MUSCAT MUSINGS

When the Western media feeds your mind on the rather perplexed issues of the Arab World, you are sure to land in the region with several pre-conceived notions. A media that is known to “manufacture consents and crises”, has left no stone unturned to paint a sordid picture of the Gulf.
And with a feedback from a media that has metamorphosed into a propaganda machine and an appeasement tool, one might enter the region with speculations rife. But, when you land in Muscat, all the sweeping generalisations about the region vanish in thin air. All the Western tales about conservatism being prevalent in the region do a disappearing act. All the TV images that were stripped of reality start making way for the more real and personal observation.
The first impressions: a cosmopolitan city with a traditional outlook. An infrastructure that can match the best in the world greets you. It doesn’t take long to feel the caress of the city, particularly if you land here in the evening.
“Love at the first sight” won’t be an exaggeration to describe one’s first encounter with the Capital of Oman, especially for a visitor from India. The city has enough breathing space, he would say.
Beaches, mountains, the beauty of barren land and all the luxuries of development… Muscat presents a picture perfect. Sandwiched between a plateau and the Arabian Sea, the city has wide roads on which cars zoom at an average speed of 120 km/h, state-of-the-art shopping complexes, modern facilities for education, some of the finest hotels, etc. Historic buildings and the marvels of modern day architecture, sheltered harbour and the sea air make it a fine place to relax and work. Fine restaurants and cafes and the abundance of marine life add to the cosmopolitan beauty of the city. Blazing sunsets, awe-inspiring mountains, carpet of flowers that stretches along the city’s main road splash Muscat with various colours divine.
It would not be gainsaying the fact that the city has preserved its tradition but the indigenous culture of Muscat’s villages has not survived the pangs of time and modernisation zeal.
A case in point is the Hamam village located in the mountains that surround Muscat. People of the village, post 1970, abandoned their old village and built a modern village nearby as money started pouring in. As the country’s economy was propelled by oil exports in the 70s, the quality of life of the people of the village also underwent a sea change during the period. From mud houses, they moved onto cement houses in the 70s. Toyotas became a common thing in the village. Dilapidated rugged roads were replaced by macadamised roads. Earthen pots gave way to fridges. People started to accord priority to education. The urban Muscat has assimilated the villages.
And in this urban village, located in Wadi Al Hamam, there lies the abandoned old Hamam village. The silence of the village is deafening, almost stretching to the extent of claustrophobia. Had Mrs Shelly lived, she would have certainly written one of her Gothic novels in these settings, as the old place resembles more like a ghost town.
Standing tall amid the ruins are village observatories. Meant to keep a strict vigil on trespassers entering the village, these observatories have weathered several rough seasons.