QATAR
Qatar, the tiny peninsula on the east of Saudi Arabia, has grown from a sleepy, rustic, bucolic, but middle-east desert region to a roaring metropolis. To my eyes it resembles a boiled potato with skin pealing off here and there, or like the branch of a thorny cactus. A region 11500 sq km in spread, jutting 160 kms North into the Persian Gulf, with a population of 30 lakhs (in 2022), it is gradually developing the charms of a modern urban centre. Of the odd 30 lakhs, the natives or citizens are just about 3 lakhs, i.e., 10%, while the country is providing livelihood to almost 10 times its population! If in the initial phase of the Indians in middle-east, it was ABCD - aaya, bai, carpenter, driver, now it is ABCD - Acads/Architects, Business Managers, CAs & Doctors. Though it is almost same waters that lie between India and Qatar, I feel bad that on this side, the waters in the Persian Gulf appear beautifully blue, calm (because of the gulf), and clean!! The last part is stressed - clean! And I marvel - yes, perhaps, we can't do anything to make the waters blue; but a civilisation that boasts of great heritage of many millennia, can't maintain its waters clean! Yes, we can boast about many things, especially, our contribution of '0' (zero) to the world; and befittingly, in various fields and that of protecting our unique natural heritage, we are indeed drawing a zero!!
Qatar under the Althani rule, for more than a century apparently, is making conscious effort to be a world leader - by providing what appears to be a neutral negotiating space, by trying to appease all, by raising the flag of faith and but not preventing modernity to take a back seat, by allegedly 'buying' the world cup (no such proven case) to be the cynosure of the world, and by building up frenetically. In spite of that the old Doha is struggling with its sewage schemes for past 3 years or more, and the work can at the best be described tardy! But the good thing about it is that even its traffic jams are not as irritating or confusing as those of India or Kochi. In spite of the constant maintenance work, the vehicles still run, not crawl under snarls!!.
Qatar and its Date Palm culture
A date with dates in Qatar
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Dates had been a precious food item in my childhood, rarely did that become part of our 'food'. When we got it, it was kind of festival bonanza - it was when guests came or during the local Church festivities, that we purchased dates. In the northern part of India, especially in Gujarat region, where khajoor is cultivated, it is usually eaten in the raw form, which has its own taste, but it usually leaves your mouth and throat dry. I thought perhaps, the dates of India were not fit for eating ripened or there was some additional processing required for getting it sweet and soft to be eaten - something like the 'coronda' being treated in sugar syrup to make it sweet like a cherry!
When I arrived in Qatar in mid-March, it was the beginning of the spring here. Cool and pleasant. And the date palms all around the town were in inflorescence. I never had an opportunity to witness this before. The palms of various sizes and shapes dot the town all across. They appear to a Malayali eye, sometimes like a coconut palm. But they are not Cocos nucifera, but Phoenix dactylifera. A tree count by a research of 2010 revealed the presence of 581, 336 palms - almost 1 date palm for every five residents (not citizen; they are just about 4 lakhs).
Qatar, notwithstanding its small size, is one of the biggest producers of dates globally with almost 22000 mt of production as early as 2010. I hear that there are big orchards of date palms in Shamal region of Qatar - yet to be explored. Around 2000 ha. or more are used for growing date-palm, and the climate changes, pest related problems are also on the increase. For better harvests, one male plant for 20 female plants is suggested (though it is said that one male plant is sufficient to pollinate 50 to 100 female plants), and in some cases, human assisted pollination is also introduced.
Now in June, I am delighted by the sight of ripening dates all around. They turn from green to yellowish green, then yellow, then red.or purple.. Many would care to protect the bunches with a net, lest the dates, on ripening fall off, and get spoilt on the ground. Now is the time they are changing colour! By July they should all be ripe and ready for harvest. While that happens, all the public places, where dates get ripened, people are free to pick them, with their hands, but without using knives or instruments. Once they ripen, become sweet and soft, they are harvested and sun-dried for storage and future usage. In the rich homes, where there are trees aplenty, the harvest of the previous year helps them through their needs of the fruit for the whole year and beyond, unless sold off. With 5 to 10 dates, you can very well manage to substitute your lunch into a green, fiber-rich, healthy and carbon-neutral diet. During the dates harvest season, around mid-July, there is a date festival in Qatar. I am waiting for that to happen this year.
The popular varieties that appear at the fest are said to be the following ones:
1. Khudri dates moderately sweet with a bit flaky outer appearance, uniform dark brown colour and not too wrinkly on the outside.
2. Zahidi, one of the roundest types, golden exterior, sweet and medium-sized appearance
3. Safawi dates, a favourite in Ramadan times – a special variety that melts in your mouth quickly, brownish-black in colour, with a soft, semi-dried and wrinkly exterior but not flaky.
4. Sufri dates, soft, a little dry on the mouth and very chewy. Juicy, golden brown colour and believed to have medical benefits like controlling constipation and intestinal disorders.
5. Khalas dates, most popular, oblong in shape and reddish in colour.
6. Shishi dates, sweet to sour and feel dry when eaten. Said to be rich in fibre and a great antioxidant for the body.
7. Khenaizi dates the most commercialised type of dates. Recommended eating them fresh rather than dried.
8. Barhy dates with rare syrupy rich characteristic and soft feeling when eaten. considered the softest dates and the most fragile of dates.
With the new market trends, product diversification is made by offering dates with chocolate, dates with dried fruits inserted, date paste, dates in cake, dates slush, dates candy etc. In the Indian sub-continent there is the practice of adding dates to make plum cakes. But dates pickle has become a hot favourite, with Biriyani, especially in Keralam.
Dates dotting this arid region, is indeed a beautiful sight - a soothing green in the desert! Land plots empty of any green shrub, are converted into green canopy studded verdant pieces by planting grown up and fruit bearing trees. They get rooted and appear natural in the spot in the span of about 6 months to 1 year. That doesn't sound all that natural. But that is how this oil/gas rich country tries to make its desert region green. I don't exactly know the process. It is said that they are planted in a nursery, in a conducive environment and as per demand are distributed all around. But I feel concerned, with the acute water shortage and total dependence on desalination, whether they can be grown sustainably.
When we tried a green drive of the school campus in connection with world environment day, from our dream target of 20 palms this year, we had to be satisfied with just 3 date palms, as each of the palms came with a tag of 3500 QR. 2 Washingtonia filifera palms planted last year, cost just about 50 QR, but are still remaining at less than 2 feet high indicating the need for other measures for greening this region. Plants just don't grow with a pace we expect. The usual saplings planted remain stunted in the adverse climate. Hence perhaps, the need to plant grown up trees.
Definitely, those who are residents here, observe that over the decades as Doha grew into an urban space, its greenery also has increased. The Qatar government has listed among its four pillars of development, environment development as the fourth pillar, which has tree plantation as a major component - 10 million trees as part of sustainable development goals target 2030!
Purple Island and Jazirat Abu Matar
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Come Thursday - now Pavlovian 'salivating' has started working with me - as over the past 3 months, heartian Alan, generally makes it a point to check on me, if I am free for a 'freak out'. My!! What transformation! As a (senior) student, he had been under my scrutiny, for the wrong reasons, but not of a serious nature. Since his passing out, he had been instrumental in making alumni network vibrant - with 'Hrudayasparsham' (organ pledging drive), Dubai chapter and Qatar chapter. But we also happen to be members of the same parish in Kochi!
In less than 3 months, now this was perhaps, a fourth or fifth outing - the others in the gang are Abin (my nephew of sorts, and of the same parish as ours) and Dibin - both ex-navy men turned Qatar Policemen. For ex-navy men, this appears to be an ideal second innings. The very mild bone degeneration at my ankle does not let me be as free and enthusiastic as I used to be with such ventures.
This time, it was to Al Khor - a township well known for many things, including a zoological park. But this time, it was to Jazirat Abu Matar - about 60 kms from Doha. Alan did the driving, and without any assistance of a map or guidance from someone, we diverted from the high way, off-road, and in the darkness, managed to find a spot apt for the picnic. As the eyes got tuned to the darkness, we discovered similar groups all along - though it was not at all crowded. Somewhere playing music, somewhere watching movie on a screen fixed on the camping caravan - but all were cooking or eating.
Alan's plan revealed only that we will be having a barbeque somewhere in the open. Charcoal had been purchased, and a tray to hold that. There was chicken and fish, with condiments pasted and marinated for almost a day. The fire was lit, the coal pieces turned glowing red. Perhaps, it was a first time effort, all on their own, for all of them. There was initial hick-up regarding the timing and optimum measure of cooking, but that was soon overcome. There was ample food, snacks and an array of stuff to wash them down. Before the first round of bbq got over, weariness took over, and I snatched two hours of nap on the car chair. But I observed that some of the picnickers were moving around merrily in what appeared to be shallow waters, and perhaps picking crabs for a bbq snack!!
It was cool - I had a jacket on, to keep myself warm. It was a contrast from the very warm Doha township, where it was almost 35 degree centigrade, when we left around 11 pm! The predawn rays woke us up, and the serenity and the beauty of the desert sea shore came to light. On the shores, with hardly any regard for coastal zone, there were mansions with some developed greenery, spotting all along the shore.
On the shore we found plenty of rocks pieces apparently transformed from limestone. We got into the waters. There was only ankle deep clear cool water - for almost 500 meters. Then there was a raised tiny island, apparently formed from lime-stones, which many visitors were using for angling. In spite of the shallow waters, they were getting some some fish. Though it was clear, cool and shallow, the walking was risky, with a great possibility of having the sole injured or wounded. A plastic foot-cover will do well for venturing into the waters when it is thus cool and shallow. The bottom of the calm waters was almost level for about 500 mts or even more, but strewn all over with sharp edged stones, as if truck loads of road-metal spread around. I was curious to learn about the type of this unique rock pieces. Closer to the shore - algae dried in the sun showed the characteristics of molten and solidified road tar.
Birds started arriving as Divakaran was fully revealed in all his splendour. We could still look straight into his face. We cleared up making sure we did not further damage the beautiful place, and cinders still alive, were extinguished! However, impact of tourism is begun to be felt, by what is discarded by them - chiefly, plastic bottles, and wrappers of eatables. They gradually enter the ocean and threaten 'life under water' directly, and in due course, all life forms, as micro-plastic.
A few killometers from there we could see the renovated Al Khor stadium in its new avatar as Al Janoub football stadium - where the world cup games will be played. It is said to have 40000 capacity for the world cup, which will be reduced afterwards to accommodate various other facilities. It is said to be a state of the art structure. We did not venture into the stadium. It has the shape of a middle-east head gear. Apparently, some other stadiums also see to have shapes of differing head-gears. .
Alan drove us to another beautiful spot, past long stretch of well maintained shores with walkway and garden all along. It was just about 6.30 am, but it was already warm in spite of the greenery, but as we entered the mangrove patch of Purple Island, it was cooler.. Another well maintained area - promoting both conservation and tourism. The sea water entering the mangrove forest patch stretching almost a kilometer into the sea, took the form of narrow streams, and with small fishlets swarming them. The few Bengalis (Bangaldeshis) visiting were having a very enjoyable time catching them in a net and collecting them. Mainly one variety of mangroves alone could I identify. There are a few birds and a few insects found in that patch of forest and they were all described there. There was boardwalk (duckboard) erected above the waters through the canopy of the mangroves, which made meandering through them easy and fun.
An ideal picnic spot for school children - to learn about the oceans and the mangrove forests.
We drove back fast, and by 7.30 am, I was back in my room!!
