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Observer
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Observer
The festival of books... a feast for the mind
The 29th edition of Muscat International Book Fair being held at Oman Convention Centre is a happening place. Over 674 publishing houses from 35 countries are participating in the 10-day book fair. More than 681,000 titles are available to choose from and the book lovers are having a feast. There are speakers, art exhibitions and cultural activities to make it more exciting for the visitors. Over the years, the exhibitors also have been finding innovative ways to make people relate to books. The Ministry of Education's pavilion has people dressed distinctly and when you strike up a conversation they reveal the identity of the notable historical personalities they represent. These personalities are in the Unesco's International Programme of celebration of historic events and influential persons. The personality we met at the book fair this year was the Omani navigator Ahmed bin Majid. The actor who is representing Ahmed bin Majid is bilingual and with ease he switched to Arabic and English as he spoke to the visitors. Omani navigator, Ahmed bin Majid was added to the list of influential world personalities. The listing coincided at that time with the 600th birthday of the Omani navigator and he became the sixth personality. One can imagine the delight people experience when they meet the personality and hear him explain the various aspects of his life and achievements and show them the navigational tools. This year many embassies are participating as well. As you walk through the lanes there is the sound of string instruments and at times a melody of the flute. There is a booth from Brunei Darussalam. Hafizam Sofian is an artist who plays the traditional string instrument and at times, the flute. There is a corner introducing the visitors to the sweets of Brunei and then the section of books. Hafizam politely informed the visitors who wanted to purchase the flutes that they were not for sale and that were his personal collection. He is also happy to explain about his string musical instrument - Sapeh. 'They used to traditionally have just three strings but in the recent three years three more strings were added and so now we have six strings in total,' he noted. Another person explained that there are two Arabic universities in Brunei. As always the book fair is popular with students who look out for academic books as well. And a friend asked, 'Do you think in this digital world people still want physical books?' The answer to that has to be seen at the book fair that attracts readers and book enthusiasts of all ages. A book stall from Iraq has the best of bookmarks made of metal. It seems to attract a lot of attention because their designs catch the imaginations. There are book stands and posters aimed at young readers. It takes 21 days to form a habit and the book fair in its 29th year, has become a tradition. A tradition the whole family participates in. It is a hub to gather and check out the new books, titles and publishers. According to experts, reading can reduce stress, increase concentration, increase empathy, develop agile thinking, improve rationality, vocabulary, knowledge and creativity, etc. The most important part of the book fair is the participation of the families. Young children accompany their families, and when they browse through the book stalls, it might be the characters of the stories that attract them and probably the posters and stickers as well as colouring books, but the significance is that the young ones are beautifully introduced to the world of words and books. Here the family members are the influencers. With so many titles and topics to choose from, the place is a haven for readers and for the publishers a home it is home they like to come to every year. The festival of books is a feast for the mind. Lakshmi Kothaneth The writer is a senior editor of Observer
Observer
19-04-2025
- Science
- Observer
'Great Nuniya' by Ahmad ibn Majid in Memory of the World Programme
Muscat: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has included the Omani manuscript "Al-Nuniyah Al-Kubra (The Great Nuniyah) by the Omani navigator Ahmad ibn Majid in its Memory of the World program. This is the second Omani manuscript to be included in this international program. Al-Nuniyah Al-Kubra is one of the most important Omani manuscripts in the field of navigation and marine sciences. It records valuable information about ship movements and international shipping routes. Its most significant feature is its scientific contribution to humanity, particularly its deviation from the work of earlier geographers. Scientists who preceded Ahmed bin Majid had divided the land into only seven regions, confining these regions to the northern hemisphere. The Al-Nuniyah Al-Kubra manuscript added seven more regions in the south. The manuscript is a human legacy, offering realistic depictions of the societies the author and his navigational crew encountered during their journeys. It also provides detailed descriptions of the marine environment, its creatures, including creatures such as whales, snakes, and coral reefs, as well as the methods used for docking ships. The Omani navigator Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Majid ibn Muhammad al-Sa'di was born on the coast of Oman in 1421 and died in 1500. He made Ras al-Hadd the base for his maritime activities. He developed the magnetic needle (the compass) and left a scientific legacy represented by more than 40 works, including the Nuniyyah al-Kubra. A copy of the original manuscript of manuscript is held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth. In 2021, UNESCO included the Omani navigator Ahmad ibn Majid in UNESCO's program for the fiftieth and centenary commemorations of historical events and influential figures in the world. The Memory of the World Programme was established by UNESCO in 1992 and aims to preserve and protect documentary heritage from deterioration and loss resulting from social unrest, instability, looting, illicit trade, and other factors, or from natural factors such as heat and humidity that may affect this heritage over time. Documentary heritage includes stones, manuscripts, libraries, museums, national archives, audio and video discs, films, and photographs. In 2017, the Sultanate of Oman succeeded in including the first manuscript in the programme, which is the manuscript 'The Mine of Secrets in Oceanography' by the sailor Nasser bin Ali al Khadouri.
