Saturday, April 21, 2007

The ancient wonder of the world!




I had the privilege to visit Egypt this Easter break. It was a week long trip aiming to visit all the monumental wonders that the country beholds. Pyramids are the obvious answer but there are many more that have not been hyped as much as they should have.

Many those who visit Egypt mainly know of the cities like Cairo, Luxor and probably Aswan. But there are many more cities both old and new that add to the glory of the Egyptian mythology. Fayyum, Saqqarra, Memphis, Edfu, Denderah, Kom ombo and Nubia are just few of the off the track cities that are worth the visit.

Egypt is like an open air museum, each day each place there are more and more excavations, on our visit to Cairo museum, we spotted these boxes that were full of some or the other remains, one of the box said: “2nd century B.C ornaments” while the other one said, alabaster from 14th century A.D. It makes me ponder, did those pharaohs know that they would leave behind not only a lost civilization but also a huge employment opportunity, the sole bread and butter earner for Egypt for hundred of years? Many times it also makes me think of what happens to us when we die, will our future generations excavate us in the same way and then how old will the Egyptian civilization date back to?

River Nile originates in Sudan and then flows into Egypt, it gives to this land, flourishing agricultural valleys and undulating landscapes on which settled world’s most earliest recorded civilizations. Thebes (Now Luxor) and Memphis (Can be called as the old Cairo) grew manifolds due to this enriching river. Nile saw many come and go that we cannot fathom, but now its just reduced to a trade, more than 300 Nile cruisers transport more than 50,000 tourists, spilling as much waste as they can. They boast of the river as mother Nile but when it comes to adding to its splendor, I bet you can’t count on them.
Nubia was another fascination for me; Nubia is the region in the south of Egypt, along the Nile and in northern Sudan. Most of Nubia is situated in Sudan with about a quarter of its territory in Egypt. In ancient times it was an independent kingdom. Many centuries showed many different expansions and invasions over this wealthy and stable kingdom and then finally with the end of colonialism Nubia was divided between Egypt and Sudan. These people are far more socio-economically disadvantaged within Egypt, as compared to Sudanese Nubians in Sudan. What an irony, once the trading and commercial hub now, u see the Nubians working as felucca sailors, waiters, cleaners and even street shops, they are majorly discriminated just because of the language they speak and their skin color and then we talk of racial discrimination internationally!!

The ancient monumental feats that were achieved are no doubt incredible, but for the amount of international funding that is showered on Egypt, I sometimes feel it is let down, so much of hype, air of royalty is nothing but a mere trade, that has had its country men so dependent on it, that to maintain the pharaoh land status they may even go lengths to stir the conspiracy theory.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Penance vs Persistance!


Sometimes you don’t really know why life treats you harsh, I can’t call it harsh, but it’s like penance that it wants you to go thru. Though I have had many in my share and I absolutely think it works in your favor rather than against you!

With a similar experience we traveled to Egypt last week, after going thru a huge hassle of getting visa to Egypt for my better half, we were not allowed to board the flight cuz we were freaking 5 minutes late!!! That too, cuz we were standing in a long q to security check!! That blew my lid off, and after many years, I yelled on someone in public, embarrassing as it was, I felt good, sometimes the most benefiting anger management tool.

Looking at how jazeera airways is treating its customers, soon it will not have any!! Its status has been reduced from a low cost no frills airline to rude staff, labor class airline; but as seeing is believing; I truly believe it now!! I am not saying this cuz I am pissed off (which I surely am) but I am sure others who have traveled this airline when it started its operations and now, cannot disagree.

Good riddance as it was, we finally traveled Emirates, obviously we paid big moolah for it, but it was worth it!! It is always lovely to be associated with an airlines awarded for best service!!

That night, it was like this fight against time and my long on going penance. Huge deadlines at work, high filial expectations; you and your mind works 24 / 7, its ruthless sometimes cuz we cannot take life for granted even for a few seconds.

On the other hand I believe that God always shows us these signs that we ignore, to warn us and hence protect us. We had never had traveling troubles ever and did not know what was in store for us now, did the annoying troubles end, or was that just the start! At 2.30 am on a Saturday morning, wide awake from the past 20 hours, I felt so confused and exasperated!

Life has taught me to never say never; we had to make it to the pharaoh land, hook or hijack. And then, we did, though slightly behind schedule; we landed in Alexandria at 11.00 am Saturday morning. The morning air felt so fresh and crisp and it was relief to see the long night get over!

Do u think the penance was over?




Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Walk like an Egyptian! ..

With me nearly 72 hours away from the pharonic land, i am just smothering my funny bone !!

Q: Where is the most popular place for pharaohs to eat?
A: Pizza Tut

Q: What did King Tut say when he had a nightmare?
A: I want my Mummy!


Q: What did the receptionist at the museum say when a guy asked for King Tut ?
A: He can't come to the phone right now, he's all wrapped up.

Q: What is a mummies favorite TV show?
A: Death styles of the wrapped and famous!

Q: What is a little mummy's favorite store?
A: Mummies -R-Us!

Q: Why were ancient Egyptian children confused?
A: Because their daddies were mummies.

More real time jokes coming soon!!
Powered By Blogger