that vast blue.
blue. which has been considered to contain within itself that phial from which springs forth the fountain of life. vitality.
vast. just spreading endlessly in front of you right up to the horizon which quite aptly defines the boundaries of my imagination at that moment. fatality(?)
but the waters didn’t part. i couldn’t reach the other side.
paradoxically, i only found life receding from my form as i sat atop the bow of the ‘yasmina’ as everything around me contracted itself into a tiny speck in space, time and person. a white hole. veritably.
***
i had never snorkeled in my life, ever. of course, i graced my university swimming pool during the summers (no, we didn’t have a heated pool, or did we?) and those juvenile ones at five star resorts with my (ex) corporate buddies during our annual work sponsored jaunts (yes, the ones where everyone prayed to witness an episode of baywatch being shot around the pool, and all everyone got was – well, pot bellied uncles with their cans of beer and cranky kids who probably couldn’t stop peeing in their pants – let’s just not talk about the women, ok?).
and now i find myself onboard a yacht (yes yes, you read it right!) right in the middle of the red sea. a body of water which is known the world over not only for its pristine waters as a haven for underwater activities (read – diving, scuba, snorkeling – what did you think?), but also for the diversity of the forms of life which populate its waters. including, sharks. now i didn’t want to be bait for the storyline of (yet another!) jaws. plus spielberg wouldn’t have been too interested anyway, what with getting old and a shifting of focus to more ‘serious’ subjects. i look hopefully at the ship’s mate if he could help me navigate the waters, the novice that i was. but he’s busy readying the barbecue with the day’s fresh catch. i knew that sharks don’t give a rat’s ass for barbecues. thankfully a belgian lady onboard takes pity on me, and agrees to accompany me into the waters. what a sight it was! a sixty year old woman taking to the waters like a fish as a guy half her age was grappling around holding tight to the lifebuoy gagging himself on gulps of salt water.
so i did snorkel. saw the corals. the sea bed. didn’t go deep. just skimmed the surface. going deep has its adverse effects as i’ve learnt. as for sharks – they didn’t give a rat’s ass for my (now) skinny ass.
***
the old shepherd parted the sea, reached the other side, went up the mountain, came down, and wasn’t happy with what he saw when he came down.
somewhere around there, the young shepherd bathed in the waters of the river which cut through the land.
the old shepherd led his people again. this time around, he made his final ascent on a mountain. never to come down. and saw what he saw.
people never understood them then. which makes it unlikelier that people would understand them today. there is sound logic in the fact that it was always shepherds who were chosen to lead people.
in the meantime, a khaki clad fedora donning guy with a whip hanging by his waist was running about the city of stones looking for something to do with the young shepherd’s last meal. he had probably not heard of dan brown till then. while he rummaged through the caves, another man gave up his khakis for the local flowing white garb to become one with the people and lead them on. no, this one wasn’t a shepherd definitely.
the last one was seen about a millennium and a half back. no more shepherds now. at least in our time.
nobody heard when fire dropped from the sky on one city. not a soul whispered when another city turned turtle.
***
confused? very?
this was the land, the name of which shares a commonality between one of the most revered prophets, a legendary basketball player and the keyboardist of a phenomenal progressive metal band.
jordan.
the holy land where prophets walked. a land which has history pre-dating a few millennium before a most revered prophet set foot there. a nation which in recent history has been caught in the crossfire of a crisis which has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons for more than six decades now. but they have learnt how to deal with it. which is what makes jordan such a pleasure to visit. specially if you are the type who has some bit of an interest in history and if at some point of time in your life, you have had the opportunity to delve into some aspects of the narratives within the quran or the biblical old testament. steeped in so much history, yet so progressive in its outlook relative to its neighbors. hospitable locals and excellent food which lies at a unique inflection point between the mediterranean and arab cuisine. did i forget mentioning that the girls were stunning to the point that i began having doubts about the anti-glare properties of my specs? reminds me that i need to go visit that guy again. (talk to amma too…shhh)
you’ll find it all here. jesus. moses. mt nebo. bethany. the red sea. the twin cities of sodom and gommorah. lying somewhere under the dead sea. the greeks, romans, seljuks, ottomans. even indy jones (ok, we meet spielberg again) scurrying through the crumbling city of petra. or lawrence of arabia in his tent under the desert skies of wadi rum. the rim of the palestine conflict.
***
the old shepherd and the young shepherd probably do talk about what they see now. the people haven’t changed, maybe gone worse.
the white hole? critical mass is still a distant reality.
***
for images, click here.
*warning* – there are 100+ images. anything less may not have done justice to the places visited during the trip. take your time, skim through them, go back again to look at them while at leisure. most importantly, let me know what you think.