Finally! The tickets are booked, the visa is secured, bags are packed (ok now thats not true) and I’m all geared up to go.

3 days in Jerusalem - living in an hostel in the Muslim quarter, celebrating Sabbath with guys from Jewish school, praying at the Church of Nativity (where the dude was born) in an area currently controlled by Palestinians, watching the sun set over the Dome of the rock (where Hindus are not allowed for some reason). phew! so much pressure

(Too boring to link to wikipedia articles)

2 days in Tiberius region - browsing nearby areas where the Egyptians, Romans, Jews, Byzantines, Arabs (list truncated) fought with each other and built and destroyed structures. Cycling for a day around the sea of Galilee if the weather is good.

2 days in Haifa region - Bahai gardens, Knights Templar, Arab markets and other places with funny names.

Then 8 days at Tel Aviv University preaching divine MBA knowledge that I am still acquiring (thats the primary reason they are sending me to Israel for).

2 days to float on the Dead Sea, Massada and some more religious tourism (too bored to fix pronoun references).

2 final days in the Negev desert dancing and drinking with the Bedouin tribes

All this is ‘planned’. Lets see how much an individual like me can do.

Like Celine, I feel more like a traveler than a tourist. It’s been almost 16 months since any major trip, and I’m so looking forward to this trip

See y’all wonderful people next year!

PS: Its snowing like crazy in Toronto after like 60 years. Everyone is indoors. A couple of us got together and made business plans for Maternity homes. Looking for angel investors.

• Trip to the Holy Land (17)
• Scrolls from the Holy Land - 9 : Beit She’an (25)
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• Scrolls from the Holy Land - 6 : Old City of Jerusalem (17)

Thats what they said 30 years ago and indeed they still rock. I’m talking about the rock band Queen, whose songs were repackaged in 2002 into a musicalWe will rock you.

We Will Rock You is a jukebox musical, based on the songs of Queen and named after their hit single of the same name. The musical was written by English comedian and author Ben Elton in collaboration with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor. The story takes place in a tongue-in-cheek dystopian future where originality and individualism are shunned, and a lone “Dreamer” appears who can fulfill a prophecy that will enable the return of rock ‘n roll. - Wikipedia

The original London production premiered on May 14, 2002 at the Dominion Theatre. The show is currently still playing there, where it recently celebrated its 5th year anniversary. This speaks volumes about how awesome the play is.

Plot: The story is set in the future (Earth is called as ‘Planet Mall’) around 2300 AD, a time when the world is governed by a totalitarian mega corp called Globalsoft. ‘Killer Queen’ heads the corporation that enforces all citizens of Plant Mall to listen to computer generated music and lead a conformist life devoid of individual freedoms. Predictably, there is a tribe of rebel ‘Bohemians’, who aim to bring freedom symbolised by rock n’ roll music back to planet Mall. However, all music instruments have been banned, anyone suspected of having a rebellious thought is quickly captured into submission. Finally, there will emerge a messiah ‘Galileo’ who will crush the killer Queen.

Watch this video please. Repeat. Watch this video;):

About 26 songs (all by Queen of course) weave this 3-hour musical together. The number might sound intimidating, but the songs were quite apt and wonderfully performed (as you might see in the preview). At the end they left the audience craving for more. As a wannabe artist myself, I couldn’t but express my awe at the amount of hours the guys put in to create this wonder.

This was the first time I saw a western musical and I had goosebumps till the next day. If you happen to be in a city where they are playing, DO NOT miss it

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2)
• YorkU Fine Arts Festival (2)
• Umrao Jaan (6)
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These kids from Bhivpuri village near Matheran, a hill station close to Mumbai, were eager to get photographed. The toddler in the girl’s arms started laughing after the flash of my camera went off It was such a wonderful moment!

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