A milestone to remember

It is our wedding anniversary. We have been married thirty years.

Celebrating a wedding anniversary, particularly a milestone one like this one would not be complete without a proper gift. I have not given many gifts to IS. Even if I did I don't remember many significant ones. I am feeling physically tired and cannot go out looking for gifts ... the materialistic kind. Is there something more special I can do as a gift, more so a gift to remember.

Whatever time has exposed our partnership to .... ups and downs, various kinds of feelings, sometimes warm, sometimes friction or irritation, a few times indifferent!, I am still proud to say that we have held  it together.  In addition to our marriage and raising a family my husband and I have worked together as a team, and despite the impediments, we have soared.

I thought I would do a painting and use some of my humble artistic talent to create a gift for him .... the gift of creativity for me being very precious.

Tsuru or Crane in Japanese symbolises longevity and fidelity. These qualities are a perfect sign of a committed marriage that transcends many ages.

So here's my painting.

"Tsuru"

My life is full of love and appreciation for my true match in this life and beyond.

Happy anniversary to my best friend and true love.

  

The Great Sea-Scape

After a number of half-hearted attempts, we finally managed to take this trip last weekend to the Musandam peninsula, Oman.  Four and a half years in Dubai (for me) and this was our first serious outing by road.  Not only over-night, but international!

A car drive of under 4 hours via Ras Al Khaimah (including the UAE-Oman border visa formalities) Friday morning and we reached Khasab, Musandam’s principal town (built by the Portuguese early 17th century).

Fairly good road, the Oman leg of it winding up and down and around (and over!) stark mountains on one side, with the Persian Gulf on the other, the way to Khasab along the coast was quite thrilling.  The Hajjar mountains appear arid and inhospitable, yet oddly attractive, their treeless ruggedness highlighted even more by the blue waters of the seas around.  The amount of quarrying on the way was however quite a put-off.

But we were quite unprepared for our hotel, which sits on a cliff overlooking the clear waters of the passages of Hormuz.  On this cusp of land facing northwards towards Iran you have the Persian Gulf on the left, the Strait of Hormuz in front, and the coastal fjords of Musandam on the right, stretching eastwards towards the Gulf of Oman.

The highlight of our trip was the traditional Omani Dhow cruise the same afternoon.  Comfortable low seating helped us work off our lunch as the boat sailed out. Inhaling sea breeze and absorbing the blue around, the sunlight played its part, highlighting the landscape which became breath-taking with the light and shadow as dusk approached.

Quite an experience.  Dubbed the "Norway of Arabia" because of its fjords, Musandam has some of the most scenic panoramas in the Arabian Peninsula, with a number of khors (creeks); and our dhow explored the largest of them, 'Khor as-Sham'.

 Crystal  clear waters encircled by massive naturally carved rock walls(mainly limestone), colourful aquatic life and a pod of 7 playful wild dolphins, showing off their skill in the water and even racing our boat.

We anchored at the well-known ‘Telegraph Island’, a station along the old telegraph cable that linked London to Iraq's southern city of Basra and onwards to Bombay. IS even enjoyed a short swim in the clear water.

On the way back we could see a number of speedboats racing across the sea-corridor connecting Oman to the Iranian coast (50 kms. away), and heard from our guide about the smuggling of traditional goods like zaffran, livestock, etc. from there, with consumer goods being taken in on the return.

The next morning we went into the town (which was quite deserted) and saw the Khasab Fort and Museum. We returned home that same evening wanting to do this trip again.

The Rugged Hajar Mountains

The drive along the coast,once you cross the UAE border

The Dhow ready for the Cruise

The shimmering waters

Azure Blue waters against the rugged mountains

Omani captain of our Boat

A shoal of fish

The sunlight creates magic

Dolphins who entertained us on some part of our cruise.
They responded to our claps and whistles and even raced with our boat.

Inside the Khasab fort

Watch tower of the fort

Small windows,keep the heat away

Decorations on the Boat

Fronds of the Date Palm provide some shade

Clean beaches

Seagulls on the shore

A Sad Demise

Sharief, our devoted cook, passed away most unexpectedly last Thursday, leaving us very shocked and saddened.

Belonged to a village near Cuttack, Orissa, had his wife and family there (5 daughters and a son), and some property, but in ’95, at the age of nearly 50 (though he didn’t look it), came to Chennai to look for a job so he could pay off his debts and get his daughters married. We were lucky that a friend referred him to us.

When he joined us fifteen years ago he couldn't cook too much, but made amazing rotis so I knew he had potential and could be trained.  Over time he picked up quite a repertoire and could bake, make pizzas, and do an Indianized version of Chinese.  Of course on any given day a lot depended on his mood!

Straight-forward, God-fearing, honest to the core, he was very fond of my girls, Bade Saab or Sona Baba he called A. The two would always have him in splits, try to say a few words in English .... “What's up? Nothing much!”  He would miss his daughters …

Had a way with animals.  Our dogs in Chennai really loved him … and feared him at the same time!

After we shifted to Dubai, since it wasn’t possible for him to accompany us we moved him to Delhi 2 years ago to work for my mother (‘Nanima’ he’d call her). I could only convince him to go there on the understanding that when we returned to India (Inshallah!), he’d come back to us.

He was quite hale and hearty, and would say that no illness could ever touch him. He had some niggling health issues, which we tried to resolve through regular health checks.  But during his annual leave home from Delhi this time he fell ill, apparently a urinary infection, which on further investigation needed him to undergo surgery. Next thing we knew, in matter of days he was gone.  We’re still to get the full story.

During this visit he had fixed to get his third daughter married, and was only waiting to go home to arrange this.

Life is so unpredictable.  At least his last days were with his family.

Sharief had this way of acknowledging his blessings with an “Allah Mian, tera lakh lakh shukr hai’; we will truly miss him, and for our time with him we feel the same way.

“Tell your friend that in his death, a part of you dies and goes with him. Wherever he goes, you also go. He will not be alone.”  ― Jiddu Krishnamurti

Colours of Spring

Yellows in my Garden

Spilling over from Makar Sankranti (which was on Jan. 14) toBasant Panchami which just passed on Jan. 28th, these festivals in India mark the change of season, the withdrawal of winter and the beginning of spring. It is harvest time, yellow mustard fields in full sway with the colour of the season.  Happiness everywhere, yellow clothing pulled out and worn, pujas performed, kite festivals organized, and much, much more.

But some of us living in cities or abroad may be oblivious to or not celebrate these festivals, or even feel the relevance of such auspicious periods in our busy lives.

Here in Dubai where the winter season is itself like spring, hardly a winter, where day temperatures normally come down to a very pleasant 20 degrees, these festivals seem not so relevant.  Yet there is a good deal of buzz everywhere, it’s the tourist season with the shopping festival, etc.  The International Kite Festival organized in Dubai had colourful kites in various shapes and sizes soaring into the sky.  It was only many days later I realised this coincided with the Indian harvest festival of Sankranti.

I do believe that such celestial and seasonal changes influence us in some way, and my lovely flowers reminded me of this by presenting me their bouquet.  The yellow of the marigolds in my garden are symbolic, a joyous reminder of Basant, with the other flowers pitching in with their colour.

We enjoyed some real cool weather in Dubai this time (16 degrees C), but with the ‘winter’ at an end, can the summer be far behind? One tries to make the most of the cooler months, one more road-trip squeezed in here, a quick BBQ evening there …

Kite festival at Outlet Mall, Dubai

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

This seagull was in the process of crossing the road (on foot!) and nearly got run over by our car.  We had to stop completely and wait till it got back onto the side-walk ... thank goodness it didn't go the other way because it was a busy main road.

Was the bird hurt?  Unable to fly?  Or was he exploring the surroundings? Why alone and not with his flock? Was he ‘the one’ trying to be more adventurous, getting away from the mundane, aiming for something higher in life, determined to be beyond ordinary seagull? And as a result, outcast from his flock?

Later the same day we watched a flock of seagulls at the water-front at the Festival City. The two events reminded me of the story of 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' by Richard Bach, about a seagull who learned that the joy of life is not just scrounging and squabbling for food but passion for flying and reaching higher, ultimately returning to his flock to forgive and share his knowledge with them. I must have read the story a number of times, it took me a while to realise its full implications.

 Some excerpts from the book :

…Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simplest flight – how to get from shore to food and back again. For most gulls, it is not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, it was not eating that mattered, but flight. More than anything else, Jonathan Livingston Seagull loved to fly.

…Jonathan Seagull discovered that boredom and fear and anger are the reasons that a gull’s life is so short, and with these gone from his thought, he lived a long fine life indeed.

…’How you manage to love a mob of birds that has just tried to kill you?’ ‘Oh, you don’t love that! You don’t love hatred and evil, of course. You have to practice and see the real gull, the good in every one of them, and to help them see it in themselves. That’s what I mean by love.’

This story is so true for people.  It's for the people who live by their own rules to make life better, and believe in doing something well, even if it’s for themselves. It is for people who believe there is more to this life than meets the eye.

Sand Castle

We’ve been in the UAE for the last four years but have hardly explored the country, except for a few odd trips here and there, and some on our trips to Dubai in previous years when we were just visiting, more as tourists. Being a small country (with good roads) one can actually cover the length and breadth of it in a few hours.

Two weekends ago we accompanied my brother and sister-in-law to the Emirate of Fujairah. It was their wedding anniversary, and what better way to spend it than go for a long drive .... we being the kebab me haddis!

We didn't plan anything beforehand, except that we’d try out the shorter route, a new road to this Emirate.  Driving out, in about half-an-hour we left the sandy landscape and approached the foot-hills towards the mountains. The Hajar mountains (rock mountains) as these are called demarcate Fujairah from the other emirates. The drive through the mountains was lovely, the different hues of the rugged landscape in the background and the light and shadow making it quite picturesque.

As we approached Fujairah we saw a sign saying ‘Al Hayl Castle’. Since we’d saved some time on the new route we decided check out the castle before lunch.  We followed the road, which seemed to be taking us nowhere into the hills till we arrived at a wadi (river-bed). This is a water-catchment area similar to an oasis, but unfortunately it was totally dry.  We heard that during the occasional rains these fill up real fast and flood, and bathers can get caught unawares and drown. We continued further and a date plantation appeared which was a relief to the rocky landscape.

We finally arrived at the castle (though it looked more like a fort). Considered as the headquarters for ruling family, the historic castle was established more than 250 years ago, and has been used for surveillance, patrolling and to defend the area. Surely must have felt like a King to reside in such serenity surrounded by nature.

The architectural simplicity was evident.  A watch-tower and small room-like structures enclosed by plastered walls was all that there was to this castle. Built of mud-brick, it has undergone considerable restoration work. We climbed up to the tower to get a better view of the surroundings.

After this we turned back and drove towards Kalba, another township near the sea. The drive along the water (the Gulf of Oman) was lovely … Just enjoyed staring into the blue sea.  Then on towards Fujairah to stop at the Hilton for lunch. Very relaxing, on the deck next to the beach.

Being the last day of 2011, it was a day well-spent. We returned home happily exhausted, looking forward to a good beginning to the next day, the New Year.

The surrounding mountains

The Castle

Climbing up to the Watch Tower 

The Watch Tower

Drive along the Sea