Freedom Seekers

Photo; Sameer- Mohamed Ali Mosque Cairo

In the collective memories of people there are unforgettable days and in the lives of us humans there are undeniable moments outside of time. 

Almost an year ago we all sat down in front of TVs to follow what is happening in Egypt, the epicenter of the Arab world. We saw on television Egyptian youth flock to Tahrir Square; hundreds and then thousands, then tens of thousands of Egypt's youth of all ages. It was a scene of wonderful discipline, commitment and progress. Police surrounded the young processions who were chanting for the most basic of human wants; freedom and a dignified life.

 Suddenly Tahrir Square turned into a mass of flame and fire and smoke and bright lights. Strange small cars hurtling in the heart of youth gatherings, tear gas, water cannon and armored vehicles and bullet shot towards young people in a random criminal acts.

Egypt’s fertile land on both sides of the mighty Nile was once called the bread basket of the Roman Empire. This fertility and the strategic location, at the meeting points of three mighty continents has been more of a burden than a blessing to the Egyptian people. Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and much later Napoleon, all invaded Egypt and then the British and then successions of corrupt kings ruled till 1952. The last three presidents were more close to monarchs than presidents and finally  the Egyptian people yearned to breathe a breath of freedom and fresh air!

As they say, you don’t bring revolutions, they come!

 Since 1927 Time magazines editors have been choosing a Person of the Year. A person or persons who have been most influential to us, good or ill throughout the year, whose news have affected us. Last year the editors of this esteemed magazine chose  'The Protester" as the Person of the Year 2011.

Thank You!

Give Something To Get Something!

“A Sprat to Catch a Mackerel” is a famous English idiom which is very much self explanatory to people like us in the Maldives, who have been using small bait to catch a larger fish. We have often used a tiny fish to catch a big fish, a big fish to catch a large one and a large bait to hopefully get a HUGE one!

The mackerel above is resting on a small pile of rehi or Silver Sprat I bought to be baked in the oven or to be deep fried ( this is the hazardous method to our health, but the most delicious, Oh! God, why can’t the doctors and our taste buds ever EVAH agree!) Since time immemorial our forefathers have used a variety of baitfish to catch the many varieties of Tuna in our waters.  By far the Silver Sprat above is the favourite. For some reason they are abundant in our South in the North East Monsoon and found in our Eastern atolls in the South West Monsoon.

The Blue Sprat or hondeli is also in our Bait National Team, while Fusiliers or muguran also help in achieving the goals with the help of Anchovies or miyaren. The pretty but hardy Blue Damselfish that  often help us out in distress are the nilamehi.  In the end it all boils to one thing; soup? No! here it all boils to the fact that you have to sacrifice something to get something else. We all hope that the bait be smaller and the catch, much larger!

Maldives being a tiny country with minimal resources to educate our students here at home, had to send our sons and daughters abroad in the hope of a better future for them and for the country as well. Mothers had to bear unimaginable emotional burdens to see their daughters and sons leave for countries they have hardly heard of! Students themselves had to learn a foreign language before they can join the mainstream!

Craftsmen had to be apprentices to skilled workers and toil for long hours before they can hope to acquire the skills of their masters. Sportsmen have worked for ten to fifteen years just to get qualified for an Olympic team, and that is just the lucky One Percent or a fraction of that one percent! There is no method so far in which we can just learn a trade with the touch of a magic wand. Practice, practice and more practice and huge sacrifices are the key, and to see a world champion other factors have to fall in line too!

Thank You!

Tribute To A Dead Tree

This tree  was between Velaanaage Office Building and our Parliament House ( now only her mutilated stump remains). This could be the busiest area in Male’ with more than 60% of all civil servants of Male’ working in this vicinity. About 5000 school children and parents pass this way daily, to and from schools.

This dead tree caught my attention by complete surprise. I had rested under this beautiful tree in her Prime. I had often looked forward to the red traffic light, as an excuse to stop my motorcycle under her shade.  I also found out that just like me, other motorists had the same intention too! They signaled to the right long before they reached the bend ahead of them! This could mean one thing only; they too wanted to rest in her shade and enjoy the soft rattle  when she fragmented the wind to a million soft breezes  with her leaves. Sadly many of us forgot to turn off our growling engines and listen and feel this cool micro oasis &  get the most of her therapy offered to anyone who cared to stop by voluntarily or was forced by the commanding red light!

As I stopped often, I had wondered about the name of this rare tree, the fruit looked like irregular salami sticks and from about 40 feet below, her fruit appeared to me almost the same colour too. I had meant to ask someone the name of this huge tree or what we called her strange fruit. But before I could do what I should have, the tree just appeared to be dead, unceremoniously!

Is the worth of a tree, by her mass, or is it the girth? She was average! Is a tree's worth, the number of her fruits multiplied by the  retail price in the supermarkets or wholesale price at the market? Her fruits were not edible nor collected as ornamental novelties! Or her vibrant flowers? Did not notice any on her! Perhaps deserves more respect, if a politician declared her as The National Tree? That honour went to a colleague!

Dead trees do not make it to the 2 O’clock news or get mentioned in the obituary sections of Time magazine or Haveeru newspaper, trees do not  cry out or take one last deep breath as they die. A dead tree receives no eulogy celebrating her robust life or for pleasing us for generations! A dead tree does not even get to lie in tree-cemeteries! When trees die of natural causes, they do not crash with a thundering noise. They die silently, and are missed only by a grateful few. For trees die standing and alone with minimum fuss and often to the delight of those who need the wood! Quite contrary to  most of us,  a tree is worth more to some people; dead !

Thank You!

Look At Things From Different Angles

True, things are not what they seem very often.  This is a photo I had shot last Ramazan, August 2011.  This was a normal day for this Lily Line container ship.  The ship was cruising on very calm waters between Hulhulhe and Male’. All the difference is from the very low angle I chose to shoot this photo! This photo was not manipulated in any way or as photographers and artists say, this was not ‘photoshopped’ at all.  Did I twist the truth? Did I change anything? No, to both Qns! 

One of the most prolific of all Egyptian writers was Ihsan Abdel Quddous who passed away on Thursday Jan 12^th 1990, exactly 22 years ago!(more than 60 novels, numerous radio series, TV mini series and 49 films were based on his novels)  Ihsan Abdel Quddous wrote a very interesting story with the title “ I Do Not Lie, But I Make Up” Here make up means cosmetic make up we all  use.  In the story the   main    character is a young man who helps dig graves. He is also a university student who is ashamed of his poor background. He pretends to live in a v rich suburb of Cairo and if offered a lift in one of his friends’ cars he would never get off near the cemetery, but will insist on being dropped off at this suburb with beautiful houses.  When a relative of one of his colleagues dies, some of his classmates see him dig the grave and they confront him why he lied to them all these days, he says “I did not lie to you, I just applied some cosmetic (to my dull life).  He confronts a young woman and says, ‘do you not apply lipstick to your lips, don’t you powder your nose, don’t you comb your hair in a different way every day’? I live in the cemetery, would you have accepted me in your circles, had you known that? I pretended to live in a rich suburb to be accepted by you, I did not lie to mislead you, I just used make up”!!

Politicians & diplomats are perhaps the most famous of all spin doctors. So famous are they for saying something and meaning something else, an ordinary folk like you and I may need a dictionary! What does an Ambassador do? He lies abroad for his country! But in the mean time till we are employed by this ‘elite’ sector, please adhere to what we were taught in Kindergarten: Honesty is the best Policy, don’t be a fan of white lies, grey lies or lies of any colour.

Thank You!

Tribute To Seeds.

The above is the seed of an Avocado fruit. When we look at a seed, we mostly look at it to crack it as is the case with many edible nuts. Some look at it to photograph it!  (As we can see ;-)) There must be few individuals who wonder about the hidden programs embedded in these marvels of nature! Every function of the plant that this seed will turn into, must be preprogrammed into it. Deciduous plants everywhere shed their leaves in Autumn without looking left and right to see what other similar plants are doing!

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the largest seed, the heavy weight champion, the Joe Frazer, George Forman, Big Show of the fruits and seed world is the Coco de Mer. Botanists of course would not just use a French word even if they have to make a Latin word, and this time a completely mistaken one! What is wrong with French? They dress the celebrities; make them smell better, their hair even more outrageous and French food never fattens you! Know why the French eat snails? Of course! They hate fast food!

Coco de Mer is simply coconut of the sea. Scientific name is Lodoicea maldivica. The first part is in honour of King Louis XV of France. His French name is what we know, this is the Latinised version. Maldivica is related to us! It was earlier thought that this double coconut, Maldive coconut or sea coconut  grew here in the Maldives. Dhevah Kaashi,  or double coconut just drifted into our waters from Seychelles.

We have always known the importance of seeds. The first migrants, “the tired, poor and huddled masses yearning to be free”( poet Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus) took nothing with them, but seeds, or skills and the will to start a better life in the New World.  When typhoon Ketsana hit the Philippines in September of 2009, many people died, crop and fields destroyed but few heard of what happened to the Seed Bank of Philippines. Water (perhaps sea water) and mud up to six feet deep covered the precious seeds! Thousands of seed varieties were lost forever!

This event triggered the need for a better and safer and larger seed bank, as they say necessity is the mother of all inventions. The Norway Government,  Rockefeller Foundation, Warren Buffet and Melinda & Bill Gates Foundation all chipped in to construct the safest, remote but accessible, and the most high tech  seed bank in the world. They constructed this deep in the mountains of Svalbard in Norway about 1100 south of North Pole.( check Doomsday Seed Bank)

The Scandinavian people had experimented with preserving seeds (long before these esteemed persons joined hands)  and found out that  if preserved at -3 degrees, seeds have no issues in germinating even after being dormant for 24 years!

Thank You! 

Tribute To Phases Of Life

Photo courtesy; Maaz Sameer

It is our destiny (of all living things) to start life in an extremely humble manner. And very often I have wondered, aren’t we the most intelligent of all creations (self acclaimed, and so far proven to be right) and yet don’t we start as the most helpless of all! The human baby depends one hundred percent on the adults around it. Serpents, tortoises and some chicks just crawl, or walk out of the shell and ‘live happily ever after’!

There must be a reason for this vulnerability I try to reason out. Is it possible that the incredible love we feel for our offspring, arise from their helplessness? Is this the basis of the bonding we reinforce with our children by taking care of them and being at their beck and call for almost half a dozen years?

There is a world famous “Sound & Light” show at the foot of the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. A deep voice supposedly of the Sphinx challenges us, with this riddle; “What is the animal that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon and three legs in the evening"? The answer is ‘man’ who crawls on all four at infancy, then walks erect on two legs till he needs a walking stick in the evening of his life!

  The Lebanese poet Gibran Khalil Gibran says so wisely to us parents:  in his most famous book ‘The Prophet’---   “You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth". Our children grow up and  live their own lives. Yet our societies and culture and all major religions of the world, all emphasize on the importance of sons  & daughters taking care of their parents and shower them with  kindness! Those of us who get this golden opportunity are lucky to pamper our mothers & fathers with the love they so selflessly devoted to us in our most helpless times. The Holy Quran reminds us to pray with this supplication:

And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say, "My Lord, have mercy upon them as they brought me up [when I was] small."  [surah Al is'ra 17: 24]

 Ameen!

Thank You!

Condemnation Of Bad Taste!

The above eye sore is an advertisement placed on the back of a bus which roams the roads of Male’. While there is no law against it, we must find a way to stop these tasteless massacre of any language, not only because it is The Queen's mother tongue!

Why do we love music, poetry, beautiful architecture, art, sports, the beach or the woods? Why do we love colours,delicious food, our loved ones, fashion, a good film and snuggle with a good book and get cozy? It must be  the pleasure of these. Some we hear while some may be music to our eyes!"Eye candy" as my linguist friend so eloquently says! A shooting star, a lunar eclipse, a comet and for those in the extreme north and south, the Aurora Borealis and the Aurora Australis are natural phenomena of immense beauty. Some of these miracles are just fleeting while others stay with us for a longer time. A waterfall or a pod of dolphins or any animal with its young fills our hearts with awe!

The opposite is also true; most of us hate chaos, loud noise and irrationality. We condone violence, war and destruction and bad taste. One of the cheapest and affordable pleasures that is within our reach is certainly the beauty of language. We do not need expensive gadgets or high tech wizardry to speak politely and correctly! The spoken word may not linger in the air too long, but just before it disappears into thin air it will touch many sensitive hearts in a very positive way or, God forbid in a very harmful manner!

Language is not only used to barely understand what is conveyed to another, if that were so hand gestures would not evolve into this highly organized form we call language!   Language is one of the foremost tools and signs of the intelligent breed of mammals we proudly call humans. We all talk and many write, but not all are orators and not all who pen a letter or a note are authors. But all of us can improve our writing skills, our vocabulary and our speaking and conversational skills.

We cover the undesirable and promote beauty because we can very easily get used to what is around us. So what do you want to be around you, beauty or filth?

Thank You!

Tribute To ExpatWorkers.

It was a few minutes after a very fresh sun has just peeped over the eastern horizon. As is my habit, I took my camera and went out for a very leisurely ride. Almost cruising at the speed a person can comfortably walk, no that cannot be! A human walks about 4 miles an hour, so I must be moving a bit faster than most humans' comfort zones!

As I passed the area where our children take swimming lessons in Male’, I noticed this expatriate worker reading!  He had placed his white plastic chair strategically so that the sun’s golden rays fell on his book. I went past him and all my senses went off in unison like five invisible but quite bold alarm clocks! I am too mature to play Spiderman, but just like Peter Parker, I lifted the camera from the basket, adjusted few numbers and took an experimental shot to confirm the settings were OK. I must have been doing this for the last 29 years now but I still get excited when I see a human element I want record or write about.

He was reading from a book of supplications! I shot this one and another, trying hard not to distract him or disturb his intense concentration. I did not try to control my mind and let it wander and think what it wanted to think! This is a foreign worker, trying to earn a decent living for  his family. I did not see his face but I know no one would leave his home and travel to an unknown country to work unless  he has to. He may have mortgaged a mango tree or a paddy field or even his wife’s jewellery! And for her sake I hope some were left on her for her to feel girly!

What do we all want? We just want a salary we deserve (wouldn’t it be lovely if we get a wee bit more than we deserve?) we want a decent education for our kids. We want a clean house, a good wife and a God fearing husband who never hesitates to pray for his Lord!

ThankYou

Tribute To My Grandmother

My paternal grandmother, my firstborn in her lap and my mother next to me, four generations captured in one photo! The two elder ladies are with us only in our sweet memories of them.  Grandma lived an amazingly healthy life and passed away at the age of 90 or 91. Till her last breath , she was health and alert and easily pass for the poster lady of her generation! My sisters and I grew up under her wings in Male’ while my mother was with Father in the atolls. Dad was an island chief and later the atoll chief, closest thing to an Atoll Chief are the Governors  of provinces in some countries, though our Chiefs then had little autonomy.

My grandmother born just before the First World War, she could read and write our language and could easily read Arabic as the educated folk of her days. She is the classic Matriarch of the matriarchal societies  in Maldives & Minicoy islands and some parts of India, even today.  When I was studying abroad I regularly received letters from her.  My colleagues from African countries would make all sorts of noises and faces in utter astonishment when I tell them that I have received a letter from my grandma! “Your GRAND MUZZER can write? My MUZZER cannot even read!” they would say in sheer amazement!

If I were asked about one singular factor I am proud of about our society, without any hesitation, my answer would be the literacy rate of our women. Perhaps we are the only nation in South Asia where the literacy rate of women is higher than that of men.

Thanks to our first president for opening the first formal school for young girls and for the third president for starting a nationwide campaign to eradicate illiteracy in Maldives. Though we did not achieve the phenomenal success of the state of Kerala in South India, we also achieved a very high success rate.

The important thing is to carry on enjoying this gift given to us by our parents or our visionary statesmen and go on reading. It is said that Benjamin Franklin said “The person who deserves most pity is a lonesome one on a rainy day who doesn’t know how to read”

More than 250 years later with phenomenal gadgets within our reach: iMacs, iPod, iPad & iPhones, iAgree with the man on the 100 Dollar note!

Thank You!