My life in Cairo - a Pictorial description

Outside office a lot of time was spent in the car doing the 40 minute commute.  Mahmoud my driver, was more than my driver - he was my friend and guide too.  I realise now that he is probably the person with whom I have spent the maximum time during the last two and half years.  Sadly for the last 2 months he has been advised by doctors not to drive due to his blood pressure.  I have been experimenting with various other drivers - however, none of them came up to the high standards set by Mahmoud in terms of discipline and time-sense.  He is one person to whom I owe a lot.  Just the fact that he will promptly turn up at my house at 8.15 am will force me to get up from bed everyday and stick to a disciplined schedule. 

I was pretty much a home bird.  Given the time I spent at home I furnished it in a way that I am most comfortable with - minimalist and almost spartan.

A lot of the time was spent in the kitchen - my vegetarian diet did not give me too many options in restaurants.  And as my wife testifies, I am very finicky when it comes to food - it has to be simple and almost bland

There are not too many Indian type vegetables available in Egypt - so I thrived mostly on Potato, aubergine, beans, cabbage and cauliflower which are available in plenty.  But I missed the karela, long beans etc 

What would I have done without the Indian made Panasonic food processor?  I used it solely for grinding the Dosa and Idli batter.  Like a true South Indian, I went crazy if I was deprived of my dosa for long, so my batter making skills improved dramatically.  However, getting the urad dal was a challenge. I got it from Dubai and built up a huge hoard of it.

Is there anything in the fridge?  My daily diet was mostly rice - packed curd rice for lunch, and rice and some vegetables in the night.  Many a time when I have returned tired from office, I have been saved by the rice in the fridge.  Give me curd rice and pickle - and I will survive anywhere.

An Indian restaurant opened-up near my house recently.  I went there a couple of times, but felt very uncomfortable.  Unlike other cities like New York, Mumbai or Dubai, the city of Cairo is still a very family oriented city - and single men dining in restaurants is not a common sight.  I had described my experience in my blog post here.  So it was back to home food for me.

Outside the kitchen my time was spent largely on Skype chatting with my family back home.  Skype was the greatest boon to me - and I would not have been able to cope with the bachelorhood without it.  I would wait expectantly for the call from my dear wife every morning.  Most of Friday and Saturday was spent on Skype too catching up with the children.

And then there was of course my harmonium.  This is what kept me going.  It was my sole companion whenever I felt down and out. I would put on music by famous musicians, and pretend I was accompanying them for a live show on the harmonium.  Once while I was practicing in the early morning the neighbours  complained, and from then on I started using headphones.  My favourite headphone broke and as I did not like any other headphone, I repaired my favourite headphone using a lot of yellow cellotape. 

Strangely enough I watched very little TV.  Watching TV made me think of home, and depressed me.  

I must have read the massive tome "Security Analysis" by Ben Graham at least twice.  I am thankful that I found the time to do some quality reading - especially on investment related subjects.

This is the view from the kitchen balcony.  My maid came every Friday morning to clean up the place, and would hang up the clothes to dry on the balcony.The maid was crucial in motivating me to keep the house neat - otherwise I would have ended up staying in a pig sty.

My Reebok shoes - During the summer I would go out for my long morning walks, followed by a bit of Yoga.  However, during winters I found that difficult because of the extreme cold.

The room heater - how would I have survived the harsh 8 degree winters without it?

Who is at the door - the laundry-man, the electricity man or someone else?  For a few months after the revolution I would use the peep-hole before opening the door - however, very soon this habit vanished as my confidence in the security situation improved. 

Because of the total communication cut-off that had happened during the revolution, the office thoughtfully provided a satellite phone in the event of an emergency.  I can proudly state that I never had to unpack the satellite phone from its original packing.

Initially when I had taken the residence I was concerned that there will be too much noise from the School opposite my house.  Later, I actually would look forward to hearing the noise of children from the school - and I was glad that I stayed in this apartment.

It is easy to go to pieces, or go astray when you are staying alone in such an environment.  Prayer saved me.

A couple of months ago all 3 wall clocks in my house, and my half dozen watches stopped functioning.  It was almost as if they were sending me a message.