Royal Equestrian and camel festival, 1/1/11

There are events and then there are some more events!

What we saw on the first day of New Year was truly the stuff that great memories are made of.  

The Royal Equestrian and camel festival, (1/1/11) held at the Wattayah stadium, showcased the best possible combinations of sound, light, music, spectacular animals and people.It was a three hour feast for the eyes and the ears and one that just kept on getting better and better.

While  we enjoyed every moment of that event thoroughly, what will forever stand out in our memory was when  His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said came into the arena. The tumultous roar that came from the crowd was  that indicator that told us more than any words or text possibly could that here was a ruler who was loved and admired by his people...those very same people who he has selflessly devoted his entire life to.

As we celebrate the 40th National day,here's wishing  'Mabrook' to all the people in the  Sultanate of Oman and many, many milestones to be reached ahead.....

Full Circle- Losing it and then finding it

I firmly believe that what is meant to be, will be.

Or looking at it in another context, if you were meant to lose something you certainly will, as also applies the other way around.

The other day, I lost a part of my antique earing, one which had been gifted by my mother and which originally belonged to her grandmother.You see we were going out to a Diwali party and there was no way that I could figure out where I could have dropped it.

So I did the best that that I possibly could under the circumstance..I tried to put it out of my mind and almost did...

Until minutes ago when our cleaner just brought that piece and holding out his hand  and asked me if I had dropped it.

I saw it twinkling as he held it out and my heart skipped a beat, then two..then three.For it really was the missing piece of my earing.

Whew!! Did that feel good!And am I relieved..Yes on all counts.

It could have fallen anywhere ...in the car, in the lift, in our friends home, on the road...but look where it was all this while...in the guest toilet, right here in our own home!

So as I started by saying, I firmly believe that what is meant to be..certainly will!

An excerpt from my new book 'Point of No Return'

As for the ACP, he was all eyes and ears. Sometime earlier, he

had taken out his small black dairy in which he always made

detailed notes which helped him to get a clear picture and a strong

basis for his logical and analytical mind that would slowly but

surely come straight down to the heart of the matter.

 That was

precisely the reason, why he had been such a successful cop till

date. All the legends about him were quite true; there was no

other cop in the Police force who was as detailed and painstaking

in his approach as ACP Himanshu Kapoor. Something that Desai

would forever be grateful to him for, because a lot of that systematic

approach, including making the most detailed notes, had rubbed

off on him as well.

The silence in the room grew longer, then even more so, until even

the ticking of the clock seemed to get on everyone’s nerves, simply because

they were so tautly stretched by then.

Then  what seemed like ages later, but in fact was merely

ninety seconds, ACP Himanshu decided to move this whole thing

forward.

“So what happened next?”

In a voice that was by now so faint as to be termed inaudible,

Natasha replied “I don’t know... but what’s probably much worse,

is that I don’t remember ... until that particular moment that I

started walking fast on the beach, as soon as I realised that two

men were following me. I remember passing all the carts selling

chaat and other food items, feeling very scared about what those

men might do to me but I must have dealt with it, as I somehow

managed to find that lone taxi. The same one, whose driver is

here now.”

‘And so that,’ Desai thought a tad bit disappointed, ‘was that.’

But his disappointment was nothing compared to that of his

boss, who was trying very hard to mask it, but failing miserably.

Then she said something that almost stopped all of them in their

tracks.

“The blood ... so much of it...”