A Minor Surgery

My Histopathology/ Cytology report said :

Name : Harshit Chauhan
Age: 21 Years
Referred by: Dr. Nandini Sahani
OPD No. 12076131
Accession No.: 71650/12
Registration date: 22/09/2012
Report Date: 25/09/2012

Specimen: CYST- BACK

Gross: The specimen consists of cyst measures 0.5 cms. On cutting filled with pultaceous material. Entire pieces taken for embedding in 1 cassette.

Microscopic: Biopsy reveals a cystic lesion by stratified squamous epithelium. The lumen is full of keratinous material. The surroundings tissue shows inflammatory reaction.

Impression: Epidermoid Cyst.

                                                 *** End   of    Report***

There was nothing terrifying about the above report, Doctors declared it 'Normal'. But before this report was developed, I underwent a minor surgery at Santokba Durlabhji Memorial Hospital, Jaipur. It was a painless experience and is worth narrating too. I complained of a minuscule wart near my neck, behind my shoulders and for the same a operation was conducted on September 22 2012 after anatomizing by Dr. Nandini Sahani on September 18 2012. I woke up in the morning and saw a text on my cell from one of my bosom pal, Dinesh Lalwani.

It said, "don't worry it is just a minor one and you'll surely cope up and if you want me to come with you to the hospital, do tell me before 6;30 AM, I'll accompany you and take leave from college"

I was engulfed and replied, "No, you follow your regular routine and thankx for your love & concern".

I was instructed not to have any kind of food before the operation but was allowed to have tea before surgery. On that day I followed my regular morning routine of paying my respect and offerings at the temple but on that day, I did special prayer to  God to bless my surgery with success. I came home with a religious mark on my head and sat on facebook to upload a status, which then said:

"Harshit Chauhan, will be facing a minor operation today :( Hoping to pace up with life soon after the surgery :)"

We (my parents and I), egressed our home for the hospital at 0900 hours. After making a payment of about 3500 Indian Rupees, a compounder took us to the operation theater. Soon my name was called and I entered in. A nurse gave me dark green operation clothes and advised me to wear them. I did as instructed. I went in an isolated room and it was really a damn difficult task to cope up. Somehow I managed to wear and then the same nurse gave me a cap akin to a shower cap which she herself put on my head. I was instructed to wait. Sitting in a unique dark green colour outfit with shower cap on :) , it was really a different kind of feeling which I never experienced before.

"Are you going to fight a fancy dress competition, they have made you dressed like a Doctor or I feel, like a compounder :) ? ", a thought penetrated my mind.

Soon I was called in. I saw operation theater the very first time in my life and it was a damn tidy dangerous site. BIG machines surrounding one bed. I was made comfortable and they adjusted me on the bed according to their convenience. They together were three members and when Dr. Nandini came in, their total touched 4. One of them tied a cloth strip on my eyes and after that I observed zilch.

"Is it going to be that dangerous and painful ", my psyche commented to me, personally.

Then they took one of my finger of my right hand and attached it with something for which I asked, "for what it is?", they didn't answer. I asked them to remove the strip of cloth tied on my eyes, they resisted :(  Then came the big enchilada, Dr. Nandini. She asked how I was feeling and advised me to relax. I asked, "will I suffer any pain...you'll be using anaesthesia, I guess. They all bursted into laughter.

"Just relax, we do not aim to give you unnecessary pain or trouble", a female voice dominated.
"You people will use anaesthesia, please make a mental note of it and if you don't have it then please let me go, I'm in no mood to undergo any surgery", I showed my concern very seriously.

They all guffawed radiantly :)

To my relaxation, Dr. Nandini said, "We don't perform any surgery without anesthesia in this operation theater".)

I was relaxed to my core :)

Immediately one of them said, "We are now going to operate you."

"What about Anesthesia ?", I commanded in a tone of phobia.

We are giving you the same, Just relax.

"We are beginning with an anesthesia injection, I'm now applying the injection on your shoulder." one of them said.

I felt the pain as well as a feeling which reminded me of presence of some sharp foreign material in my shoulder. Deep in my mind I also started with the Holy words of Hanuman Chalisa:

Jai Hanuman Gyaan Gun Sagar,
Jai Kapis Tinhu Log Ujyaggar.....

They were busy operating me and I kept worrying about the pain but I was not experiencing it. Magic...No, it was not. I knew anaesthesia is doing the job for me. Blood was pouring out of my body, I could not see but was experiencing the flow on my shoulder. They kept swiping my shoulder for, the blood was pouring out. I knew it was blood but in order to verify it, I started breathing hard so I could smell the same and prove my sensing capability to be good. It all took about 20 Minutes. The part which they operated was bandaged and I was advised to slowly get up. The compounder removed the strip from my eyes and I saw all Doctors smiling at me. I smiled backed too.

One of them said,"You speak too much". :)

I nodded.

Dr. Nandini Sahani showed me the root cause for which I was there in the operation theater. She showed me the extra part or wart which they operated out of my body. The minuscule wart, about 0.5 cms was floating in the transparent liquid material.

"Now I have finally got rid of you", I said looking at the wart.

They all again bursted into laughter. I egressed the theater by thanking the Doctor and their team and was greeted by my mother who showed her love and concern by hugging me. I was instructed not to apply water to that part and was advised to take rest and again come back for a check up after one week.

My Ex Fell In Love- Shubham Choudhary

Author: Shubham Choudhary

ISBN: 9789382473022

No. Of Pages: 204

My Rating: 3/5

My Ex fell in love is a hilarious love tale of Yatharth, the protagonist in the book. He collides with a girl, Sanchita when he is expelled from the class and from that anecdote he becomes inclined towards her. With the endeavour of his two sociable bosom pals; Sudeep and Vikalp and Samantha (Sanchita’s friend) he some how manages to date her after showing his unconscious accidental inclination through a facebook status, which said, “Dear Sanchita tum meri Zindagi mei khushiya le kar aayi ho, Meri life rasgulle ki duniya hai aur tum uski mithat ho!” in which he tagged her after alcohol consumption…and guess what? Sanchita proposes to him…. Unique na. From soda to hock, the narrator (Yatharth) is shown befuddled and unaware of the ramifications, he breaks up with his love to continue with his dream project of trajectory of electrons with Sudeep. Life continues and later he discovers that Sanchita starts loving Raunak, her family friend and he experiences the lowest ebb when they are blacklisted from the world of atomic theory.

Even after break up he takes utmost care of Sanchita and always desire to see her happy as a friend. His bleeding life gets a tourniquet when he and Sudeep are invited to Switzerland for their dream project and Vikalp takes the financial responsibility for the same. Vikalp, Sudeep and Samantha endeavours to stop Raunak when they ruminate he is going to propose Sanchita while, Yathartha and Sanchita are described obliviously inconversant of the same anecdote. So this was a brief recapitulation of the book and I recommend it to read it if you extol, admire and appreciate humor work.

Authored by Shubham Choudhary, I loved the book because of the character; Vikalp who took the responsibility to maintain humor in the entire book and was successful too. Though Yathartha is the protagonist in the story but I loved reading where Vikalp’s part appeared. One more reason to extol the work of Shubham was that the book was not boring when compared to books like; I too had a love story, Anything for you Ma’am and Trust me it’ll work etc. The two main elements of the book ie. humor and love story perpetuate and prolong a hilarious parallelism and Shubham Choudhary has never, I think, failed to cover each and every page of the book with hilarious work especially with Vikalp’s endeavour. Though love story of Yatharth and Sanchita was monotonous and colloquial like other hindi movie love stories but you won’t be able to succumb to your temptations when you’ll sojourn the hilarious territories of My Ex Fell In Love. Shubham Choudhary is a talent to follow.

Chintan Shirvir by INC…What was that??

January 18 2013, Indian National Congress inaugurated their Chintan Shivir but I failed to comprehend the genesis of their assemblage. They rejoiced, hugged and garlanded after Rahul Gandhi was proclaimed the Vice President of the party but why they celebrated, I mean there was not even an iota of competition to him. Even a government peon undergoes some sort of examination before getting recruited but the way they rejoiced seemed that he has made the country corruption free or has made it to the Vice President’s post without the help of his mother. Some people extolled the endeavour for their own political benefits say Ashok Gehlot, as he don’t want Pilot to replace him in the next elections and Sachin Pilot supported Sonia’s verdict as he is now fed up being an MP and want to kick off as the CM of Rajasthan. In short, he is zilch but an unemployed person who is now the VP of Indian National congress, Ironically.

101 Things to See and Do In Oman

Here are two very informative links which I discovered while I was surfing the internet. The first one have got the content of the tourism book launched by the Ministry Of Tourism, Oman. On this link you just have to mouse over the pictures in order to gain the information. And the latter one is a website owned by a Canadian Teacher who dwells in Muscat. Both the links will provide you almost all the indispensable information about the country. Till Then, take care. Lots Of love. Regards, Harshit Chauhan.

The Two Links :

http://explore101.com/101-things-to-see-do-in-oman.html

http://andyinoman.com/

20 Things That You’ll Witness In Muscat, Oman

1. You’ll see all the Omani Men wearing dishdash, their national dress with anklelength, collarless gown with long sleeves. The dishdash are usually white but you’ll also see men wearing brown dishdash. In addition to this they also wear a resplendent turban on their respective heads. And, you’ll find Omani women all covered with black cloth, with their “Hijab” on.

2. Sulatn Qaboos Bin Said Al Said, The Sultan Of Oman enjoys pinnacle social prestige from the people of Oman. You’ll notice his portrait hung in each and every Mall, Hotels, big or small shops etc. People Of Oman worship him. So, if you have anything against him, I’ll advice you to keep your mouth in your pocket 

3. As far as perfumes are taken into consideration, Omani Men and Women are very passionate. Each time when you’ll pass any Omani men or women,  your nostrils will compel your mouth to say, “WOW” 

4. Roads Of Oman are fabulous. Forget about ditches, you won’t experience any patches on the roads Of Oman.

5. Don’t get astonished if you see a door with a name plate,”The Prayer Room” anywhere in Oman. Oman is a Muslim eclipse piece of land in the world and in Holy Quran they are said to offer respect to Allah five times a day. So, you’ll see separate paryer rooms for men and women in every mall, petrol filling stations etc.

6. Petrol is very Cheap. If you ask for help to a good samaritan for one liters of water, he may say,”No” but his answer  for one liters of petrol would be YES*. Moreover, Petrol in Oman is not only cheap but also shares a unique relation with diesel. Diesel is more costly than petrol.

7. You’ll hardly notice any traffic police on roads but still they have one of the finest Traffic systems.

8. Oman is also for resplendent cars. Huge, massive and powerful cars are seen more.

9. The ‘Khanjar” which is the traditional dragger of Oman. It is similar to the Yemeni jambia. The khanjar is curved and sharpened on both edges. It is carried in a sheath decorated in silver, on a belt similarly decorated in silver fifigree.  A khanjar appears on the flag Of Oman as part of the national emblem Of Oman. (Source :Wikipedia).

10. You’ll perceive more Indians than the Omanis. Quit strange but true.

11. Zillions Of date trees.

12. The water and ectricity bill of a normal house in Oman is almost same. Water is costly and electricity is cheaper.

13. Since electricity is cheap, you’ll find AC everywhere.

14. You’ll find most of the shops or offices motionless or closed between 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

15. Zillions Of coffee shops.

16. You’ll also witness several women waiting for one Omani man outside malls. shops etc. Actually, they all are wives of that fortunate man.

17. Almost all the houses and buildings in Oman are painted white.

18. You’ll also have a glimpse of the Omani Flag which you’ll see waving on Government buildings, Schools, Colleges and Universities.

19. Mosques are good in numbers but there you can also find some Churches and Temples.

20. Last but no the least, The Omani people are well known for their hospitality and offers of refreshment. To be invited into someone’s home will mean coffee (kahwa), a strong, bitter drink flavoured with cardamom, and dates or halwa, a sticky sweet gelatinous substance which is made from brown sugar, eggs, honey and spices. It can be flavoured with many different ingredients, such as nuts, rosewater or even chocolate. Lokhemat is another accompaniment to coffee, which are balls of flour and yeast flavoured with cardamom and deep fried until golden then served with a sweet lime and cardamom syrup. The sweetness of this dish often counteracts the bitterness of the kahwa. (Source: Omannet.com)

Day14: From Muscat International Airport, Seeb to Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai.

My last day in Muscat was motionless, I did not sojourned. I got up in the morning and wished every member a fab morning. I turned on my laptop and connected it with wi-fi. On the url I wrote, WWW.GOOGLE.COM
The page showed me “Google Oman”, with google embellished with erratic colours. I opted facebook as my second option. Was glad when I saw Manisha Rathore, my school time chemistry teacher, on facebook. I requested her to join my facebook network. Then I started collecting precious pics from the cameras of other two families, on my laptop. Bunty and my mother went to Lulu mall to buy some frozen eatable items. My father, Anand mausa and Pratap mausa went to Samsung shop to own a microwave and a smart TV. Time passed quickly. It was 3′o clock and I decided to pack up for India. All four of my family joined me, too. I was worried regarding the weight of our accoutrements for, we were allowed 120 Kgs (30 kgs per person) and I was ruminating the weight more than the legal one. Moreover, Urmila mausi displayed her love and plethora emotions by providing us with zillions of items.

I said, “Don’t burden us, our luggage weight will increase and the airport authority people won’t understand your love.”

“We’ll be penalized”, I competed my concern.

But she was firm and said,”You won’t face any problem, your luggage won’t increase”.

I then went to Mars mall alone, just five in distance from Bait Muscat to buy a thnkx giving card for my mausi. I cursed myself for not bringing the same from India and for the same reason I paid heavy price for the card. I was astonished to discover the damn high price of a normal small card but its importance was zenith and I, without any delay made the payment of 500 Baisa or 75 INR (at that time). I showed my respect by handling her both, my card and emotions. Hugs, past 15 days recapitulations, wishes, thank you were some elements which we experienced and celebrated in that last moments in Bait Muscat. All other members wished us Godspeed. We wished them too and thanked our host for organizing the trip. Pratap mausa accompanied us to the Muscat International airport. He too, wished us safe journey and captured last two images of my family in his Nokia cell phone at the airport. Blessings played their role and our luggage weight stopped at 119.786 kgs  (120 Kgs. was allowed) otherwise, 4 OMR per Kg. was the penalty and to our good fortune, we escaped it.

Quite easily with patience, progressing into various stages (security check, visa check, passport stamp, check in counter) which every passenger encounters, officialismly we cleared all legal ritualities and after some hours we reached Mumbai, India and with that, a fabulous tour came to its end.

Day13: Dell Inspiron N5110 from LuLu Mall, Muscat.

A laptop means a lot to a student and when it comes by happenstance, its magnitude of alleviation is gigantic and the same pinnacle felicitous alleviation I acquainted in Muscat. This day brought me a new resplendent Dell laptop 

In the morning, I wrote on a piece of paper :

- 500 Gb harddisk
- 4 Gb RAM
- i5 processor
- 1Gb Graphic Card

“At least this configuration you must aim”, my mind commented to me, personally again 

In the afternoon, my family and Anand mausa went to Samsung showroom with Mausin, which was present at our relevance for the last time  We went to finalize a Samsung microwave oven for us and a smart television for Anand mausa and family. After anatomizing we made the final choice of both the products and returned to Bait Muscat.

In the evening, Pratap mausa, bunty and me went to Lulu mall to buy my laptop. I told Pratap mausa about my configuration requirements and he bestowed me with the best of his experience while we were on the way to Lulu in Grand Vitara car. Again we began to scrutinize the laptop and its accessories and in the end after beating the puzzlement between two dell laptop models, a Dell Inspiron N5110 model was selected for my future entertainment and studies too  A cooling pad caught my attention and my brother also extolled the product and thus we purchased two cooling pads.  A Filipino, who was assisting us showed us a trio pack of speakers, mouse and headphone and that too was put in the cart. For all this we paid 281 OMR or 281.900 OMR, to be precise. We entered home and every member of my family congratulated me and I gave gargantuan thanks to my creators and thank you to other family members. When I opened the flap of the device, the very first thing which captured me was the Arabic language printed on my keyboard buttons. I laughed. “You won’t get sleep today”, Anand mausa commented 

On that day, the dinner was offered on the behalf of my family and meat batti was the dish. Ice cream was served on my behalf as laptop treat  I don’t know what the others were doing after that, as I got engaged in my laptop treasure 

Day12: Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque and Science Museum

After visiting the populous dimensions of Muscat, we paid homage to The Grand Mosque in the capital city of Oman. The Mosque is named Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque by the Oman Government. We reached there and were amazed to see the structure.

A major feature of the design of the interior is the prayer carpet which covers the floor of the prayer hall. It contains, 1,700,000 knots, weighs 21 tonnes and took four years to produce, and brings together the classical Tabriz, Kashan and Isfahan design traditions. 28 colors in varying shades were used, the majority obtained from traditional vegetable dyes. It is the second largest single piece carpet in the world. This hand-woven carpet was produced by Iran Carpet Company (ICC) at the order of the Diwan of the Royal Court of Sultanate of Oman to cover the entire floor of the main praying hall of the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque (SQGM) in Muscat. The carpet measures over 70 × 60 meters, and covers the 4,343 square meter area of the praying hall, all in a single piece. The chandelier above the praying hall is 14 meters tall and was manufactured by company Faustig from Germany. The Mosque is built on a site occupying 416,000 square metres and the complex extends to cover an area of 40,000 square metres. The newly built Grand Mosque was inaugurated by Sultan of Oman on May 4, 2001. Source: Wikipedia.

After the Mosque we went to the Science Museum, the last spot of that day. And after sacrificing 1 OMR per person & 500 Baisa for children we entered the Museum. The population inside the museum was dominated mainly by children. All sort of science experiments were described and concepts were given for every experiments. That was the end, we returned Bait Muscat.

Day11:Indelible Sojourn to Ostrich park,Nakhal Fort,Sawadi beach,Al Sahwa Park and Hot Water Spring

Ostrich, I’m going to see today”, my psyche thought in the morning. On that day, we took only Yukon and now you can well comprehend the monstrous dimensions of that car for, we twelve peoples were packed like sardines. I, bunty, Ashie amma and Guddu sat on the last portion of the Yukon and as always, Guddu occupied the Benjamin’s portion again 

“How fat he is….and how much more weight he’ll gain in future…”, my mind ruminated 

I said, “Guddu, you wanna loose and I wanna gain, give me some and we’ll both be profited.”

He said, “What?”

Ashie chimed, “yes, bhaiya what ?”

I said, “your weight” 

After covering a approx distance of about 200 Kms. we reached Barka Ostrich park and after making a nominal sacrifice of 2-3 OMR we were at the main spot where we saw 10-15 ostriches, some sitting and some standing in an irregular pattern. It seemed that some of them got up in our respect  “Birds resembling camels”, I thought. Cameras and other photo capturing devices were on high duty at that time. One ostrich became magnetized toward us and thus, we also became excited to see the world’s largest bird with an arms distance. Urmila mausi took out some biscuits and we all began to feed the ostrich. The snake resembling neck of the creature was worth looking. Then we saw some eggs of the same creature and that too we captured in our respective cameras. We took turns to click our respective images with the ostriches. It was a damn hot day and that compelled us to have a refreshment and after the break we preferred to continue our sojourn and thus, we rolled to our next spot: Nakhal Fort.

Nakhal Fort is akin to the Nahargarh Fort of Jaipur. After sacrificing 500 Baisa per person we made our entrance. Some ancient guns which were increasing burden on the walls of the fort caught our attention and we kids desired to have some pics with the ancient treasure. The scorching heat of the sun continued to our misery and everyone was advised to keep their gaugles, caps, hats on. There was no public on that day and you can imagine how solitude the fort was. Although the place was fab and I was enjoying too, the fort failed to amaze me…because I have already visited certain place akin to Nakhal Fort and moreover I belong to Rajasthan, which is famous for such forts in the whole word.  The thing which I loved the most was the date farm which I observed from the fort. So, don’t forget to climb a certain height in measure to see the date farm.

The third spot in our list was the hot water spring. The first priority on reaching that spot was to have lunch. All members enjoyed non vegetarian food and I, a turnout vegetarian ate curry. I was the first one to finish my food. I folded my jeans to my knees and preferred to luxuriate in water. I saw water running on the bead of polished erratic coloured stones. To my surprise, many minuscule fishes came to greet me and showed their hunger by eating the dead skin of my feet. I flashed my hand in the water and they swam  in erratic directions but soon they came again to provide me massage therapy, in fact, free massage therapy. I extolled their heroism. Soon, Bunty and Guddu joined me and then I thought to catch some minuscule fishes. Initially, I went to Urmila mausi and brought a plastic disposal glass to capture the creature but it was a damp squib. Bunty and Guddu, too were unsuccessful. I went to Manju Mausi and she provided me a  plastic poly bag. Ashie wished me good luck. I did which was not appreciated initially by Guddu & Bunty.

Bunty said, “abey, yeh  kya kar raha hai?”

Guddu commented, “bhaiya, aise nahi pakak saktey aap fish ko”

Now, I’ll tell you what I did and what was not accepted by them, though they were later proved wrong by me 
I entered my feet in the poly bag and then finally placed it in the water. Some people near by the kept on watching my act I kept my eyes glued in the water. They were roaming in irregular pattern everywhere in the vicinity but none was entering in the poly bag. But my patience was rewarded when a minuscule fish entered the polythene to eat the dead skin on my feet. I rejoiced.
“Very good, bhaiya”. Ashie complimented.
“Very good”, Guddu chimed.
“Immediately put your feet out”, Bunty proclaimed.
I did as Bunty instructed.
And I became the owner of a tiny creature. My capture caused consternation in the mind of the fish, I assume. We all rejoiced. The happy news was also delivered to our elders.
“Its time to jail another fish now”, I thought.
To do the same it was indispensable to locate the fish in a safe place as I was having a single poly bag. So, I placed it in the same disposal glass which was first used as a fish catching instrument.
In the same manner I caught two more and was responsible for isolating three fishes from their family & friends.

Bunty then came with a bigger idea. He brought a rectangular piece of cloth and requested me to hold from one end. We generated a trap by locating the cloth inside water on the polished stones. Guddu was instructed to compel fishes to swim in the direction of the trap. So he ran in the water on the polished stones and generated a stampede among fishes. Unaware of the repercussions they swam in our direction and when the passed above the cloth, I and Bunty pulled the cloth up in the air. The collection of that endeavour was vaguely about 10-15 fishes. The captured fishes were then transferred in the disposal glass. Pratap Mausa also came to join our team. And with the same technique we again isolated some fishes. The technique was used two more times. Urmila Mausi proclaimed, “hurry up, we’ll leave now.” It was time for us to take a prompt verdict. Urmila mausi helped us. She transferred our hardwork in a 2.5 or 3 liters empty juice bottle. More water was added in the bottle. It was a fab felling when we saw about 40+ fishes swimming in a consternation style.”When we came to this spot we were twelve members and now as we are leaving, we are 50+, tremendous increment in the population”, my mind commented, personally.

Sawadi beach. I always wanted to enter sea water and my desire was accomplished at Sawadi beach, Oman. I was the first one to change my clothes, followed by Bunty and other of my family members. I was ready to enjoy and saw other members getting out of the car. “Snails”, I thought. I saw Guddu changing, and and to convert the same moment into an anecdote I managed a camera from Urmila mausi and shouted,

“Guddu, see here”. With only blue colour cloth, tied with the help of an elastic on his waist, he shouted even  more louder than me.
“Are stop, aap bhaiya, aise kyu kar rahe ho?” 

Bunty joined me too.

“We will show this to your Omini Girlfriend  :) “, Bunty chuckled.
“hunnn, we will”, I chimed.
Ashie, who was watching the scenario also bursted into laughter. Guddu had no option, he was embarrassingly laughing and we were happy.
In small  different groups we entered the water. From soda to hock, Urmila mausi showed his concern regarding the our safety. Guddu and Tunnu were luxuriating wearing swimming gaugles. In a short period of time, all twelve members of our family were in the sea water. Our enthusiasm got feathers, everytime a tide came and collided with our bodies. I saw the Sun. The sky was tinged orange and the sun was beginning its departure. “Say good bye to the Sun….he is going  to USA’s side”, my mind commented to me. We found some shellfish clams when we dug the sand under water, with our hands. Then began the competition. “Collect clams”, was the proclamation. All of us showed true team spirit. Tunnu was among the biggest collector of clams. The collected clams were safely placed in my shorts for, I was the only one to have a pocket in my costume. It saddened me to same extent that I was unable to collect clams as I holding the responsibility of their storage. I said, “I am a truck, load your clams in me  ” When my pocket was full, I went to the shore and placed the clams in a polythene. I returned. Again the truck went to the shore and again he joined his team. Some of our members began their crawl towards the shore. Then I also tried to catch some but after collecting few, I got a cut on my index finger through the sharp edge of a clam   I began my crawling too. In this manner we collected many clams. The first thought which penetrated my mind was to get rid of the salinity of the water which was sticking to all my body. It was a dirty felling. I came to know about the bathroom cum changing room in the vicinity. The male and female members of our group marched towards the male and female changing room respectively. We changed. It was a fab and fresh. Tunnu and me were among the first one to exit the bathroom cum changing room. I was out bare body but jeans on  And soon the all male members of our  family were out (except Bunty). Anand mausa was the only one who came fully dressed and the rest came bare body. Some came wrapping their lower part of body in a towel. Some exited in underwear. Mean while I helped Tunnu in changing his clothes. Pratap mausa, who came out in his underwear was changing with the help of a towel, tied around his waist. Unaware of the future ramifications, of the enviroment we were engaged. Then came an Omani man wearing brown dishdash(national dress for Omani men, anklelength, collarless gown with long sleeves) and started shouting which we could not comprehend, for he was showing his anger in Arabic, a lingo for us. But from his tone it was limpid that he was not happy with us. He shouted:

ماذا تفعل هنا؟
لا يكون لديك أية اداب؟
لك كل البلداء تتغير الملابس أمام أحد المساجد.
وعلاوة على ذلك هناك نساء أيضا غرفة تغيير الملابس.
تصل الرياح سريعة.
أو سأتصل الشرطة.
البلهاء.

He was more then 6 feet plus and with a giant monstrous dimensions. No one spoke to him. His anger compelled us to comprehend him. My imagination landed on the correct area. He must have shouted :

“What are you people doing here?
Don’t you have any manners?
You all morons are changing clothes in front of a mosque.
Furthermore there are also women dressing room.
Wind up fast.
Or I’ll call the police.
Idiots.”

He was still there and repeating his angry words. Now Bunty came in the scene. To our misery he too came bare body with only towel tied on his waist. But he knew what was the scene going on at that time. He showed his intelligence and asked my father, who too was standing half naked with only jeans on his lower part, to provide him with his clothes which were lying near him.

My father said, “Come and take”.

Bunty shouted,”give me the clothes, he is seeing me, I don’t want to come in front”

Father replied,”come and take”.

“What are you doing? Pass my clothes”, Bunty demanded in a bold voice.

My father while handling the clothes to him pretended to be a hero. He said, “wear your clothes, all of you wear your clothes.”

I whispered,”You are standing like Salman Khan, first you wear your clothes  “

Pratap mausa, who too was in my father’s club in displaying muscles, bare body, also made the inception with T-shirt followed by Jeans. By that time the Omani went. We stared starring at each other faces. Then came another man and said, “Do you know what he (Omani Man) was saying ?”
We said, “NO”.

He was saying that you people are changing clothes near a mosque. Moreover there is also a ladies changing room near by 

I tried my best to control my laughter and all of us too, I guess. We began our departure towards Yukon. While we were marching, we recalled that anecdote.

I started, “Why he was worrying too much about the mosque?”
Anand mausa said, “He was not. He has many wives and he was worrying about them”

“He was afraid that one of us may impress any of his wives by his muscles and take her away from Omani man”, Anand mausa completed the hilarious sentence.

I said looking at my father,”Why were you standing like Salman Khan?”

To this my father had no rejoinder and he too bursted in laughter.

Tunnu started, “Bhaiya was changing and towel came out  “

Anand mausa joined,”Which bhaiya?”

Tunnu skipped that question and started another fake one.
“Papa was changing and two ladies were seeing him changing the clothes”  , Tunnu siad.

All laughed.

We came to Yukon where the female members of our group were eagerly waiting for us. We narrated the anecdote. They too enjoyed. Urmila mausi provided sprite cans to all the members. We sat in Yukon and drove to our last spot.

Al Sahwa Park was the last place we sojourned on that day. The park is located between Muscat International Airport and Muscat City Centre. It was already dark when we entered the park. Though tired, we began to explore the massive park. Guddu took me to the territory of park where there were some swings. We took dinner and relaxed. Since the park was situated near the Muscat International airport, we saw many Aeroplanes passing above are heads. Vaguely speaking, the time interval between them was not more than three minutes. After dinner, Ashie, Tunnu, Anshu, Guddu, Bunty and me went to enjoy again. We returned Bait Muscat.

Day10:Bait Al Baranda, Muttrak Souk and Riyam Park

Mausin stopped the Yukon in front of  Bait Al Baranda. It was akin to Bait Al Zubair. 1 OMR for adult and 500 Baisa for children were charged from us. It was related to museum and you’ll know about the history, climate, traditions, geology,art, metals, minerals, resources (both renewable and non renewable), tradition of Muscat in relation to Arab territory and world. If you are crazy about the same then both, Bait Al Zubair & Bait Al Baranda are indispensable. After roaming the Baranda we came out and visited Muttrah Souk.

Muttrah Souq is one of the oldest marketplaces in the Arab world because Muscat is the world’s largest natural harbor and has seen immense trade in the age of sail, being strategically located on the way to India and China. It has been named after darkness because of the crowded stalls and lanes where the sunrays do not infiltrate during the day and the shoppers need lamps to know their destinations. The name of the market has been drawn specifically from the part that extends from Al Lawatiya Mosque to Khour Bimba where the place is really full of stores and stalls and the narrow area of lanes does not allow the sunlight to enter. The market was a source of supply for Omanis where they can buy their needs in the 1960s when life requirements were simpler than today. Most of the goods were imported, in addition to local products like textiles, fruit, vegetables and dates. (Source: Wikipedia)

We were there for the second time and in full swing to shop the resplendent products. “Hold your purse strings”, my mind commented to me, personally  “Life does not have a guarantee scheme…don’t show your parsimonious stance, you won’t get chance in future to be here….so shop with all your strength”  We made group and started exploring the oldest market in Arab world. The most notable part of the Souk apart from the products was, Bargaining. “A bit of India in Oman  “, was my personal comment. So you can learn and save some OMR, if you visit there. I was the first one among my family members to exit the market and I smiled when I saw almost every member coming out with poly bags in their hand. “Come, we’ll take refreshments”, Urmila mausi proclaimed. I was unique there with the eatable item, egg sandwich while other members preferred juice. After having refreshments we reached the last spot of the day, Riyam park.

Riyam park is located opposite to sea and is admirable for its massive dimension. But we visited the park in the noon time and the scorching heat of the sun melted our strengths is seconds and this was the worst verdict we took. So learn the lesson again, always prefer to sojourn Riyam park in morning or in the evening. And I must appreciate the Omanis and their government for the superb maintenance of the park. We were there for a short time and soon egressed in order to circumvent the heat.

Day9: KM Hypermarket and Carrefour Mall

This will be a short post. Initially, I hesitated to post but since I’m trying to write with some personal warmth……… Here I'm.
In the afternoon, Mausin took us to Carrefour mall in Ruwi and there we find nothing unique. Anand mausa and family went to anatomize a lcd tv, but to their misfortune they did not find a single piece !!. Actually, I would like to update you that they saw a lcd tv. as they were before us in Mucsat and that too with a fabulous and eye catching offer, free sony music system on a purchase of a lcd tv !! But they missed as the INS Viraat population which was there on the previous day, utilized it fully  Wonders of modern science never cease to amaze me and for this reason I began to anatomize the laptops and to my surprise I discovered that laptops were cheap there in Oman in comparison with Indian rates. “If you purchase laptop here, you’ll be in huge profit”, my mind commented to me. After shopping we came home and I made a proclamation, “I won’t go to India without a laptop  “.

In the evening, Urmila mausi took us to another mall, KM Hypermarket. But before that we went to see Tunnu’s swimming learning place. He, on that day was not passionate to swim and his coach scolded him several times. He said, “Shashank, four more lap….two more….”, and I laughed hilariously. “How difficult it is to do a work when you are not permitted by your heart”, my mind commented to me, personally again.

From KM Hypermarket, we bought many items but one eatable stuff which I bought became a butt of joke and gained popularity among my family members. I bought a massive bottle of mayonnaise…1 gallon was the quantity  and the it’s label said, “Sohar Mayonnaise”. Every member started pouring his/her suggestions and comments on how to make maximum utilization of it.   And that was the end.

Day 8: Radiant Morning @Sur Turtle Beach

Someone patted on my head, “get up, put your shoes on…get up, we are about to abscond”. I left my indolent slumber and was prompt on my legs. The clock showed me 0200 hours  I rubbed my blow and went in the territory where I was expecting huge traffic ie. in the wash room but to my surprise and good fortune, I discovered it vacant. “In approaching 15 minutes, the two wash rooms will be in great demand”, though no one heard, my mind said to me. I was the one who took the chequered flag. Manju mausi told me to wake her daughter up and I knew I have to summon up great muscular power to wake her damn heavy body  Somehow I managed her, to her legs. Though no one extolled me but I praised myself for that muscular task but there was Guddu who needed more power to disturb his slumber. He was lying on the sofa. I badgered him but failed  My future prediction came true and other members of my family wished for vacant washroom

One by one we came out of the hotel. Urmila mausi showed her anger and concern as her spouse was not present but soon her anger got abated, Pratap mausa was the last person to exit. We inaugurated that day early to sojourn the turtle beach. If you are planning to visit the same then make sure about the timings. We knew that the entry to the turtle beach will get closed by 0400 hours and that was the only reason we inaugurated that day before sur birds made their inauguration. We, haplessly took a wrong turn and after a damp squib we were finally at our desired destination. Navigator in Yukon and in Ambu’s phone helped us in our endeavour. I saw many other turtle fans waiting there and after making a surrender of 3 OMR per person we too joined them.

Then came an Omani men wearing anklelength, collarless white gown with long sleeves and a resplendent turban on his head. He was the guide who enlightened us and took the responsibility to carry us to the beach where a fortunate encounter with the turtles was awaiting us. We were allowed to capture photos but the camera or mobile flash should not spark. That caught my attention,”digital cameras won’t get success without indispensable flash”, my mind commented, personally again  Then we did dandi march with an Omani Gandhi  Surprised….In dilemma I’ll elaborate for you. Actually, “dandi march with an Omani Gandhi” was my assume which my mind developed during that crawl from reception of turtle beach to the turtle beach. Our Omani guide made me feel him, Gandhi. At that time he was our leader and we did as he ordered. Mechanically, by our respective legs, we made the inception of our march to the beach where we were expected by some turtles. Omani men, with a small torch in his hand was leading us and we all followed. It was still dark and I even couldn’t see the nearby environment or surroundings but could feel the noises of the tides. Initially, during that march no one spoke anything to each other. “Itni raat ko turtle dekh ne ke liye 2 baje jag gaye aur khas baat, koi chu tak nahi kar raha, Anshu tak chup hai  “, my mind commented to me, personally   My eyes caught a sight of a water bottle and that developed a thirsty sensation in my Adam’s apple. I took it from bunty and satisfied my thirst. Guddu’s Adam’s apple also got the thirsty sensation and he took the bottle from my hand and began to carry it after satisfying his thirst. I said to Guddu,”give this bottle to someone else, give it to Ashie amma”. He said, “why ?”. I said, “it is not giving the proper feeling…this bottle is giving birth to many other dirty thoughts”. He bursted into laughter ( Here,Indians will comprehend better, the reason why Guddu laughed  ) He, quite intelligently passed the bottle to Ashie amma and did not took it again and soon that water bottle became a problem  The national dress of Omani men was the only visible object that I could see from far behind. We followed him just as the followers of Gandhi followed Mahatma Gandhi in his world famous historical Dandi march, without much questioning. So, that march was termed by me as “Dandi march by an Omani Gandhi”.

We reached near sea shore and he (Omani man)  showed us a turtle. We remained astonished to see the massive dimension of the turtle. People took their respective cameras and looking that, the Omani mam proclaimed,”no flash please”.”It is  dangerous for the eyes of the turtle, don’t use flash”, was the reason given behind not using the camera on flash mode by that same Omani man. We then visited another turtle and captured it in our cameras. Photos, obviously were not coming clear and for the same reason some people started clicking with flash and for the same they were punished, their cameras were taken by the turtle beach authority. I  was also among them but it was an accident and not a deliberate endeavour. The turtle began its departure by crawling towards sea and I wished him bon voyage. The sun was gaining supremacy and within no time we saw the vast sky and the deep blue sea. Urmila mausi updated me with the best time for visiting the turtle beach ie. September and you should also make a mental note, if you wish to explore the turtle beach in Oman. After clicking several pics we egressed the turtle beach. We came to the hotel again to gain some slumber and after succeeding we made the final checkout.

After gain some energy and sleep we visited a beach (can’t recall the name now  ) The most notable feature of that beach was it’s fabulous blue water. We then reached Wadi Tiwi and statistically speaking, we captured zillions of pics. We did not enter water as we did in Wadi Shab (see Day: 2) but Ambu luxuriated in water  . Now it was time for us to leave for Muscat, and we did.

In Muscat, an Indian Naval ship was halted and we came to know about the same. INS Viraat and it’s importance got feathers  when we came to know that it was the same ship in which our nucleus, Pratap Mausaji used to work when he was serving the Indian Navy. ” An ex- INS Virrat fellow”, my mind commented, again personally. We glimpsed it from far and saw some planes, helicopters and many crew members on INS Viraat. A unique kind of glow embellished Pratap Mausa’s face. We then, took help of some Ice creams to beat the scorching heat of the sun.

We entered Bait Muscat and in the the evening, after church we went to have dinner outside. Bahadur uncle joined us too. End.

Day 7: Charlatan 1000 Nights Camp’s people :(

Afternoon, 1400 hours, everyone inside Bait Muscat was running hither and thither. “Take your gaugles, caps or hats and other heat resistant stuffs, we’ll sojourn the vast desert today”, second banana, Urmila mausi announced. Everyone got assembled in Guddu’s room to say a small invocation and after getting spiritually recharged we were all equipped to sojourn the land golden sand dunes. 1000 Nights Camp was verbally booked for 190 Rials for eight elder people including me and Bunty. Yukon, a 6.2 cc  monstrous car and Envoy was at are service. Pratap mausaji, the nucleus with his spouse, their children, Ashie, Anshu, Bunty and me captured Yukon for our journey, while the remaining, including Ambu, again making our group, a bakers dozen preferred Envoy. After covering a distance of  200 Km. we reached Bidiya and at Bidiya petrol pump, we satisfied our respective bellies by taking lunch.

The surface area between the tyres and the desert sand was augmented by abating the air pressure from the tyres of both cars. Soon we began to sail in the desert sand tides. It was really an indelible drive for, my eyes explored the hot desert sun but my body was experiencing the cold of AC, as is was in Yukon  My brother and I kept our cameras on video mode to jail the journey. With the help of a map, which we downloaded from 1000 nights camp website, we finally reached the spot. Traditional kawa, coffee and dates were served to us by 1000 Nights people. Happiness were to be seen on our faces. We were as excited as if a financial bill before the legislative assembly in New Delhi  And my post of desert will be incomplete if I do not mention the ship of the desert, we saw camels chewing and preferred to have pics with them. Urmila mausi, Tunnu, Guddu, Anshu and I went far inside the camp to explore. But it really saddens me, when we came, we heard a verbal skirmish between 1000 Nights’s people and Pratap Mausa. Actually, they cheated us  Despite of proper verbal communication and booking they made no systematized arrangements and moreover they demanded extra Rials for sand bashing and many other desert activities, which they initially approved within 190 OMR !!! As far as the power of my sub conscious mind is considered, I remember that person was charging 25 OMR for sand bashing per person or per 4 members  Pratap Mausaji, my father, Anand Mausaji and Ambu were skirmishing with that bastard wretched idiotic character but he was rigid to loot us. “190 Rials for only dinner and one night accommodation”, Urmila Mausi scolded. While skirmishing was on zenith my mind said,”a bit of India in Oman” personally to me. At that time, Urmila Mausi’s perspicaciousness was highly extolled by all other family members. She said directly to that imbecile, “adjust all in 190 Rials or we’ll abscond”. I crawled towards Manju Mausi and whispered in her ears, “have we paid the currency to this bastard ? “. To my amelioration, she said, ‘NO”. I sighed. We were 200 Kms. away from Muscat and won’t return, keeping this is his mind he did not gave up the loot endeavour. But thankx to sagacious Urmila Mausi for her sagacious and instant verdict, we began our departure. Interestingly, that spineless worm followed us and while jotting the number of our cars said that we had done wrong to him. Now, I’m damn agitated to curse 1000 Nights Camp more….so If you are planning to visit the camp do learn lesson from our visit  I’m not saying that that camp was zilch but would like to add that the place was perfect to enjoy the desert life but the management was pathetic. We, without hesitatingly activated our journey again. I kept looking 1000 Nights camp and within seconds it melted in darkness, dust and heat. Sitting inside the Yukon, we took turns to criticize him  Bunty said, “chalo kum se kum kawa, coffee aur dates to free mei mil gaye”  “Bhai, free nahi petrol to laga hai apna”, Pratap Mausaji retorted.  Envoy and Yukon were freezed for sometime so that we capture images with the vast desert and sun.

The sun began his departure and now it was again our turn to again make a sagacious verdict. Returning 200 Kms., without visiting zilch would become abominable and it was then decided that we’ll stay in a hotel tonight and in the morning we’ll explore turtle beach in Sur. We took a break to have shawarma(s) and finally marched to Sur, 70 Kms. from Bidiya. It took some time to find a good accommodation but our patience was rewarded in form of a good hotel. And after bargaining, we hired an apartment with two big rooms, two bathrooms and one kitchen for 28 OMR. I forgot the title of the hotel, so can’t mention it  While taking dinner, it was proclaimed that we all have to leave the room early morning  by 0200 hours as entry for turtle beach will close vaguely by 0400 hours. And that was the end. “One thing is impeccable, the coming 24 hours will be adventurous”, my mind commented to me, personally.