Life was so simple then...

Life was so simple during childhood. Study during the working months and when summer arrives land in Oman to be with your parents.

Every child who have gone through this stage can relate to these experiences. There were no malls and Muttrah Souq was the star attraction.

Walking through Muttrah Souq meant taking in all the aroma of the spices, voices that were chatting in the background and colourful toys that made the young mind hop from one to the other. It could be a doll, a kitchen set or games. Once you have it secured in your hand after convincing dad it is the best thing you have ever laid your eyes on, impatience would take over. One could not wait to reach home to open the boxes.

Walking over the payments of Muttrah Souq in 2023 I was that little kid all over again looking at all the colorful toys with parents and brother on the side. A mirror would have to convince me about the decades that have passed by me.

It is amazing to relive or be transferred to that era with just sights and sounds, not to forget aroma.

Obviously conversations have changed and the writer’s own outlook have transformed into unimaginable level on topics such as savings and investments.

The time capsules are so important, as in my case Muttrah Souq. The lanes that opened up to new interests during different ages to the version of Muttrah Souq with free Wi-Fi. Seasons change, and festivals come and go, but Muttrah Souq remains the same - during high tide and low tide. If it was trading dhows in the past, there are cruise ships which arrive at the Sultan Qaboos Port today.

People ask, “Why are there products from other countries at Muttrah Souq?”

But that has been the pulse of the souq. People brought things from everywhere and that is how it become a trading hub.

Becoming a journalist had the pleasure of interviewing the pioneers of Oman’s business community who revealed their growing up years into business. They just grew into it. Most of the renowned business houses originated from here - Muttrah Souq.

The arrival of each dhow must have been exciting... the people who arrived and the products they brought.

But by 80s all the toys that one would dream of were at Muttrah Souq or other parts of Ruwi when it came to electronic toys. The VCR days were magical because today you have your stars sharing the same space with everyone on online platforms. Back then the stars were from big screen to TV screens.

The beauty of a letter being brought home can never be recreated and the notification beep of a message on your mobile phone is no match. But if you weren’t born in that era it is difficult to comprehend the concept. Instead one may wonder why on earth would someone would want to read a handwritten letter.

This reminds us when we even try to imagine the journey the letter went through to reach this far.

Only the sentimental ones would know the value of handwriting and how much it is connected to the personality of the writer. Including the colour of the ink mattered. If an error was made no one used a whitener, but just scratched it out. As a young student from a boarding school, the letters I wrote as you would imagine had many designs of corrections and often ended up never mailing them to parents and grandparents.

The letters that were never sent and the words that were never shared weren’t just a click away then, but must have meant so much to the ones who had been waiting.

In other words don’t brush aside your thoughts that you want to share for they might be the words they are longing to hear.