Vignettes: Places Remembered, Moments Felt

Life unfolds in fleeting moments, some vibrant, others steeped in quiet resistance, all searching for belonging. These scenes feel like fragments of a dream, momentary glimpses before they dissolve. The Mediterranean threads through these places, peeking through the gardens of King Farouk’s palace in Alexandria, brushing past Tel Aviv’s curated liveliness, and settling into the unsettling quiet of Ashkelon, where life teeters on the edge of uncertainty yet remains profoundly silent.

From there, the path leads to Jerusalem, where faith, history, and longing entwine. Not far away, the village of Deir Yassin stands as a haunting reminder of a painful past, its silence bearing witness to tragedy, loss, and the pursuit of belonging.

In Cairo, the Nile glides through the heart of the city, echoing the flow of the Hooghly through my memories of Kolkata, two rivers carrying histories, stories, and an unspoken connection to their people. The pyramids rise in timeless majesty, while Luxor rests in dreamlike slumber, caught between past and present. Alexandria shimmers with a quiet allure, as if waiting for something just out of reach.

From Istanbul’s vibrant streets, where Hagia Sophia stands as a timeless sentinel to the ebb and flow of empires and beliefs, to Ankara’s calm presence, the journey loops back to Haifa, where the Mediterranean stirs gently at dawn. Each place offers fragments of continuity, contestation, and hope, all held together by the steady rhythm of the sea, moments felt, places remembered.

Priya