Morocco transports Sathya Saran to another world.
He's dressed in quaint robes, wears a cap, and sings Hindi songs, specifically from Kabhi Kabhi. While he tells us that the Neander-thals inhabited Morocco before the Berbers came in and later, the Portuguese and the French, our guide also tells us that he adores Shah Rukh Khan.
In one short bus ride from the airport to the centre of town, his blend of humour and history have wiped away the fatigue of the eight-hour flight from Dubai, and the hours of sleeplessness that preceded it. Gathered here are some of the facts about Morocco that survived five hectic days of travelling through the country.
CASABLANCA CALLS The city was founded by a Berber tribe, and in the hazy past when it was created out of warring villages, was called Anfa.
The Portuguese came in the 16th century and renamed it Casa Branca, in the way settlers do, to make sense to themselves... The white houses inspired the name. The rich plains and the wool-laden sheep attracted other nations, among them the English, with their penchant for world conquest by way of adventure, and the Spanish, who were practically neighbours anyway, across the Mediterranean.
Casa Branca finally became Casablanca in the 19th century, after God’s hand, in the form of an earthquake, dispersed the Portuguese, and the Sultans took over. It was not long after that that the Europeans returned. Frenchmen, Jews, Spaniards, Arabs...
‘Casa’, as the city is fondly referred to by all we meet, gathered them all within its two stately gates that seemed more to welcome than to repel visitors. And thanks to the fertile soil that Morocco boasts of, and the port, and the readiness to trade, the city flourished to become a commercial capital.
BEHOLD BEAUTY The city is pretty, but it is the imposing mosque that stands like a sentinel, beckoning, that demands attention.
We walk the stone pathways buffeted by winds that are blowing in from the Atlantic. It is Friday, and the faithful are enclosed behind the great electronically-operated doors, so we have to satisfy ourselves with looking at the wonderful exteriors.
The mosque - our guide, who has had an image change today, and is dressed in traditional garb, tells us - was built by a Frenchman, Michel Pinseau. Twenty-five thousand worshippers, of whom 7,000 could be women, can fit in the hall and the galleries, and on holy days, 80,000 can be accommodated in the area around.
While the photographer busies himself with capturing the grandeur on film, I watch the scene around me. Girls, probably from colleges or still in school, gather in small groups, chattering as they walk... Mothers sit on the steps while children play. I look at the intricate stonework, bend down and pick up chips of blue stone that lie in the cracks between the steps and make myself a souvenir. CASABLANCA BY NIGHT IS A DIFFERENT STORY We are at the Le Reserve Disco... The water laps softly outside, the wind is doing a dance of its own. It’s just short of midnight, and the diners are folding their napkins and getting ready for some serious boogeying. Tall drinks in taller glasses appear on tables, the music is turned up, and the sound of young voices fills the air.
As we leave on a disco-hopping mission, couples are thronging in. The djelebas have been firmly tucked away into bottom drawers; high fashion hits the streets at night. With their high colour and snapping eyes, a little make-up transforms all the young women into instant model material.
Downtown, at Caesar’s Disco at the Sheraton Hotel, across from Le Meridien, the night is already swinging. The music is as heady and loud as anywhere in the world, the women more beautiful, and soon, tables turn into dance floors, as heels rap out rhythms that send the blood racing.
The old-fashioned rooster who believes in early to bed and the rest of that adage, is readying for his wake-up call, when the place finally starts to empty and we troop out, weary yet exhilarated, to find our bit of shuteye.
What a way to discover Casablanca... Bergman and Bogart never had it so good.
Footloose In FES