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 1st
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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| On the way - Jabal Akhdar |
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| View of Sunrise from my belcony |
