Beirut Break
Beirut the very name
conjures a Mediterranean haven of pleasure and Leisure
Dusky evenings behind
frosted windows tall clinking glasses ,Dark coffee in quaint cups to be gulped on checkered tables in pavement cafes ,lazy hookahs their smokes
twisting into the roofs ,the horizon with
distant mountains ,the aquamarine sea , the drifting ships .the nights filled
with dance and song ,
After all was not
Beirut known as the Paris of the
East .
The Lebanese people
are fun loving ,good looking ,large hearted people ,and to them life is
full of fun and warmth .
It is sad that such
people should have been subjected to decades of unrest and civil war ,forced to
live in a country split into two ,with snipers firing from the rooftops with bombs
blasting and mines bursting .
The green line separated Beirut during those hardy days of the civil war into two .
It was after the
nineties when it all ended and their President Rafik Harirri brought some peace
to the wounded land ,
Tragedy overtook again in 2005 when a bomb took away this
handsome man from the streets in the very centre of Beirut ,
There is a sculpted memorial
in the very spot of the assassination with a bullet ridden bombed out
empty building in its back ground .
Incidentally the
place I stayed the well-known hotel Phoenicia was just facing this spot and I
gazed at it from my balcony .
The history of Lebanon unfolded in my eyes there as I reminisced
what I had seen from the visit to the well-kept National museum ,
Lebanon has a rich history dating back to the prehistoric,
conquered and ruled over the ages by the sea faring
Phoenicians ,Byzantines ,The Romans ,The Greeks ,and later the Ottomans ,and in
the present century the French to rule them
It was in 1947 that Lebanon was free to its own but the
sixties brought unrest and the long civil war from which the country is slowly waking up to its former
glory .
Religions meshed with
cultures leaving deep imprints in the people
Now there is peace and coexistence
The marks of history
are seen in the landscape be it the Roman baaths or the Balbak ruins the magnificent
St Georges Cathedral where the monks hid their treasures in the basement for long during the wars
The Blue mosque its cobalt dome shining the skyline as Beirut’s landmark gazing into the yellow staccato
baroque European style downtown buildings .
As I strolled along the turquoise sea lining cornice into this enclosed
area I entered into a world which was
unlike any .
The cobbled streets were neat flower lined the pavements lined with boisterous coffee
shops ,youngsters lively and colourful gazing at the upmarket malls fashion
shows in ramps, the live TV shows being
recorded ,with children blowing bubbles in the air ,amongst all this all this a
detective walked with a huge police dog leashed in a chain which went around
sniffing for hidden bombs .he stopped often to pat children on their heads and
many went on to caress the big dog’s head .
There were soldiers armed to the teeth gazing at the
children playing smiling benevolently but ready to rise in any emergency,
The peace was palpable and there was a sense of calm and
happiness everywhere.
I could see a retro wedding car awaiting the bride and groom
to come out of the church accompanied by elegant guests.
Almost straight out of a scene from Godfather the Hollywood
flick
Beirut is a small city, Lebanon has many other lovely places
to visit too and places where there were snowy hills very close to the city but
I had a very short stay.
i took an yellow cab to the museum which cost me 15 $ (roughly
1500 Lebanese pounds ) American dollars are accepted everywhere ,public
transport is not much to talk about of course one could share taxis or vans
which work out cheaper ,best option is to walk as generally climate is
reasonably good and walking gives you the pulse of any place .
the Museum is divided into sections of Lebanese history from
the prehistoric times to now ,many artefacts statues line the small but well-kept museum ,nearby is
the St Georges cathedral .
I went from here to Hamra the well-known shopping street
,this looked like the Brigade road in Bangalore or Jan path in N Delhi full of
shops and restaurants good for people watching of course
I did just that from a
corner cafe as i munched into a crunchy sandwich .
I strolled along the American university hospital to reach
the cornice ,I even found a Tamil worker on the way and stopped to talk to him
for a while .
The cornice was quite as it was late afternoon but for a few
fishing enthusiasts and their long poles
The Yatch club had a good collection of stylish yatches
Finally i reached my hotel to a well-earned rest .
Evening took me to downtown and its wonders and that night
all delegates were taken for dinner in a lovely sea side restaurant and we bit
into delicious sea food to gentle lapping of waves with salty winds ruffling
our hair .
The next evening too
we went to a small exclusive restaurant dimly lit serving authentic Lebanese cuisine
to the accompaniment of a very
interactive singer with accompaniments ,he made all of us get into the mood of
the evening and this was followed by a
mini skirted female singer who was also good in her job .
Though I have taken a lot of the wholesome healthy Lebanese
food in the UAE the food here was definitely more tasty and authentic as everything
was fresh and tangy .
After the next day’s
meeting I had to return by the night flight
Beirut made an indelible impression on me
I bid farewell to the merry city of Beirut with its happy good people promising to come back another day .
