Under the shadow of life.

by Anam Jaffrey (India)

A leap into the unknown United Arab Emirates

Under the shadow of the greatest modern inventions of man,i stood. Maneuvering how superlative man is to achieve this feat. This gargantuan building was transcending into the magnanimous sky, the sky whose existence itself was a mind-boggling mystery for man. This place intrigued me, and in no time I was on top of the world. I was standing on the topmost floor of the Burj-Khalifa and the world seemed so miniscule from up here. I started wandering through the local market. Various scents were scattered in the air. These scents were of the traditional 'attar', a perfumed scent made of flowers and herbs. The yet untold story fascinated me and the enigma surrounding this place drove me to explore it further. I hit the road and while driving I passed palm trees which defined this desert city, in about three hours I reached Al-Quadra desert. I needed a guide to explore this magnanimous desert. I came across a man clad in traditional attire and asked him if he could be my guide. We got into an SUV, in no time we were travelling through the prodigious sand dunes. The sunlight made the sand glitter like gold. "The horizon is an illusion that's why the sun is it's muse." The man told me he was from Afghanistan and he had a daughter who he really missed. There was a glint of tear in his eyes when he was speaking about his hometown it made me realize where ever we go, whatever we do, home is where our heart is. The night set in. I decided to set my camp near an oasis along with the other tourists. The nocturnal sounds echoed in the silence of the night. In the enchanting light of the moon, the water of the oasis glistened like multitudinous diamonds scattered on the brown plain. Sitting under the huge of stars, feeling insignificant in front of this ginormous desert, all of us were talking about our life experiences. Our lives were so disparate, yet we were so alike.