The day that i met "Almost-a-Taliban"

My experience in UAE has been pleasant and all the more surprising most of the time. Had a whole lot of experiences, which will be there in my memory for quite sometime.
Most of them happened during my interactions with the cab drivers who are plying the streets.

Although most of them can be pinned down on a continuous basis, i dont find the motivation to be sufficient enough. I blog when i reach that tipping point most of the time.. when there are some emotions that keep lingering in my mind which i find unforgettable. And when that thought or emotion reaches that tipping point i decide to blog it out.

My this blog is also an experience which has been lingering in my mind for quite sometime, that every once in a while it keeps coming back to me. Hence i am blogging this.

Some time back ~say 3 weeks ago~ i was coming back from my office with my colleague Rajeev, to our place of residence. The journey takes 30+ mins and we took a cab whose driver was a pakistani. That was the day of the Hindu festival of lights "Diwali" and the indian radio stations here was bustling with all sort of well wishes and greetings regarding the same. I and Rajeev was also talking about the festivities that occur during that period in India.

Suddenly this pakistani driver starts talking to us in a very friendly manner. He asks us about what is diwali. What is the significance of Diwali, Who celebrates diwali, What do u do during diwali which we muslims do during EID. The muslim festval of EID has just concluded and so he was asking as to what do hindus do for the festival like fasting or something..

Rajeev is quite informed regarding the indian as well as hindu history, which even i dont have a clue of. He is "Jain" by birth but has read extensively about Indian History & independence struggle and Hindu Manuscripts, which has made him quite knowledgeable. So he was explaning what the occasion is. Whether he knows about any hindu festivals? Whether he knows about Ram? The driver has no clue. He is totally alien about what hinduism is all about. Regardless Rajeev told him that it is the victory of good over evil and indians normally celebrate it by lighting lights which is a sign of good over evil.

Rajeev was telling him that there are hindus in karachi and all in pakistan also, whether he has seen any celebration for diwali in pakistan? He said that he is from Waziristan and has landed in Abu Dhabi some 5 months back and dont know much of karachi and all. He was telling about the hardships in working in UAE as a driver. The amount of speeding fines that he has to pay and the ruthless nature of arabs for not giving space for driving.

As we were talking, the time for the 5mins news bulletin came in radio. That was the time, the pakistani army launched the army operation in South Waziristan against the taliban. So we were inquiring about what is happening to pakistan and all. We were asking him as to why is there a lot of infighting in pakistan. Why is pakistanis killing pakistanis. He retorted quite strongly to all this. He said that there is no consideration for wazirs in the pakistan army and the punjabis hate wazirs. So that there is very less ppl from wazirs in the army. And that the army get money from america for each person killed in pakistan. That was the time when there was a massacre at a pakistani army base where quite a number of people have been killed. He was asking us as to whether we would dare to go to a military base in an army uniform. He said that its all pakistani army's own plans, by doing the attack on their own people, they just want to attack the wazirs. He was telling about the flattened homes in wazirs and of the people and kids who got killed in the attack. He also told about how a father who lost his son took a bomb with him and killed a truck full of soldiers in pakistan. He said what wazirs want is a place where there is no interference from government or miliary.

Rajeev trying to get more out of him by knowing his true psyche, asked him about the fact that why is the schools there being bombed. He said that there was no need to educate the girls. He himself confessed that he has studied only till 7th std and that he dont find any reason to teach girls. He said in their culture the girls are supposed to serve their husbands and anyway there are men like him who are working to earn the living for them. I asked him as to why he dropped out of the school. He said that there are no schools in the area and that has to go long distances for learning and that there are no universities there.

Rajeev asked him whether he knows who found about making a nuclear bomb.? He said he dont know. Rajeev told that there was a woman scientist called Marie Curie who discovered radioactivity which could be used for nuclear bomb. So why are u saying that girls should not be educated. He was stunned. He tried so say that what might have happened might be an exception and most women end up doing nothing otherwise. He said that women are not allowed to watch tv at their place as they will be corrupted. And that women are not supposed to even to talk to any other male than her husband. He was telling us that his wife will not even talk to his brother when he calls here thru the telephone from here. That is the trust that a women should have.

He also mentioned how when taliban took over their place they took all the satellite tvs and cds away from them. So Rajeev asked him whether he sees bollywood movies, he said yes. Again Rajeev asked whether he sees hot scenes in those movies? He said yes. So Rajeev asked him so how is it that u can watch and see whatever u want to see and while the girls are not supposed to see even movies or talk to other people. He said that men can do it and its no what girls are supposed to be doing.

I asked him about what he wants to do with his life. He said he want to go back home and relax at home. So i asked him who will bring the food? For that he said that he is having a joint family and there will be someone who will be working and that he dont have to worry about that.

Rajeev finally asked him whether he is happy with the taliban there. He said that there is no problem with them there and that America is the biggest problem. When america decides to not interfere with their lives, they will be well off and pakistan will be better.

We had reached our place of residence by that time. We payed him the fare and quite surprisingly he asked whether both of us are angry with him because of his words. I said that it is your life, your country and that we r not at all angry with him.

Although he was quite gentleman like in his actions, i could clearly see in him the level of motivations and the enrage that would mould another taliban. Marin Luther King has once said "We have guided missiles and misguided men". I really felt so. All these days i was wondering what can be the corrective measure a country or a person could do for individuals like him who are still stuck with the traditions of the old world.

The three things which i believe that should be done to guide these misguided men should be by educating them, by giving them exposure to the world by urbanisation of the population and by the guidance of proper religious heads. The present world is giving undue importance to religion in every walk of life! When will humans realise that religion is created for the humans and not otherwise. There is point which i am critical of muslims in particular, because there religious heads r not working for the people of their religion esp in India and Pakistan. The point which i want to put across is although there are lots of moderate and well educated people in muslims also, they are not able to live their way of life or exert their opinion on the world coz of a minority that preaches extreme interpretation of Islam. Most of the middle eastern countries like UAE and all exert their full energy into educating their next generations and these muslims are the least bothered of what is happening in pakistan or afghanistan, or what the clerics there are preaching. I think it is a chicken and egg kinda story in india, pakistan and all, where either there is rampant proverty or people are so jobless that they dont have anything else to think about other than religion.

One more thing which i understood after interacting with people of different nationalities is that the story of human beings is the same everywhere. Everyone wants their family to be better off.. Everyone is willing to make sacrifices for a better future. Religion is highly over rated in the current generation. I dream of a world in which there is peace and everyone is respected for what they are. As they say "No wars will be fought if only they had talked and respected each others' perspective". Adios for the moment!