written about the trip to a close friend...
Hello! I hope everything is fine at your end and that you are enjoying life. I am fine and doing well at work: and am also concerned about my future after October 2002. If given an opportunity to work in Bahrain/UAE, I will surely consider staying back in Gulf. However, I long to be back in DDN/Delhi for many reasons.
How are you? And whatever happened to that Melbourne project? Hope you get another opportunity soon – Insha Allah.
How’s D, and is M in US now? Sumita’s address was incorrect; I have forgiven you for that: I know you were jealous!!
S, good you saw the photographs. Actually I wanted to tell you about the trip. We had 4 days Eid holiday and my colleagues and I went for a trip to a remote island of Bahrain – HAWAR Island. You won’t believe it but my thoughts were with you whenever I observed something interesting in the island. Not for the reason you might be thinking, or rather what I think you’d be thinking: but simply because you too like the sea (why give this explanation in the first place!).
It took us around an hour to reach the island from a remote port in Bahrain. The trip was simply thrilling with our boat almost flying on top of the green sea. It was a small boat with around 20 people on board. Unfortunately the entire boat was covered with a transparent plastic cover so we could not feel the water. But the boat leaving the wake was mighty impressive. I had never imagined the thrill that came with a boat ride. On reaching, I was amazed with the encapsulated beauty of the island: A massive resort in the middle, with small huts and apartments scattered around it. We were five so we had booked an apartment overlooking the sea.
Immediately after stashing our belongings in the apartment, we changed and headed to the activity center where our first activity was cycling. And if you’d seen the cycles, you’d laughed for we had no option but to choose from 18 cycles meant for kids. It was fun for us as each of us had not used a cycle for quite some time, and particularly me as I had last used it sometime in class 8-9th. Anyway, my four colleagues took a different route of the island, and I took the one that made me remember so many things. I rode onto a wooden pier; pier is a long bridge like extension that runs over the sea for some distance: up to the place where ships can anchor (the water being deep) and load/unload people/stuff. It must have been a stretch of some quarter of a kilometer of so, and riding on it was wonderful. I mean, it was a long narrow strip of wooden floor, creaking along with the cycle tire, and giving that happy feeling with a chill breeze and the sea.
The water was green and one look down would scare even the experienced swimmer: or so I thought. But at that time, I was so engrossed in the beauty of the place that nothing could scare me to go ahead on the pier. Imagine with a bike, a cigarette almost about to die because of wind, and so many thoughts on my mind. And one such thought was, “if only you too could witness such an awesome seascape of Hawar.”
And while I was there, alone, for over 20 minutes, I thought of someone who I recall every time I am near the sea, guess who? Huh, your guess goes wrong again – Ernest Hemmingway!!! Do you remember his bk The Old Man And The Sea? I think I gave you to keep it while leaving Delhi. Anyway, I remembered his sea experiences, I thought of how people living near the sea felt: happy, lucky, or perhaps bored, as for them this panoramic view is not something to exclaim in bliss, but a common surrounding. Common surrounding from where they want to run away for their own reasons, same as we wish to escape to the hills or mountains, or something natural. But, for a change it seems to be ok, in longer run, we need our own surroundings. Most of the time we are happy and contended in the place we were born and are destined to stay. You will certainly disapprove of seeing me living like a cast away in a secluded island – remembering Tom Hanks!! O, I seem to have diverted from the topic.
Later my colleagues joined me and we took some pictures, and almost everyone wanted to have a memory shot with the green soothing water of the sea. We cycled back to the activity center, a distance of around a quarter of kilometer as I mentioned earlier. Cycling over, we took to boating. This was another activity we thoroughly enjoyed. We took those paddleboats for two and four people respectively. It was a good legwork for me and others as we covered most of the area marked for boating. The water was not deep where we were boating but I just visualized what panic would struck if anyone of us was to lose his balance and tumble in the green cold water of the sea. And that too when it was about dark: almost dark. We paddled back after ½ an hour as we had hired the boat for that specific time. O’ forgot to tell you we were carrying a video camera too and the entire trip is captured beautifully in the tape. We all are keeping a copy of the same, with a lot of censor required if we wish to show it to family.
The day was not to end so soon for us. Aur tab chala wine ka ek round. Wine, snacks (only one ghatiya namkeen – ek packet khaanay walay five), some tit-bit chat, some MTV India channel, and so many things all simultaneously. Once we were sure kay after three rounds of wine we could stand still in the dining room to have from the buffet, we headed to the resort. There was a lady and a man singing, actually just shouting. They were the dancing and singing Philippine troupe that the resort had organized for the guests. And since their English was not clear, to me they appeared to be shouting. But surprisingly they enthralled us with three Hindi numbers. The dinner was good, and then after we three guys thought of having some more daru along with a game of pool. I am not a sports pro, as you know so I just ordered for Pina Colada and Bloody Mary. I knew about Bloody marry, but Pina Colada shocked me when I tasted it. It’s nothing but fruit juice. Saara nashaa khataam ho gaya!! ½ an hour later I was in dreamland as soon as I hit the bed.
This all happened on day one.
Day two, we were still in a good mood. After the breakfast, it was knock knock to the activity center and off for another exciting activity - Canoeing! Yes, and that’s one of the best thing I enjoyed doing at Hawar. Four of us took a small boat each and we were in the sea in no time. That was one activity in which we were alone. So the success of rowing alone was quite something to each of us. We all went to one of the deepest spot, which we were asked not to venture into, and luckily we were not spotted doing so by the attendant. But that area made me a little scared, as the water was green, and no sign of land underneath. If only we had time, all of us would have preferred another round. Canoeing was followed by water slide, a little swim in the pool and finally Jet Skiing.
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