Although I no longer live in Bahrain, I am fortunate to have the chance to pass through every so often, on my to India.  I enjoyed the year and a half I lived on the island, and I enjoy visiting it again, but it’s interesting that I fee differently about it depending on where I have arrived from. 

Recently, I made two visits that had quite contrasting ‘flavour’s.  At the beginning of December I arrived in the Gulf after spending a couple of months in Lebanon.  The first thing I notices was how much less ‘Arab’ Bahrain felt compared to the Levant; the mix of nationalities in the Gulf gives it a very different flavour to countries such as Lebanon, Syria, or Jordan.  Manama also felt very quiet after the noise and vibrancy of a city like Beirut, and at first I found myself feeling a bit fidgety, although I soon settled in and enjoyed my stay. 

In contrast, at the end of January I returned to the island after two months in India.  While I hadn’t enjoyed Bahrain’s slower pace after being in Lebanon, two months in India made me very grateful for a slower, quieter pace of life, and a more organised environment.  The pollution and all-pervasive noise of Indian cities are things I never want to get used to!  And after a trip to India, Bahrain is suddenly Arab again.  It’s a bit like seeing a photo, and then the negative: different things stand out. 

In some ways Bahrain could be thought of as a perfect home for someone like me – I have an English father, an Indian mother, and I suppose I could be described as an ‘Arabist’ (I have studied Arabic for many years and have lived and worked in various parts of the Middle East). 

In Bahrain I can have access to these different cultures as I wish – for example, I can surround myself with either English or Arabic (unfortunately I don’t speak any Indian languages), and I can eat Indian food (something I miss terribly in other parts of the Middle East) – Bahrain really does offer everything.  It is whatever you want it to be. 

In the end I suppose places are like people; they can’t be defined easily, or pigeonholed.  Your relationship with a place is the same as a relationship with a friend.   It is as much about what you bring to it as what you perceive to be there already.    Ayesha Saldanha