What Atar-Rude Awakening!4 Nelson Place West looked very decent from outside. In fact the buildings are shaped in a crescent. Not as glamorous as the prime residence, THE Crescent, but, not bad either. Tony, the almost handsome 30 something from Manchester, lived in the next block with a shabby black coolie. Some days, it looked less shabby than Tony did. But Ton was a great lad who repaired cars. He'd go underneath the wreck and spent hours spreadeagled. Perhaps he'd resigned to life without his parents, who disowned him at 18.
It was a funny idea when I first heard about it in 1973, in Bournemouth. A couple charged their son rental for lodging with them when he reached 18.
Absurd!
Unheard of!
Un-think of!
But that was true.
Ton lived in the next block. In our block lived Ahmad B, Naguib A, Hamed E, Enver K, Osama T, yours truly, and a British family on the first floor. I cannot remember who lived in the basement flat. Collectively, the ladies and would-be's were Mirvat, Houda, Latifah, Enees, Nouha, Esma, and our Sameerah. The would-be men were Abdullah, Ammar, Khaled and their Omer. And that was quite overpopulated by any standard.
Mr Polish Wally would be wallied if he was reported to the authority for having these blooming third world population in his flats, but who would? Who could? To get one of those flats one had to join the queue of married students who could not get an accommodation on the campus, where the waiting could be for as long as a year if not two! (or even three)
I could not complain even when the stairways was dilapidated. One could almost touch the walls and be sure that you could do hand painting straight after. The air was almost musty and I would always hurry into the sanctity of our flat, to catch my breath. Ahhh fresh air would sell in that stairway, Mr Wally.
On a clear summer day when the sun shines beautifully one may be tempted to picnic on the verdant grass only to be disappointed by the many 'kuehs' left behind by such as Tony's coolie. This ONCE only exploration would never bring you to touchbase with the grass again. So Tony and his many friends *shhh, the flower children*, who made a lot of noise into the night, and their canines had the whole field to themselves. Sometimes they played frisbee, sometimes they just layed sunbathing; among the kuehs.
When summer was over, our patience was rewarded. We moved into a new home in the city: 18 Claverton Buildings, Widcombe, where the Kennet and Avon canal joins the River Avon, just minutes away from the bustle of Bath city centre. The previous tenant had completed his PhD and left for his home-country. Ahhh what a bliss indeed. From our living room we could see people leisurely walking along the banks of the River Avon which would see them to the famous Pulteney Bridge over the cascading, dreamy and misty weir. Alternatively, a stroll alongside the banks of the canal would lead to the picturesque Sydney Gardens and the splendid countryside beyond. At night, the prized view came in the form of illumination from The Bath Hotel, candle-lit tables, and warm soft lighting reflected symmetrically inverted on the tranquil surface of the lake.
I left the cob-webbed stairways of Mr Wally's property to the expanse of the magical vista of Mr Coombes' Claverton Building. I left the treasure-hunted field (for kuehs) of Nelson Place to the romantic walks among weeping willows, smelling fresh air on River Avon, admiring the intriguing water-keys that lets a boat float down-stream on the idyllic Kennet and Avon canal.
I navigated the now forming back-row to find me a place in the much coveted front row, the ultimate saff. I was enjoying the view, the expanse of the open space in-front of the congregation, when a whiff of cheap atar jolted me from my journey across the undulating city scape, and the unfurling best sights Bath could offer to the refreshingly, tranquil subuh congregation at the Tan Sri Ainudin Wahid's Mosque in Taman University .
The Imam said the takbirat in his best voice, and I duly followed.
Ahh would that my place in the grave, be vast, and pleasing to the eyes, like a piece of the garden of Jannah. At least it is with the view like from Claverton Bldg and not from Nelson Place West.
