a memoir of etchings and wanderings
Muscat, for me is so packed with memories that there is probably no such place that I can go to without being reminded that this is the place where I grew up. Just this morning, on my way to work I spotted a man who looked like someone I knew. Identifying an uncanny resemblance, I twisted in my seat to get a better look as the car whooshed past. Hoping … Continue reading “The Withdrawn Mathematician” →
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Without doubt, one of the most talented and creative geniuses the world has even seen in the field of western classical music. He wrote his first full scale opera at the age of fourteen and had become a close favourite of the local monarch. His music is of such class that doctors advise pregnant women to listen to Mozart while they’re expecting – research claims that it … Continue reading “Amadeus” →
When Baba mentioned to me last week that a Bengali/North-East Indian folk music band was going to be in town to play and tickets were for free, I could see that this is something he wouldn’t like to miss. He knows a lot about Bengali folk, my father. Perhaps because he spent much time with my grand-father who was a theatre-artiste visiting the quaint Calcutta-based music festivals and experienced the … Continue reading “Songs Of The Soil” →
And just when I thought I was getting used to the violently red and yellow walls at my new workplace, we’ve been shifted to a new location. The team has expanded so violently that there seems to be no way to accommodate us in the existing facility. Thus, came into the picture a sprawling villa at Muscat’s sort-of-posh ‘Al-Sarooj’ locale. The enclosure I sit in is in an absolute corner – so … Continue reading “Base Shift.” →
Hardly anything makes me more happy than rains. I had been thinking that the year’s hundredth post should be about something happy. Somehow, the message got through, and after weeks of the Met Department predicting unstable weather, it finally poured this evening. And I found my subject. It always rains in Muscat on Fridays. I wonder why. Maybe its Mother Nature’s way of saying that this week too, shall pass 🙂 … Continue reading “November Rains” →
“I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.” – Og Mandino Diwali. The festival of lights. Probably the only one I could actually celebrate over my childhood. Although I must agree that it all seemed to be more fun when I was younger, Diwali is, and always will be special. Because there is something hopeful … Continue reading “Lumos!” →
Remember video cassettes? Before floppy drives, CDs, DVDs and external hard drives, those little black boxes contained people’s entire worlds. Mine as well. As I disposed of over 50 of them a few days ago, I was fondly reminded of how important they used to be to me. TV recordings of Disney Hour, numerous animated movies – from Cinderalla to Chip ‘N’ Dale to the Asterix series, taping of documentaries … Continue reading “The Lonely VCR” →
Can you envision a plush open water-filled reservoir lake in the middle of the Arabian desert? I couldn’t too. Until I visited one last weekend. In the wilayat of Quriyat, nestled into the eastern Hajar mountains, is a crescent shaped lake filled with crystal blue waters and shapely rocks rising from the bottom. Having being constructed in 2009, the project was under wraps, while it was being tested. Finally opened … Continue reading “Muscat Travelogue | Wadi Dayqah” →
In no way like Calcutta, but Pujo was always a big deal even for children in Muscat. We had new clothes for each of the five main days. The Indian Social Club, Bengali Wing would organise for an assortment of traditional and well, not-so traditional activities. Recitations, cooking competitions, music and dance, theater style performance by children and adults. Over the years, it evolved into fancy dress competitions, fashion shows and things … Continue reading “Pujo by the Palm” →
Isn’t it almost magical when something you least expect comes to life? It was an identical emotion when dark clouds appeared out of the blue and there were raindrops on my head this Thursday. Like I have told many, seeing a cloud cover used to prompt us to ask for a ‘free period’ in school. The magnitude of actual precipitation can be imagined. Rumbling thunder, cracks of lightning, subtle showers. Makes for any … Continue reading “Mirage” →