musingsinmediterranean

 

 

They are different in the night, each an embodiment, each having a tale to tell, from
different angles.

 

Gzira Strand-Malta

Artist- Frans Galea-1996

 Photography= Photos + Graphos- To draw with light.

Once you have that concept of drawing with light, it is only natural that you will see the
same structures, in different light settings and different angles and reinterpret them
with a different depth and meaning.

National Gallery of Modern Art-Delhi-India

 

What is time and space when looked at through the sculptures we

visit in the museums?

 

Each of these has a history and is an embodiment.

 

There are some personal histories attached to them.(each of us has some

memories linked to the museums, parks, roads where we have been

over the years).

 

And then there is a collective history..of a people, of a race, of a tradition.

 

Watching these sculptures at the National Gallery, their photographs

from different angles and the different persons with whom I have been

in front of them, made me sit back and think for a while.

 

Apart from the clothes we wear, food we eat, the walks we take are a

part of our lives.

 

Where did you go walking today? With whom?

 

Exploring concepts of time and space..with some sculptures.

 

Do clothes have a biography?

I was introduced to this concept of thinking by Maltese artist-Joseph Farruggia
whose exhibition at St.James Centre of Creativity showed this, through
different demonstrations.

The metamorphoses of a paper through different phases from the stage of a caterpillar
to the clothes we wear.

Then he tried to trace the life story of saints in a parallel theme.

A very interesting man, was kind enough to come and give me a copy
 of all his catalogues of exhibitions, done for over 2 decades. I was pretty
pleasantly surprised at him having done so at just a SMS message
from a complete stranger.

The artist is a man of many talents, and also is President of
Maltese Employer's Association, attends yearly conference of the
 ILO, apart from following his art.

Clothes have stories to tell.

The Biography of a caterpillar

The polyptych inspired by Byzantine iconography, in succesive panels
visualizes the life of saints, in thier journey towards enlightenment and sainthood.

Thank you-Joseph Farruggia...waiting for his book

After examining some clothes, let us go to food

We hold some workshops for food.

Here we are teaching a Serbian to make the Indian bread-Roti

And some Indian Fried Stuff..he seems pretty happy doing the teaching

And after the cooking..My Libyan Friend Mali seems to be wondering from where to start.

Of course some of the best "Workshop leaders" cannot be put on blog, as they happen
to be senior diplomats.

But their message-for cooking can be :

1.Do things with planning and feeling.

2.The aim should be -to be a Chef not a cook.

 

As part of this project to explore clothes-culture, these are some photographs of the Taureg

With a Taureg tribesman

Bridal Wear

Head Dress

They are very tall..Here i am with a tribesman in his traditional dress.
He is well over 6 feet. I am 5 feet 10 inches tall, and look pretty short in front of him.

Also took my children there, to imbibe some lessons of the Great Sahara

Food and clothes can be two ways of approaching photography, other than monuments.

 

How do people live and work, dress and eat.

 

Haj in the Mornings-Here is a Libyan Arab going somewhere, waiting for the bus. This is taken early in the morning,

Watch his headgear, Jellabiya, mat,all giving something of his ‘history’.

There is no reason why cemeteries should be places of gloom.?

Sir Frederic Kenyon,

 How the Cemeteries Abroad Will Be Designed, 1918.

                        For further insights?    www.cwgc.org

The principles on which the founding members started this monumental work are being followed with great diligence

And feeling Life grow beyond our physical space realities, I remembered the final words of the movie ?Saaransh?.(Summary) where a father watches flowers grow at the place where his son?s ashes are ..

His life had an end, my life will end.

But life itself has no end

The Cemetery at Shara Mansouri, Tripoli

 

We think about various identities and try to find our roots.

 

Misnomers and Identities

 

The answer to the query that is this truly an Italian cemetery is

that it is not. The name, as it is popularly known by the locals

is a misnomer.

 

I have found tombs of many different nationalities here ranging

from Chinese, Canadians, British to persons from New Zealand,

South Africa  and the Indian Subcontinent.

 

The national identity is a misnomer, a concept which will get

outdated over a period of time.

 

Mediterranean identity.

 

In my many years in Tripoli and roaming around in the Mediterranean

region I have come across what may be called a Mediterranean identity.

 

Many of the people who have it may not even be conscious of it.

 

People from the Indian subcontinent who have made this their home, having

come here for work, but stayed on and merged into this beautiful place.

 

Or East European –former Stalinist Bloc workers, escaping from the

atrocities and now business dealings of the so-called communists (who were

actually just bureaucrat exploiters)

 

Then there are Maltese-who debate and carve a distinct Mediterranean identity

merging and yet separate from Europe

 

Salvador and Salem.

 

Writing these lines, I recall one of my friends..who died recently.

 

The son of an Italian mother and Libyan father, he lived in Italy where he

was known as Salvador.

 

In Tripoli he was known as Salem. His children grew in Tripoli.

 

He died in Italy but his body lies in Tripoli, as his last wish was to be buried here

 

Which country did he belong to?

 

Was he Salvador or Salem?...A little of both..a multicultural multilayered

extremely talented person, an artist, excellent cook, comfortable in several

languages..and a very compassionate human being.

 

Whatever he was, maybe if you could sum him up in one word..

 

He was from the Mediterranean.

 

 

 

 

Famiglia Bettucchi

Searching for links, in the Family of Man

Famiglia Ostuni

A dog started howling at me as I entered some unfrequented areas

 

A dog started howling at me as I entered some areas which are not frequently visited. But he let me pass after some time, as I stood my ground, and he probably realized that I am not going to go away. I am not afraid of dogs, ever since they started chasing me when I took up road running at the age of 12. They would run away, when I would stop. And my luck has not run out still.No dog has ever really bitten me, though some of them did get my pulse racing.

Not this one though..he was trying to be scary..but not with me my dear.

Last Friday, I went to “Zabaan Italia” at Shara Mansouri…The Italian cemetery of Gargarish Tripoli, having got a query from one Alvaro Bettucchi now in California who read my article-The Road to Misuraata ( www.chowk.com/articles/14507 ) and told about his grand uncle who once stayed in Tripoli, and had a construction company. I went to check on the family tomb once again and pray for Easter.

Found some more interesting things there, stories of persons who came here to Tripoli, lived here and made this place what it is. I view myself, a continuum of those who lived and loved here. The oldest tomb I could locate was of a person born in 1852.(will go again and search)

Beyond conventional national boundaries which are just a source of misery, we try to find our links..in the Family of Man.

Leda with the Swan.

 

Today, 15^th April is the birthday of Leonardo Da Vinci.

 

Leonardo was an illegitimate child, born out of wedlock, and was raised in the home of his paternal grandparents. The identity of his mother is still mysterious today.

 

Notes-So interesting

 

 Making and keeping notes is an interesting, absorbing and rewarding thing.

 

Although he was not raised by his mother, Leonardo retained ties with her.

 

When Leonardo was 40 and living in Milan, he took her into his home (“Caterina came on 16 July 1493) and kept her with him for two years, until her death. (“Expenses for

Burying Caterina,” he was to note in his papers)

 

The moon

 

                        The moon is dense

                        All dense bodies are heavy

                        How stays, then, the moon?

 

 

Moonrise over Gzira Strand. Malta

Use Imagination with precision

A note at the beginning of one of his notes, poetically asks a scientific query on the moon, a dense and therefore heavy body, which nevertheless appears as if suspended in the sky.

 

Another notebook contains notes on Euclidean geometry, such as the solution to the problem of squaring the circle, then studiens on water, flight and a drawing tha rapidly sketches the dynamic pose of a horseman for  The Battle of Anghiari

 

The influence of art

 

Studying some of the works and underlying themes of works of art can be an uplifting exercise. Subtle is the penetrating influence of art. We, who live in the physical nature, are unable to feel it readily. Sketching can open some of these windows. Can the baton charge of moral codes and religious scriptures awaken the subtle inner nature?

 

A legacy of relentless search for knowledge

 

Inseparable from the figure of Leonardo is the legacy of his relentless search for knowledge, in keeping with his concept of the artist, the painter, for whom he claimed

The universal nature and boundless faculties of the Renaissance man:

 

“If the painter wishes to see beauty that enthralls him, he is master to create it, and if he

Wishes to see monstrous things that are frightening, or that are funny or laughable, or

Truly compassionate, he is their lord and god. (…) And in effect, all that which exists in the universe as essence, presence or imagination, he has it first in his mind, and then in his hands.”

 

Let us make a sketch study today or a plan of a photograph we will take and then try to improve upon our work…remembering Leonardo.

 

 

 

Was looking through some of my older photographs, stimulated by the

"world photography'  blog and got these of London (Dec 2005)

The Westminster area has got some good monuments to photograph, especially in the night.

The National Gallery was having a very nice exhibition by British photographer Tom Hunter that time.

He has done some interesting work based on themes drawn from Daily life in

East London and  merging them with painting compositions.

 

 

 

Views from the Theater of Leptis.

 

Built on the site of a 3^rd to 5^th century BC Punic necropolis, the

theater of Leptis is one of the oldest stone theaters anywhere in the

Roman World.

 

Birthplace of Septimus

 

Roman emperor, Lucius Septimus Severus was born in Leptis Magna

in 145 AD. After the assassinations of Roman emperors Commodus

(at the end of AD 192) and Pentinax (three months later in AD 193),

Septimus Severus was proclaimed emperor by his troops.

 

He died in battle in England in AD 211.

 

 

 

Reaching Haridwar in the early morning, and having some peaceful

moments at the ghats. This is where generations of Hindus come, in

birth, life,  death and after life.

 

For those who live in the physical plane, the ceremonies and rituals

here form an important part of who they are.

 

For me, it was also a way of respecting the sentiments of my  family

members, as this is how those who passed away would have wanted it,

and this is how those who live on, will like to pay their respects.

 

So, though, one may not believe in all these things, as part of our culture,

we have to do some things…

 

But there is another aspect of Hari-Ki-Pairi of Haridwar which I discovered

over the years.

 

I take the night bus to Haridwar from Delhi, and then have a dip in the Holy Ganga

in the wee hours when most are sleeping, (it is chilly) then climb up the Mansa Devi

and wait…amongst the trees and mountains.

Wait for the sun to rise over the Himalayas.

 

And it reminds me of something much more profound..something beyond the

physical, a unique gift,..a view of the world through ‘God’s’ eyes.

 

This is the way the creator would have wanted it to be, this is the way he must have wanted us to perceive it.

 

And then I remember the great words of Alfred Steiglitz.

 

“Standing up here, on the hill,” he wrote to a friend in 1920, “away from all

humans-seeing these wonders taking place before one’s eyes-so silently-it is

queer to feel that beyond these hills there are humans astir-and-just the reverse

of what one feels in watching the silence of Nature.

 

No school-no church-is so good a teacher as the eye understandingly seeing what is

before it-I believe this more firmly than ever.”

 

Try it some day…Sunrise from Mansa Devi Haridwar…It is a life changing experience.

           

Apollonia (modern day Susa)-Eastern Libya

 

The sea sketches in it's own way. Ever since I took up photography and sketching

in a bit more systematic way, new things have opened up even in routine.

 

Add to that, the music of sounds, (which you cannot hear in this sequence) or the

scent of sea air mixed with sand and the views of the hills nearby where mountain air

gives a distinct scent of sea-mountain and we have a lovely blend.

 

This feeling was what I first got when I would go for walks past the Ganga in

the Rishikesh region of India, where the great river first comes out from the Himalayas

to merge with the plains.

The Ganga weaving it's way through the Himalayas

The scents, sounds, and sights all make a symphony.It started a while ago, and the

process is maturing, churning and enriching.

Studying some of the works and underlying themes of works of art can be an uplifting exercise. Subtle is the penetrating influence of art. We, who live in the physical nature, are unable to feel it readily. Sketching can open some of these windows. Can the baton charge of moral codes and religious scriptures awaken the subtle inner nature?

 

 

Inna lillah wa inna ilayhi rajioun.-

From God we have come, and to God we must return…..

 

These were the last words of Omar Mokhtaar, leader of the Libyan resistance.   

 

These are the hills of Wadi-Al-Kuf where the Lion of Cyrennaica

Omar Mokhtaar engaged the Italian colonizers

 

This young man is climbing the bridge..and will be

Sliding down

 

The Eastern (Greek) parts of Libya have had links with Egypt long

before the modern nation-state system created many boundaries

(and miseries.)

 

Walking up a Turkish fort, I came across a 5^th century Basilica. There

is a unique collection of mosaics here. My guide and driver, though a

local himself had not seen this place.

 

Going through the mosaics, I came across this unique one, which is said

to represent the Ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria and is supposed to

be of particular interest to archeologists.

 

There are living examples of the connections of Alexandria to Qasr Libya,

which even an untrained person like me can make out. For example the language

of this region is very similar to the way Arabic is spoken by Egyptians.

 

The scent of the flowers and leaves here is most unique, mixed with mountain

and sea air.

 

 

 

History of this place did not start a few decades ago, a senior doctor

told me one day.

 

In the past years, staying in Libya I have discovered many interesting

threads, going back to the Roman and Greek times and even before.

 

What is this lady searching for, as she looks at these statues from Greek

Libya. The Eastern part of Libya was the Greek Libya, the area which

Constitutes modern day Benghazi, Shahat (Cyrene), Susa (Apollonia).

 

There are some interesting churches over here, from Byzantine times.

 

Searching for threads of Eastern Christianity (Orthodox Greek) has also

been an interesting theme.

 

 Seeing these statues in the Museum in Tripoli made me go and visit the places
where they originally were..In Eastern Libya

 

And that opened many more interesting worlds for me.

 

 

The guard at Upper Barrakka was a bit impatient as he saw me

taking these shots.

 

He even tried to tell me that the Garden was closed.

 

Luckily for me, there was a group of college students (pretty loud)

who were having a get-together there, in the late evening.

 

So, he could not get me out of the garden. Thanks to them, I got some

lovely shots of Birgu from Upper Barrakka, in the night.

 

The reflections of lights on the waters, whether still, flowing, or after the rain

make an interesting subject theme.We have previously covered reflections

on the Ganga-which are moving waters.

 

Here is one of the most interesting water-reflections I have come across..the view of Valletta from Sliema Strand.The water here is relatively still.

 

Catch the route number 62 from Valletta and reach the waterfront. One sometimes has to

wait for a while for it to be quiet. And usually these things are done alone. Night photography has it’s own charms and joys.

 

 

 

“Nothing is better known than the Siege of Malta,” remarked Voltaire.

 

Walking through the interiors of this magnificent cathedral, one gets a sense

of the history which is laid out on the walls, floors, roof of the

interiors of St.John

 

The Great Siege of Malta was one of the decisive actions in the history of the

Mediterranean-indeed, of the Western World.

 

However, very little was written about the subject before Ernle Bradford

came out with a lovely  informative book.

 

In his book he speculates that the lack of interest in the Great Siege of Malta

on the part of the English historians may perhaps be traced to the fact that the English

Langue of the Order of the Knights of St.John had been dissolved several

years before the siege took place.

 

The remarkable history is absorbing and set me off to another trail which has

lasted several years, and is getting more and more interesting.

 

Just like St.James of Delhi, St.John of Malta is a place worth a visit and

follow-up with many very interesting stories embedded in it’s walls.

 

 

Meditating at the Tomb of William Fraser-(Died March 22,1835) in the compound of St.James Church. This single tomb is right in front of the church and separate from the other tombs which are there on the left side when you are facing the front of the church.

 

I first started exploring the themes of stories around the churches a bit more systematically, when I went to Mcleod Ganj in Himachal Pradesh in 1998 . Mcleod Ganj is also the abode of the Dalai Lama. There is a church a little away from the main settlements. An early morning walk through the hills to St.John in the Wilderness opened new worlds to me, as I watched the morning dew shining on the green grass.

 

Then I came across an interesting article on a writer-lawyer John Lang, written by one of India’s greatest writers-Ruskin Bond. The story of the Meerut graveyards where Ruskin went searching for the tomb of John Lang who lived and worked in India in the mid nineteenth century made an interesting theme.

 

One of my good friends, much older than me in age but of the same spirit, (his sons are almost my age, but call me uncle..why.. ‘we call our father’s friends uncle..and you are more a friend of our father than us’ ) went to Meerut, searching for John Lang’s tomb. We could not find it as instead of going to the Meerut graveyard, I went to Sardhana. But we were none the poorer for this trip of around 30 kilometers away from Meerut. We found the Basilica at Sardhana, beautiful marble statues, and again…very interesting stories..of Begum Zumroo..et al.

 

So, as part of the monument-photographs to be submitted for the photography project, I took a fellow-student with me, on a nice Sunday morning to St.James Church, the oldest functioning church of Delhi (established by Colonel James Skinner-1836). After going through the Skinner tombs, we stood in front of the tomb of William Fraser-the then Resident of Delhi-Died-March 22,1835. William Fraser first came to India in 1804, was in the Skinner’s horse and is said to have been murdered

 

                                    ***

Two Fridays ago, I was coming back from Al-Afia hospital when Mali pointed out the place where his family lies at rest. I remember how once an Afghan officer with whom I was admitted in late 1970s had told me about how they have a family tomb, and that they visit there and can remember their ancestors. “You Hindus do not have such a place” he had told/asked me. Probably not, but in the past years, I have made some interesting trips on this theme, revisiting the stories of the ‘Family of Man.’ For me, it is also related to whom you share a spirit with, rather than just biological relations. The Afghan officer was right in a way, when it came to Hindu traditions, but wrong in another as we have some interesting relations ‘Family of Man.’ Some in Mcleod Ganj, some in Meerut, some in Delhi….

 

Next we will go into the interiors of another interesting place-one of the most interesting and beautiful interiors I have photographed..with a very rich history and tradition..all part of this large ‘Family’.

 

 

After some views and photographs of statues at the Skinner tombs, we went inside the church.

 

The tinted glasses and the Sunday morning mass took

us back in time…

 

Located at the intersection of Church Road and Lothian Road, St. James Church was built by the famous Colonel James Skinner in a Greek cross design. Consecrated in 1836, the beautiful church was said to be an imitation of St Paul's Cathedral in London but according to Percival Spear the church was actually modeled on a church in Venice

 

A ball and a cross surmount the dome of the church. The original ball and the cross were damaged during the 1857 fighting and were later replaced by their replicas. The center of the church is octagon in shape with circular columns supporting the dome and the main seating arrangement being in the central portion of the dome.

 

As part of our photography project we had to take

photographs of monuments.

 

So, one fine Sunday morning, I took a fellow student

to visit the Oldest functioning church of Delhi –St.James and

there we photographed the Skinner Tombs.

 

There are many interesting stories and histories related to this

Church, the people who lived here and the Skinner’s Horse

established in 1803, the oldest Cavalry unit of the Indian Army.

 

As per a newspaper article in November 2003…

THE BI-CENTENARY of the famous Skinner's Horse was observed in Delhi recently with a special thanksgiving ceremony at St. James's Church. Among those present was Margaret Skinner, great great grand-daughter-in-law of Col. James Skinner. The service was, of course, conducted by CNI priests but the passage from the Bible assigned for the day was read out by Admiral Sushil Kumar, retired Chief of Naval Staff.

Read further: http://www.hindu.com/mp/2003/11/24/stories/2003112400430200.htm

 

These were some of the original inhabitants of Delhi, the city as we know it today.

 

Suggested further readings:

Delhi-A city of Djinns by William Dalyrymple

 

Pigeons have different habits in different places.

 

I used to have pigeons on my balcony when I was a medical student in

New Delhi.

(Link: Pigeons on my balcony 

www.chowk.com/articles/14329

 

I met this friend/relative of those pigeons of my Delhi balcony at

Upper Barrakka gardens Malta.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpIK5J0usVY

Another all fool’s day.

Three of the chronic contract doctors wished each other.

The contract papers have not yet been signed…three directors have changed in the past six months…So given the turnover rate, and the present state of the world affairs..we think it is better to postpone things till we get a stable director…i.e…he should last for six months..So we are not pressing things.

“We have no where else to go…or no one else will employ us…the fools who stayed on.”

Then I walked on, and met my ‘former director’…the 15th Director I have had.

“Happy April Fool’s day.” He looked at me, a bit embarrassed at my frankness about my foolishness.

Then remembered some other foolish things…done.

For the companies who think that they can make a fool of everyone, all the time, I added a blog in the Radiology website.

The big transnationals have these Regional managers who remind me of the ‘Fixer” Michael Clayton…and then we remember some data to make decisions based on hard facts rather than intuition.

To read the full entry
http://www.iradix.in/370-We-are-the-children-of-today.html

Coffee with my friend Dragomir, by the Mediterranean

It is spring