New year’s day 2014

Personally I do not believe New Year’s Day as a special day with great significance in our lives. For me, it is just another day. You will be greeted by a new year 365 days hence, if you start counting time from today. So, a new year’s day could be any day of the year. Still, this day has some unseen charisma, unknown magic which fascinates people from all around the globe including those following a calendar year different from the Gregorian calendar. 

Even though, this day does not carry extra hours or a better sunshine, it does give us a special feeling – a feeling of newness to start afresh. That’s why everyone eagerly waits for this day – either to celebrate the success in the year gone by or to put a full stop to the persistent failures of the bygone phase.

Although I never celebrated New Year’s Day or greeted the day with special arrangements, I have always considered it to be a milestone – a point in life to wait, look back, think and review various facets of life. As my birthday is just four days after the new year’s day, it is all the more a special occasion for me to retrospect the success and failures of my life, learn from mistakes and make new resolutions for the year ahead.

To be honest, I never made any serious resolution in my life - whenever made, never stick to it. Yet, I consider this day as an opportunity to evaluate the year 2013 – on a quick journey through my memory lane with all the good, bad and special moments of the year.

After spending a sleepless night at office doing the annual closing till 3:30 am of 1^st January 2014, while the others were celebrating the new year, I decided to relax the day at home – an excellent opportunity to switch on my time machine, rewinding it back to the beginning  of 2013. So, here I am, sitting in front of my computer, completely emerged in thoughts trying to write the first ever blog of my life about my experience in the year gone by.

1. A dull beginning: New year 2013 was no exception. Spent the whole night at office doing annual closing. Slept the next day till noon and reached office only to attend the New Year lunch party. Hectic days started – doing all sorts of reporting, uninteresting discussions with external auditors, finalising the PL and Balance Sheet. By the time we published our annual results in the newspapers, it was already halfway February. Finally, a little chance to breathe.

2. Spending leisurely time at Qurum Beach: My wife joined me back from India after a month long break and we started exploring places to spend weekends. We found a new vista at the Shatti Qurum beach. This is not an exciting beach and in all likelihood wouldn’t find a place in world’s top 100 great beaches! Still, this place is special for us. On a lazy Friday or Saturday morning, we would head for this place to play with the salty water of the sea, to sit on the green lawn under the shadow of coconut trees and look at the never ending waves of the blue sea. The view of the blue waters and white sands through the coconut trees is amazing. It can only be felt by being there.

Shatti Al Qurum Beach

I’m a true sea lover at heart. I love the infiniteness and mystifying charm of the sea. If you look at the horizon, it appears to touch the sky. It carries hopes from a distant world; it connects cultures and civilizations through its unrelenting, untiring lively white waves of blue water.

3. Another favourite destination Kalbou Park: It’s a small park located at a distance of just 2 kilometres along the Cornice road from Muttrah Souqe. What makes this place special is the rhythm of the sea waves hitting the shore. It’s a favourite place among the locals. Some people come here with fishing rods to spend the day. Some others come with family for a picnic. Super fast free Wi-Fi adds an extra reason to come to the park. An ideal place to see the Sunset on the sea while relaxing on the soft green lawn, listening to your favourite music!

4. A long cherished holiday at Europe: I planned this holiday last year but could not materialise as I didn't get the leave. This year was no exception but after lots of persuasion, CEO finally agreed for an 8 days off which translated to 10 days combining the weekend. After doing lots of research on places to cover, tour operator and flight to choose, I finally drew up the plan.  The 10 days were pretty hectic and everything was time bound. An independent holiday would have been more refreshing and enjoyable but overall it was a nice experience with the tour operator Thomas Cook. Everything was well planned and we could cover all the popular tourist spots of London, Paris and Switzerland. Now, I'm closing my eyes and refreshing the memories of those 10 days  –tiny taxis moving through the streets of London,  taste of fish & chips, view of Paris from the Eiffel Tower, small wooden houses on the bank of lake Geneva, frozen winds of mount titlis, the reverberating sound of the Rhine fall, long bus journeys through the beautiful green fields…and the list goes on.

Luvre Museum, Paris

5. The changing climate of Oman: Oman is known for its hot and humid climate during the summer months. But 2013 was different. The rainfall was more than average and the weather was amazingly pleasant even during the months of July and August which are otherwise unbearably hot. It was a nice opportunity for outdoor activities. We had visits to many places during the year – Nakhal Fort, Wadi Bani Khalid, Al Sawadi Beach, Wadi Bani Habib, Jabal Al Akhdar to name a few. Overall, we enjoyed the untimely clouds (though the rainfall was scarce in Muscat), cool winds and mild sunshine.

On the way - Jabal Akhdar

Exploring Oman

6. The Fish Therapy: How much does it cost to have a fish pedicure at a spa? Well, if you have some time and willingness to travel, you can get it free of cost in Oman. We have explored two such options during the year – the salty waters of Bimah Sinkhole (along the new Sur road) or the spring waters of Wadi Bani Khalid (Sharqiyah region). All you need to do is to dip your feet in the water. The small fish brigade will do the rest.

Fish Therapy

7. Trying some exciting recipes: I am a horrible cook. But I love experimenting. And sometimes, by sheer luck or by inadvertent action, I end up cooking something unique and mouth watering. One such cooking innovation of 2013 was Mexican Dum Biryani. The name sounds strange, but it is just a blend of famous Indian food Biryani cooked in an authentic dum (a cooking pot with narrow neck and wide base) using distinctive Mexican ingredients. So, I carefully chose ingredients such as Jalapeños, bell peppers, tomatillos, corns, mint and blended them in the Biryani. It’s an outcome of my research on food about which I will definitely share in my blog.

8. Hunting Pomegranates at Jabal Al Akhdar : First a piece of advice: it’s always advisable to buy a pomegranate than to pluck it from a tree. For, the one I purchased from the roadside vendors of Jabal Al Akhdar was much tastier than the one I hunted from the tree. But when I saw the endless pomegranates on the trees, I could not resist the temptation. I still remember the taste of the apple I plucked from a mountain garden of Shimla (India). Though, Jabal Al Akhdar was disappointing in terms of taste, my adventure through the uneven stones of wadi bani Habib to reach to the pomegranate trees is an experience to remember!

Pomegranate trees at Jabal Al Akhdar

9. Feeling the freezing winds of Jabal Shams: There was news in the web and on newspaper that due to extreme cold weather, the dewdrops at Oman’s highest peak were turning into crystals of ice. This has drawn hoards of people to the mountain cliff to feel the cold. After all, this was something to go and feel, particularly in a country where 40 degree Celsius is considered to be normal temperature. The air at the cliff was refreshing and the view of the canyon was awesome but it was not worth the effort we put in to reach there. We got completely exhausted when we reached the cliff after travelling continuously for 3 and half hours, particularly during the last 15 or so kilometres of dilapidated road along the elevated mountain range.

Jabal shams

10. Looking forward: That’s it. I have completed writing about the highlights and special moments of the year 2013.  Now, it is 2014. What am I going to do in the year ahead? Well, looking forward, I'm quite inspired to up my blog and share my experiences.  I love to write and love to share. And in this new beginning, I'm inspired to do what I love to do.

View of Sunrise from my belcony

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