Blackberry Flavoured Lime Tea

"Unsweetened black tea with two lemons squeezed into them..... Basically, lemon tea." I replied when Jabin, my cousin asked me what I'd like to have. A not-so-fine tummy cried out for some relief and the concoction was the perfect solution.

I was visiting Jabin, one of my usual Doha trips. Jabin's family membered by her husband Namrus, kids Raza and Anjal is the perfect example of a quintessential Mallu family in Doha. Doha is a city infested by citizens of Kerala, a southern state of India, who speak the revered language of Malayalam, and hence the baptized term, Mallu. For Doha Mallus, Doha is God's gift to earth. They believe that the Garden of Eden was in fact in Doha and that anything in the Middle East has to come first to Doha, and then only to others. God Bless Doha! I do not claim all Mallus in Doha are alike, but yes, more than one are. If one believes on the contrary, then I take my words back and request to treat this piece as one of my personal experience.

A boring, cold, uninteresting evening in the Middle East's greatest gift to urbanology, Doha. And what adds to this amazing evening that promised nothing short of, well..... um.... nothing, was the fact that it fell on a weekend. One can, hence, understand the predicament of a soul handicapped by lethargy and inactivity, at such a greatly blessed moment. Well, why not pay Jabin a visit, I pondered over. After all, its been almost a week, and a visit was inevitably due, otherwise, the consequences of being labeled haughty, arrogant and boisterous were imminent. Lets go, I decided.

I got comfortable in the living room. Namrus was lazily laid back on the chair, browsing through the a la carte menu of countless varieties of Mallu news channels with his remote, an idea which I have always failed to understand. My contention is not with the channels being Mallu, but how can one stand switching one news channel to the other? It is going to be the same news in all the channels, the same report of corruption of bureaucrats and ministers, the same reports of bomb blowing up places, the same speculation of the government's next move on some not-so-important matter. I fail to understand repeated hearing of the same matter can give an in depth analysis of ground realities.

Just when I could not stand the TV anymore, jabin entered the room with my lemon tea, as a blessing. Jabin a naive lady with fascination for pomp and luxury. Items of vanity excited her, her latest taste being mobile phones. Well, not, exactly the latest, at least since the last couple of years, and she is the proud housewife who owns a Nokia N95 that screams out deperately, "PLEASE USE ME!". As she gave me my tray, she started a rather interesting and amusing conversation.

Jabin (ever excited, ever bubbly): Alfi, do you know that a new phone service has been introduced by QTel (the telecom provider of Doha, Qatar). Its called Blackberry. It seems one can check emails and all in it. Do you know anything about it?

Me (calm, composed and in control): Hmmm... Yes, I did see it in the papers and a few ads on the street. Pretty good service.

Jabin (apparently amused by my disinterest): It seems it is amazing. Does your Dubai have Blackberry? It seems Blackberry is being introduced for the first in the Gellf (aka Gulf or Arabian Gulf) in Doha.

Me (pitying the ignorance of my dear cousin): I don't think so Jabin. If my memory serves me right, Blackberry has been in the UAE (of which Dubai is a part of) since 2000. Hence it is not the first time in the Gulf.

At this point, Jabin's face changes a little and with much effort, the mouth that has been working overtime for the last few minutes reluctantly forces a much dejected "oho" out. While this small talk was in session, Namrus, a die hard Qatar (of which Doha is the capital city) patriot, was listening to everything. And then, what I dreaded the most happens.... He breaks his silence.

Namrus (with much command and a patronizing tone): How much does it cost? Do you know?

Me (again, calm and a matter-of-fact tone): About QR 2500.00 (=US$680.00). And service fee of QR 300.00 (=US$80.00) per month for international roaming facility for the service.

Jabin (further dejected at the high cost): Oh.... Then he (Namrus) will not buy. Too expensive.

Namrus (a man whose aspirations have been demolished): Hmmm... What all technology has to offer today. But it is of no use to the common man. It is only an article to show off.

Me (this time pitying the trauma of the man): Well, it is not meant for the common man, in the first place. It is meant for people who travel a lot and whose office travels with them. It is a powerful tool to keep executives on the toe and constantly updated on matters. Not everyone holds such positions of criticality, and hence not everyone is expected to own a Blackberry.

I guess, they did not expect such a reply from moi. An awkward silence followed. I was not bothered and unaffected. I sipped my tea and enjoyed the flavor of freshly squeezed lemon, whose vapors created an intoxicating effect. I was relishing the tea, and so was my tummy.

Jabin (breaking the deadlock, trying to pick on me): Alfi, you had that lousy Nokia 6210, right? Haven't you changed it still? Which one do you have now?

A question that I least expected. I placed my tea cup on the table in front of me. I put my hands into my pocket and took out my phone to show her.

Action spoke louder than words, I guess.