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2023, June 29th – Al Khor
We
directed our Thursday night camp to Al Khor, our familiar rendezvous on the
beach near Ras al Nekh. We had come with
the determination to spend time on the islet close to the beach. It is about 300 to 400 meters away from the
shore across the shallow water. The water was pleasantly warm, ankle deep at the
shore, but as we walked with our bags and food packs, we found the water level
rising and going beyond the knees, making our rolled-up trousers getting soaked
in the saline water. With some foot wear
on, wading across the waters was not tough, as experience had taught us that
the ocean bed would be strewn with pointed fragments of rocks, or reefs
gradually getting transformed to a calcite sedimentary rock.
From
37 to 42 degree Celsius in Doha, the sudden dip in temperature below 30, made
us feel refreshingly cool, for me, rather cold. I regretted I had not taken a
jacket.
We came across a Sri Lankan duo diligently involved in ‘crabbing’, and sought their consent to look into their catch. A 10 bucket was almost full to the brim with their catch of the night. The crabs were aplenty, and had to be caught with a fork like tool. They were of average 5 to 6 inches spread, including their legs. I wondered what they could make of it, and how would they manage to extract some flesh of all those shells protecting their tiny piece of flesh.
The island was rocky all around and towards the east more like extinct corals. Close to the waters it sloped with sandy shores inviting you to lie down. The moon was on its gaining phase and we had sufficient natural light to sit down and enjoy our packed dinner of ‘chicken puyyapla’ and ‘paal kappa’ from The New Raandal restaurant in Doha. Delicious, but the spicey chicken seemed to invite some negative responses from the gut or oesophagus! Our team was all eager to go to the edge and try their bad luck with their fancy angles and baits (shrimp worth QR 20) for the umpteenth time! I had a sound but short sleep of about 2 hours, and Divakaran was already below the horizon, now all mild and pleasing without appearing. Soon he was up, indicating that it was time that we left our favourite haunt.
Qal'at al Thaqab Fort
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Deciding
to explore newer areas, we thought we will have a stop over at the already
explored Zubara fort. A drive of some 65
kilometres. It was covered in less than an hour and we found the fort and premises
closed – most likely for vacation. Pushing on further in Ruwais direction, we
decided to explore the historical site of Fort Thaqab. The road took a rough turn – something like
the typical ordinary pukka roads of rural India, only to change its mien into
something of a real off-road track. All
around was vast desert space, apparently being utilised as a rubble dumping
ground, which was gradually taking the shape of small hills. But beyond them,
there definitely was a range of typical Qatari hills – the mix of laterite and
calcite as they appeared to my untrained eyes.
We saw a fort like structure with an adjoining green patch and the
uneven and unbeaten track led us there. We pushed open the latched door of an
apparently new fort structure, built in the old fashion, and found it good. We
got out soon, but the neighbouring green farm was inviting, and we decided to
enter and explore. With the functional Arabic
of the marketing man in Alan, we managed to receive a welcome from the Sudanese
overseer, who took us to the first among the rows of houses built in a strange
way. As we began to take some pictures of the room with its very unique ceiling,
there appeared someone else in the typical Qatari thobe. And we realised that he was the Kafil.
Perhaps, our first encounter with a local – In Qatar, to get to know a Qatari (real or settled from Iran or Egypt) is not easy. They apparently lead a very high profile and secluded life, with the vast majority of the ex-pats supporting the minority local population (1:5 - less than 500000 being served by almost 2500000). We were pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome offered by Mr Muhammed Fayyad and his enthusiasm in sharing the bit of Malayalam and Hindi he was familiar with.
He hinted at his experience with India – with Palakkad, Ootty, Mysore and Kodaikanal being his familiar haunts. He appeared a Kerala lover – the yard has almost 5 cents of land devoted to huge ‘karibatta’ (curry leaf plants – native Arabic speakers struggle to pronounce ‘p’ as Arabic doesn’t offer that sound), growing verdantly and giving the area a coolness. We found a bee hive happily humming around on its branches. There were 3 coconut palms, one already bearing fruit – a very unique feature for a Qatari garden plot. But the larger section of the 450 m x 200 m plot is dedicated to date palms, bearing abundantly. There are three poly houses for vegetable production. Four or five single-storey structures have been built – basically on the principle of ‘recycling’ (read, repurposing) – with packing materials, or discarded structures or furniture converted into doors, windows and panels, air-flow being managed using some Chinese technology, the ceiling of various modes employed to prevent heat from entering the rooms, used plastic bottles converted into shades for bulbs, natural light being permitted inside the room. The reception area is unique with its four-fold ceiling to keep it cool in the hot summers. There is accommodation for almost 10 to 14 guests – with a gym, a pool, a dining area and all other expected facilities. Today, they looked dusty and not ready for use. However, the guests come announced, and I trust they are treated to their expectation as evinced by the very many entries in the guest book. He insisted that we make an entry in Malayalam.
One
house is dedicated to his experiments in technology – he is a proud possessor
of a price collection of radios – one a century plus old German make, which works
as a radio and a telecommunicator with facilities to send coded messages with
18 channels. He made us listen to a
Malayalam FM channel, which played with the greatest clarity. Then there is a very
attractive Philips and another of Russian make – appearing equally old, but
still functional. The discarded pieces by his friends are collected by him, and
his knack for the devices leads to them being in good repair. For furnishing he
continuously improvises using construction materials – the latest of which is a
Greek structure, he has constructed without steel, and has tested through the
varying seasons over two years.
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He
also spoke passingly about religion, and how he was interested in the texts of
other religions and how foolish it was to fight in the name of religions. He is
also abreast with international relations and he has very keenly observed the
changes happening in India under the Modi government, and the latest efforts at
friendship between India and US as an endeavour to thwart the Chinese threat to
both nations… Regarding his own ancestry and of the locality, which seemed
to have nothing other than that oasis and his own presence, I couldn’t grasp what
he said – something about his ancestors having been there for some 700 years.
We were offered masala tea, and he insisted that we carry some curry leaves.
Now we are awaiting his presence on the campus, where I hope he could share his experiments and interest and some bit of the culture of Qatar as it evolved before his eyes. So, a new leaf to our Friday Finds.
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