Bass!

My Arabic is slowly but surely improving. Am fascinated by the number of words in Arabic that mean the same thing in Urdu/Hindi. Was just looking up the Wikipedia and it says there that Arabic is a source of vocabulary for many languages, including Hindi/ Urdu. Take a look at the arabic words below and you could claim you know arabic too!

Kursi=chair
Sabun=soap
Isharit murur=traffic signal (Ishara in hindi means indication and that’s what a traffic signal does!)
Awwil=first

Akher=last

Subh=morning

Bass=enough

Baad=after

Masgid=mosque

Madrasa=school

Khidma=service/be of help

Sukkar=sugar
Shay=tea

Will add onto the list as my Arabic improves!

GREETINGS FROM CAIRO

You just can’t get down straight to business in Cairo: whatever be the situation-whether its an official setting or you are just asking for directions. This is how your conversation will most likely progress-first, you will obviously greet the person (that’s fine…we were all brought up to be polite and civil, though in Cairo, the greetings can stretch out a bit too long!), then inquire about his/ her health and the health of the family members, next assure them that everything is fine with you and the world (whew!) and only then slowly ease into the “real purpose”. By the end of it, you can’t be blamed for having forgotten what is it you really wanted to talk about.

In the beginning, this laid-back attitude of the Cairenes is very difficult to fathom. Having lived in Bombay the whole of my life (except for the past 3 years), where everyone is always on the go and there is absolutely no time to be wasted on small talk, it takes some time getting used to. I am still fascinated by the way two Cairenes greet each other- their greetings will be so effusive and so drawn out, as if they have met after a long, long time and they are twins who were seperated at the “kumbh mela”. In reality, they could be meeting every day. Even if it is two strangers meeting for the first time (and probably the only time!), they can soon be engaged in a deep conversation and with so much of camaraderie that it may seem they have known each other for years. It can definitely be frustrating at times, but there is something reassuring about it too-as if everything is right with the world, there is no problem and no stress.

One incident in particular, made me really appreciate this attitude of the Cairenes. If you know anything about the traffic in Cairo, you know that it is really bad, getting a parking space near your destination near impossible, and if you are lucky enough to find it, then maneuvering your car into the tiny space is definitely a superhuman achievement. But it is also only in Cairo that a person would break away from a deep conversation that he is engaged in with another man, come over and patiently guide you into the parking space (without being asked to) and walk away without expecting a thanks!. And one evening, when we were late for an appointment, my husband and I were lucky enough to come across such a Cairne. Have you had a similar experience?

Id al Adha in Cairo

Was woken up early this morning…… by the call for prayer from the nearby “Mustafa Mahmud” mosque. Went to my window and saw hundreds of people walking towards the mosque in the pre-dawn light. It is Id al Adha today, an important Islamic festival, and the faithful are going to the mosque to pray

Went back to sleep…..woke up again, maybe after an hour and the sight that awaited me was really awesome. People had finished praying and were returning from the mosque….the otherwise busy Gameat al-Dowal al-Arabiy street had become a “pedestrian zone” and a colourful one at that. People dressed in their finery and holding aloft colourful balloons.Take a look at this picture.!

What a lovely way to bring in Id! Looking forward to the next three days of holiday:))

Christmas in Cairo

It is easy to forget that you are in Cairo-an Islamic country….Cairo is gearing up for Christmas in a big way. Visit any shop, walk on the streets, check out the schedule for any club/ association and you will realize what I mean. Christmas trees on sale line the pavements, Christmas balls and santa claus parties are being hosted at the various hotels/clubs, the stores are decked out in the traditional Christmas colors of red, green and white; Christmas trees even blink at you from the hoardings and the walls of building; enter any shop and you are likely to hear christmas carols being played.

Last evening, I visited the Carrefour store at the city centre in Maadi –a huge red Christmas tree had been put up in the foyer. Now, I know a Christmas tree is not red but this one was-potted red plants arranged to resemble a Christmas tree. The lovely decorations on sale at the store made me feel really nostalgic – I realized that I had missed the festive spirit of Christmas during my three years in Saudi Arabia. Cairo is so much like Mumbai in India where every festival-be it diwali, eid or Christmas is a part of the fabric of life.

Christmas this year, is going to be different for me-friends, food, laughter, music and maybe, even a Christmas tree-( I have already selected one, I just have to convince my neigbourhood florist to sell it to me for 30 pounds:)). Here in Cairo, it is not only the snip in the air that reminds you that Christmas is 'round the corner.

Belly Dancing in Cairo

I wanted this to be my first entry on this blog, which is essentially a soft diary of my time in Egypt…I had always written long descriptions of my activities to friends and this time around, I thought I would share it with a larger number of people and hence this blog.

Last week, I attended a belly dancing workshop and it was like living a dream. Of course, I had heard about “belly dancing” and always associated it with something straight out of “Arabian nights”. The first time I ever saw a belly dance performance was in Jordan, at a resort by the Dead Sea. I remember being so mesmerized by the way the dancer was moving that I trailed her, filming the entire performance. I tried some of the moves in the privacy of my hotel room but they looked no where as flattering on me as they did on her. And now, living in Cairo, I was dying to give it a shot. After all, Egypt is the “mecca” of belly dancing and if I left this place without trying the moves, it would be unpardonable in my books.

It was a wonderful experience and something that I am going to cherish for some time-in fact the aches and pains in various parts of my body will make sure that I don’t forget the day in a hurry. Trying to move my hips in a circle parallel to the floor, without moving any other part of the body was to put it mildly “challenging”. Instinctively, I would move my shoulders and stomach muscles too. In fact, my training in Kathak-an Indian classical dance form and Indian folk dancing, made it even more difficult because I would do the movements in the “kathak” way. The basic techniques used in belly dance require that you make circular motions isolated in one part of the body-it could be the hips or the shoulders. The highlight of the class, was definitely the “shimmy”- a movement which is as delightful as it sounds. Then we were onto rolling of the belly muscles. It should go this way-push out your belly -first the top part of the belly and then the lower, then pull in the belly-again first the top part and then the lower. However, my belly muscles rebelled. Despite my best efforts (and that of the teacher’s, I might add), they moved in just the opposite way, making me appear like a “vomiting camel”.

The music was simply mindblowing-you simply wont be able to resist matching your steps to the beat. The teacher was really good –a Scotswoman. An Indian learning to belly dance from a Scotswoman in Cairo, Egypt is simply one aspect of globalisation.

Have bought myself a scarf with bells on it to tie around my hips the next time I go for a belly dance workshop-will make me feel a character straight out of arabian nightsJ).! Watch this space for more on belly dancing.