Travelling with my man

By Alya Henry

We reached Dubai, nestling between the desert and sea, stretching languidly beside white sand beaches. We heard it was shopper's paradise, full of gleaming glass and chrome shops, cool shopping plazas with handicraft outlets, and (according to my knowledgeable staff) shops full of 'good gold.' Well we were not shoppers: we were 'traveling on a shoestring' a they say in guide books. The aim was to regain our 'equilibrium' our trip was a break from office routine - to energise our grey cells and warm up our hearts with new sights and sounds. 'New sights' in the form of Paris, Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava, 'Sounds' we assumed, that Eastern Europe abounded in classic concerts, recitals, opera.

Dubai

All thoughts of opera evaporated when I caught my first glimpse of the desert sands.

In Dubai something tingled inside me. I became elated as though an air-conditioner was switched on my head and all the fuzzy mould and cobwebs from the Colombo monsoon rains blew away, clearing my sinuses. Strangely, I felt the desert had an inexplicable potency; but my man (MM) dozed beside me and didn't register my strange response to the desert. (PS On our return to Colombo I noticed a packet of sand I'd snuck into my case, exploded all over my clean clothes and undies. What bliss).

Although a desert town, Dubai curves along a bay; cool green date palms abound, while tall buildings and apartment blocks shimmer in the midday heat. The architecture of Dubai is pure and simple, pristine architectural ensembles cool and clear dazzle the eyes with cream white surfaces. Many houses have flat roofs their walls covered with flowering creepers. Homes have courtyards with arrangements on the roof for family gatherings at dusk to catch the sea breezes after a hot day.

Looking at the people around me, I noticed different desert attires. Of course I expected the 'chadors' the thick nets, grills and veils. I imagined the women, quite little things walking about their business, while the male species paraded about, their white gullabas swishing at the ankles, their head cloths flying.

But it's one thing to hear or read about a place and its people, another to observe it at first hand. Dubai seemed to epitomise for me something independent and immaculate?

True, the women cover their faces with layers of veils and look out at the world through grills, they seem to be like well wrapped parcels But as I watched locals settle down at a cafe in large family units, or as couples - the veils were pushed up, the faces appeared jolly cheerful, they talked and laughed in the circle of males and females displaying a certain joi de vivre. Fathers walked with their families in groups, married couples strolled by, straight and tall.

While MM dozed on, I observed groups of people at a cafe table nearby; those were contented scenes that touched my heart, young couples whispering, heads together, husbands helping the wife fill shopping lists. I noticed many couples at the jewellers. The male seemed greatly interested in the article pricing it, and discussing it. I think it must've been a gift. I believe the husbands often buy the wife jewellery.

I was having a field day studying my quarry. Tired travellers moved between various lounge rooms trying to relax whereas I was content to analyse who came from what country and which male or chador - wrapped-female was from the United Arab states or Afghanistan, Egypt, Pakistan, Malaysia, or Morocco.

Here's an Afghan man trailing a musical instrument, he's with a group of similarly dressed men, embroidered vests sit over loose gowns of various colours. On their curly hair they wear berets, set back over swarthy faces.

There goes a man from Oman walking like royalty clothes trimmed in gold, on his head a silk turban sits regally above a noble face; his white gullabah sweeps the floor gracefully, gold tassels flap as he passes; he talks into a cellphone in guttural tones, aloof, alone.

Here're some men from the north middle east with checked head cloths bound by black silk corded coils. They tuck up the side flaps to cool the ears and face walking rather mincingly. The shortish gullabas, and the less than royal visages testify to their foreignness. After a while I play a guessing game; eg this gentleman is not UAE because he does not look as though he owns the place, the length of his gullabah dangles around his calves and is not a dazzling white colour (washed by imported housemaids)

All too soon my observations on desert attire came to an end as we continued our journey ever forward ever more northward.

(More next week)

OCS stages Miller's play

By Chamintha Thilakarathna

The play revolves around Eddie Corbone, who is forced to confront his feelings about his niece, his wife, and indeed his life in the space of a few short months. The play lurches from love scenes to aggression, all the while showing characters trapped in an existence that none of them is very happy with, as in the case of many of Arthur Miller's plays.

The play was inspired by a story that Miller heard whilst on the docks, of a longshoreman who had turned in his two relatives to the Immigration office because one of them had got engaged to his niece. It deals with the workers who compete every day for work, and who constantly suffer from protection rackets, bribery and abuse from the unions.

For the young cast at OCS it has been a challenge. They not only have to bring out issues that existed in the American system but also tackle the characters who are much older and very complex. 

The key roles of Rudolf, Marco, Eddie, Catherine, Alfieri, and Beatrice are played by Michael Thoma, Marco Thoma, Kevin Helsinth, Mishal Razak, Rajat Mukherjee and Meera Duraiswamy with support from Shereen Sourjah, Harith Gunewardena, Saliya Subesinghe, William Browns, Kushal Johnpillai, Ehab Abdulla, and Nikolai Lazic.

The play is directed by Karen Balthazar and produced by Jennifer Tico. Stage management and props are by Wendy Wise and Annie Andrews.

Tickets are available at the Wendt Office. In the case of students in groups of ten or more accompanied by a teacher, the teacher will be given free entrance.

"The play is something to think about. It confronts people with the question of the choices we make in life and how much control we have on our emotions,' director Karen Balthazar said. 

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