'Half Moon'- A Moon on the Earth in Saudi Arabia
by P A Hameed, Padubidri
Daijiworld Media Network - Saudi Arabia
“Moon…Moon...
You are above my head.
Able to see your only face-
Vividly in the night.
Sometimes full-moon;
Sometimes half-moon.
I know not what lies within you.
Come on, Moon…
See, Half Moon…
Here on the lap of Earth;
And of wing of Arabian Sea.
Like me, many stroll on it.
Some enjoyed-played, others legged…….
Some others rode
With their deadly vehicles
Until it become prey to fire
Till it masked your beauty
With smoke of flames.
Moon!!, I woo you not more……
Because my heart is making honeymoon
Not with bonfire that pains,
But with Half-Moon of Saudia. -
Composed by P.A.Hameed
Riyadh, Jan 2: If your imagination goes beyond the earth and lands at Moon above your head, then the reality make you to touch down at Half-Moon on the earth. If my imagination is not wrong, then one would definitely feel as if he is touching the soil of Moon when he happen to be in Half-Moon Desert, which is really an exotic place and is situated at Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, around 40 K.M. from Al-Khobar.
A large number of people-both expats and citizens-in and around Al-Khobar and Dammam usually spend their week-ends by taking an outing to the spot. If the Arabian Sea with its regular song of waves lies on one side making itself a natural resort, the desert on the other side gives an exotic look for the sightseers. It’s nicely spread-sand and naturally built-up sand-dunes would definitely take your mind’s eye afloat to see a new planet; the exaggeration may not be wrong if you say that you are in the dreamy Moon. You have to take a seat in the desert, so you would feel as if you are sitting on the spongy-bed. The God’s very creation is such, which is roofed with full of wonders and beauties.
If you see it from far, you feel there is a road going to elsewhere in the mid of the desert. The same “Soft Road” in the desert is usually being used by joyriders-Young Saudis- for their adventurous car-riding and racing, keeping al most all the spectators stunned. Though it gives enjoyment for the viewers, it is really a great venture and risky. It has been always accompanied with the danger though not it is apparent. Chance of the vehicles being wedged and overturned in the sand is morefully obvious. Sometimes the vehicles becomes on fire that may cause any causality to the maximum extent.
You can see some of the photos of such an incident in which a Prado Car burst into flames sometimes back in the Half-Moon desert. The vehicle stuck in the sand ablaze. The people are doing their best endeavor to extinguish the flames. Various methods are being used to put out the fire. Some are flinging the sand with their hands and vehicles. Some youngsters used their motorbikes by raging their bikes’ accelerators so as to chuck the sands on the vehicle to get it quenched. Even the fire service personnel have been to the spot to keep the burning vehicle out of the conflagration with their handy extinguishers since their vehicles are not accessible to the spot. In spite of their efforts, the vehicle turned out to be charcoal with total loss. Now its relics silently speak of the incident, but with a signal of danger not to venture into such joyriding. However, it is still fashion of the desert!!. But, no doubt, the beauty of this desert keeps alive in the minds of the sightseers. Really, it is a replica of “Moon on the Earth”