One of the most fascinating facets of Saudi Arabia is their strict adherence for ladies to wear burka while in public. Depending on which viewpoint you are, for some women burka could be a protection from preying eyes of men, but for others women burka suppresses their basic freedom. Who's right? Nah, I don't really care. That's not what I wanted to write tonight. I want to tell you about my experience this afternoon.
I went to Al Faisaliah Mall today. Together with Dowin and his family, I was allowed to get inside this famous "Ladies Mall" and with my Dowin's little boy whom I tagged along, I got a "license" to roam around freely inside those shops that bachelors could never get through. I could pass by the mall guards with ease because they usually ignore people who were carrying children with them. So, what so special about it, you may ask? Well, nothing really. Just a chance to see some very beautiful women with their burqa taken off. And is it worth it? Yeah... sure! very much.
Believe me when I say beautiful women, they are really really beautiful. I am a photographer and I know who are beautiful and who are not. And these ladies, gee.. they are so genetically blessed to have perfect skin, chiseled ivory face, and balance aquiline nose. Just look at their eyes. You would certainly get bewitched with the "soulful" expression of their stare. As if, their eyes are talking to you in some strange language that you could not resist but look.
While majority of the ladies took off their burqa veil inside the mall, some ladies do not. They have a special slit in their veil to allow them to see, and for some, they put a thin concealing net in their face to partially allow them to see. I'm not sure if they can see at all - I never tried wearing one - but I guess they can. You'll see nothing but silhouette of the face and nothing more. And you know what? These ladies are the most intriguing of them all.
Men, like me, when we see women wearing burka with very little opening in their face or just thin net, it always provokes a thought of "is she beautiful?" And we would try to use our fertile imagination to answer that question using some hints available for us like silhouette figure of the face or body, height, and the burqa material. Of course, these criteria does not justify whether the woman is pretty or not. But the exercise of judging a particular "mysterious" lady using pure haka-haka (wild thoughts) pushes our adrenalin and gives us excitement I couldn't explain. You need to experience it in this setting to appreciate what I'm talking about. And I hate to say this... watching "mysterious" ladies in burka dress is better than watching girls in bikini at Sentosa Island.
Whew. If only I have a camera, I would certainly get a snap of one this ladies. But I know that this may never happen. Photography with local women is strictly prohibited in the Kingdom.
Maybe one of this days. I will have an Arab women in my portfolio.
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