Memories of Cairo - 1
Me (on mobile): There’s a art gallery holding an exhibition down here. They have frames too – shall I check on the frame for that Egypt papyrus?
DH: Sure, go ahead.
Me: D look, li’l baby (pointing to a Rubenesque angel). Look, mum-mum (pointing to a still of fruits). Look, horsey (pointing to wild horses galloping across a wide canvas).
D: Ba-bee. Mum-mum. Tlot-tlot (making the noise with her tongue)
Me: Can I have your card? I do have something which needs framing…
*********
It was an unexpected bonanza – a holiday in Cairo! For the first time, we are flying into the heart of Islamic culture. I am surprised by the way religion is woven so tightly into their lives. Right from the console in the aircraft, that shows where Mecca lies, to the prayer area in the airport; the white-robe, red-checked head-covering clad sheikhs that I’d seen only in movies, the head-covered-with-scarf ladies who seem to be straight out of books... It’s a different world, and I absorb it a little uncomfortably, all too conscious of my uncovered head, and my rootless Hindu existence.
The taxi zips through the city, over the numerous flyovers and the broad, palm(?) lined avenues. We pull up at the Hotel Marriott which is our hotel through sheer luck rather than choice. It was a palace earlier, and the interiors are all a-glitter with gold, and unbelievably crowded. We check in and step out into the balcony of our comfortable room – it overlooks the river Nile! A greenish-blue sluggish ribbon, it’s the fabled Nile nevertheless! We have to pinch ourselves to believe it!
*********
Me: (rummaging through the cupboard) Where is that scroll? It was right here the last time I saw it!
DH: Ha! Ha!
Me: Ha, ha, indeed! There it is! Come on, D! Let’s go!
DH: Sure, go ahead.
Me: D look, li’l baby (pointing to a Rubenesque angel). Look, mum-mum (pointing to a still of fruits). Look, horsey (pointing to wild horses galloping across a wide canvas).
D: Ba-bee. Mum-mum. Tlot-tlot (making the noise with her tongue)
Me: Can I have your card? I do have something which needs framing…
*********
It was an unexpected bonanza – a holiday in Cairo! For the first time, we are flying into the heart of Islamic culture. I am surprised by the way religion is woven so tightly into their lives. Right from the console in the aircraft, that shows where Mecca lies, to the prayer area in the airport; the white-robe, red-checked head-covering clad sheikhs that I’d seen only in movies, the head-covered-with-scarf ladies who seem to be straight out of books... It’s a different world, and I absorb it a little uncomfortably, all too conscious of my uncovered head, and my rootless Hindu existence.
The taxi zips through the city, over the numerous flyovers and the broad, palm(?) lined avenues. We pull up at the Hotel Marriott which is our hotel through sheer luck rather than choice. It was a palace earlier, and the interiors are all a-glitter with gold, and unbelievably crowded. We check in and step out into the balcony of our comfortable room – it overlooks the river Nile! A greenish-blue sluggish ribbon, it’s the fabled Nile nevertheless! We have to pinch ourselves to believe it!
*********
Me: (rummaging through the cupboard) Where is that scroll? It was right here the last time I saw it!
DH: Ha! Ha!
Me: Ha, ha, indeed! There it is! Come on, D! Let’s go!
posted by thoughtraker at 10:32 PM
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