A walk back....

I was walking back through time and these eight lines came into my mind... some beautiful times
a lot of scenes pass by with this one picture and these lines bring back numerous episodes of a small part of my life.....

How time flies by

I wonder why 

Remembering this

would make me cry

hearts together 

forget never

the bond will remain

       forever forever.....

The Ride... a simple note

Early morning breaks in and it is a weekday. The busy schedule of office begins. I dress up make something that I only know how to eat and jump into my car. The ride begins.

I get into my car switching it on to hear the humming. I wait a few minutes to get my ride charged up and then begin the journey. This isn't a road trip or a pleasant journey this one is my daily trip to office. 

The radio is on and I am with Chris Fischer.  It is journey of 60 km and I want it to be a peaceful one but alas the schools here don’t like me driving well. There are big coasters full of kids with uniform, then the Mommies with shades taking their kids, and the office goers like me who may be thinking the same way.

 I cruise down the highway without any hassles and sometimes it is splendid outside. The mountain top is covered with low lying clouds and it looks perfect and as I begin enjoying the ride comes the next boulder. Some people like traffic and they cause this second one. The cars try to overtake and just sneak into the right track, then others follow until there is a big fat one right at the end of the flyover.

The traffic doubles the time to reach my office. I wonder if all could obey the rules it would have been better or else rules shouldn't be there. The rules with rule breakers ends up in sluggish roads. Soon I reach the expressway and this is where I enjoy it. With a smooth 120km/h I cruise through it relaxed with the latest beats on. To give myself a nudge I tune into the Arabic one listening to the Khaleeji or the modern. I just love the beats and I feel I am speeding on a beautiful desert camel.

It is nearing eight and I am on track. I reach the office all set to start another day of work thinking of the return journey….

The world of dreams

It has been long since i wrote something and i was lying on my bed with my blanket on my feet looking at the brown peak that i see through my window. It looked great with the sun shining and giving it a slight golden shade. The writer in me awoke and i felt i need to start once again.
So i thought why not begin with words from someone close. why not resuscitate it with my sister's words. I had a conversation with my sister and i asked her for her verses and scribbles as i had read a piece before and i loved it and so i got one from her diary, a small but beautiful one.

let it be a good beginning.


From my sister's diary,

World of Dreams

                                        By Sheza Shareef

Top at the mountain



alone she lies



whispering to the wind



sweet wishes she has.














nature embraces, snow kisses



Rain showers, its all her wishes.









heart blossoms like flower



hands welcome her love.






cracked the heart,wishes flow



shackles build up,dreams blow.









her body starts moving



to behold her inner strength



her heart starts weeping



for she failed to hold breath.









mind probes here and there



heart urged all through her.









but the wall has risen up



making her fall from atop.









far away the wall,her soul lies



top at the mountain side.









wall of dream,made her void



world of dream, took her away.









here in this world alone she lies



away from the world of dreams.

Ramadhan Kareem

The time for revitalizing the body and soul has come again. A time when you can take decisions to change from the stagnant lifestyles we had been living and to rejuvenate the soul so that it lives again.

The month of ramadhan is on our doorsteps and it is time to indulge with one's own soul, to wash it from the scars, clear it off from the worldly dilemmas and bring out a fresh person from each of us.

Wishing you all a very happy and spiritual Ramadhan


2:183 O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint,-

Between Kayli Mundu and Levi's

The Past quarter of a century or more has seen a new breed of Indians being born. The Arabian sands witnessed the liquid gold erupt changing it into an Arabian paradise of crude oil, the modern synonym for luxury,wealth and fief(It is ending). It began a transformation of the entire Asian continent marked especially by the changes in the Indian subcontinent. The Indians, Pakistanis and Bengali flocked to this modern paradise to sweat under the scorching heat and earn some gold for their families. The sixties were the beginning and seventies and eighties saw them coming in large numbers.

Kerala was one of the beneficiaries of this boom and it saw the gulf phenomenon spread viral across every nook and corner of the state. Dubai or 'Dhubei' as pronounced by the Malayalis, was the paradise for every ordinary Mallu. Soon families settled , children started growing on the desert land alien from the Mallu land until they finish high school and go back for college and higher studies.The Levi's are sold out for the blue and green checks of the lungi (kaylimundu). This is one big transformation for them. A mindset is being changed when one leaves the luxuries of the Arabian paradise and reach the tropical warmth of the coconut land.

People tend to try and find out the pros or cons of each lifestyle but both has its own merits and it is seen when passing through life period as well as places of different culture and scope. The cultural soup in which children grow in the gulf is different from the life back in the villages and this collides as well as fuses at different points of time. This is an interesting aspect of  the expat children and their life. The Namesake Mallu is abandoned in his homeland while branded one in the gulf.

Children in the middle east meet different cultures and form a unique one combining all. But it sometimes fades one's own. It all depends on the way he or she is being brought up and may vary from place to place. While they are 'Malabari' in the middle east, they are called 'Saaip/madaama'(sir/Madam a term used to mock at mixed culture or English influence) in Kerala.... confused between the kayli and  Levi's.

The flow of the stream...

Life thoughts are something that amazes our mind since it is a sort of introspection of ourselves, our lives and environment we live in yet it isn't a complicated set of logical statements found in reports published after an analysis of a system

The simile that life could be attached to is a stream.A clear stream of water flows down the hills. Life is indeed like a body of water not too large but flows continuously through a large variety of terrain. It flows slowly among the grey and black pebbles taking some small ones along with it. The clear water of life is similar. We start slow and clear. We feel things and grasp them. Thoughts are created, seeing through different views,new things sprout up like shrubs and at a later stage, the tall grasses grow at the sides of larger stream. The stream then flows down a sudden and comes up through brown rocks forming a different path. We learn bigger things, we learn the base of life and we start thinking differently. The stream slowly inherits color. It absorbs the color of the light green grass that grows at the sides. It gets the colour of the grey slates of rocks and it embraces the yellow and crimson of the sun. We take in the good, bad and those are in between and try to understand the course.

But we walk the journey along with the flow. We move ahead in a track that we did not plan at the beginning; rather we flow with the landscape. The stream is now heavy but it flows with greater pace. It cuts through the large rocks and flows with a massive force. White froth and foam arise as it falls with great speed and mass. The water gushes forth and is whitish blue. It is alive and bubbling like a young man who is eager to conquer new avenues. The water paves its way through huge boulders of sand and rock taking the silt and sediments banking at the sides along its way.

The youth is powerful, implementing ideas, exploring and fearless. It bursts with tremendous power and can create further ways when channeled. Youth is the prime of ages and it is when you can show the world what ‘you’ rather than for whom you are. It is the time to show the identity, like the stream that shouts out loud what it is. Then the stream slows down being a rivulet. It moves with a large amount of water. It is big, sluggish and takes in any amount of deposits whether it is material or energy.From this stage on the stream starts dying. It moves into a body of countless streams being one of them losing character and energy. It rests in peace. It passes away.

The Felaj

Ancient engineering skills are something that surprises our minds since during that period heavy machinery and other forms of equipment we have today weren’t available. One of such systems that requires mention is the Felaj system of irrigation in Oman. The Felaj system is seen across Oman and some parts of Iran and Iraq and these systems have a history of more than 3000 years. The system known as Felaj (p. Aflaj) was built for extensive irrigation needs of this region since the region is a semi-arid terrain and rainfall is scarce. This system is an engineering marvel of ancient Arabia.

The system is actually a network of channels that pass through an entire village supplying water from a hidden source somewhere at the foot of the mountains.It acts as arteries of water that supplies the entire region. The system has a mother well from which water is channeled into the villages and water can be used from these small networks of the Felaj system. The Felaj are seen all over Oman and have different varieties. In Iran it is called Qanat and is of slightly a different form having a large mother well and a number of vertical shafts. The Omani Felaj system is of ancient origin dating back to as early as 2500 B.C.

This system can provide water across large areas and some of the Felaj extend upto 12 Kms or more. The water supply increases with rain and may be scarce during intense summer but it provides water almost all year round. These Aflaj are found in almost every part of Oman and there are about 3000 of such systems at present.The Aflaj system has been included in the world Heritage sites by UNESCO.

The photos show an old Felaj in the village of Imty which has gone dry. This system consists of a source well hidden from view at the foot of the mountains bordering the village. The water is carried from there through underground channel of the felaj and flows into the village. The felaj consists of small wells in to which the water is fed. These wells are about 10-12 metres in depth and the water flows through it and emerges out from another well from at the other side of the village about 100metres away. The system then runs across other fields and houses in the village. The water flows in the well (gharraq) and reaches another one and flows out through it (fallah). The entire artery is hidden from view and lies beneath the land.

Another interesting fact is the material used in the construction of this sophisticated network of water channels. The felaj is strengthened and cemented with a material known as Surookh, which could be called ancient cement. The material is made from the wood of a tree which is burnt to ashes and used for cementing the Felaj. The material is strong and still remains as it is without much damage.

The engineering and science used in these systems make us think about the expertise that the ancient generations had and this system is a remarkable asset to the Omani History.

 

sources: My travels to the A'Dakhiliyah region

Photos from the Wilayat of Izki

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1207