Monday, April 7, 2008

The Spring and the Cute Qitar..

The other day leaving home, I was welcomed by brightly colorful sight .. the sky was bright blue.. the grass was really green ..and a certain scent of freshly born leaves filled the air.. how enchanting..
On the way to work I keep my eyes on the new green leaves .. trying to save enough (green) in my heart and my mind's eye..
I sat in my seat not wishing to engage in any kind of the usual morning conversation.. I wanted all my attention focused on the beautiful colors I missed for so long..
It seems that the Spring did finally decide to visit.. after such a long absence..
It sure can transfer one from a mood of gloominess to a more optimistic one..
Yet again, the cheerful colors took me back to Baghdadna.. to childhood..and to a certain cartoon I used to watch when I was little.. and I was amazed of how long ago it was saved in my memory to come to my mind today..
It was about a cute smiling Qitar - train.. The cute Qitar had a kind smiling face, yes indeed , it had a face.. with innocent childish eyes and a smile that was "on" all through the cartoon.. the Qitar was late .. we see the passengers waiting.. and the man in the station checking his watch over and over.. getting worried.. this particular Qitar was never late.. so what has happened??!!
We then find out that the sweet cute Qitar was late cause he met with the Spring on his way.. and so it had to stop for a little while to smell the wonderful roses, and enjoy the warm weather and just for a short while be happy to just be there with the long missing spring around.. the passengers that the cute Qitar had on board were getting nervious , they r late for their jobs.. for their appointments.. but the Qitar reminded them while smelling the sweet scents of spring (this snapshot I remember so vividly) that its Spring time.. ofcourse we have to stop for a while to enjoy the beauty.. and so the passengers then take the advice and start to enjoy the beauty around them..
What a sweet sweet cartoon.. how v innocent.. just like the way we were .. it was quite normal back then that the Qitar has a face.. it was quite convincing that once spring was there the world has to stop still and hold its breath to look at all the beauty around us..
The man sitting next to me cleared his throat as he was getting ready to get off.. he distracted me from enjoying my trip back with my ever nostalgic memories..
Oh how far away I was for just a few minutes.. how happy I felt for just a short time.. just to re live once again a memory of a smiling Qitar celebrating the arrival of spring.. to remember the innocence and beauty of a world we once had , very long ago yet always seems like yesterday in our beloved Baghdad..
Oh how great is the loss.. how deep is the wound..
A smiling Qitar existed only back then.. and there..

7 comments:

Little Penguin said...

Are you sure you're not talking about Thomas The Tank Engine? nah I know you're not.. but I wish I was around to see this cool qitaar that you grew up watching..

sometimes I feel the qiaar of our lives is like the one in your cartoon... with a smiley face and a friendly 'toooo tooooo.. chim chim chim'.. taking us slowly and steadily through the different stages of our years.. it's smiling when life is smooth.. and when there's an atomic bomb in one of the containers (my newphew was watching the film, Atomic Train, today hence the reference) or when there are some engineering works or technical glitches, or when we run out of coal... that's when I realise this is the actual train of our lives.. we dream of your train, the smiley, smooth-running one but in fact most of us have life-tickets for the more difficult one, with no option to upgrade to a better service..

ok enough metaphorical nonsense, I really liked this post and pray, as ever, that we go back and enjoy the smell and colour and brightness of Spring in Iraq..

ilahee ameen..

Regards

Yasmin (Blanche) said...

little Penguin,
how happy i am to see yr comment..
im glad u liked the post..
as always u write a comment in such a nice way its like a post of yr own.. i really like yr writing..
i too say : allahomma ameeeen..

3eeraqimedic said...

Yasmin
I guess it is self protection, but I keep trying not to think about what is gone, in recent days I have been reminded repeatedly of the actual depth and extent of our collecive losses.
You just have such an imaginitive way of description, the loss is indeed like the loss of a childhood's innocence.

Yasmin (Blanche) said...

3eeraqi Medic,
we all know that.. but i blv most of us prefer to take a trip in THE Qitar i mentioned.. back in time .. even for a few minutes..its too bitter a world to live in, without nostalegic trips..

Little Penguin said...

tera il ka2aba wasla il zardoomi.. please write something to cheer us all up!

exams are in a couple of weeks and, as ever, im ill-equipped!

Regards

Yasmin (Blanche) said...

dear Little Penguin,
how kind and warm r yr words.. thank you so much..
i do hope u like the new post..
Mowaffaq Inshallah in yr exams..im sure u will do well..

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