Birds of Heaven Rocks Doha!

Woohoo, what a show! I realised that you need not know the language of a song to love a music show as much as I did today. Music truly transcends barriers.

It was a Lebanese family, close to my son’s, who told us about the ‘Toyor Al Jana’ programme at the Aspire academy. They said it was the launch of a school sports initiative by Qatar’s Olympic Committee. They had a few gate-passes with them and extended us an invitation. My son’s family had prior commitments and since white hair DO NOT measure an individual’s weariness, I volunteered to take their place.

The ride to the Aspire academy was fun, mainly due to the snail-paced traffic (I enjoy commuting in heavy traffic snarls, although I agree DRIVING through it is not half as fun). My son’s friend had friends among the organisers and we got to the parking lot quite easily. We stopped next to the Hamad swimming complex and walked. We were an hour early, but I could already see long lines forming.

We walked into Aspire and I was floored. Although I have been there on a few occasions, it was decked up for the event. The lights were dim, the psychedelic lights had started dancing and heavy music reverberated throughout. The buzz grew louder each passing moment. And then the music was suddenly cut and the crowd went deathly silent. A single cymbal went off somewhere in the distance and in walked a majestic band.

They sent the crowd into raptures with several fast paced numbers. They were smartly attired and marched with a military swagger. My son’s friend explained that they indeed were from Qatar’s armed forces. Listening to them, I could see an amazing transformation happening to the crowd. Thousands of little Qatari flags shot out and children waved them enthusiastically. I have not seen such energy on many occasions.

Qatar’s Olympic Committee logo was exhibited several times on Aspire academy’s wide dome ceiling. Had it not been for the dome’s criss-crossing beams, it would have made for a magnificent cinema screen. Although I did not gather its meaning, there was a laser show as well. I tried to comprehend some sort of storyline behind it, but it completely beat me. There were a few random strokes of dots and circles all across the ceiling, but none which made sense. The crowd loved it, end of story.

And then there were the smart businessmen. I admit they went about their business in orderly fashion. They were friendly, patient with children, polite with elders and generally soft-mannered. It left a very good impression. The food was very reasonably priced and that earned another Brownie point in my books.

All in all, I enjoyed the outing. I heard that the Schools Olympic Programme is running for the third year. I should talk to my grandson, maybe he knows more about it.

Does anyone have any idea about this? It sounds interesting. If your children come to you saying they want to compete in the Schools Olympic Programme, let them go for it. The activities will do them a world of good…