Kuwaiti Flirting Techniques made it to BBC : Kurdistan, lagged version

I read this story on BBC UK website, as if it was something WOW out of the blue! it was funny because the same exact story happens daily in Kuwait o min zimaaaaaaan … starts with a funny blind call and then sweet talk and then evolves to dating and you can guess the rest of the story.
see the red highlights that say "Kuwait" whenever you read them.. it's like I'm watching one of those Ramadan TV series when I read this article

The article was mainly about the current situation that's triggering possible war between Kurds and Turkish in Northern Iraq.

Source link : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7073790.stm

Mobile romance

As international efforts continue to prevent a Turkish military operation in the Kurdish northern region of Iraq, day to day life goes on, including the business of romance.

Ohmed is 28 and doing his Masters in Business Studies at the University of Kurdistan in Irbil.
Nasreen's college friends made use of it for a bit of mischief. They borrowed Ohmed's mobile to ring her repeatedly and hang up before she answered.

Then they teased her about the mystery number in her call log saying there were rumours she was having an affair with a married man and here was the evidence.

The culmination of the plot was to get Ohmed, older and therefore manly enough to be convincing, to phone again, wait this time for her to answer and pretend he was her lover.
"Who are you and why do you keep ringing?" she wailed, only to be told how cruel she was to deny what was going on between them.

Ohmed is a great charmer and even though she could not see his jet black hair and glittering eyes, Nasreen was obviously rather impressed by her first contact with this softly spoken stranger of the opposite sex.

She mentioned to her friends that she would not mind speaking to him again.
A daily, sometimes nightly, ritual began of long conversations, unchaperoned and unconstrained.
Like the nurse in Romeo and Juliet, the mobile was the romantic facilitator, a 21st Century substitute for the go-between, arranging assignations and delivering messages

They fell in love without seeing each other in the flesh.

Then Ohmed drove to her street at a pre-arranged time, got out of the car, and stood near her house pretending to talk on his mobile.
She made some excuse to come outside and they glanced at each other discreetly to their mutual satisfaction.

All this took place, of course, without her parents knowing.
Like the nurse in Romeo and Juliet, the mobile was the romantic facilitator, a 21st Century substitute for the go-between, arranging assignations and delivering messages.

There were moments of disillusionment, of course, when I heard about corruption and tribal politics, about the party members awarded high marks at university regardless of merit, the jobs for people with the right name and the polling booth where ballot papers were ticked more than once.

Fortunately there has been no rude awakening for Ohmed and Nasreen.
He managed to get an invitation to her home through a distant relative so they are now able to meet, though never alone.

Conversation in front of her parents is stiff and awkward but thanks to those lengthy private phone calls, they have probably got to know each other as well as many couples in more liberal societies.

I was worried I would have to leave the region before knowing whether Nasreen's father would give them his blessing.
Ohmed was getting increasingly tense and, as the rhetoric from Turkey grew more belligerent, I imagined him exchanging T-shirt and jeans for military fatigues, a vision of disaster.
But on the romance side, at least, it is good news.

Her father has given his answer and it is yes.

The young couple will marry, perhaps as soon as a fortnight from now.
On that day, during the ceremony at least, their phones will be switched off.

[end of article]

seems like this story has a happy ending , just like all other TV series .. I guess script writers do check out the news!