Monday, October 19, 2009

Two nights ago I interviewed Mohammad Abdul Rahim, one of the Pearl diving musicians that came on the Pearl Diving shoot. He called the day before the interview and asked me to send him some questions via email so that he could come prepared with the information. He was so prepared, that he put my little notebook of questions to shame. Rahim and his band are the only pearl diving musicians in Qatar. My intent of this interview was to get an inside scoop on the music, its origins and meaning, and its significance to the Gulf people. This was very difficult information to attain. Pearl diving has been a trade here for thousands of years, and its origin is without history. The music is near impossible to translate. The Mawwal (pearl diving poetry) was 80-90% prayers to God and thanks to the Prophet. Some of the words are a mixture of African and Arabic words, resulting in sounds that have no literal meaning. I believe, from what I have learned about pearl diving, that the music developed out of
a) necessity, as the work was unbelievably difficult and probably impossible to perform without a high morale, and
b) the arabs' inherent ability to find ways to lighten their spirits during any dreary and difficult task.
The words of the music itself, I think, were not as significant as the feeling of the music. I asked Rahim what qualities a person had to possess to become a Nahaam (a marine entertainer). He says that when the music starts, he feels it coming on him like the snap of his fingers (he literally snapped to make this point). Being musically, and in other ways talented, is believed to be a gift from god as well as genetically inherited from the parents; one knew at a young age whether or not a talent for a particular trade was bestowed upon him by god. This is also true for the few pearl experts that were Tawwash (pearl traders). Five out of a thousand Tawwash were real pearl experts. These men would be called upon by the sheikhs to look at a pearl and determine the quality and price. A Dana pearl was often hidden under a layer of Nacre that had to be pealed off in order to reveal its true quality. A pearl expert had the ability to decipher that quality before the outer layer was removed. The process of removing that layer was extremely difficult and involved a steady hand and a knife. The pearl experts had to be trusted as they would start the bidding process of the pearl before pealing off this layer. The abilty to determine the real quality of pearls was believed to be a talent bestowed upon by god. It was a trade specialty that had to be learned and practiced with the help of a mentor, but first and foremost, it was a god given gift. The same is also true for the Hajamh, people who performed an age old traditional healing technique that has been practiced in the Arab world since the prophet gave it to his people. Al Hajamha is the practice of bloodletting. Many ailments were alleviated by poking holes on the top of the head and sucking out the 'bad blood' through a straw. Another healing technique is Kewee. This involved cauterizing the skin in certain places as a healing remedy. If the divers suffered from the bends, which they often did due to the incredible depths at which they dove, the Noukhatha (captain) would cauterize (with a fiery hot steel rod) the spot behind each ear lobe, after which the diver would get right back in the water and continue working. The people that performed (and still perform) these techniques posses a talent to do so which the people believe was given by god. These skills may have been learned and practiced, but they were only done so by people who were blessed by god with a gift to do so.

I think the word "Inshallah" (god willing) has taken on a new meaning for me.
Every one here uses this word after every phrase. I may say to a friend, 'would you like to get dinner tonight,' and I know that the answer will be either be 'no,' or 'Inshallah.' After Islam swept across the gulf, everything that happened, happened according to 'god's will'. The bedu and the coastal people of the gulf were constantly face to face with their own mortality. They faced this constant danger and destitution with dignity and without fear, and I believe they did so by placing their destiny in the hands of god. The old pearl diver that I interviewed, Sa'ad Ismaeel, told me that the sharks which roamed the waters of the pearl beds were not dangerous. He assured me that any diver that was attacked by a shark was meant to be attacked by the shark. It was god's will, not the will of the shark. And therefore, the sharks did not pose a danger to the divers. I was a bit confused by this statement, but after a few more interviews, and a little bit of reading, I think I am starting to understand this mentality, and I think it may indeed be justified due to the lifestyle that they had to withstand. The inhabitants of the gulf had almost no control over anything that happened to them, so it must have been pretty easy to absolve themselves of any control or responsibility of their fatalistic existence. But coming from a progressive western society where people are taking pride in having control of their own destiny, I can see how international relations between the West and the Middle East may be a bit rocky. Could you imagine being a western diplomat, sitting across a table from the King, Emir, or Sultan of a Gulf state, trying to come to an arrangement in regards to a very important international crisis, and the closest thing to a 'yes' that you will get is "Inshallah?" I think that would be frustrating to say the least - But I also believe that Westerners could work a bit harder to understand this mentality.

After my interview with Rahim, he invited me to go to a recording studio where he and some other musicians were recording a song for a Qatari wedding. I accepted the invitation and invited a friend of mine to come with me. On the way, Rahim told me about his best friend Rafael, a flamenco guitarist, and proceeded to give me a CD by him. It was pretty cool and absolutely random driving around the streets of Doha with a Qatari, accompanied by this Spanish ambiance. Doha is so much more enticing when Lola and Raphael are serenading in the background.



After we arrived at the recording studio, we were served sugar with a little bit of tea. If my cavities weren't bad before, they will be unseemly when I get back. The song was recorded layer by layer, the only instrument was the keyboard, the rest was done by the computer.
The men recorded each part of the song separately, including the female voices in the background (hilarious) which was fixed via computer technology after wards and made to sound like real women singing.



After the song was recorded, Rahim took my friend and I back to our houses and graced us with an interesting (to say the least) conversation about magic, spells and curses.
Rahim, believe it or not, is a liberal Muslim. His wife is unveiled and only wears the abbaya. And I think his fervent superstitious beliefs are a Gulf trait rather than a Muslim trait. I have heard some pretty wacky stories about superstitious practices amongst Qataris, but I didn't believe it until Rahim gave us his shpeel about immigrant magic.
He was explaining to us that he is trying to raise his children to be self sufficient, unlike most Qatari families that allow their maids to do everything for their children. He told us that he tries to keep the maids away from the children so that they will learn to do things for themselves. He went on to relay that he only hires Indian maids and drivers. "Indians have a very long history with Qatar that goes back for thousands of years" he said, which I know to be absolutely true due to the pearl trading industry. "We know how the Indians are, and they know how we are, but the other workers from the Philippines, Nepal, Indonesia etc... are new to this country and I do not trust them or their magic."
He elaborated to say that many of the immigrant workers bring magic from Africa and other countries into the houses of their employers and will often put spells on them. He said "I know you may not believe it" which I assured him that I did not, "but I have seen such things," he said.
"When you have an ailment, and the doctor cannot find out what it is, you know you must go to the Imam and have the Quran read to you to rid yourself of the curse. Every morning, I must read three passages from the Quran to protect myself from the magic that people bring to Qatar."
Whoa. Pretty wacky and pretty wild.
I am scheduled to have tea with him tomorrow afternoon and I hope to return with more knitty gritty info about Qatari beliefs and traditions.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009


Yesterday, I woke up at 3am and prepared to meet the morning after 1 hour of sleep. My taxi (Karwa company) was 15 minutes late and I was pissed. The film crew told me to be at the LaSigal Hotel by 4am if I wanted to come along on the Pearl Diving documentary shoot. My Karwa driver was nervous, and I can only imagine that it was because I was so flustered when I got in the car. He got lost for another fifteen minutes in Education City trying to find the exit gate. I couldn't help him because there are at least 3 different security gates and each driver has to use a different one depending on his company.
This wasn't the first time that Karwa tried to ruin me, and I'm sure it wont be the last.
It didn't matter that I scheduled my taxi 30 minutes earlier than I needed, I was still late... but luckily, so was the film crew.
we made it to the dock where four boats, 2 dhows and 2 speed boats, were hired for the shoot.
I met the 2 directors (Mark and Clare) and the 3 videographers (Ralph, Scott and John).
I almost peed my pants when I heard Ralph and John mention their previous work for Planet Earth.
I asked Mark about it, thinking that I may have heard wrong, and he assured me that the videographers on this shoot were some of the best in the world. After wards he added that the directors (Clare and himself) weren't so bad either.
Mark works for the National Geographic channel in New Zealand, and has worked extensively for the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and more. John, in addition to filming for Planet Earth, mentioned that he filmed episodes of Meerkat Manor.
"Spectacular creatures," he called them.

Mark (left) Scott (right)


Ralph (left) John (right)
All the videographers had cool matching hats


Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, and Animal Planet are just about the only channels that I watch, and have watched since I was was 8.
The first time I saw an episode of Planet Earth, one of the deep see episodes, I all but changed my major to marine biology.
These people were impressive, to say the least, but I was more affected, and even envious, of their unbelievable patience which was tried over and over and over again by everyone and everything, from the beginning of the shoot until the very last take.
They had to manage a crew of about 20 Qatari pearl divers and ship operators, about eight pearl diving musicians, two speed boats (nobody in either of these categories spoke english), and each other.


The old Qataris on board made the day very pleasant. They spent most of the time making jokes with each other and casually making music.



They did as the directors asked them, and often, they did it over and over and over again. When it came time to shoot the actual diving, there were some complications as the Qataris were too fat for the weights which were attached to their feet. They wouldn't sink. Fifty years ago, the real pearl divers who used the same weights to sink to the bottom, were not as well fed, and it would not have taken much to pull their lean, malnourished bodies down to the ocean's floor. I am quite sure that the majority of this Qatari crew had never actually gone pearl diving. Nonetheless, they knew how it was done, and were able to give a pretty accurate reenactment.


They didn't although, seem to understand that their movements were being filmed, and didn't wait for the cameras to start rolling before they played their parts. Once they knew what they were supposed to do, they did it immediately.


It was absolutely hilarious to see them jumping into the water over and over again, and each time they jumped, they didn't wait for the crew to get into position.



They just couldn't wrap their minds around the fact that there were more than just human eyes watching them.


The musicians performed different songs as each occasion arose. They performed a song when the sail was hoisted,



one during the rowing, one as the anchor was pulled,



and many for leisure.
The musicians as well wouldn't wait for the sound technicians before they started to play each song.



These traditional songs and dances have deep roots and traditions whose importance far exceeds that of the camera which they were expected to wait for.



It was apparent that the mood of the musicians, and their audience, were necessary elements of the song. I think that the restrictions placed by the cameras and directors made it somewhat impossible for the songs to have full effect. The whole point of pearl diving music was to enhance the spirit of the pearl divers. It was music that was created for its audience. Mark, wondering what he was going to tell his producer who paid 3,000$ for one day of these musicians, kept asking for a translation of each song. He wanted to know their meanings and he wanted to hear stories. The musicians kept replying "this song is about the sea," or "this song is about the desert." The director wanted more, but the musicians were getting impatient and didn't want to explain further.


I spoke to one of the musicians after wards and asked if I could meet with him sometime this week to try and get information about the stories and folklore that many of these songs were based upon. He was more than willing to assist me, and I hope to get some real translations of these songs and poems. A translation might be impossible, but at the least I want to find out what events were happening that inspired the words of the songs.


When noon rolled around, one of the Qatari men placed his right hand on the right side of his face and began to recite the call to prayer.



It was a bit surreal to see him standing amidst all the chaos singing so clearly and intently. Eventually, the majority of the men lined up in the middle of the boat like it was a mosque. One man lead the prayer, and the rest followed him.


The film crew didn't seem to pay much attention, but I know that everyone could feel the presence of religious dedication hovering over the boat. It was pretty incredible.
Later in the day, I watched the men, one by one, do a ritual washing of their hands, face and feet in preparation for another prayer.

There were a few scuba divers on the shoot, one of whom gathered baskets full of oysters which were opened on the boat as part of the shoot.


I got a little too excited at the prospect of finding treasures inside the oysters and had to contain myself so as not to get in front of the camera.


They found two little pearls.
Mark, Scott, Ralph, the stills photographer and I boarded the speed boat to race the setting sun and get some wide shots of the Dhow.

I was so excited that I waved at the Qataris on the other boat not realizing that they would probably wave back and ruin the take.
Thank god none of the crew noticed. Although I'm sure they will when they start the editing process.
As I was the only tag along on the shoot, I knew that they were worried and expecting that I would be a hassle.
I never would have been allowed on the shoot if it wasn't for my association with another film director here. He connected them with me because they were in need of some research on the subject which I had. In return, I asked to accompany the shoot.


By the time the filming was over, everyone had what they wanted, including myself.
I was pretty freaking overwhelmed with everything I saw and experienced on this shoot.
After leaving the dock I went to the beach at the Sheraton hotel and retired my tired self under the (almost) full moon. Pretty great.