- Did you hear Geant will start charging for plastic bags starting July 1st?

- What?

- That’s great right

-  So you now have to pay for plastic bags?

- Or buy reusable ones which they sell for 500 fils for a small one and 800 fils for a big one.

- But what if you’re doing your grocery shopping for the month?

- You still can use reusable bags

- How many reusable bags should I buy?  I’m sorry, but that is so inconvenient. They’re only making us pay more to get the plastic bags.

It is a bit. Using woven bags might not give the consumer the ultimate ease and handiness of plastic bags, but is that really all there is to care about?

I can see it through the glass walls of my office. There it lies, still blue, nonetheless. Every other day, I also track any visible changes to some of Bahrain’s biggest forthcoming projects: Bahrain Financial Harbour through the left wall, Bahrain Bay through the right.

Admiring eyes surround the Financial Harbour, anticipating businessmen, clients who envy us the privileged view. Once and again I looked at the massive structure by the shore, fixing my gaze I tried so hard to admire it. I never could.

What now looks like a lake to the side of the Harbour is full of nice boats, boats that remind me of nothing but of the Islands of Pearls. Bab Al-Bahrain is also there, now a door to an elapsed era.

Maybe I could have had some passion towards our new skyscrapers; maybe I could have seen them as national symbols, if only they did not despoil the sea, if only they did not exterminate precious fish species.

The view evokes vivid images in mind, created by verses of Al-Gosaibi’s poetry in “The Island of Pearls”. Fighting tears in my eyes I hear the concerned voice of a colleague: “Why do you look, if it bothers you so much?”.

I do not know. Maybe look because I care. I look because for years when I was away I dreamed of when the moment comes and I can once again see those very shores and inhale the sea breeze. I look because like a lover, passion drives me to visit, once again, the beloved.

We have the fake Lulu Islands (Pearl Islands), we have the fake Amwaj (Waves), we have the fake Durrah (Large Pearl), we will soon have the fake Asdaf (Seashells).But like many, I yearn for the real seashells, the real pearls, and the real waves.

I feel alien in my hometown. I feel away, in my own country.

غازي القصيبي – جزيرة اللؤلؤ

لا هــذه أرضـــي..  ولا
أهلـي لـدي.. ولا الحبـيـب

 [...]

أرضي هناك مع  الشواطـئ..
والـمـزارع.. والـسـهـول

في موطن الأصداف.. والشمس
المضـيـئـة..  والنـخـيـل

أمي هنـاك.. أبـي.. رفاقـي
نـشـوة العـيـش  الظلـيـل

حيـث الحيـاة تمـر  صافيـة
مـعـطــرّة الــذيـــول

حـلـم شـهـي  الـطـيـف
تقنـع منـه عينـي  بالذهـول

أرضي هناك .. مع الشواطـئ
والـبـحــار الأربــعــة

والأفق.. والشفـق المخضّـب
حـيـن يـنـثـر  أدمـعــه

فتـظـل ترمـقـه الـمـيـاه
كـأنـهـا تـبـكــي معــه

حـيـث المـسـاء  يـطــل
في صمت ويخطر فـي دعـه

ويعانـق الآفــاق..  يمـنـح
كــل قـلــبٍ  أذرعـــه

الضوء لاح.. فديـت ضـوءك
فـي السواحـل يـا  منـامـه

فـوق الخليـج أراكِ زاهـيـة
الـمـلامـح ك  ابتـسـامـة

المرفـأ الغـافـي وهمسـتـه
يـهـنــئ بـالـسـلامــة

ونــداء مئـذنـة  مـضـوأة
تـرفــرف كالحـــمـامـة

يـا موطـنـي ذا  زورقــي
أوفـى عليـك فخـذ  زمامـه

“I just bought a 70-kilogram cooler of prawns yesterday. The prawns were so small, such a pity” he said. I casually asked when the fishing season for prawns started, since I did not know it did. “It did not” was the answer I got.

Photo Courtesy of Marco Verigna, Flickr

That should have probably been the end of the conversation, but I could not let it be. Why did he buy 70 kilograms of illegally fished prawns when he certainly did not have to? Not for business, I know that much for sure.

“But it is prawns reproduction season. You are practically not letting the prawns reproduce”. “We cook prawns Machboos every year on the commemoration of Imam Ali’s death. Whenever I have that quantity of prawns available I have to snatch it and stock it”.

Now his reasoning not only made me feel worse, but rather appalled. That occasion is supposed to be a spiritual one, a religious philosophy celebrating sacrifice, fighting for the cause and devotion. How that can mandate fishing prawns when it is endangering our ecological system is beyond me. Now I did not only feel bad for the poor prawns, but also for the poor occasion.

Could not your Machboos be lamb or chicken? Could you not wait at least, with the occasion being four months away (21st Ramadan)? How about dried prawns – popular for Machboos in Bahraini cuisine?

I said I felt it is haram to fish for prawns now. Yes, haram with a small H, since I meant haram with its Arabic linguistic meaning – unfair. It was communicated as Haram – not allowable in Islam – and I went with the flow. I was accused of devising Fatwas that are not part of Sharia books. Indeed, no Sharia book talked about fishing at the wrong season, and no Hadiths were found to support my Fatwa.

Only I felt my Fatwa, although not at first intended as one, was right and well-justified. I wondered what Prophet Mohammed or Imam Ali would have said about destroying our marine life. I also wondered if those occasions are losing their original aim, or have they, already?

With such a mentality about marine life, are we really expecting the government to respect and preserve our environment, and not destroy our Fashts or reclaim our sea?

It has been a week of environmental shock and pain.

Away from Bahrain for several years, I came back to find it changed is so many ways. On my second week back I wrote the following article in the memory of what I longed for.

From the land of the one million palm trees, from the island of sweet sea water, coral reefs and sandy beaches, from the seas inhabited by dolphins and sea cows..I write to you..

We live in the northern part of island, well-known for its dense green foliage. Thanks to the numerous spring waters, most farms scattered across the villages grow exotic fruits and vegetables. Crops include melon, basil, watercress, papaya, okra, parsley, coriander and many others I struggle to find English names for.

It is meal time, and customarily, we are having sea food today. Are you a shell-fish fan? Crab, shrimps, crayfish or oysters? Are we craving fish today? For the list of that can be quite long! My favourites are Hamour (Grouper), Chan’ad (Mackerel), Hamam Arabee (Blackbanded Trevally), Byah (Bluespot Mullet) and Janam (Grey Grunt). A white pudding called Falooda is then served for dessert. Although very prevalent among the locals, few actually realize that the white strips used to make Falooda are actually seaweed (Agar Strips).

We planned a visit to the famed Hawar Islands, an archipelago of 16 islands 20 kilometers south east of Bahrain. A flock of Socotra Cormorants greeted us as we arrived. Not lucky enough to see the rare Sooty Falcon, we settled for the flamingos and the green turtles.

My inquisitive nature takes me to the southern part of Bahrain, where people camp during the winter months, when the temperature is more moderate and a light breeze cools the air. As I move down south I glimpse an Arabian Oryx, and a Reem Gazelle. The tranquility of the empty southern desert disrupted by the swift movement of a lizard, the food of the nomads and the cause of a phobia to myself and others. I always wanted to see the long eared desert hedgehog, but never could. Amidst the vast areas of desolate tract stands high the Tree of Life.