Until Monday, May 28, the riskiest thing you could do here in Doha was take on the manic drivers on the road.
But now parents hesitate to pack their child's schoolbag, families avoid the mall… it's a grief so numbing, no one can quite see the paranoia.
A friend asked, you live in West Asia, aren't you used to worse? No, I am not. I've been away from India so long, I don't remember how unsafe my environment was. Yes, we see a lot of gore in the newspapers, as the regional media shows no restraint in splashing bloody images from war zones, even that of children. Qatar, however, has been a safe place to live in.
Then a seemingly small fire in one of Doha's Venetian-themed mall — Villaggio — claimed 19 lives. Thirteen children, four nursery staff and two fire-fighters. All the deaths were in an attic-trap tucked away in the mezzanine floor of the mall that served as a children's play area called Gympanzee.
Investigations are on, and we wait for a final report. Meanwhile, the incident and its aftermath bring to light two very important things for me — as a journalist and as an Indian expatriate.
First, the state of traditional media in Qatar. They failed miserably in reporting the incident. Yes, the day after saw pages splashed with pictures and reports, and the Arabic media even asked some very tough questions. But we are no longer living in a world that stands still for the morning newspaper.
In an era of real-time tweeting and blogging, the media here is woefully inept at connecting with the community. Everyone living here depended on live tweeting, either directly or through social-media-savvy friends. Doha News (dohanews.co), which is by far the most popular forum, aced its game. Through a model of crowd-sourcing and direct reporting, they stepped in where newspapers, radio and television should have.
Yes, you are right. This is Al Jazeera 's birthplace. They didn't step in either. The media scene here, as it stands: newspapers are merely PR (press releases and public relations) mouthpieces; Qatar TV as a commentator said, is in ‘lala land' and the Radio is a joke.
In this region, more than any other, social media is a huge blessing. Even in the States that were not engulfed by the Arab Spring, social media and Web 2.0 are bringing about the change that government dispensation and policies have not been able to.
In Qatar, a few years ago an expatriate questioning or debating with a national was unthinkable. Today, Twitter feeds are full of that discussion. Disagreements, persuasions, defence… it's all there.
One of the key figures detained for questioning in the Villaggio fire tragedy is Iman Al Kuwari, the daughter of Culture Minister Hamad Al Kuwari, and that news is splashed all over. So are concerns on whether she would have an unfair advantage. A discussion that many outside Qatar would take for granted, but is really a turning point in the country's quest towards free expression.
At the moment the concerns are on Twitter, on forums, by Qataris and expatriates. In time one would hope the local media (newspapers, TV, Radio) would learn from those whom they wish to serve.
The ineptitude of the English newspapers is doubly annoying for me because nearly 90 per cent of the staff at the three newspapers are Indians, though the Editor-in-Chief or Managing Editor might be a national. The great reluctance of the journalists here to carry out their duty is now publicly criticised. There are a few who do try, but their scattered efforts are lost in the sea of unedited press releases and copy-pasted agency copies that fills the newspaper. The fire also brought up a second critical issue. It's the absolute absence or even pretence of safety regulations in the Indian schools here.
Almost every international school in Qatar took this opportunity to discuss safety with their students; most of the Indian schools didn't have a debriefing. Fire drills are planned. For now.
Worse still is the environment in which some of these schools function. One of the leading schools in Doha, DPS-MIS (Delhi Public School-Modern Indian School) operates out of porta-cabins. And over the years, electrical short circuits have been common. So common, no one thinks it's a big deal anymore. This is the very school in which a couple of years ago a child died because she was left behind in the bus an entire day in the heat.
It's not about one school alone. It's about how little respect there is for lives. Which is perhaps why we see Indian parents not investing in a car seat, or allowing their kids to bounce around in the car. And we are not talking about 30-40 kmph speeds, but anything from 80-120 kmph. Here in Doha, you hear of Indian parents leaving their four- and five-year-olds alone at home because they do not want to invest in a maid or babysitter. Then, there are the unlicensed Indian nurseries, often operating out of cramped rooms in villas.
With the recent tragedy everyone is talking about how the city and community will learn from it.
I worry about the Indian expatriate group and the disregard of safety regulations among them.
Porta-cabins, cramped classrooms, bus drivers untrained for emergencies, children without seatbelts, kids left alone at home… tick, tick, tick, tick, tick...