Sitting on a mat made from palm fronds under the shade of tree, a group of older Omanis enjoy a round of coffee served in traditional cups and poured from a silver pot called a deleh.
It is a place where villagers meet every evening to discuss communal issues, but village elders now say such traditions are near extinction because the younger generation prefer to gather in franchises such as Starbucks and Costa to idle away the time.
“It makes me angry because young people in the cities are putting our proud coffee-drinking tradition in jeopardy,” Abdallah Al Tamami, 84, a resident of Buraimi in the Al Dhahira region, told The National.
“They are sitting in the evenings in cafes like Starbucks and drink coffee in a foreign environment. Where is their national pride?”
Said Al Khaldi, a resident of Muscat who is originally from the town of Saham in the Batnah region, said the open-air coffee majlis, once a feature of Omani life, is fast disappearing.
“To use the words of young people, our coffee majlis in the open air is like the dinosaur – it is going into extinction very fast,” Mr Al Khaldi, 77, told The National.
“It is a place where we talk about our communal problems and solve them in a very amicable way. There are only a few of us now sitting outside on the mat drinking coffee the way our ancestors did centuries ago.”
In Omani tradition, the youngest man at the majlis serves the coffee, pouring it from the deleh in his left hand into the cup held in his right, with which he hands it to the guests.
“It is considered rude in Omani tradition to serve a cup of coffee with your left hand,” said Soud Al Jarwani, 63, a retired civil servant living in Muscat.
“In coffee franchises, they just place your coffee on the counter where you go and pick it up yourself. I guess now young people are not only compromising our traditions but also the good manners our ancestors left behind for us to follow.”
Young people, however, say they mean no disrespect when they gather in international franchises to drink their coffee.
“I hate to say that we are breaking traditions, but we do,” said Muneer Al Subhi, 27, an accountant in Muscat. “We don’t intend to show disrespect to our elders when we drink our coffee in franchises like Starbucks or Costa. But times are changing and I guess the coffee majlis under the shade of trees will eventually disappear.”
The open-air coffee majlis was made popular by the late Sultan Qaboos bin Said between 1980 and 2015 with his televised “Meet the People” tours, when he visited Omanis in regional towns and villages in the winter months to hear their views about the running of the country.
He died in January 2020 after ruling Oman for five decades. His cousin Haitham bin Tarek succeeded him as Sultan.
“I was part of the royal entourage of these regional town visits. The late sultan sat with ordinary people on a simple mat and was served coffee from a deleh like everybody else. But young people still prefer an instant coffee from Starbucks instead of from a brewing pot,” said Mohamed Al Shidhani, a retired weather forecaster from the Civil Aviation Authority.
Freezer tips
- Always make sure food is completely cool before freezing.
- If you’re cooking in large batches, divide into either family-sized or individual portions to freeze.
- Ensure the food is well wrapped in foil or cling film. Even better, store in fully sealable, labelled containers or zip-lock freezer bags.
- The easiest and safest way to defrost items such as the stews and sauces mentioned is to do so in the fridge for several hours or overnight.
Game Of Thrones Season Seven: A Bluffers Guide
Want to sound on message about the biggest show on television without actually watching it? Best not to get locked into the labyrinthine tales of revenge and royalty: as Isaac Hempstead Wright put it, all you really need to know from now on is that there’s going to be a huge fight between humans and the armies of undead White Walkers.
The season ended with a dragon captured by the Night King blowing apart the huge wall of ice that separates the human world from its less appealing counterpart. Not that some of the humans in Westeros have been particularly appealing, either.
Anyway, the White Walkers are now free to cause any kind of havoc they wish, and as Liam Cunningham told us: “Westeros may be zombie land after the Night King has finished.” If the various human factions don’t put aside their differences in season 8, we could be looking at The Walking Dead: The Medieval Years.
If you go:
The flights: Etihad, Emirates, British Airways and Virgin all fly from the UAE to London from Dh2,700 return, including taxes
The tours: The Tour for Muggles usually runs several times a day, lasts about two-and-a-half hours and costs £14 (Dh67)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is on now at the Palace Theatre. Tickets need booking significantly in advance
Entrance to the Harry Potter exhibition at the House of MinaLima is free
The hotel: The grand, 1909-built Strand Palace Hotel is in a handy location near the Theatre District and several of the key Harry Potter filming and inspiration sites. The family rooms are spacious, with sofa beds that can accommodate children, and wooden shutters that keep out the light at night. Rooms cost from £170 (Dh808).
The specs: 2017 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn
Price, base / as tested: Dhxxx
Engine: 5.7L V8
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 395hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 556Nm @ 3,950rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
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German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
