Medina - or the old city is a quintessential part of most Moroccan cities with a history. You find walled [porous or otherwise] Medinas everywhere. In Essouria and probably in Marrakech [will visit tomorrow] are a confluence of the old and new. Like the remnants of the old old Moghul bastions of New Delhi…or for that matter certain alleys in Benares and Puri…
But the Medina of Fez…is absolutely extraordinary…a provoking mix of silo-ed antiquated practices, narrow alleys, well preserved craftsmanship across a range of items, awe inspiring culture & towers of learning, hospitable [and at times - brazen] retailing. In on-line it is tirelessly preserved history and its practices – with modern techniques, tools and temperament inevitably oozing out from the different pores of the city.
Medina, a World Heritage Site, with an age of over 1200 years now can accommodate a very well researched Salman Rushdie novel…it has all the works of intrigue, information and insight confronting oneself every moment in this 350 hectare [isn’t 1 hectare ~ 2.5 acres?]. Each of the by-lane has a story to speak. Each character can trigger the provoked mind into a long trail of queries and insights on a range of topics [depending upon ones one mood then]….the realm of ‘pseudo intellectual’ - sociological, comparative religion, comparative civilization, economic structure, aesthetics…or plain sensual ones – window shopping, bargaining for the best price, talking, drinking mint tea, savouring delicacies, simply clad beautiful muslim women. The list can just go on.
The 5 hour bare foot, exploration of Medina with Hamid [our government approved guide, a post graduate in English from a local university. Extremely knowledgeable, good looking, sophisticated and committed to his profession] and L, gave a new dimension to self exploration. The richness and the variety of what we can engage ourselves in, the drop in ocean syndrome of our actual daily fare.
There are so many things which left an impression, that I don’t want to touch any. I certainly don’t want to talk of facts. Wiki and loney planet are better fares for that. But how the hell can I not talk of any. It will be neither fare to impressions nor all the characters that came along the way…I’ll touch a few of them.
The walled city has only mules for transport, you can see them every where. The narrow lanes would not quite support motorized vehicles – neither would it be able to take the concomitant pollution. The well structured and segmented is almost self sufficient city. Apart from farming we saw almost everything – well laid out colonies of carpenters, smithys [black, copper], tanneries, bridal finery, sweet shops, herbal medicines, universities [it has 11 universities – incl the oldest Quariyonne university. 8th century oldest claimed by Hamid, but probably the oldest Islamic university], hundreds of Islamic schools, mausoleums, museums. Fez can have an album of its own. Quite awe inspiring. Spiritual. Provoking [all uppercase]. A cathartic must-do pilgrimage for all. I was delighted to have made it.
Due apologies to Mohammeds [my facebook friend now, PhD in Psychology – who gave a compelling discourse in humanity and who traded my shoes for 4 Malaysian ladies ;)], Abdul [who served great food], the person who gave us finest lessons in perfumes and ‘gharelu nuskaes [hindi]’….and many such others….for not including the rendezvous with them in this piece…but then all those experiences in some sense or the other have contributed to the adjectives I have for Medina.
I didn’t want to be misinterpreted and be termed as bad guest of some awesomely hospitable people, so really wanted to avoid writing this – but the thought was too deeply ingrained to avoid. Medina, reminded me of Bertrand Russel…the preface of his autobiography [20 yrs back when I read it, I was floored like mad. CETIANS – I had used this as the reading comprehension passage for the MAT ques which I had set!!!!]….R, talked of how curiousity propelled him, love delighted him but its poverty that moved him the most. Fez is clearly prosperous. Medina has any day less of depression than one sees in Indian cities – all of them. But what made me ponder deeply stark difference in life and living standards of the modern Fez and Medina. There were no beggars in Fez and they were conspicuous by there absence in Casablanca too. But there were a few of them here. I had to but wonder. Why and how??....If a vast stretch of 25-50 sq KM city had no mendicants, how could a 350 hectare walled city have so many. [which was to repeat, far less than what we see in Indian streets. It is the disparity that hit me not the absolute levels]. Probably its from the sociologists and the town planners to answer [of the entire emerging world]. The other thing which hit me hard – was a darling of a small girl [max 7-8 years]. Soothing beauty in modern jeans and Ts, who charmed me by wanting to be photographed with us. We bid her good bye with a big grin. But the joy pierced when we heard after 50 odd paces of a beautiful voice approaching us from behind, with ‘I want money’.
After a few moments, I came to the conclusion. It all about accommodating diverse experiences [espl when you least expect them] in all walks of life with a certain degree of poise. Nah???...
This piece only about Medina yet. Yes, Medina is the tourist’s delight. And for Hamid and his ilk [with due respects] it is the epicenter. But I think the infectious caffeine of the cafes, the late night saunterings, the waiter/proprietor [whoever it was] of a reasonably mid-market café leisurely smoking cigarettes and the symbolic ‘bindaas’ attitude [find one Indian CCD or equivalent for me] while waiting for guests, the fountains, the history of Fez per-se, Fez- El Jajid [New Fez, which is itself 800 years old ;)], the jewish cemetery, the pottery classes we took etc etc deserve mention in equal measure. Its because of a self fulfilling prophecy that Fez is Medina and Medina is Fez. So this piece is Medina. I dunno it probably should have been called Fez – Medina, its core. But I still want to call it Fez – Medina and More…to reiterate there is much more to Fez than Medina. And I loved that part as much.
June 17, 2010
Essaouria
But the Medina of Fez…is absolutely extraordinary…a provoking mix of silo-ed antiquated practices, narrow alleys, well preserved craftsmanship across a range of items, awe inspiring culture & towers of learning, hospitable [and at times - brazen] retailing. In on-line it is tirelessly preserved history and its practices – with modern techniques, tools and temperament inevitably oozing out from the different pores of the city.
Medina, a World Heritage Site, with an age of over 1200 years now can accommodate a very well researched Salman Rushdie novel…it has all the works of intrigue, information and insight confronting oneself every moment in this 350 hectare [isn’t 1 hectare ~ 2.5 acres?]. Each of the by-lane has a story to speak. Each character can trigger the provoked mind into a long trail of queries and insights on a range of topics [depending upon ones one mood then]….the realm of ‘pseudo intellectual’ - sociological, comparative religion, comparative civilization, economic structure, aesthetics…or plain sensual ones – window shopping, bargaining for the best price, talking, drinking mint tea, savouring delicacies, simply clad beautiful muslim women. The list can just go on.
The 5 hour bare foot, exploration of Medina with Hamid [our government approved guide, a post graduate in English from a local university. Extremely knowledgeable, good looking, sophisticated and committed to his profession] and L, gave a new dimension to self exploration. The richness and the variety of what we can engage ourselves in, the drop in ocean syndrome of our actual daily fare.
There are so many things which left an impression, that I don’t want to touch any. I certainly don’t want to talk of facts. Wiki and loney planet are better fares for that. But how the hell can I not talk of any. It will be neither fare to impressions nor all the characters that came along the way…I’ll touch a few of them.
The walled city has only mules for transport, you can see them every where. The narrow lanes would not quite support motorized vehicles – neither would it be able to take the concomitant pollution. The well structured and segmented is almost self sufficient city. Apart from farming we saw almost everything – well laid out colonies of carpenters, smithys [black, copper], tanneries, bridal finery, sweet shops, herbal medicines, universities [it has 11 universities – incl the oldest Quariyonne university. 8th century oldest claimed by Hamid, but probably the oldest Islamic university], hundreds of Islamic schools, mausoleums, museums. Fez can have an album of its own. Quite awe inspiring. Spiritual. Provoking [all uppercase]. A cathartic must-do pilgrimage for all. I was delighted to have made it.
Due apologies to Mohammeds [my facebook friend now, PhD in Psychology – who gave a compelling discourse in humanity and who traded my shoes for 4 Malaysian ladies ;)], Abdul [who served great food], the person who gave us finest lessons in perfumes and ‘gharelu nuskaes [hindi]’….and many such others….for not including the rendezvous with them in this piece…but then all those experiences in some sense or the other have contributed to the adjectives I have for Medina.
I didn’t want to be misinterpreted and be termed as bad guest of some awesomely hospitable people, so really wanted to avoid writing this – but the thought was too deeply ingrained to avoid. Medina, reminded me of Bertrand Russel…the preface of his autobiography [20 yrs back when I read it, I was floored like mad. CETIANS – I had used this as the reading comprehension passage for the MAT ques which I had set!!!!]….R, talked of how curiousity propelled him, love delighted him but its poverty that moved him the most. Fez is clearly prosperous. Medina has any day less of depression than one sees in Indian cities – all of them. But what made me ponder deeply stark difference in life and living standards of the modern Fez and Medina. There were no beggars in Fez and they were conspicuous by there absence in Casablanca too. But there were a few of them here. I had to but wonder. Why and how??....If a vast stretch of 25-50 sq KM city had no mendicants, how could a 350 hectare walled city have so many. [which was to repeat, far less than what we see in Indian streets. It is the disparity that hit me not the absolute levels]. Probably its from the sociologists and the town planners to answer [of the entire emerging world]. The other thing which hit me hard – was a darling of a small girl [max 7-8 years]. Soothing beauty in modern jeans and Ts, who charmed me by wanting to be photographed with us. We bid her good bye with a big grin. But the joy pierced when we heard after 50 odd paces of a beautiful voice approaching us from behind, with ‘I want money’.
After a few moments, I came to the conclusion. It all about accommodating diverse experiences [espl when you least expect them] in all walks of life with a certain degree of poise. Nah???...
This piece only about Medina yet. Yes, Medina is the tourist’s delight. And for Hamid and his ilk [with due respects] it is the epicenter. But I think the infectious caffeine of the cafes, the late night saunterings, the waiter/proprietor [whoever it was] of a reasonably mid-market café leisurely smoking cigarettes and the symbolic ‘bindaas’ attitude [find one Indian CCD or equivalent for me] while waiting for guests, the fountains, the history of Fez per-se, Fez- El Jajid [New Fez, which is itself 800 years old ;)], the jewish cemetery, the pottery classes we took etc etc deserve mention in equal measure. Its because of a self fulfilling prophecy that Fez is Medina and Medina is Fez. So this piece is Medina. I dunno it probably should have been called Fez – Medina, its core. But I still want to call it Fez – Medina and More…to reiterate there is much more to Fez than Medina. And I loved that part as much.
June 17, 2010
Essaouria
Mendicants are pretty!..Wow..Must ve been a different experience..Moroccans must be a beautiful lot!..and the place seems to be an absolute WOW..great portrayal
ReplyDeleteyou pack a huge punch - in what must have a few hours of travel at medina!
ReplyDelete"Fez is Medina and Medina is Fez"- coudn't get it.
Your essays are getting more intriguing and complicated with your travels and travails. When are you writing about Marrakesh (or Marrakech). Looking forward to seeing the pics.
This is an extraordinary essay btw!