It's a land we wanted to explore since our childhood. And as we were driving past the quite and ancient looking landscape, the characters from my childhood tales set at this backdrop came alive in my mind.
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Monday 10 February 2014
A drive through the English countryside
We reached London two days before our scheduled packaged tour – because it was a weekend at Oman; also because we wanted to explore London on our own. On top of agenda was a drive through the beautiful countryside of England. It was no less than a fairy-tale drive through the beautiful landscape. My photos tell the rest:
It's a land we wanted to explore since our childhood. And as we were driving past the quite and ancient looking landscape, the characters from my childhood tales set at this backdrop came alive in my mind.
It's a land we wanted to explore since our childhood. And as we were driving past the quite and ancient looking landscape, the characters from my childhood tales set at this backdrop came alive in my mind.
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Longest day of my life: Flying from Muscat to Gatwick
If you have read the famous epic - Around the world in eighty days, you already know this phenomenon. In our case though, it was the other way round – we were travelling from east to west making my journey from Muscat to Gatwick, London, the longest day of my life (till date).
To catch our Turkish Airways flight at 3:00 am, we reached Muscat’s Seeb Airport at 12 midnight. The flight was on time and our journey started when it was dark everywhere. We reached Bahrain in about an hour’s time and after halting there for about 45 minutes, the flight took off again. I was not at all feeling sleepy – partly because of the excitement of a long awaited holiday ahead and partly because of the LCD monitor in my front.
No, I wasn’t watching a blockbuster movie. I was staring at an interesting sight on the flight status display. It showed the image of our plane moving towards Istanbul over the globe where the left part of the world was in dark while the right part was in light! We were in dark part of the globe and moving towards the left part while the dawn was approaching us from behind. Soon, the darkness had to give in and we could see gentle rays of the Sun through the flight window. The sky was slowly turning from black to purple and then to blue and slowly the Sun welcomed us with a bright smile!
When we reached Istanbul, it was 8:30 in the morning and the climate was cloudy. It was a long wait of almost 4 hours before we could catch the flight to London. Peeping through the airport windows to have a glance of Istanbul and window shopping at the duty free shops were the only two things we could do while waiting for the flight.
At last the wait was over and we boarded the second flight. Soon enough we were flying over Europe! It was all green beneath us when we looked down through the window and finally when we were approaching the destination, we could see hundreds of windmills over the sea. Our flight made its way through the clouds and landed at Gatwick airport at 2:30 pm.
We had our hotel booking with a small lodge called Southbourne near the airport. It’s a family run guesthouse; cozy and beautiful, with natural surroundings – no wonder it scored a whopping 95% in Tripadviser rating. The owner himself drove to the airport – which is just a five minutes drive, to pick us up. While we were waiting outside the airport, the Sun peeked through the clouds and it was bright all the way. The air was refreshingly cool and the surrounding was amazingly green. It was a warm welcome to us from a London summer.
We went out on our foot to browse thorough the small town. Away from the hustles and bustles, Gatwick is a nice little Picture perfect settlement on the outskirts of London. Undoubtedly, an ideal place for peaceful stay!
By the time we were back to the hotel, it was 7 o’clock. The Sun was still bright and shining. It was a bit unusual sight for us as the land where we belong has never seen the Sun beyond 7 in the evening even during the peak summer months. We felt sleepy as we hadn’t slept the last night; in fact we hadn’t slept since we got up the morning day before-it added up to 40 hours at a stretch. I looked at my unadjusted mobile timing – it was 10:30 pm Muscat time. We retired to bed. It was time to recapitulate an interesting fact of the day – It was a day where the dawn had to chase a long way to catch us and we had to wait a long time and went to bed without seeing the dusk!
To catch our Turkish Airways flight at 3:00 am, we reached Muscat’s Seeb Airport at 12 midnight. The flight was on time and our journey started when it was dark everywhere. We reached Bahrain in about an hour’s time and after halting there for about 45 minutes, the flight took off again. I was not at all feeling sleepy – partly because of the excitement of a long awaited holiday ahead and partly because of the LCD monitor in my front.
No, I wasn’t watching a blockbuster movie. I was staring at an interesting sight on the flight status display. It showed the image of our plane moving towards Istanbul over the globe where the left part of the world was in dark while the right part was in light! We were in dark part of the globe and moving towards the left part while the dawn was approaching us from behind. Soon, the darkness had to give in and we could see gentle rays of the Sun through the flight window. The sky was slowly turning from black to purple and then to blue and slowly the Sun welcomed us with a bright smile!
A view of Istanbul from Airport |
At last the wait was over and we boarded the second flight. Soon enough we were flying over Europe! It was all green beneath us when we looked down through the window and finally when we were approaching the destination, we could see hundreds of windmills over the sea. Our flight made its way through the clouds and landed at Gatwick airport at 2:30 pm.
Southbourne Guest House, Horley |
We had our hotel booking with a small lodge called Southbourne near the airport. It’s a family run guesthouse; cozy and beautiful, with natural surroundings – no wonder it scored a whopping 95% in Tripadviser rating. The owner himself drove to the airport – which is just a five minutes drive, to pick us up. While we were waiting outside the airport, the Sun peeked through the clouds and it was bright all the way. The air was refreshingly cool and the surrounding was amazingly green. It was a warm welcome to us from a London summer.
We went out on our foot to browse thorough the small town. Away from the hustles and bustles, Gatwick is a nice little Picture perfect settlement on the outskirts of London. Undoubtedly, an ideal place for peaceful stay!
Gatwick, Horley |
Gatwick, Horley |
Gatwick, Horley |
Gatwick, Horley |
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Saturday 8 February 2014
The Road that led Alice through the Wonderland
Although I need not rehearse the famous dialogue from the Lewis Carroll’s epic novel Alice in wonderland, this piece of my writing wouldn’t get a head start without it. So, here it goes-
(Alice, on her journey through the wonderland, confused about the directions, asks the Cheshire Cat)
“Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don't much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn't matter which way you go.
Alice then chooses a way out of the many confusing options and what followed that was a fabulous journey that has enthralled the people of all ages, over the ages and continues to do so.
Considering the complexities and vagaries of our life, this world is no less than a wonderland. As we grow, we try to get accustomed (or at least pretend to get accustomed) with this wonderland and we often find ourselves in a situation like Alice – baffling over which way to take and where to go.
So, which one is more important - the way or the destination?
This reminds me of my schooldays. We had to write an essay on “Aim of my Life”. The students were encouraged to write about some bright and obvious career options like – Chartered Accountants, Doctors, Engineers, Teachers, Public Administrators, Scientists, Managers, Entrepreneurs, etc., elaborating the connotations of these career options to the personal life and society at large. We were also encouraged to write some well branded catch-lines such as: ‘an aimless life is like a boat without a rudder, or a football match without a goalpost, or a car without a steering, a shop without customers, an atom bomb without any enemy, Columbus without a compass, so on and so forth. I hope none of you had escaped this exercise during your schooldays! More we use such explosive phrases, better chances of marks! Getting marks is always nice but the question here, is it ideal to call a short term career goal as aim of the life! For, by the time we achieve these career goals, we don’t even spend half of our productive life. What’s next – either live life king size aimlessly or set a new aim!
I came across this interesting survey on Life’s Aims conducted by the Dailymail (Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk) quizzing around 2000 men and women of Britain between the age 13 to 23. Although the findings would have been somewhat different if the study had a larger sample size or a different geographical location, the result still provides some interesting insights about people’s ambitions:
What’s interesting, none of them have any ambition beyond the age of 42. If we consider, average life expectancy of a developed county as 85, the ratio is even below 50%. What they are going to do in the rest half of the Life?
Written during October 2013 for my Alumni Magazine
(Alice, on her journey through the wonderland, confused about the directions, asks the Cheshire Cat)
“Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don't much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn't matter which way you go.
Alice then chooses a way out of the many confusing options and what followed that was a fabulous journey that has enthralled the people of all ages, over the ages and continues to do so.
Considering the complexities and vagaries of our life, this world is no less than a wonderland. As we grow, we try to get accustomed (or at least pretend to get accustomed) with this wonderland and we often find ourselves in a situation like Alice – baffling over which way to take and where to go.
So, which one is more important - the way or the destination?
This reminds me of my schooldays. We had to write an essay on “Aim of my Life”. The students were encouraged to write about some bright and obvious career options like – Chartered Accountants, Doctors, Engineers, Teachers, Public Administrators, Scientists, Managers, Entrepreneurs, etc., elaborating the connotations of these career options to the personal life and society at large. We were also encouraged to write some well branded catch-lines such as: ‘an aimless life is like a boat without a rudder, or a football match without a goalpost, or a car without a steering, a shop without customers, an atom bomb without any enemy, Columbus without a compass, so on and so forth. I hope none of you had escaped this exercise during your schooldays! More we use such explosive phrases, better chances of marks! Getting marks is always nice but the question here, is it ideal to call a short term career goal as aim of the life! For, by the time we achieve these career goals, we don’t even spend half of our productive life. What’s next – either live life king size aimlessly or set a new aim!
I came across this interesting survey on Life’s Aims conducted by the Dailymail (Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk) quizzing around 2000 men and women of Britain between the age 13 to 23. Although the findings would have been somewhat different if the study had a larger sample size or a different geographical location, the result still provides some interesting insights about people’s ambitions:
What’s interesting, none of them have any ambition beyond the age of 42. If we consider, average life expectancy of a developed county as 85, the ratio is even below 50%. What they are going to do in the rest half of the Life?
The question
was put in a different way during a training programme on Behavioural Science.
Instead of asking “what is your aim in life”, the trainer asked “what do you
want from your life?”
Some common responses
were:
- Money and Recognition,
- Peace and Tranquillity,
- Family and Children
- Success in Career
- Balance in work and life
- Happiness
- Freedom to live life my way.
- Friends that I can count on.
- Contribution to the society
- Productivity and meaningful life.
Some less
common responses were:
- Look young throughout my life
- Dance without looking stupid
- Eat whatever without gaining weight
- Live in a beautiful and serene
place
- Solitude
- Feel important to others
- Live each day without regret
- Have as many children as possible
- A guru who would show me inner
light.
- Eat, drink and be merry.
The list is not
exhaustive but what’s common to all the responses is that they are all related
to the path of our life and not to the destination or aim. The question asked
is more meaningful than bluntly asking what your aim in life is. Because, life
is a beautiful yet uncertain journey and you never know what would happen the
next moment. Therefore it is all the more prudent to take each day of your life
as it comes and treat it as a special boon to make your life delightful and
meaningful.
Each journey is
special as it generally takes a larger proportion of time compared to time
spent at the destination. So, don’t spoil the splendour of the journey by
focusing only at the destination. If you believe you have miles to go before
you sleep, you would develop sleep disorders. Enjoy the woods; you may not get
it again in your way.
Remember, it
only takes 5 years of study to become a Doctor, 4 years for Engineers, 3 years
to graduate, 3 plus 2 years to do an MBA, 2 years to do a diploma, 4-5 years to
become a CA, only a few moments to become a politician, sadhu or criminal; plus
some additional years to attain proficiency in the above professions. But if you want to really live life the way
you desire, the time starts now.
You don’t need
any qualification or expertise to enjoy the sunshine or the raindrops. Nor
there is any timeframe. You can enjoy them throughout your life. If you want to
contribute to the society, you can do it all over your life. There is no
deadline, no preparedness, no target, no compulsion, and no obligation to do
these things. Just do it whenever you feel like at your own pace, at your own
style.
So, if I were
in the place of the Cheshire cat, I would have told Alice - Choose the way which you feel promising
and exciting, forget about the destination and enjoy the journey. If your
journey is meaningful, it does not matter even if you don’t reach any destination.
Also, face the wonderland the way it is; don’t ever try to get accustomed to
it. Because, if you do, it will lose its mystifying charm and no longer be called
a wonderland. It will then be the same old world from where you’ve come from.
Let it stay a wonderland and continue your adventurous and beautiful journey as
long as you can.
Written during October 2013 for my Alumni Magazine
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Saturday 25 January 2014
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 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.
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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