Tag Archives: Ancient

Ring Leader

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Mandeep Singh's avatarMANDEEPSINGS

I remember these phones. They now seem ancient but were once indispensable. Every weekend was phone time and I had to even queue up at one of these vintage machines to make that all-important call home.

There were calling cards in many denominations, all with pictures of Bahrain’s landmarks and there were coins – which I diligently collected over the week only to use on the Friday. DSC_4041There were almost no mobiles and calling from the land phone at home was very expensive. Not that calling from a roadside contraption was any cheaper but there was greater control on what I spent. I had to call between certain times, to catch the ‘cheap’ rates and I had to not call during afternoon prayers. And the call was seldom more than a few minutes.

Several years later, there are few land phones and Internet calls rule the airwaves – Skype, Viber…

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Old Glory

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MuharraqGirls play hopscotch in the old part of Bahrain’s Muharraq district.
Though Muharraq Island is considered to be the ‘original’ Bahrain, it had fallen on bad days in the recent past, thanks to the population growth and reckless urbanisation. However, in the last couple of years, the Culture Ministry has started several restoration projects, which are hopefully taking the old lanes and by-lanes, not to mention the ancient houses and ‘havelis’, back to their once glorious past.
It is still not uncommon to see glimpses of the old Bahrain as one walks along the area and, seen in that context, this picture seems as if from a bygone era.

Addiction!

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Books are a hard-bound drug, with no danger of an overdose!

I am a happy victim of books

 –-picture taken at the Bahrain Culture Ministry Restoration Project, Muharraq

 

The years teach much which the days never knew

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DSC_0210DSC_0209DSC_0208DSC_0207DSC_0206DSC_0205DSC_0204DSC_0203DSC_0187This elderly gentleman is as much a part of the Old Manama Suq as the Suq itself. He is at various places, always sitting alone, sometimes appearing to doze off, at times just sitting and staring at traffic and people. He is also one of the most-photographed by visitors and tourists and has even featured in some Bahrain picture postcards. I did once try to talk with him but did not succeed. He looked as if through me. Perhaps he speaks only Arabic, which I don’t,  or it’s possible he just doesn’t want to talk. He’s probably carrying a million thoughts; a million memories, good and bad. He’s seen life for close to a century and seen the changes that have happened. Must make a fascinating story – if he talks!

Rusted Relic

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Old Phone Box Ancient ReelicThere was a time when these phone boxes on the roadside were ‘music’ for our eyes, since these were the only connection we had with our folks back home – being in a foreign land, thousands of miles away. Sadly, and thanks to the mobile phone and other technology, these are now in disuse, full of dust and rusted (but still in working condition when I checked).
Of course, life’s more comfortable and far easier now but it’s a pity these devices, which once were our best friends, companions and partners have bitten the dust!
How life moves on?