As the Sun crests the horizon, Sandeep Singh plucks at his taus or mayuri veena with such finesse that it feels as if the morning breeze has come to life.
The melodic tapestry of Indian classical music has the capacity to whisk you away to another realm and the taus is the perfect instrument for it.
A bowed stringed instrument, it has a long and prestigious history dating back to the 17th century in Punjab. Sikh guru Hargobind Sahib famously used it to perform hymns at the Darbar Sahib or Golden Temple. Indian vocalist Ustad Bade Gulam Ali Khan from the Patiala Gharana was also spotted playing taus in the 1900s.
Of Persian origin and shaped like a peacock's body with a long neck, it is known in Sanskrit as the mayuri veena, which translates as "peacock lute".
In contrast to Carnatic music from South India, the musical genre to which it belongs is a tapestry of North Indian and Perso-Arabic influences, carefully woven together by musical institutions or gharanas. For centuries, its trance-like meditative raga has been delighting those who take the time to stop and listen.
Sandeep Singh's musical journey began with the dilruba, a modern variant of the taus, but he made a name for himself in 2012 when he took up the taus.
"My father had always dreamt of me playing the taus, so when he handed me the instrument for the first time at 11 years old, I knew I was destined for eminence," he tells The National.
He learnt to play from his father Tarlochan Singh and then trained under Ustad Shaminderpal Singh in Jalandhar for a year in 1997.
"After this, I began my studies with another great music maestro, Pandit Manu Seen from Jalandhar, whom I remained with until 2018. Now, I have the opportunity to learn from the legendary Ustad Dilshad Khan, a renowned Sarangi player from Mumbai."
The taus has four main and sixteen sympathetic strings, allowing one to bring a number of musical styles to life with their skill. As the lifetime of a taus usually depends on the quality of wood, it requires no costly upkeep — only a change of strings every six months or when they break. As an artistic touch, some manufacturers even adorn the instrument with peacock feathers.
Used by Sikh travellers, it posed a problem when travelling great distances on horseback, thus leading to the invention of the smaller-sized dilruba, although what makes taus stand out are its adjustable frets.
Sandeep Singh, who has been playing it for four decades, and is proficient in both the taus and dilruba.
"Taus is the perfect addition to any musical ensemble," he says. "Despite it similarities with the dilruba, they have their own unique charm and sound. The taus produces a fuller sound than its smaller counterpart.
"The lightweight dilruba is a product of the creative mind of the 10th Sikh guru, Gobind Singh Ji, who saw the need to downscale the taus into something more portable."
He says he's doing his utmost to ensure the preservation of the instrument, as only a handful of musicians today can play the taus.
In 2006, when the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee — the body that deals with matters related with issues of Sikh religion and oversees the managements of the gurdwaras — declared that all hymn singers of the Golden Temple should perform kirtan or religious music with traditional instruments, Sandeep Singh was invited to play alongside other hymn singers.
He has performed at events around the world, such as France, Canada, Malaysia and Singapore, and has played on Bollywood soundtracks as well as Punjabi films. A board member of the Sangeet Natak Academy, the Indian academy for performing arts, he also conducts online courses for students around the world.
Cricket World Cup League 2 Fixtures
Saturday March 5, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy (all matches start at 9.30am)
Sunday March 6, Oman v Namibia, ICC Academy
Tuesday March 8, UAE v Namibia, ICC Academy
Wednesday March 9, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy
Friday March 11, Oman v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Saturday March 12, UAE v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri, Muhammad Waseem, CP Rizwan, Vriitya Aravind, Asif Khan, Basil Hameed, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Karthik Meiyappan, Akif Raja, Rahul Bhatia
All or Nothing
Amazon Prime
Four stars
Brolliology: A History of the Umbrella in Life and Literature
By Marion Rankine
Melville House
Stats at a glance:
Cost: 1.05 billion pounds (Dh 4.8 billion)
Number in service: 6
Complement 191 (space for up to 285)
Top speed: over 32 knots
Range: Over 7,000 nautical miles
Length 152.4 m
Displacement: 8,700 tonnes
Beam: 21.2 m
Draught: 7.4 m
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Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
BABYLON
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Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
Abu Dhabi GP schedule
Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm
Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm
The specs
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder
Power: 220 and 280 horsepower
Torque: 350 and 360Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT
On sale: now
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
Andor
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5