Compass versus Watch
Hello Nuala!
Today, I want to write about the positive side of the Sahara.
Dissimilarity between the watch and the compass epitomizes, in my opinion, the differences between life in modern cities and life in the Sahara.
Unlike the compass, the watch never tells you where to go.
So, here are few questions to begin with.
Are you always feel you are behind, no matter how fast you run? Are your daily commitments calling on you constantly. Are you running out of your feet most of the time, looking frequently in your watch, and find it difficult to keep up with the chokablock life around you? Do you need to cram your self daily in strangers to get to your work or your school?
Have you just come back from a hectic day? Do you expect one frenzy tomorrow?
I hope that your answer was a resounding (no) to all of these questions, but just in case it was( yes) or (kind of), you are invited to visit the Sahara desert and get (time-out) of the hassle and bustle life.
So, let us assume that have kindly accepted that invitation. What does the Sahara have to offer you?
Well, looking outstanding stranger,
you would have an advantage here. You would be overwhelmed by the reception and our traditions of hospitality.
People here compete to invite visitors.
Here, you will always feel that there is plenty of time and never feel chased by any thing. This sedentary life would let you feel some peace toward both your soul and your body. Do you think you need this?
You would also wake up every day without alarm and get enough sleep before the dawn light. Which would gush slowly dispersing the dark gradually.

Then you would watch the lonely rising sun, which would accompany you all day long until it sinks fierily behind the sand dunes. _
Nothing here can stop your eyes wherever you want to take look ;you can use the full scope of your sight.
Mauritania is fascinating with its age-old culture kept unaffected through the centuries.
The Bedouins here
spend several hours holding a green tea ceremonies, when the tea maker has enough time to outdo herself repeatedly.
We let the evenings wear off waiting for the camels to loom swaying boastingly in their way back after a long trip of pasturing.camls swaying "
Then we'd professionally milk them, drink fresh milk, and keep some mulled milk for the next day.
The voice of lasses churning out the classical songs could be heard from afar. And the men would be reciting the well-known stanzas of the oldies poems.
my friend and I" >
We are intrigued by the bare flesh and we always feel our firm belonging to it. Although the Sahara is bereft of the green trees that drip vibrant,
you can always feast your eyes with the vast golden sand under"sand dunes under widen sky"
in a trip" >
the widen skies when the moon shines brighter or the stars become more glittering.
Under these circumstances, you can't help but start improvising poetry.
With these exotic landscapes, you would invariably feel
some solitude, quietude and serenity which are more than embellishment factors in human life, they are definitely innate needs.
Only under those gigantic celestial sceneries, you would have the time to think philosophically away from any kind of distraction about the nature, the universe and the human fate. At that moment, you would perform a new sort of meditation while you endowed with an unequivocal sober-mind.
That is the spiritual compass that tells you who you are, why you are here and where you are going.
At the end of the day we are a human beings not heavy machines.
The Sahara offers that compass. And you are invited to stop by and get some.
Though we are called underdeveloped world, we believe we represent the natural man on this planet, there for we prefer the compass to the watch that guides people in the modern civilization.
We have time to enjoy ourselves.
all the pics are taken on a trip my friends and I took to the north of Mauritania on 2008.
Best wishs.
Cheikh Vall
Comments
Hi Cheikh! It is the time to say thank you to the BBC LE Staff for the fortunate idea to call you for bringing this on the screen! Is that true you´ve never tried to write? I live among green (or white) mountain scenery. Paul Gaugin, french painter, left Paris looking for what you describe and any being there is aware of. Though, he painted such picture he was not successful in searching that meaning in his real life. I think, we have gradually killed that ability. And, there are too many of us and only the few of you living there - I looked into my old pocked atlas for the information.
Hi Cheikh Vall, refer your last blog on corruption. Why people of your country want democracy? The evil of rampant corruption is seen in Democratic countries also despite of strong laws. In India, now emphasis is given on moral education to get rid of this evil. Corrupt leaders promotes capitalism. They try to amass wealth for their future generations by compromising national interests. Honest leaders lives in the heart of people. One of the Prime Minister of India was having no car. He taken a loan to purchase a car but could not repay loan during his life time. In a corrupt society, poor becomes more poor and rich becomes more rich. Corruption favours rich only and play role like a iron wall in the progress of general masses. People should unite against this evil. Here people change government with a hope to get corruption free, honest people in top responsible positions, but till date they could not be successful. Is first beautiful photo contains a big green tree in dunes of desert? It is unbelievable. Have a good day. Thanks
What a amazing picture of the Sahara life I see in your story. Really hope to be your country some day.
Thanks for all your contributions. This blog has now closed and can no longer accept new comments.

