The Land Called Island
My reviews of a trip to an an idyllic island tucked away in the center of the Mediterranean blues — Malta.
An island, by definition, is a land mass completely surrounded by water. Going by imagination and the hundreds of cartoon sketches one sees, it is a place where a marooned sea man is seen standing under the lone palm tree hurling a message bottle into the sea or waving his ragged shirt to a distant ship looking forward to a possible rescue operation. My conjecture of an island stretches back to Daniel Defoe’s famous novel ‘Robinson Crusoe’, wherein a shipwrecked adventurer does the ingenious ‘town planning’ to make the place habitable for a comfortable living in the wild. Islands are known as open air museums for the nature lovers.
Great Britain was the first island country that I visited but it never gave me the instinctive perception of an island except when seen in the atlas. It is too big to be one. I always fancied small islands that gave you a feel of one and Malta was one such place that I happened to visit. It is a typical island in the centre of the Mediterranean which can be seen in toto from the air, minutes before touch down at Luqa International Airport. I was traveling to London from Tripoli and took a detour to Malta. The flight was just a short hop of forty odd minute’s duration and I was on my way to a hotel in Valletta in an old model black cab. Valleta is a lively little town with narrow meandering steeped streets, renaissance cathedrals and old fashioned palaces. I could see the rocky beach from my hotel which was located close to the city centre.
Officially known as the Republic of Malta it comprises of a group of seven islands lying south of Sicily. Out of these seven only three, namely Malta, Gozo and Comino, are inhabited. Comino, the smallest of the three, is very scarcely populated while Gozo is more rural and thrives on fishing, crafts and agriculture. Malta is the largest of the group of seven and the cultural, commercial and administrative centre of the archipelago. It covers a total area of ninety-five square miles, smaller than Loch Lomand, the famous fresh water lake in Scotland, and is the smallest member country of the European Union in area and population.
Its history dates back to 4th century BC but it was inhabited in 520 BC when the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Sicilians, French and the British ruled it in succession. It got its independence from the British in 1964 and derives its name from Malat which means ‘safe haven’. Geographically its landscape consists of low hills with terraced fields and no rivers. The low and rocky terrain is flat to dissected plains and has many coastal cliffs. The arable land is slightly over one third of the total area.
The climate is typically Mediterranean with mild rainy winters and hot dry summers. Other seasons are temperate. As the fresh water sources are scarce, more than half of the potable water is obtained through desalination plants. Valletta is the capital of the republic while Sliema is the other town of some significance.
English is the official language and is widely spoken. The native Maltese is a Semitic language with borrowings from Italian and Sicilian. The Arab rule has left a strong imprint on the Maltese life, customs and language and to the casual listener the Maltese language sounds more like Arabic though it is not possible to understand it.
Limited availability of fresh water restrains the cultivation of land and only 20% of its agri needs are fulfilled through local resources. Malta’s strategic location for docking and refueling of ships brings in substantial revenues since times immemorial and it got a further boost with the opening of Suez Canal in the late 19th century. The bulk of Maltese economy is tourist based and its superbly sunny weather, expansive beaches and thriving night life attracts large number of holiday makers from Europe. A big number of Pakistanis working in Libya send their kids to Malta for schooling. The University of Malta, with multiple disciplines including medicine, engineering and dentistry, was established in 1769. Literacy rate is 93%. Lira is the local currency but it will be replaced by euro in 2008.
Though known as the most densely populated member country of the EU it is still a very quiet and serene place. Maltese are peace loving and decent people with the majority following the Roman Catholic Church. The main and historical church was right in the city centre. Crystal cutting is a popular cottage industry and it is cheap as well but there is not much variety available in the market. The only souvenir that I put my hand on was a miniature glass replica of an old sail ship sealed in a corked glass bottle. It was a very appropriate gift from the island. The markets did not have much to offer but there was a big show room on the principal street displaying Indian crafts. I had noticed an Asian gentleman earlier in the day, trying to draw my attention from across the road by addressing his local acquaintances in an audibly loud pitch. He was sitting at the till and owned the business outlet. Starved of the company of the countrymen he would welcome people from the subcontinent. Such is the chagrin of the settlers in a foreign land.
The main means of transport is through the road network. Railways were operative until the end of the Second World War for military use but were done away with later. The buses plying on the city roads are more of antiques and were converted to public transport from the old British armed forces vehicles. They are colour coded according to their routes but are now being gradually phased out and replaced by a modern fleet. Wisely enough the heritage automotives are also being preserved.
The main bus terminus at the beach was close by and it was an experience of a life time to sit at the beach and gaze at the deep blue Mediterranean sea down below. Lot of Maltese natives, young as well as old, would sit at the beach and count the waves as their favourite hobby. The most interesting part of that rendezvous was their pastime snacks. I doubt if some one could make even a wild guess about them to win a prize in legendary Tariq Aziz show on PTV network. They were peanuts and milk dispensed through automatic slot machines placed side by side at frequent intervals. What a healthy snack! Our rail stations, bus terminals and public parks are infested with vendors selling unhygienic samosas and the likes. The Manora Island off the coast of Karachi could have been developed into a classy resort but that natural island is a safe haven for the vendors selling substandard snacks giving uncouth looks. It certainly deserves better treatment from the Karachi Development authority.
The writer is a dental surgeon and can be reached at dsq006@gmail.com
Published by Alisha Khuram
