Reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I read his One Hundred Years of Solitude just because I liked his name – Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

If you think that’s ludicrous, you must read this work. It borders on the ludicrous and the real. Garcia Marquez is a character in the book too.

Readers either love his work or loathe it.

Some read this book over and over again to find multiple meanings as the magic realism technique and the repetition of names and hereditary traits in the characters offer them mind games to play.

And on the other hand, there are readers who cannot read this book beyond a few pages – they either feel drowsy or get too confused with the plot that tends to go backwards and forwards simultaneously. These readers believe that like abstract art, this novel has been made famous by university professors who have not understood it themselves, who find it thrilling to offer it on literature courses just to see students struggle with the meaning.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez died last Good Friday. Interestingly, a character, Ursula, in this Nobel prize-winning book, dies on a Good Friday. Ursula lives for more than a hundred years and watches over her eccentric family and keeps it from going to ruins or from the ghosts of the past that haunt all the family members.

One has to be slightly mad to enjoy this book.
To a certain extent, we all are, aren’t we?



(Picture courtesy: Google Images)



 

Kya baat!

It was like a vigorous Indian head massage.

A head massage in which the vertical strikes of the palm make your head spin in a tempestuous frenzy and your senses lose direction.

The drums of the schoolboy, Santrupth, in the Indian Cultural Show at the PDO Club last weekend had this effect on the audience. Towards the end of his performance, our hearts thumped and our feet tapped as if they had a mind of their own. We rose up to give him a big applause.

...

The show began with a Fusion Orchestra which invoked a divine medley with a salutation to Lord Ganesh and the soulful rendition of ‘Bismillah’.

The singers sang some of our favourite Bollywood numbers like ‘Disco Deewane’, ‘Deewana Hua Badal’, ‘Jaaneman Jaaneman’ and the evergreen hit ‘Dama dum mast kalandar’. They set the rhythm for an evening filled with music and dance.

The Carnatic classical and Instrumental Fusion was a treat to ears trained to the subtleties of Indian classical music.

...

A dramatic display by children in various yoga positions inspired the youngest members in the audience to clap in admiration. As they balanced their bodies on their hands and heads, we watched with awe and wondered how long they must have practised to perfect these postures and to present the show as a synchronised whole. One curly-haired little girl smiled sweetly throughout the performance while she did the most difficult postures with ease.

...

Most Indians love to dance. Perhaps that’s the reason why we have so many regional folk dances.

The dolls who presented the Punjabi folk dance, Bhangra, danced with gay abandon. A young girl, Rewa, gyrated in her multicoloured skirt and filled up the stage while enthralling us with her facial expressions. Lavni, a folk dance form from Maharashtra, was performed gracefully by ladies in nine-yard sarees. A group of school girls in glittery costumes punched freshness into the show with their Bollywood medley performance. A Kathakali dancer displayed emotions with the help of her gestures and expressions.

The grand finale of the show was a Gujarati folk dance called Garba. As the dancers flitted about in their bright mirrorwork skirts, and matched the pace of the quickening drum beat, we had the feeling of a vigorous head massage again! 



Well done, friends! 
Kya baat!



(The Indian Section of the RAHRC, Muscat, presented the Indian Cultural Show on 17^th and 18^th May, 2014.)

On Men

There are tall, dark men with a lot of hair.

There are charming men who woo maidens fair.

There are posh men - gelled, crisp, nice shoes.

There are rich, important men - always in the news.

They are all nice, but I haven't figured out why

I like the ones with a twinkle in the eye.

Those who can make an ordinary girl laugh

(What luck!) Just like my better half.



(Picture courtesy: Google Images)

Stories for Sindbad

It all started with a sea shell.

We had gone to a beach in Muscat. We saw a path leading up to a cliff – we followed it. It wasn’t very easy as the cliff was quite crumbly. When we went to the other side of the cliff, we came across a most spectacular sight. There was a tiny white beach hidden between two cliffs. On this isolated beach we saw rounded stones of different colours and amazing seashells. It was a treasure guarded by an army of red crabs who stared at us with bulging eyes. We chose some nice seashells and tried to name them. After we brought them home and washed them, we lay them down to dry.

At night one of the shells started walking. We took it to the beach the next day and it joined its friends. 
This incident inspired the story entitled ‘The Lost Seashell’ in the collection of stories published by Al Roya Publications for their Sindbad Children’s Mobile Library.

...

 I was writing this story in the PDO Club Library when Anne Love came over to have a look. She is the author of books on gardening in the Middle East.

“What are you writing?” Anne asked.

“A story” I replied.

“Is it a children’s story?” she asked.

“Yes” I said.

“Is it set in Oman?” she asked.

“Yes” I answered.

“Would you like to publish it?” she asked.

“Well, I have not thought about that yet. Mostly I just write for pleasure.” 

At that time I had other story ideas bubbling in my head and I was thinking of making a nice collection for private family entertainment. These were stories that had actually ‘happened’ to our family. 

“You must meet Anne Bouji and show her your stories.” Anne Love quickly scribbled Anne Bouji’s contact details on a stick-on note and handed it over to me.

Since I had not been writing for publication, I didn’t contact Anne Bouji for a couple of months.

Then I met Anne Love in the Club library again.

“Have you met Anne Bouji?” she asked.

“Not yet, but soon I will” I promised.

...

Anne Bouji is the Managing Editor of Al Roya Press and Publishing. Anne is in charge of their initiative of starting the Sindbad Children’s Mobile Library. We had helped to raise funds for this project at school and our Anna’s drawing was one of the winning entries at the postcard competition.

Anne welcomed me with open arms at the Al Roya office and showed an immediate interest in the stories. She asked me if Anna would be interested in illustrating them. Anna wanted to help too so she took up the drawing assignment and completed it with a great deal of patience (from both sides - the illustrator's and the publisher's!)

...

Anne Bouji made it all happen.

Last month, Al Roya published these stories in English and Arabic. 
As the stories travel along the roads of Oman with Sindbad Children’s Mobile Library and reach children in small towns, we hope they will enjoy reading them. As expats, it is our gift of love to the children of Oman. We have always received affection and kindness from the Omani people.

See? Anything is possible.

The Gift of Faith

 God blessed the little girl and prepared her to be faithful.

When it was time for her to have the First Holy Communion, her Mum and Dad took her to church every Friday (which is like a Sunday in the Middle East). 

Her catechism teachers taught her the prayers and the importance of this sacrament for a year before the big day. 

The priests solemnly heard her confessions a couple of months before.

Her godfather, Merwyn, kept his promise to be present at the ceremony and he made travel arrangements.

 

 
Auntie Bharati gazed at the most beautiful white dress that was made on her sewing machine. This dress, which she gifted to the little girl, was her offering to god for having blessed her with the talent to create such beauty.

Auntie Naella counted out the beads on the rosary that she was going to put on the white cake. It had a rainbow surprise within - just like the unexpected pleasures that the divine showers on us. 

The other guests, Uncle Penta and the Dias and Gonsalves families from Vasai, came to bless the little girl as the sun shone extra brightly on that summer afternoon. 

Praise the Lord!
3rd May, 2014, Muscat.

"..Just the way you are"

They burst onstage like fireworks. 
They make an entry wearing bright floral garlands, glittery skirts, black vests, and dancing shoes. Some of them have been to the beauty salon before the show to have their hair curled.
... 

"Waka waka..." sings Shakira as the youngest dancer, a three year old, is suddenly fascinated by her garland. She stops dancing and fingers the garland as she murmurs the lyrics of the song. The other girls around her carry on dancing but this little flower girl is completely oblivious to the dancers around her. Then during the final steps, she suddenly realizes that she is on stage and supposed to be dancing.
Every little girl in that performance felt like a princess that evening. Dressed in glittery skirts and dancing shoes, the girls danced as their parents and friends watched with pride. 

...

As Bruno mars crooned, "Cause you're amazing, just the way you are", the girls danced and smiled to the cameras.
Each dance was introduced by a girl and between each opening and closing of the curtains, the girls remembered their much-rehearsed steps.
...

The little dancers had been training every Friday for a year with Giusi -  their dance teacher. 
For a year, they have woken up early on weekends and have come to the dancing class to work out the dance steps that Giusi has set to the music. Giusi is a trained dance teacher and zumba instructor. After each dance, Giusi urges the the girls to drink water. They start by warming up and end by cooling down. They are divided into two groups - beginners and advanced. 

With her petite frame and nimble limbs, Giusi is a half-human, half-fairy who makes their dreams come true. She is a mother of two young children and works full time in Human Resources. She devotes a few hours every weekend to train the little girls, and doesn't charge any fees. 
Giusi says, "If I teach other children and make them happy, sometime, somewhere, someone will make my children happy too."
... 

This performance, 'Dancing under the Stars' was held on 14th June, 2013, at the RAHRC Cinema Hall, Muscat.
(Photos courtesy: Giuseppina Rondinelli)

"Into my heart..."

Wave upon wave of white frilly froth sailed slowly and spiritually towards the altar. 
On reaching there, the waves bifurcated and settled on either side accompanied by strains of music. 
A hundred and forty-three children of an impressionable age received Jesus in their hearts in a Holy Communion at the Saints Peter and Paul Church in Ruwi on 3rd May, 2014.
...
A petite pretty girl walked to the altar and sang in a childish lilt -
"Into my heart
Into my heart
Come into my heart, Jesus,
Come in today
Come in to stay
Come into my heart, Jesus."
...
As Anna opened her mouth to receive the circular white wafer that symbolically represented the body of Jesus, the children's choir vibrantly sang "Shine, Jesus, Shine!"
It was one of her favourite hymns and Anna wanted to sing too. She closed her mouth and sang in her heart as she experienced the novelty of the mystery that she had heard about for a long time.
...
The children sang - 
"God is dwelling in my heart
He and I are one..."
The parents, friends, godparents and other guests who had come to Muscat for this special occasion, joined along in the singing as they remembered the day they had received their First Holy Communion. 
...