Camels in the Sky : Travels in Arabia

by V. Muzafer Ahamed, P. J. Mathew (Translator), Mini Krishnan (Editor)

Overview

A unique tour of the largest sand desert in the world. The name Rub 'ul Khali (Empty Quarter) belies the immense diversity and life it harbours, says the author who lived and toured the Arabian deserts for over thirteen years as a journalist. A compulsive traveler since his student days, Ahamed describes in lyrical prose the history, pre-history, archaeology, legends, folklore and travails of the emigre Asian work force that tames the harsh desert. The book is perhaps the first Arabian travelogue by an Indian which takes a comprehensive view of Arabia beyond the Hajj to Mecca, which is guided anyway. It is probably witnessing the swansong of the fabled Bedouin culture in the wake of the oil tide that is distorting the Arab culture alongside the changing landscape. A valuable guide for the Saudi-bound.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199489428
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/26/2020
Pages:	214
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

V. Muzafer Ahamed, Periodicals Editor, Madhyaman Daily,P.J. Mathew, Freelance Journalist and Translator,

1. V. Muzafer Ahamed is currently the Periodicals Editor of the Kerala-based 'Madhyamam' group. He worked in Saudi Arabia for 13 years for the Jeddah-based 'Malayalam News' daily. He won the Kerala Sahitya Academy prize for travel writing in 2010 and is the author of seven books in Malayalam. He hails from Perintalmanna in Malappuram district of Kerala.

2. P. J. Mathew, the translator, is a bilingual journalist with two decades of experience in English journalism in New Delhi and three decades in Malayalam in Kerala. He oversaw the launching of three newspapers from Kerala and headed the journalism training programmes of three institutions and boasts of a host of leading journalists as their guru. He turned to translation after turning 65, and has brought out six volumes in Malayalam and two in English, This book is his third work of translation. At 75, he turned a widower in late 2017, and is blessed with two children and three grandchildren. He gave up growing rubber and turned to bamboo

three years ago, when rubber prices took a nosedive. He lives in Kozhikode.

Table of Contents

Author's Note
Translator's Note
Introduction
Camels in the Sky
1. Water War
2. The Bedouin and the Gaaf Tree
3. Burn Marks of Death
4. Cactuses Drink Moonlight
5. Palpitating 'Fossils'
6. Mirage, Mirage
7. Madman of Rub'ul Khali
8. Hoo Cho r'r'r
9. Blind Camel, Enter Not This Garden
10. On the Trail of Laila
11. Apple Tree on Sinai Slopes
12. Forest without Trees
13. The Hulls of History
14. Footprints of Civilizations
15. Thirsty Waterholes
16. Necropolis
17. People of 'Daratt' Under the Tree
18. Heroines of the Desert
19. Snowfall Turns Camels into Deers
20. Textbooks of History
21. River Emptying into Sand
22. Paradise Scattered
23. Life's Laboratory
About the Author and Translator