Pearl Diving Festivities - Reigniting Tradition, Celebrating Culture

Before there was Oil, there were Pearls.

Before there were Oil Rigs, there were Dhows.

In keeping with this deeply rooted cultural aspect, on an annual basis, young men from all walks of life (how many walks of life are there exactly for young men in Kuwait?) enroll in a parade to reminisce about the days of yon, donning their swimming trunks to rough it out as tradition bestowed.

These are the men that paved the way for Kuwait to be as it is today:

This is what we have today, plastered all over the newspaper, the youths who will take us into tomorrow:

It seems that the traditional diet that the ancient divers subsided on must have been lost to the annals of time, or fed to the fish, as this generation is more geared towards the tradition of McDonaldisation and the fast-food-culture.

What with the recent article in CNN about the bulging belt-sizes in Kuwait and the tradition of over-eating entitled Fast food loving Kuwaitis battle the bulge. It would seem to be a losing battle.


I count 7 out of 16 to be obese. Thats 44%. According to CNN, obesity is more in the region of 75%.

Maybe, instead of building a culture that hangs on to traditions, a more permanent approach can be taken to gear the youths for a healthier life-style.

Granted, Kuwait is too hot most of the time for any sort of out-door activity, but that is where the multi-billions of Dollars being stored in the Kuwait Future Generations Fund (KFGF) should come in handy. At this rate, there will not be a Future Generation as a result of all the risks involved with obesity such as diabetes etc.

Times have changed. Gone are the days when the family would come together on daily basis for meals. The unity factor has dissolved, decentralised as a result of fast-paced lives, hectic jobs, and regular lavish behavior. What right has a mother to leave her children with the maid whilst she goes out from noon to night to shop? Or for the father to spend all day in the office, then all night in the diwaniya with his friends?

To every yin, there is a yang. Some will argue that the parents deserve a rest, do you view this as true?

The problem gets worse; so one is able to get out of the fast-food line and into a gym to work out, in a culture that breeds results, much to the same mentality as fast-food, they need fast results, so they turn to steroids and performance enhancers. Just the other day my Gym coach wanted to coax me into using Amino Acids, which granted, may not be that much of a threat as they are proteins, still. I am fit, I do not have a saggy belly, I work out to maintain my form. I have seen a different coach literally inject others in the locker room.

It may seem as damned if you do, damned if you don't. That is where proper parenting comes into play. The next generation need to be raised on the norms that their parents were raised on. Working hard, earning a living. Eating home cooked meals instead of the fatty, grease-encrusted filth they are shoveling down their collective oesophagi.

It is easier said than done, like skating up-hill.

When will we be the change we want to see in the world.

Health should be our top priority.