Egyptonyms

Ever since my Egypt trip, I have been at a tranquil and mental peace. The ruins of thousands years yore make my 75 years of estimated existence just meaningless. What I do or dont do in this microcosmic interval which I proudly proclaim to be 'my life' has got absolutely zero bearing at a macrocosmic level. Zero. ZERO. After 500 years, will me, my name, my shame or my fame ever be remembered. I am certain that would not be the case.

Anyways, coming back to the carnality of my existence which I so much dislike, I am quite fascinated by these Egyptian names once more. Thutmose, Nefertiti, Amenhotep, Selket, Qetesh, Maat, Anubis .. I love the 'sound' when speaking them aloud. Although I have my admiration and reverence to Hindu myth but somehow Indian names (specially God names) have never 'sounded' potent and impactful to my ears.

Travelogue - Egypt

With this as a reminiscing backdrop, I shall now ostentatiously pat my own back sore :-). I traveled to Egypt. And it just happened.

Unlike my other travelogues (here, here) this one unfortunately would not come out good given the frenetic and unorganized events surrounding the travel. On an official visit, amidst ruins at workplace I found time out for the real ruins:-); the ancient pyramids of Khafre and Khufu. The frown on the Great Sphinx is certainly more enigmatic than the smile on Mona Lisa's face. I took some pics which I am putting up here. A complete album would soon be loaded on Google Photos.

1. Egypt Air has a symbol of Horus on its tail. Horus is the mighty falcon god who is considered the protector. Egypt enthusiasts would have heard of the 'eye of Horus'.

2. Cairo is beautiful, quaint, old and I loved the city. It looks exactly like Mumbai but feels different. Find out what I mean by that.

3. Surprise! Shock! I always thought the pyramids would be way inside lost in the desert wilderness, but the city has grown right up to its altar. Was taken aback when they suddenly loomed behind the dense growth of muti storeyed apartments.

4. Egyptians generally are hoarse in speech and bad tempered. It still runs in the blood after so many centuries I guess

5. Language is a crippling constraint. With influx of millions of visitors from all over the globe, it suprises me how the country has stuck to its Arabic lingua franca

6. I felt a intangible satisfaction in crossing the bridge over the Nile. I have this fancy of crossing rivers and Nile is certainly the most fanciful. Its unusually narrow and serene.

7. Suggestion - Tours and travels are the best way to check out Egypt. Traveling on your own would mean certain rip off by locals. Recommended only if you have a local contact to take you around

8. I quite liked the 'forwardness' of Cairo. Saw young pairs doing the walks, sipping cosy coffee and all. I would be interested to know some statistics on love marriages vs arranged marriages in Egypt given the hardliner backdrop of its immediate east side neighbours.

9. I noticed women wear trendy stuff, even tight fitting but in all my observations I noticed the hair was never let loose and the hands were never bare.

10. Cabs are horrible. The taxis of Mumbai are luxury sedans in front of Egyptian cabs. They look like the cars from a junkyard.

11. There are no coins in circulation. It was funny to be carrying 25 piasta notes.

12. I get a sense the education system in Cairo seems quite effective. Lots of colleges and universities. Think I saw the building of Cairo University on th way and the campus looked very impressive.

Misr

I am reasonably erudite in Greek Mythology. During college, remember cracking 7 out of 10 hard core greek myth questions at a prestigious lone wolf quiz circa 2001-02.

However my fascination has always been directed towards two other mythologies - the Egyptian and the Incas. Needless to say, Peru and Egypt are two places I am desperate to travel. Caveat Emptor : Travel is strictly meant for academic purposes marked by fervent on the field notes scribbling and theme photography.

What attracted me to Egyptian myth is very weird to explain. Since I am the epitome of weirdity, it would not surprise readers that I was attracted to the phonetics of the names in Egyptian mythology. I just love the god names. Short words but sound so impactful if pronounced with intent. Heres a list, read aloud each one.

Amun, Anubis, Set, Bast, Bes, Dua, Geb, Hathor, Ka, Maat, Nut (noott), Min, Qetesh, Selket, Shu, Sobek, Thoth, Wepwawet

My fav are Amun, Nut and Thoth. If I had never heard that Iron Maiden song one lazy afternoon in my filthy hostel room, this blog would have been called Book of Amun-Ra published by Thoth.