LONGINGS ANORANSA SAUDADE FOR IRAN

SAUDADE FOR IRAN

Saudade is my favourite Portuguese word, which has been translated into many forms of nostalgia, anoransa en Spanish, longings in English but I have my own definition of Saudade

THE SENSATION OF HAVING LOST SOMETHING EVEN BEFORE YOU HAD IT

On a recent trip to my favourite haunt in fort Cochin, the Bristow Lighthouse Bungalow, I became much closer to Iran, feeling its pulse close to my heart.

It is as if I am in love with IRAN

When did it began?

My biological father had worked in Abadan, he told me

And he drew a magical place In my head, a place called IRAN..

So many other countries have come into my life since then

Brunei, Australia, Sweden, England, France, Belgium, USA, Jamaica, Cuba, Mexico, Argentina

But I have never forgotten you. IRAN

Kuala Lumpur, University of Reading, Persian meals in KL and Omaha, Nebraska

Poetry arrived

Films arrived

People arrived

All bringing that flavor of Iran enhancing the fragrance that was already kept in my brain.

A new phase of Iran in my heart has begun

With singers

Dariush Egbali

Faramarz Aslani

Siavash Ghomayshi

Moein

When I left Fort Cochin a few days ago, I decided not to listen to Iranian music thus sparing my heart of the agony of its piercing nostalgia.

Today I asked a friend of mine to transliterate and translate a song by Dariush

I listened to the song in Iranian first

Then followed it in transliterated Farsi

Then the third time in its English translation.

سراب رد پای تو، کجای جاده پیدا شد

کجا دستاتو گم کردم، که پایان من اینجا شد

کجای قصه خوابیدی، که من تو گریه بیدارم

که هر شب هرم دستاتو، به آغوشم بدهکارم

تو با دلتنگیای من، تو با این جاده هم دستی

تظاهر کن ازم دوری، تظاهر می کنم هستی

تو آهنگ سکوت تو، به دنبال یه تسکینم

صدایی تو جهانم نیست، فقط تصویر می بینم

یه حسی از تو در من هست، که می دونم تورو دارم

واسه برگشتنت هرشب، درارو باز می زارم

:Saraabe radde paye to , kojaye jadde peyda shod

In which part of the road , the mirage of your footprint was found ?

Koja Dastato gom kardam , ke payane man inja shod

Where I lost your hands that my fate  came here .

Kojaye ghese khabidi , ke man too gerye bidaram

In which part of the story, you are asleep as I am awake while crying ( or in cry ) ?

Ke har shab horme dastato , be aghoosham bedeh karam

I owe my embrace the warmth of your hands

To ba del tangi haye man , to ba in jade hamdasti

You are accompliced to my glooms ( misses) and this road

Tazahor kon azam doori , tazahor mikonam hasti

Pretend that you are far from me , I pretend that you are

Too ahange sokoote to ,be donbale ye taskinam

I am looking for some relief in the song of your silence

Sedaee too jahanam nist ,faghat tasvir mibinam

There is no voice in my world , I just only see picture

Ye hessi az to dar man hast , ke midoonam toro daram

There is a feeling of you in me that I have you

Vase bargashtanet har shab , Dararo baz mizaram

I open all doors for your returning every night

My mind was so full of Saudade

And the words began flowing and I noted it down

Thank you Dariush..

Which of your sensitive footsteps

Treaded my tender heart?

That last clasp of your hand

Leaves me with a nostalgia

Seek your embrace

Now disappeared into the veils of oblivion

No amount of my tears will bring you back

The last gentle touch leaves my hand

Leaves my heart wounded open

That distant figure on the path of forgetfulness

Was it you?

Will you ever come back to me?

Once in a dream,

To wipe these tears of your absence

It is a lovely morning here in Miami.

I am thinking of all that is sensitive to my heart

The sprouts breaking through the cracks of the building falling down in my neighbourhood in Vedado, Havana

The smell of the bakery as I go for my morning walk

The sensation of entering Qatar Airways flight

That great bakery in the sky

Love alone is inexhaustible

Cuba; Quiberon, France; Thailand, Malaysia, Siem Reap…all temptations lining up with their embraces.

Thank you

My dear friends in IRAN

عشق. Eshgh. Love

CASUALIDAD NO ES TAN CASUAL . COINCIDENCES DO NOT EXIST A STORY FROM FORT COCHIN KERALA

I am not sure when I first heard the phrase, Coincidences do not exist but much sonorous in Spanish, Casualidad no es tan Casual..but one thing for sure. It was in the languor of Baracoa and its nights in the eastern end of Cuba in the company of my friend, the Little Poet of Baracoa.

We would belt out Thiago de Mello's poems

the rights of humans

it is a beautiful collection of thoughts of that Brasilian poet 

I have had an incredibly beautiful week in Fort Cochin, it is as if I was living all those words of all the sabidos, learned ones, from Our America to the Magnificent India and its Persianate literature and the ancient culture of innate India of the South..
I was also surrounded literally and figuratively by IRAN, a country that fasinates me, and has done so since my childhood..

the therapeutic massage brought its proposed effect and the sleep was sound and sweet.
I sauntered to the bistro at a late hour for breakfast. The wait staff are at a loss to provide me with a variety of local dishes once i am here for a few days running, so a proud SriKanth the lead waiter announced: We are going to prepare something we have not done in many years, a Kerala/Tamil Nadu specialty, The Masala Idly!
A photo arrived at 0930 am local time on my Whatsapp. It was from Mandalay. I had recommended the Katodaw pagoda the largest book pagoda in the world to a traveller and it was a photo of the pagoda. It brought back sweet memories of my visit there with my brother at the beginnings of my asian adventure with him many years ago.

I thanked the lady for the photo, forwarded it to my burmese brother Ko Maung Maung in Siem Reap, as he is a devout Buddhist and would appreciate a photo of the pagoda from his native land.
I was thinking of the buddhist world and enjoying my Masala Idly, looking lazily at the Arabian sea lapping just ten meters away, when suddenly a Monk appeared ..
a MONK? I asked myself? 
I knew he was of Tibetan lineage as he was dressed like the well known Monk in the west Mathieu Ricard, a molecular scientist from Pasteur Institute turned Monk..
there are plenty of images and statues of Buddha in this hotel and he was slowly inspecting the images of the Buddha.
I greeted him in the traditional Buddhist manner and asked him if he was Tibetan. He is from a village in the Nepali-Tibet border but currently he is in the Buddhist community of Tibetan Exiles in Karnataka and undergoing his training as a Buddhist Monk.
We talked a little about meditation and the beautiful vista as the manifestation of spirits. I remembered that I had a book on Walking Meditation in the room , by the well known Viet monk Thit.. I excused myself and got the book and showed him and read aloud..
Someone queried the Buddha, what do you and your disciples do?
we sit, we talk, we eat
the confused seeker said: but Buddha, every one sits, everyone talks and every one eats?
what is the difference with you and your disciples?
then the Buddha said
when we sit, we know we are sitting 
when we are talking, we know we are talking 
when we are eating, we know we are eating ..

I added, this mindfulness of being present, without the fear of future brings clarity to mind 
the humble monk agrees
he wanted to take a picture of the page with the saying, when I said: you can have this book, and wrote a short note to him
How do I address you, I asked him
You can call me Geshe 
I am only one year away from being a Monk 
My given name is Nyima which in Tibetan means the SUN.

I gave him my card.
I will always remember this, said the humble monk from Tibetan plateau.
and I will be in touch with you, he said.
We greeted each other in the traditional manner and he slowly walked away.

Are the events of this day, connected?
Native americans would say 
Mitakuye Oyasin 
we are all related

To me, my heart is so pleasantly full of so many things and people and places 
primarily Iran but also other places that I love . 
Cambodia Myanmar 

things do not happen to you in isolation, it is almost as if the Monk was looking for me, or that I have to meet him..If Yehuda does not find the Monk,the Monk will find Yehuda..

extraordinarily pleased with IRAN its people rather than the bad news we hear about them.

QR QATAR AIRWAYS NEVER DISAPPOINTS

Am I off key to anticipate my flights on QR Qatar Airways? I look forward to my QR flights and on this morning, Madrid to Doha and then on to Cochin were no exception.
Persons responsible were the crew members:
Ting from Taiwan and Lorelei from Cebu on the first flight and Naj from Kerala on the second flight.

I clearly remember my first QR flight, IAH to DOH to CGK , soon after meeting my good friend Pak Joe from Bogor. Was it 2012? I even remember the Cabin Senior on that IAH to DOH sector, Melissa M from Malaysia! Also I met Mr AAT from Sri Lanka at the Lounge (al Mourjan lounge was not a reality at that time), who continues to be a friend. Since then I have maintained my Platinum or Gold Status on Qatar Airways, flew them more after they became part of the ONEWORLD airline alliance.

I remember meeting cabin crew from different parts of the world: Filipinos (women friendlier than men) and Indians (men friendlier than women) and a slew of other nationalities. Remarkable meetings had included Romanians (Maria with a Master's degree in Sociology), a delightful lady from S Korea (over the mountains there are mountains), Singapore, Penang, Jamaica, many from Morocco, Japan and one even from Paraguay, was Sergio? his name, but one thing always stood out, the Cabin Crew is the BEST in the world in an airline which is the BEST in the world. So many lovely people have I met over the years, enjoyed meeting them, even though I may have been just a passenger for them: Good Service, pleasant chat, brief chats about their countries. Christopher from Goa, on a flight to Miami..a lovely Filipina who went on to marry her boyfriend and set a shoe shop in Miami on a flight to Brussels, a Chinese Indonesian on a flight from Jakarta..
I always ask: how do you like working for QR?
ALWAYS, regardless of their nationality, they say: I am happy to be working for QR, that collective attitude exudes and can be felt when you are a frequent flier on QR.
I was going from LIS to COK on this day, but the direct flight from LIS to DOH on this day was not available, so I took Iberia to Madrid to connect with Qatar Airways to Doha where I met 
Lorelei from Cebu and Ting from Taiwan.
QR 150 on 777 aircraft 
at the Madrid airport I requested and changed my seat to 1 B and thus was fortunate to come under the care of Lorelei and Ting. Even the supervisor at the boarding area in Madrid, a slim morena, was efficient, I did not have a chance to greet and thank her.
The seat next to me One Alpha 1 A (there is a metaphor in this for me ) was free on this 777-300 ER, and I was in a good mood immediately. 

Even though I am a friendly enough person, there are two public spaces that I like to be silent and solitary, one of which is the front cabin in an aircraft. I cherish my privacy (except of course the crew members of QR). I usually have more than enough to read and write on my long flights.
A very perky Flight Attendant with a  slightly mischievous twinkle in her eyes appears and enquires about a pre-departure drink (champagne not yet available , she lamented, local regulations).
I liked her crystalline ancestral features immediately. The Cabin Crew are kept busy and later Lorelei joined, in her face was written the racial history of her country, a slight betrayal of their spanish past.I watched them working non-stop but with a smile on their faces, even though towards the end I could detect slight fatigue on their faces .. they were making sure that the passengers did not wont for anything to eat or drink, as we flew over Varna in Bulgaraia, Istanbul, then over Iraq and then Iran, down to the Gulf and Doha..

My desire to fly QR is almost an obsession; the journey and transit at Doha all hold charm and the feel of journeys of the travel of the golden era.
It is the BEST airline with the BEST service
Thank you, HE Akbar Al Bakr of Qatar, its CEO.
The short transit at Doha did not allow me to enjoy the lounge, Al Mourjan. the boarding area had the subcontinental ambiance with its noise and fragrances.
I had no problem being assigned the first row , seat 1 J
Doha is one of the many destinations in the Gulf region for the able bodied men from Kerala whose toil contributes to the well being not only of their families but also of the economy of Kerala.
Even at the boarding gate in Doha, you begin to feel that you had already landed in Kerala.
A male Flight attendant, very attentive and very interested in travel from Kerala was on the side where I was sitting and we had a lot of chance to talk about various things . He was very interested in travel in South America 

The arrival at Cochin Airport was painless. In my mindlessness enjoyment of QR service I had forgotten to buy wine and you do not come to Cochin without wine if you are a fervent worshipper of Bacchus! and also to soften the blow the curries of the region offer to your palate..
but the friendly manager of the hotel took care of the problem..

Off to the Bristow Lighthouse Bungalow Hotel facing the Arabian Sea in Fort Cochin.. through the chaos and confusion of Ernakulum..

ARAB OR ARABESQUE FOOD IN COCHIN KERALA

ARABIC STYLE FOOD IN COCHIN, KERALA
The name of the restaurant was attractive enough, ZATAAR, the herb mentioned in the Jewish scriptures, which in Israel one uses in abundance.
Mr M my friend in Cochin who is a foodie had suggested a non-spicy repas(t).. Getting there from the tranquility of Fort Cochin, especially on this Gandhi Birthday holiday was a chore but the trouble was worth it.

More than the food which is so different from the local fare the sociological observation was a pleasure for me.
Lots of Hijabs and Burqas but the local variety. No Arab in sight. As is normal here in Cochin there were non-moslems eating at the restaurant. 

I had been taken to another "Arab" restaurant earlier by the same foodie friend, that one where the owner had toiled in Oman and amassed enough to import a Turkish chef to Cochin to his place of dining.
The ambiance at this place was neutral and not heavy with pseudo-middle eastern ambiance..
I enjoyed the food at both places even though the tastes were quite different.

you may not think a small city in India as a foodie destination and it may remain so for outsiders as it is not easy to find these places and especially difficult to access them by transport, even if you are willing to call Uber. 
I am lucky to have a local foodie assisting me in every way possible..

MAGICAL REALISM IN FORT COCHIN

In India there has been a proliferation of book publishing and new and newer authors are constantly being discovered.

Also the prices of books are very reasonable and who could resist our GABO .  Gabrial Garica Marquez!

I am very fond of all his books but I read Love in the time of cholera is a bit more often than his other books .

I was introduced to Magical Realism while at the university and was soon able to experience it in Cuba just fresh out of the suffering of the Special Period, where the appreciation of magical realism came in handy for survival.

After all it was a Cuban, Alejandro Carpentier that was credited with the invention of Magical Realism.

Under starry skies in Baracoa, languorous nights clouded by cheap rum, we used to recite by hearts lines from Gabo.. thus was born the habit of remembering all the beginning and ending stanzas of Gabo's books.

Here is the beginning of 

Love in the time of Cholera .. above 

and here the end of the text, the video above..