Barely within 2 weeks of reaching home, I had to set out on another business visit. This time it is going to be a 5 days long trip of Germany.
The trip started with an odd-itinerary of Mumbai – Frankfurt via Abu Dhabi. The most odd thing about the trip was the timing of the flights. In my long international traveling experience of over 10 years, this was the oddest. The Mumbai – Abu Dhabi flight left Mumbai at 4:30 AM and reached Abu Dhabi after 3 hours. Then I had a break of almost 6 hours at Abu Dhabi.
The airport is like any other modern airport. Extremely clean and with lot of passengers. There are food stalls providing different type of food right from Burger King to Japanese Sushi. I did not notice any Indian Food outlet though. In fact, not even any Arabic Food outlet. Arabic food is pretty close to Indian food. I did not notice any pork being served anywhere. May be it is prohibited.
The airport has a number of computer terminals where one can access his/her mails. I did that some time back. The keyboard has Arabic characters and the interface is "right-to-left." Google shows the "Search" button on the right and the "I am feeling lucky" button on the left. I could not read Arabic but could figure it out after I used it." Search results appear on the right instead of the sponsored links! Seems strange when you use it for the first time.
There are noticeable number of prayer rooms around. The flight I am taking today is Etihad Airways, this is the national carrier of UAE. The entertainment system of the flight had sound track of Koran. I tried to listen to that but could figure out nothing. The announcement that was made in Arabic probably started with an equivalent of "Bismillah-ur-rehman-rahim"
At 12 in the afternoon they played a audio for doing Namaz. This lasted 10 mins and was played aloud to the entire airport. Interestingly I did not notice anyone reading namaz then. I am actually writing this page at the Adu Dhabi airport. I am waiting for my connecting flight to Frankfurt. As I was tying this page I noticed someone sitting behind me playing some "Hindi songs that I could not easily recognize." That's the time I realized that I am surrounded by at least 200 Pakistanis.
The last time I had a similar feeling was when the Babri Masjid was demolished in Ayondhya. It had triggered riots in Mumbai. I was in Mumbai then and I still remember the day when I and my manager had gone to meet a client in Mahim. As we went there we could see some of the shops that were burnt down during the riots. These were the shops of timber (wood.)
Both of us had gone to a hotel in Mahim. The hotel was full during the lunch hour. It was hoisting a green flag with Moon and Star, indicating the religion of the owner. We were not too sure if we were doing the right thing. We were both marketing buys so we were dressed in formals with impressive neckties. Both were clean-shaven and it would have been difficult to judge our religion from our looks. We just had to remember not to speak in Marathi (my manager was a Konkani, so we would naturally get into the habit of speaking in Marathi).
People observed us carefully as we entered had lunch, then had a cup of tea and left. I still remember the taste of the tea that was made from goat's milk!
Today, I am sitting in not just a Muslim country and am surrounded by at least 200 to 300 Pakistanis. They are all wearing Pathani dress. I am in jeans and T-shirt and am sitting alone. So there is no need to speak in any language. From their looks, it is clear that they have identified that I am an Indian IT Professional. But they are more surprised my map laptop, headphones, and style of sitting and working rather than my country of origin. At times they are peeping into my screen to see what I am doing.
Even noticed some "Malyalis" around. Familiar faces! No matter where you go in the world, you will find Mallus and Sardarjis. They are truly international communities. They work hard and are doing well wherever they have gone and settled.
I am surrounded by literally all types of people from around the world. I just had a Burger King Sandwich Meal and was sipping a cup of American Black Coffee. World has truly become global.
Just that we need to be a lot more tolerant towards each other. Till the time we do not do that we can not understand each other.
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