With Camels & Caprices

   As the flight took off from the Red sea coast of Jeddah, after my pilgrimage at Makkah last Monday, my mind started rewinding to the time I first landed in the Arab land in early 2000 for a professional career.  Some things have not changed as the years passed.  Coming from the culture which teaches and practices ‘Adithi Devo Bhava’, my experience of yet again facing the arrogant and curt ordering of passengers by Saudi emigration officers was too insulting to be ignored.  All the niceties of speech, smile and body language were missing then and now.

 Thereafter lot of vivid memories crossed my mind. As I boarded my maiden flight journey my mind was full of fear, not only because of my acrophobia and flight turbulences but also because of the stories I’ve heard about the  Arabs and their  strict laws . Landing at Riyadh International Airport, the people in white thobes (long white traditional dress) seemed like camels moving. Outside the airport, Caprices and Toyotas were moving at a high speed.

Life was altogether different in Saudi. People were speaking a different language and their culture was totally different. Within no time I got adjusted to the life - thanks to family, friends and colleagues. Even though the restrictions were awful and life was monotonous, everybody was happy by the month end when they would receive their pay. As the days and months passed life became active by my joining Indian political and social organizations, cultural and sports activities, family get togethers etc.

  After a few years, we decided to call it a day and return to God’s Own Country. But I truly felt indebted to a lot of nice people whom I met like Dr Rafiq Bhat from POK who stood as a guarantee that I will return from vacation (because of a case in court against me), Dr Faizal Al Anezi , Pediatric Hematology Consultant who treated my daughter for ITP and many more good  persons cutting across borders and nationalities.  I also can’t forget the Arab who filed a case against me in court for extracting a grossly decayed primary tooth of his son without his written consent. Thank God, the law of their land stood with me. Being a religion based country; I felt a lot of difference in the textual and contextual aspects in values and practice of Islam.

India and Saudi share a warm relationship. About three million Indians work in all sectors making them the largest group of expats in the Kingdom. Wherever you go, be it a restaurant, hospital or any office, you can find an Indian with a broad smile.  Ancient books state that the Indo –Arab ties dates back to 5000 BC. Some scholarly studies note that   Indian settlements were present on the banks of Tigris as early as 3102 BC. Logs of teak wood found in the ruins of the palace of Nebuchadnizzar in Mesopotamia resemble the timber grown in the west coast of India. Reference of spices from Kerala was made in the sacred writings of Prophet Moses. History also tells us that Queen Sheba carried large quantities of cinnamon and spices to Jerusalem to give King Solomon. This indicates the established trade between west coast of India and the outside world by the Arabs. In one of the life narratives of the Last prophet (p.b.u.h) it is said that ‘a King from India presented him with a bottle of pickle that had ginger in it. The Holy Prophet shared it among his companions’.

During the visit to India in 2010, late King Abdulla called India his ‘second home’. The recent bestowing of the highest Saudi civilian award to our Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the Saudi King Salman Al Saud and in return gifting of the Gold replica of Cheraman mosque (first mosque to be built outside the Arabian Peninsula at Kodungallur, Kerala) by the Indian Prime minister to the Saudi king shows the depth of the relationship.

 Sitting next to me on flight my son asked me when will Democracy come to Saudi? I had only one answer for him, “Democracy is not a solution for all people, situations and culture in this world. It would be a catastrophe like Iraq if somebody tries to bring democracy there.  Saudi society is conservative and any change is seen as destabilizing”.

After 4 hours of travel, as the flight touched the Kochi tarmac, there were sounds of seat belts being removed in unison.  The expatriate Indians were getting their bags from the overhead shelves before the flight halted, in their hurry to see their near and dear ones. I could understand their feelings as I was once an expatriate.