Frames of life: Baghdad, last week

The Saddam International airport in Baghdad wears a deserted look, understandable since it can only extend hospitality to Click and the air service from Amman. The Iraqis turn visibly hostile at the sight of our cellular phones which are banned.

There are two explanations for this ‘‘mobile blockade’’. Iraqi officials say they’re banned from using mobiles as these are termed as military equipment as per the UN sanction order. Western sources confide that the Iraqi Government is paranoid about mobile phones as they can be used to locate the positions and to trigger explosions as well.

That’s not all. Iraq is officially denied advanced computers for fear that they may be used for developing software to enhance military capacity. The telecommunication facilities are almost two decades old.

Saddam’s face stares down from everywhere — whether it is rural or urban Iraq. Interestingly, he is togged up in different gear, after all, a military man with a gun can inspire the militant Iraqi while the traditional Arab headgear could arouse the religious passions.

Contrary to our expectations, Baghdad turned out to be a beautiful and orderly city with scores of flyovers and bridges. There are young girls in tight jeans and tops, very unlike in other Arab cities. The men are stout and well-built, probably because of the compulsory military training.

There is nothing to suggest fears of an impending war — at least not among the people. The average Iraqi appears unnaturally calm. They go about digging underground bunkers, much like a routine activity. It is difficult to assess their mood with reference to Saddam. But it is as difficult to miss the fire in their eyes.

Keralites who boast about the Public Distribution System (PDS) in the State should think twice before mentioning this in Iraq. With one Iraqi Dinar equivalent to our Rs 11, one can obtain basic food ration including mutton for a month. And Saddam has a special team to guard this system. Saddam’s initiative in preserving the waters of Euphrates and Tigris could also teach a lesson or two to States like Kerala which are thinking of selling their rivers.

One segment that has been hit badly by sanctions is healthcare. World agencies have acknowledged that half-a-million children have died in Iraq due to shortage of food and medicine.

Cut off from recent developments in the ever-changing medical world, Iraqi doctors confess that their one year’s salary would not be sufficient to even buy a medical book. In fact, doctors are selling their old medical books for a pittance. This also explains why Baghdad University professors moonlight as taxi-drivers.

Nicolas Pelham of the Economist showed us another interesting facet of the Iraqi way of life. Hundreds of Iraqis crowd around the old Ghazal Market of Baghdad to buy small and colourful birds. Almost all Iraqi households have a small bird in a cage hung in front of their house. They believe that the birds will be able to sense any possible chemical or biological attack, and thus will forewarn them. Even the non-Iraqi residents are now subscribing to this belief, and rushing to buy birds.

The writer is the bureau chief of Kairali TV in New Delhi