The Tate Britain

As published on Oman Observer today, December 15th.

Visiting the Tate Britain exhibition at Sayyid Faisal bin Ali Museum was the highlight of my week. It was all about ‘The Art Of Seeing Nature Masterpieces from Tate Britain’ which is a very famous museum and the Ministry of Culture and Heritage took part in spreading this magnificent art by transporting six valuable paintings that date back to 300 years.

We were greeted by a cheerful Omani man who took great pleasure in giving us the basic history of the museum which was first opened by His Highness Sayyid Haitham bin Tareq al Said in January 2008. Then an enthusiastic Omani woman toured us around and gave quite an insightful information about each painting and advised us into noticing the tiny details lingering in each of the paintings.

The six paintings were drawn using the method of Oil on Canvas by prolific painters who were born or working in Britain: (1) Thomas Gainsborough — Sunset: Carthorses Drinking at a Stream, (2) George Stubbs — Mares and Foals in a River Landscape, (3) John Constable — The Grove, Hampstead, (4) Joseph Mallord William Turner — The Golden Bough, (5) Sir John Everett Millais — Dew-Drenched Furze, (6) John Singer Sargent — The Mountains of Moab.

My favourite painting was ‘Mares and Foals in a River’; first exhibited in 1763-1768 and is probably the oldest one at the museum. The idea that the animals (who are said to be from the Arab stock and was a great deal in Britain back then) were drawn first instead of the background is an ingenious one; also, George Stubbs applied his knowledge in anatomy and dissection on the animals’ specific details starting from its very hair and ending with every muscle shown on the body, making it one of the flawless drawings out there.


Second favourite was the Dew-Drenched Furze, first exhibited in 1889-1890. John Everett Millais painted this amazing drawing of nature that includes different plants in such a way that it doesn’t lead the eye to a central point, but allows it to wander in the other areas. It represents the unknown distance to a man through the colour levels used in order to portray an almost perfect 3 dimensional figure of a lake.


The great bond between Oman and Britain enabled us to have this one-of-a-kind opportunity and we’re forever grateful for the mere fact. Pay the museum a visit; you’ll be wowed with the incredible historic painting.

Nurturing Independent Thoughts In Children

The day before Eid, which happened to be on a Monday, I remembered my article deadline and had to scribble one down immediately before it's too late and with the help of @Sarah_Sharji I came up with this in a mere half an hour.

Nurturing Independent Thoughts In Children
~ As published on Oman Observer; Wednesday, 17th.

Our society nowadays lacks of certain elements that enables it to become on the top, like for example, independent thinking. Since it’s an on-going process, it needs to be started with from childhood. Nurturing independent thoughts in your child helps him to grow autonomously, without uncertainty or doubt in himself.

Dependence can only be achieved if you, as a parent, start giving specific and simple tasks to your child; for example; tying his own shoelace, tidying up his playing area by placing the toys in their right position, or even as undemanding errands as arranging the bed. When the kid realizes the great trust you’ve put into him, he’d grow to being responsible of his own belongings and would even take great joy in being a part of something that would eventually benefit him.

These kinds of simple tasks boost the level of self-confidence and opens doorways into the new and serious world of adulthood where face-to-face confrontation and public-speaking seems as natural as breathing.

Other than that, in-between competition between the siblings encourages the child to think of his team, yet depending on his own mind and not forgetting the fact that he’s part of that team. It can be anything from sports contests, drawing, or even solving pieces of a puzzle.

We see a lot of kids nowadays lacking a persona, especially when it comes to blind-copying, they seem to get better everyday at that particular aspect as impersonating an already displayed character seems much easier than getting creative and being unique. Sadly to say, that’s what we need right now; something new instead of the same old. Gone are the days when the ‘odd’ one out is unneeded or even picked on, because we’re now in a world that cares, not about quantity but quality.

The child then grows up feeling his presence, not just wanted but needed as well. You can then trust him with even more demanding things like taking care of his younger siblings while you’re away, taking him grocery shopping and letting him hand in the money so that he can feel the big trust you have in him or her.

Above all, make sure to asses a room for him to speak up his mind even if it meant listening to his little stories because only that broadens his creativity and enhance his ability to interact with people above his age and beyond.

Snippets

Exams..
You'd probably noticed the little amount of posts I wrote on October but that's due to the super busy schedule I'm following and with everything else going on currently, I hardly ever find the time to read. Even though I had quit reading in order to memorize Quran verses, I missed it and I guess that it's a part of my everyday life that I could at least asses few minutes to.

First term exams have started on Wednesday, starting with Social Studies and today was English Lit. Since it's been two years since I last studied S.S, I was somewhat nervous on taking it so I double-studied (if that's even a word) and thankfully, it wasn't all that hard at all. It's also the first time that we take English Lit so I didn't really know what to expect and I know I've done well.

Firsts..

Beside school, I got my very first phone on 13th of October (Too late? I know). I've never felt the need to have a phone even though it's the 'trend' around here. My parents have always urged me to but I didn't need it. And on 6th of October, The Week crew came to school to award us (the winner team in Cubscribe Challenge) and I got a Samsung Corby and I'm very pleased with it. Plus, we got a one-year subscription for Muscat Daily and the other publications of Apex Stuff. Also, a group picture of us was published on the cover page of the paper.

After writing for Oman Observer for almost 6 months, they thought to let me work officially and sign my very first work contract with them. It's a huge commitment, I know, but I had made sure to know what I was getting myself into before going for the signing.

So that's it for now, and up until a new post, take care.

What Keeps Me Going...

With days passing by so fast, my writer's block keep occurring more often. I'd be clueless on what to write about for my column and on every Sunday night, I switch on my laptop and place my fingers on the keyboard, waiting for some miracle to happen and hit me with ideas.

Last night, while my Dad and I were cutting and pasting his own articles and placing them in a portfolio, this mini conversation happened:

Dad: What day is it tomorrow? Saturday?
Me: No, it's Sunday.
Dad: Okay.
Me: Why?
Dad: You haven't written your article yet.

I should have known, one way or the other, that he'd bring it up even though I had repeatedly asked him not to.

While I was browsing through his articles that dated back to 2003, I'd noticed how, over the years, the papers have turned to yellow-ish brown. He'd had 2 pages full of his coverage on a specific event and I had asked him if he really did all of that in one day. He'd said yes: He'd attend an event at night and would come back home, note down the details, even if it meant staying up till mid-morning, because, he said, he is supposed to turn it in by the morning.

I wondered if I'd be capable of doing that when I'm reluctantly writing for my column before the day of submission it self. Dad showed me his column; it was full of interesting articles and plots, rich in meaning and vocabulary and I wondered if I could ever live up to his achievements.

If Dad, I decided, wasn't pressing me in about sitting down to write up something for my column over the past few months, I know for a fact that I'd become careless by the day and forget all about it. Keeping the fact of having asked him that it truly bugs me aside, I am happy to realize that this is exactly what keeps me going: Him.