Conglomerate's son

Born rich

When the grandfather clock pendulum in our New York mansion struck at midnight between 05/04/1990 and 05/05/1990, I was taken out of my mother's open abdomen via Cesarean section, as planned.

There were 10 doctors and 10 nurses in the private emergency room my father had put in place for my arrival: anesthesiologists, C-section surgeons, pediatricians, postpartum care specialists, their trusted nurses, and multiple specialized stations to handle me.

I was born with an automatic U.S. citizenship on U.S. soil to my U.S. citizen mother and, right off the batch, became the owner of numerous VHS tape recordings of my historic appearance on this Earth. Come to think of this, if only had I been born just a year later, the Photo CD by Kodak would have made it much easier to store all of these multi-angled video footages. But that's not such a big deal, is it? Still, if only.

As the pediatricians handed me over to my father who was anxiously awaiting in full hospital gowns, he held me and whispered into my right ear the adhan. Then, he chewed a piece of candied date and rub some of its juice along with his saliva on my gum lines, "to activate his digestive system", he said to the attending doctors who were startled by his "traditional" unhygienic approach. I cried at his loud and sudden burst of embarrassed laughs.

Seven days later, I was circumcised in the same mansion. My hair was shaved off, weighed, recorded, and stored. In front of my mother, the medical staff, my nannies, and numerous bodyguards, my father proudly named me "Damir Al Futtaim", which means conscience. Yet, on my U.S. birth certificate, he agreed to let mother register me as "Jackson Al-Futtaim", with the Father section marked as "undeclared".

My birth was to be kept a secret.

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*Author's notes: I learned the following information while doing research for this project and would like to share with you.

1. Adhan is the Islamic call to prayer recited by the muezzin (appointed persons at mosques to lead and recite prayers) at specific times during the day. As a birth rite, the adhan is whispered into the right ear of newborns by the fathers or senior relatives as soon as possible.

2. The rubbing of honey, juice, or pressed date on the tongue or gums of newborn is called tahnik, done shortly after birth to activate the child's palate.

3. Circumcision is another birth rite performed at seventh day of birth for reason of cleanliness.

4. Naming also happens at seventh day of birth as an Islamic birth rite, done by parents collectively choosing a pretty name for the child.