Every time I see the Nido tin with the powder milk trademark, a scene from Iraq comes to mind - of my teaching days in one of the ill-equipped schools during the war with Iran. The janitor prepares for the morning tea break; she puts a few potatoes in water inside the Nido tin, places it on top of the Aladdin stove, then adds a few eggs. Into freshly baked Iraqi sammoun (bread) she puts slices of potatoes and eggs, parsley and mango pickles, making delicious sandwiches to sell to the teachers.

I found this book, The World’s Greatest Wonders, at a charity fair in west London. Seeing pictures of Babylon made me look back in wonder. It has no publishing date as though it wants to remain timeless. Babylon takes me back to childhood school trips. I see myself jumping over the ruins, sitting with the girls in the shade of the statue of the lion of Babylon for lunch and taking pictures with our hands near the lion’s mouth.

When I left Baghdad, this map was kept inside my handbag along with a copy of the Koran. The area names are used as mail addresses because people still prefer the old names. With all the wars, change of loyalties, conflicts, sanctions and deaths over the centuries, the Tigris watches patiently, praying for happy days, wondering how to explain “happy” to a generation raised in misery. I see the Tigris weeping, quenching the thirst of the bewildered people of the eternal city of Baghdad.

The bus pass is for July 14th, 2000. The 14th of July marks the anniversary of the birth of the first Republic in Iraq in 1958. Millions of Iraqis had great hopes for a new era in their modern history. But now it is painful to find millions of Iraqis in exile and Iraq in a much worse state than ever before.