Cabbie Times # 1

Here are some snippets from our conversations with the "lemosine"(as they call cabs here) drivers:
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“India?“
“Yes. You?”
“Kerala”
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“Janaab, from our part of the world, there are four nationalities present here. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Kerala”
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“When I was in Bangladesh, I had never touched alcohol. But after coming to Jeddah, I started drinking” (note from the listener: Jeddah, whole Saudi Arabia, happens to be prohibition zone)
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“I have two wives in Pakistan. One doesn’t even know I am married to another.”
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“What would you consider a better state of being? 2 wives with 11 children or 11 wives with 2 children?”
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“It’s that bugger America. It’s their ploy. They have got the Danish products banned in Saudi Arabia just to strengthen their dollar against the euro” (we were as bewildered as you possibly would be now)
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We enter the cab. The cabbie looks like he belongs to our part of the world. We are greeted with a typical Arabic song. Ah! So he is Arabic. We soon settle down in our seats and switch our hearing organ off to save ourselves from any further ordeal. And suddenly:
“Indian”?
“Well, yes!”
Some noise of somebody searching the glove compartment for some old cassette. And voila! “Nach Baliye” from last year’s blockbuster “Bunty Aur Babli” greets us.
“You know hindi”?
“English maafi” (Maafi meaning No)
Needless to say we were bowled over by this sweet gesture. I guess good people exist everywhere.
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“If they like the view of sunset at sea, they will not go to the sea shore. They will bring the sea to their palace”
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