Girls of Riyadh (Banat Al-Riyadh)

Lord knows the way she feels
Everyday in his name she begins
To have her shining here by my side
I'd sacrifice all them tears in my eyes
Aicha Aicha - ecoute moi

-Aicha by Outlandish

I just finished reading a book called, Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea. It's a really good book which coves traditions, customs and values of Saudi Arabia, all very neatly packaged as the perfect chick-lit. My favourite kind! I'm not a big fan of chick literature, I often find it to be dull with the monotonous ramblings about love and boys. But this book, which when my sister bought it, I tut-tuted it. That is until I read the first page.

The book is Sex & the City meets Gossip Girl in Riyadh. I do love the characters of the book, the girls are so simple with such dreams filled with love and hope. The four main characters of the book are girls belonging to the "velvet" or elite social circle. They constantly struggle with love and a society riddled with customs and traditions is enthralling.

The book has been banned in Saudi Arabia, but from what I've read lot of these usually get banned. The book will not seem that scandalous to the Western world. To understand it, it's important to understand the way an Arab man's mind works. The book in all is very amusing and the stories are delightful.

I was always intrigued by the Middle East. The language, the people are so different. The burkha or abaya (as I learnt from the book) clad woman who roam about the shops of London during the hot hot summers always made me wonder why would they want Western clothes. I was shocked to discover that women in Riyadh do go to offices (yes, I was that naive, but trust me knowing these women work made the feminist in me smile).

The book quotes the Q'aran and the many poets of the Arab world. You learn so many Arabic words, like habibti means My Love.

The author, Rajaa Alsanea manages to use her words to reach out and scandalize the readers. It's almost as if you are living through each page. You can almost smell the streets of Riyadh when she talks about the late night shops during Ramadan, you can feel the looks of the boys and get immersed in the desperation of both sexes.

The book simply put out that girls everywhere are the same. So much so that I want to visit Riyadh with all my heart now. A few weeks, much before I started reading the book, I had googled Riyadh (no, I don't use LiveSearch *whatever!* :P). I was pleasantly surprised to see the marvellous buildings and towers.

Saudi Arabia from what I gathered from the book has a complex society, but there are equal amounts of liberal and strict people. It is a society full of people who discriminate between the upper and lower class, just like any other society (especially India! 0_o yes I went there!!!)

No this DOES NOT mean I will start reading the Shopaholic series of chick-lits, but I do feel that men should read more chick-lits just so they get to know women (lol), just like my friend Rayhan reads them *awww*. This does mean that I do so badly want to visit Riyadh.

Those who want us, our souls resent them
And those whom we want, fate refuses to give to us.

Norah Al- Hawshan

Here's another quote from the book that I loved:

"...Then he tells me, I'm a man! The mind gives me counsel and I've listened to it. So I say to him, I'm a woman! I sought my heart's wisdom, and in heart I trust!"


XXX