I grew up in Muscat next to Masjid’s next door and the sound of the Azaan was the sound of life. Today at the National Mosque of Malaysia I was fortunate to observe the Maghrib Azaan, in its full glory and it felt like I was back home in the Khaleej.

The Islamic Arts Museum surprised the Indian within me by looking at a massive Mughal Art collection and a separate collection dedicated on Tipu Sultan. Such homage is unique in the age of Hindutva where the Mughal past is being replaced by a Hindu right’s version of history.

The Indian Ocean Exhibition was surreal as the links between the Nusantara and the Khaleej was spelled out in detail through Jawi, Faith and Spices. The exhibition had overlaps with the ethnographic museum in Melaka, run by the state government whereas this exhibition was held at a privately owned museum.

This is a classy exhibition of which is a must for history students and scholars alike.

Capturing the late night vibe of tourist central

An absolute honour to meet Dr Sayeed Mohammed from Qatar in Kuala Lumpur to discuss the complexities of research in transition. I have admired him for his research on low carbon transition in Qatar and the Gulf. We met in a diasporic Pak Punjab over desi chai and mithai, the most apt of places for diasporic scholars from India.

The Arab Spring has many afterlives, as we can gauge from Damascus. The long shadow that created the refugee exodus to Europe and also Malaysia and engulfed a region out of relative prosperity to chaos.

May Shams heal and restore, in the year of wars from Kiev to Congo.