Well it amazes me to see how many things in this world never cease to amaze me.
Just one tiny example. I received an email from Schlumberger HR asking me to make a dossier of 20-odd certificates which I will be required to carry during my induction program in Abu Dhabi. It included probably every certificate that I'd have obtained since class 10 (except for the birth certificate, which would be way before that) and the birth certificates of your parents, spouse and children, wherever applicable. I would like to presume I was born only after my parents were born, and how does it really matter what their dates of birth are or whatever else they are trying to gauge from those certificates.
The topper, though, was to carry a marriage certificate or a concubine certificate, if and whichever applicable.
Now, I've seen and heard of a very many things over the past few years, most more enlightening than not, but I really never imagined I'd hear of a concubine certificate! Do such things as these exist? Why would one want to be a certified concubine? Prostitutes, I can imagine, but then they wouldn't really be working in Schlumberger, or wouldn't be prostituting of they were earning in excess of $50,000 per annum. This is, of course, going with the prejudice that this is a profession borne out of necessity/depravity/force or various other such undignified reasons, and not out of choice. Even so, I can live with that certificate from countries where prostitution is legal.
The only sane explanation I can come up with is that SLB is a global company with a strong focus on the Middle East where the Islamic customs dominate, and it is allowed to keep multiple wives. The second and third and fourth wives would probably be the concubines with an official concubine status as opposed to married, though if they are wives, why so? I can't really think of anything else.
Views?
Just one tiny example. I received an email from Schlumberger HR asking me to make a dossier of 20-odd certificates which I will be required to carry during my induction program in Abu Dhabi. It included probably every certificate that I'd have obtained since class 10 (except for the birth certificate, which would be way before that) and the birth certificates of your parents, spouse and children, wherever applicable. I would like to presume I was born only after my parents were born, and how does it really matter what their dates of birth are or whatever else they are trying to gauge from those certificates.
The topper, though, was to carry a marriage certificate or a concubine certificate, if and whichever applicable.
Now, I've seen and heard of a very many things over the past few years, most more enlightening than not, but I really never imagined I'd hear of a concubine certificate! Do such things as these exist? Why would one want to be a certified concubine? Prostitutes, I can imagine, but then they wouldn't really be working in Schlumberger, or wouldn't be prostituting of they were earning in excess of $50,000 per annum. This is, of course, going with the prejudice that this is a profession borne out of necessity/depravity/force or various other such undignified reasons, and not out of choice. Even so, I can live with that certificate from countries where prostitution is legal.
The only sane explanation I can come up with is that SLB is a global company with a strong focus on the Middle East where the Islamic customs dominate, and it is allowed to keep multiple wives. The second and third and fourth wives would probably be the concubines with an official concubine status as opposed to married, though if they are wives, why so? I can't really think of anything else.
Views?
6 comments:
A concubine is not a prostitute!! A concubine is more like a mistress - a woman who is like your wife but does not have the 'official' wife status. That means that you don't inherit the man's property, nor are you children heirs to the man.
I don't know for sure but I guess there still are countries where concubines are legal and Shlum would have to make allowances for that.
This really is very weird!But, in a place like Abu Dhabi, concubine certificates must be really important!
How will you produce one though? Here, there's nothing like that.
Vinod
Yes, I know concubines are not prostitutes. That's what I wrote, but maybe it wasn't clear enough since you thought otherwise. I said I could imagine getting certificates since prostitution is legal in some countries, but I wasn't aware that concubines was a legally (and/or) socially accepted norm today anywhere around the world. I presumed (with no factual information as basis) that the Islamic laws, which allow polygamy, would treat all wives as equal. If that is so, then concubine certificates would pertain to some other countries (Africa? South America?) that I'munaware of. If not, maybe it is one or more of the countries in the Middle-East.
Any which way, it sounds strange. And moreover, what seems even more incongruous is the fact that such a woman who has been denied even proper spousal rights would have sufficient education or be forthright enough to be employed anywhere, much less Schlumberger, if one goes with the stereotypes. That is a prejudiced view, yes, but it's probable nevertheless.
Butterfly
My dear Sinjini, I really wouldn't need to produce a concubine certificate, primarily because I'm not one and secondly because I cannot be one. It is by definition a mistress or a second wife with no legal rights to property and the like, as Vinod pointed out.
Thanks for the concern, though. :)
My guess is that Shlumberger intends not to employ but rather merely to document the concubine in question. That is, the company's prospective employee is likely the man with the concubine. It's probably required in these societies that a man with an 'official' concubine carry some certificate asserting her existence. Shlumberger wants this information because it's expected that, as with a wife, the man would have certain ties to his concubine that may influence his work; perhaps, for example, he would want to bring her with him to his city of employment. Though, of course, the other scenario mentioned above is possible, and Shlumberger is just very progressive in its view of the potential for social mobility of concubines. =-)
Schlumberger*, sorry. And I don't think it came through in my first post, but I find it pretty funny and/or ridiculous that such a situation would even come up these days.
Ben
Well, you know, actually, your first comment makes a lot of sense. It might be true, but even so, my surprise was more at the existence of a certificate as that, and that arose from a complete lack of knowledge of something of the sort.
And yes, it didn't come through in the first post (that you find it funny/ridiculous). :)
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