OMAN AIR LOUNGE AT MUSCAT AND YET ANOTHER SURPRISE

Lots of nice things have happened to me in Oman during my various visits and this visit (today I leave for Paris on my way to Miami and then Havana) was no exception.
I arrive at the airport well in time to enjoy the lounge and i walk up to the lady at the reception. and I was surprised to hear her say: Are you not the blogger who wrote about the lounge?
I looked at her name tag: Myla and I recognized her immediately even though it was 3 1/2 years ago that I had met her at the old Oman Air Lounge!

hundreds of people would have passed through the lounge, the newer lounge is spacious and one could easily miss one of the many staff at the lounge.
I looked at her face and there was no doubt, it was Myla from the Philippines.

Thank you OMAN, thank you OMAN AIR and staff like Myla at the Lounge and the various people from 
India, Indonesia, Ghana, Pakistan, Bangladesh that I met at the Hilton Garden Inn and not to mention the OMANI people who greeted me and wanted to talk to me as I walked along the corniche at Muttrah.

OMAN THE NICEST FRIENDLIEST COUNTRY IN WEST ASIA

I wanted to say that OMAN is the friendliest Muslim country that I have ever visited, but then I realized that the friendly nature of the Omanis have very little to do with their religion. It is deeply rooted in their long history of ocean faring and the incorporation of other nationalities into the national fibre: Baluchi, Gwador, Zanzibari,Yemeni, Jabali to name a few.
Malaysia would be less friendly if you take the Indians out as they are the friendliest people in the country, take the Chinese out of Indonesia and you can see how quickly that country will change. Bangladesh or Pakistan or Iraq or Afghanistan are not in the horizon of people who want to visit friendly countries. I have had very good reports from visitors to Iran but unfortunately their government does not reflect the open mindedness and tolerance of the population. I have visited Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and in none of those countries I could say the natives are as friendly as the Omanis. 
When you meet an Omani in the street, he would smile at you and would want to start a conversation with you. That is what happened to me when I was walking along the Muttrah Souq and corniche yesterday afternoon. 
I bet you are from Sri Lanka said a bulky omani and then we had a lovely conversation. My own admiration for Omanis and their sultan, HE Qaboos is expressed freely and I find great comfort in talking to the Omani people of all persuasion.
Sultan Qaboos is on the path of omanization of the country in which the Omanis despite their oil income would work and contribute at all levels, from bell boys at hotels to pilots at the national airlines. All taxi services are allotted to Omanis, so you wouldnt see a Mohammed from Kerala driving you around here as you would in Dubai or Doha.

Oman has a ride sharing service but it is very strictly controlled. O Taxi app will bring a taxi driver to you at half the price of a regular taxi, but they are forbidden to pick up or let off passengers at the airport or luxury hotels.
Yesterday I walked just a few meters from the Hilton Hotel and requested a ride to the Muttrah Souq in the old part of Muscat and within about 5 minutes Kamal comes with his car and we begin our journey to the centre of town. Kamal is Omani and from a town 100 km from here, near Nizwa. We begin a nice conversation, about Oman, Salalah, Zanzibar etc. Within about 12 minutes we were downtown and he lets me off. I pay him the fare and thanked him. He said, wait a minute and gets out of his car, opens the boot of the car and takes out something.
It is a black embroidered scarf the kind omanis wear on top of their white long dresses. 
I dont' have anything to give you, but please accept this gift from me, said Kamal, the omani driver.
I have had good experiences from drivers all around the world but this time I was just overwhelmed. I put it around my neck and had to find a place to sit down on the steps of a shop.
Why are they so kind? I kept on asking overwhelmed by emotions.

such a refreshing experience. I had not told him that I was a doctor but as we were talking he said, he will not be working tomorrow because his uncle was coming from the countryside to see a physician about his diabetic foot ulcer. I told him that if he wants me to, I am quite willing to go to his house and see his uncle and talk about Diabetes and Ulcers and how to look after them. He said he would call me ..

ARRIVING IN MUSCAT OMAN A VERY NICE WELCOME FEELING

Oman has always a special place in my heart. I came to Salalah in Southern Oman in search of Cheng Ho/ Zheng He the great navigator and my first visit to Oman was on my way to London from a visit to Zanzibar.. and learn about the interesting history of Zanzibar and Oman and the kind sultans who ruled over both for hundreds of years.

I left India with a mixture of emotions. I am always sad to leave a place, even after short stays which is the case with me, somehow or another, a transition to another place, another mentality and another personality ..

 Leaving INDIA behind..

breakfast on board Oman Airways to Muscat Oman 

 rugged mountain edges and tranquil sea on the approach to Muscat

 the portuguese might have sailed up the african coast to witness these lands as there was a portugese presence in the trucial coast 

 suddenly the city began to appear underneath. concrete amidst the desert with a certain order which seemed not pleasant because of the lack of trees. Deserts present harsh faces of the earth and here it is no different, this land which juts into Rub al Khalil . the empty quarter unknown to mankind until recently 

 The airport is modern and quiet, the main traffic is to India and the gulf states. Nice to see Omani citizens at work at the airport. The arrival process was painless and I was given a visa on arrival and I made my way up to the arrival lounge to have a shower and freshen myself up for the journey into town 

 while at the lounge I did have a little snack and some sparkling water, knowing that soon I will have to search for these things

Oman has always been about protecting the rights and welfare of its citizens under the magnanimity of Sultan Qaboos.
The taxi drivers licence are given only to Omani citizens which is so different from other gulf states where the chance that your driver would be called Mohammed and would be from Kerala.
Omani men wear their traditional dress and within a very short time I was at the Hilton Garden Inn in the suburb within the sight of the ocean.
Welcome to Oman.
the Cuban ambassador to Oman is resident in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and when I talked to him, I expressed my good feelings about Oman and its people and hope that we can have a project similar to the one we have in Qatar..

MALA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE:ON SAVING JEWISH MONUMENTS OF MALA KERALA UNDER PROF KARMACHANDRAN

SLIDES PRESENTED AT THE MALA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

 FIDEL with PM NEHRU at UN in September 1960

 Fidel with Indira Gandhi in New Delhi 

CHE WITH PM NEHRU

 Contemplating at the jewish tombstones at Penang in Malaysia, now looked after by a kind Tamoul caretaker. 

 The Synagogue at Rangoon, Burma 

Jewish presence in Iquitos Peruvian Amazon.

 The bookseller of Mogador in Morocco. Joseph Sebag

The synagogue at Kingston, Jamaica, designed by Rudolph Cohen Henriques. One of the few synagogues in the world with sand-floor, reminiscent of Sephardic exile 

 tomb of prophet Job in the mountains outside Salalah in Oman. Job is referred to come from Dhofar (in the bible).(wife of my good friend RN in Cochin enlightened me about the life of Prophet Job!)

Benjamin of Tudela documented the presence of many jewish communities in Arabian peninsula and central asia 

The synagogue of the Mountain Jews of Azerbaijan who speak a persian dialect with hebrew words, Juhuru.
Many excelled during the Soviet era. Azerbaijan is a muslim country which maintains good relationship with the State of Israel 

The Jews of Bukhara maintain their ancient traditions, they are now to be found in Jerusalem and Queens, New York.
and then there is MALA Kerala 
Here is a blog I wrote 5 years ago when I when I visited the synagogue in the presence of Prof Karmachandran and Biju Thomas.
https://medicoanthropologist.blogspot.com/2015/04/mala-synagogue-enchanting-example-of.html

I met some lovely people at Mala on 4.1.2020 when I went to present a global perspective on the great righteous deed at saving the jewish monuments at Mala.

 a set of questions for me .. happy to oblige..

The audience seems to have been a selected one, apart from the organizers, they seemed to be academics, teachers and students at the postgraduate level. It was nice to interact with them. Thank you

Thank you, Professor Ramachandran, Mr Nirshaud of the Muziris Project 
Thank you for your efforts to maintain the jewish monuments at Parur, Chendamangalam and now Mala. With the addition of the synagogues in Ernakulum and Mattancherry, five synagogues will remind people of the long history of love and affection and caring between the Jewish people of Kerala and their Hindu, Christian and Muslim neighbours.

AYURVEDIC MASSAGE AT THE OLD LIGHTHOUSE HOTEL FORT COCHIN BY MR JOHNSON

First of all the context:
I remember overhearing a tourist planning his day: one hour of massage, then two hours sightseeing in Mattancherry and then one hour bus ride for an afternoon at the Backwaters..
Maurice Merleau-Ponty was a French Anthropologist who talked about CONTEXT and said, without context things have no meaning.
When you are having an ayurvedic massage, you have to be mindful of the fact that you are having a massage, enjoy the massage and devote time to it afterwards to enjoy the afterglow by doing very little. By planning activities afterwards, you are already living in the future without being aware of the present.
I have been extremely fortunate to have one relaxing and four therapeutic massages on consecutive days of my stay at Old Lighthouse Hotel Bristow's Bungalow at Fort Cochin.
Two other things are important as well, obviously the Massage therapist and his experience and his worldview as well as a good ambience to have the massage.
I am glad to say that at Old Lighthouse Hotel you have a location with appropriate ambiance at the Spa. 
and Mr Johnson who has at least twenty years of experience working in Europe at various therapeutic spas. Before the massage, you have to discuss with him, your needs, not just give me a massage. On the first day, I had arrived after an overnight flight from Paris, so a relaxation massage was appropriate. the next morning, after my morning walk I realized that I no longer needed another relaxation massage but could concentrate on therapeutic massage concentrating on flexibility of the hip, shoulders.

Mr. Johnson is a soft spoken person but let that not fool you, he directs his force at the spots that need attention. He has many years of experiences in various spas in Europe: Austria, Italy , Malta etc. He comes from a family of masseurs. You can book his services at the hotel even if you are not a guest at the hotel. 
Things to be aware
Just one session of massage, apart from relaxing you a bit has no physiological benefit. In my opinion, if you have a therapeutic option, it has to be done in four sessions.
Secondly, after the massage, one does calm the mind and body, relax afterwards. Do not eat before the massage, I like to leave at least a three hour gap after the last meal. A slow vegetarian meal afterwards would be ideal (you can order that at the Bristow's Bistro at the hotel, while enjoying the view of the Arabian sea)

The treatments by Mr Johnson fitted in well with my agenda of spending time at the Old Lighthouse Hotel and not put my body through rigorous touristy activities. I felt my flexibility improve considerably after four sessions.

after a therapeutic ayurvedic massage by Mr Johnson.

here are the contact details of the Hotel on their business card. Enjoy.

ARE THERE ANGELS IN PARADISE? AT BRISTOW BUNGALOW LIGHTHOUSE HOTEL THERE CERTAINLY ARE

I am at the very same place , when a Tibetan Monk walked into the Breakfast room and we had a nice chat. It was October 5,2019. 
Things began happening in rapid succession
all GOOD 
in the words of my friend Antonio, it is God in action (his interpretation) and rapid action indeed
M arrived on 5 October 2019.
So many other things have happened since then, small and large, soft to tender, enriching the mind, body and soul.

Today is 1 January of this new decade 2020
While sitting here observing the Arabian Sea I had the definite feeling that the feel of paradise described by many poets must be this.. 
Did not Khayyam talk about it ?

I am at the Bristow's Bungalow Lighthouse Hotel facing the Arabian sea in Fort Cochin in India 
If this is paradise, are there angels? Of course there are, and here are some of them..

Yes in this day and age, on 1.1.2020
there are angels..