in a taxi without a chaperone and there were a large number of women working in hospitals and schools. My mother worked with the Ministry of Health, and her boss was a Saudi woman! Now, the scene is changing in the sense that more and more educated Saudi women are finishing college and entering the employment sector.
The experience that you gain growing up overseas is fantastic; learning about different cultures, visiting new places, and working with local people as well as expatriates from all around the world. It broadens your perspective and makes you more open-minded. Whatever I am today is because of my formative years in the multicultural environment of Riyadh. I studied at the International Indian School in the capital, made friends with children not only from every Indian state, but also with children of my parents’ colleagues who were from other countries. Growing up in Saudi has also made me keep an open mind about Islam. When most of world is suffering from Islamophobia, some of my best friends are Muslims. I don’ t look upon the Burkha as a form of repression either. In fact, we girls at school considered it a fashion statement. You should see the variety the garment offers— a far cry from the loose plain boring black garb that is shown in movies!
Another fond memory of mine is the wonderful cuisine. Even the simple shawarma has such charm! Even after so many years in India, I am yet to have one exactly as the Saudis’ made theirs. Having also been to a couple of other countries, I can say for sure that no other place celebrates Ramazan as beautifully as Saudi Arabia. We used to look forward to shopping, the awesome iftar parties, and the palm trees being decked up. So, if you’ re up for unconventional scenic beauty and a different lifestyle, drop by this desert kingdom sometime!
As Saudi Arabia is celebrating with pride yet another national day on 23 September, here’ s me wishing my second home a wonderful journey ahead. I hope I can go back someday ….
AMBASSADOR ' S MESSAGE
On September 23, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will celebrate its 88th National Day. It marks the day the Kingdom was unified under the founding King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud in 1932. On this occasion, we also celebrate the progress our great nation has made over the last nine decades to become a modern state and a major player on the international arena.
Yet another milestone event in our nation’ s historic journey under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and the Crown Prince HRH Prince Mohammad bin Salman, is April 25, 2016 – the day Vision 2030 was announced. The Vision expresses our long-term goals and reflects our country’ s strengths and capabilities. Our leadership’ s vision is of a strong, thriving, and stable Saudi Arabia that provides opportunity for all. The Vision emphasises scaling up economic diversification, raising the skill level of the Saudi young men and women and wisely utilizing the Kingdom’ s abundant natural resources.
The Saudi Government is exerting continuous efforts at diversifying its economy to achieve the goals set under Vision 2030. The ambitious $ 500 billion mega city project, NEOM, is underway. The 26,500 square kilometres zone will focus on diverse industries including energy and water, biotechnology, food, advanced manufacturing and entertainment. Additionally, the project of Al-Qiddiya- an entertainment, sports and cultural destination- a first of its kind has been launched earlier this year near Riyadh. These diverse cities will be significant in creating new employment opportunities, and accelerating the growth of the Saudi Arabian economy.
Our eyes are set on the future. Our New Solar Energy Plan 2030 is the world’ s largest project of its type. By 2019, the Kingdom’ s first two solar generation projects with 3GW and 4.2GW of solar capacity will be commissioned and by 2030,
14 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 6 • Issue 9 • September 2018, Noida