What is right or what is wrong?

Often in life we become judgmental. It is so easy to pass a judgement especially when it comes to others. It should be admitted here that I have had this habit for a long long time. After hearing the incidents such as the one I am going to narrate now, the habit is far more controlled. It is one of those few treasured moments in the UAE when I had the privilege of trying to be some use to people around me. One of the social groups were carrying on the noble task of helping the helpless. The task at hand was to fill up some forms at a hospital. The form was a part of the formality of releasing a dead body for the purpose of sending it back to India. These are bodies usually of persons who have nobody in the UAE to do it for them.

As I was filling the form, my heart almost stopped. The date of expiry of the deceased person was more than six months prior to the date of the form being filled. I was completely flabbergasted. I expressed my shock to the colleague who was guiding me in the task. It was then he told me the story of Chandran. Chandran, like most of others, came to the UAE in pursuit of his dreams. He had six dependents back home that included an aged mother, a wife and 4 children. He was a construction worker. It was the phase, when tall buildings in Dubai were built at record times. In the course of the construction of such a high rise building there was a rare accident. Chandran fell from quite a height. Among his several physical injuries, he had lost his senses. He had slipped into a coma. He had been admitted to a Hospital.

His employer-company made the initial attempts to contact the family of Chandran back home. It was one of those families who do not even have a telephone line to contact. There was a big difficulty to establish contacts. The pursuit was soon given up. Chandran was in the hospital, unconscious for over 3 months. Finally, when he did regain his senses, he was just a vegetable on bed. Almost all his limbs were dis functional. This man, who had been working for 12 years in the UAE with a meager amount of salary which was enough to feed the family back home. The family, who he could visit just about 6 timers over the time he had been in UAE.

The family was then contacted. The family was informed about the accident and the position of Chandran. They were informed that they would have to pay about 8500 Dhs to release Chandran from the hospital and also spend on the ticket to get him home. The sole bread-winner of the family was lying helpless in a small corner of a hospital with nobody to take care of him. Th family could not gather the money required. Chandran did not know anybody who would bring his case to the attention of the Indian consulate. This went on for over 8 weeks.

The plight of Chandran and his family was completely helpless. Chandran, could not even walk out of his bed on his own. His wife, was trying to make ends meet at her home with totally five to feed. One of the last conversation that was had with her, she even had to say that it was not possible for her to send the money. The person who had been earning for the family was now not able to get back to them. It was easy for people to judge and pass comments on the wife saying that she did not do enough. If one really got into the place of Chandran's wife, they would understand the torment she was going through. As fate would have it, Chandran died in the hospital after three months fighting with the complications that came after the accident. The dead body was lying in the morgue for over six months. The necessary money to send the body was being organized. The family was told that the body is being sent and they would not have to spend anything on the same. This is one of the stories, I did not want to hear again. We know that fate is really cruel at times but this was unbearable. After hearing this incident, I learnt two things - one, that there is no point wasting time on what is wrong or what is right and two that I must really be thankful that I am not in the position of Chandran or his wife. God bless his soul and his family.

DUBAI DREAMS

Every person in this world has a dream. Most of us dream of life to be more beautiful for us. As we grow our dreams take different forms and designs. I am referring to those conscious dreams that we have. Lets leave those dreams that come during our sleep and hardly make sense to us. We focus only on those dreams where we want to see ourselves in a better place, a better world and as a better person. One such dream for many people across Asia is - DUBAI. On this blog, I would like to share with you a few stories of people who have come to Dubai in pursuit of such dreams. Most of them would be true stories and some of them could be hearsay. My stories have no preference or bias whatsoever. They will just be pouring out of heart and mind without any order; but each one of them will have an interesting tale to tell. Here goes........

KAMRAN ALI - "MAA TUJHE DUBAI BULAVUNGA"

("Mom, I will call you to Dubai")

I am still not sure that this story is true or false - but the narrator of this story has no reason to cook it up as a story. It is about Kamran Ali from Lahore, Pakistan. Like the hundreds of people that arrive to Dubai on visit visa with hearts filled with hope and minds full of determination, Kamran came in search of his destiny. He must have been around 22 years old and did not have any College education. Secondary School itself was a big challenge. He was quite an attractive young man and a very quick learner. He had no special skills or degree to fetch him a specific job. It was with great persuasion that he could convince his mother that things would be better for them, if he left for Dubai. They had nobody else in this world to lean on to other than each other. Kamran's mother found it very difficult to grant permission to her aspiring son. The last words of the parting son - "Maa, tujhe Dubai bulalunga" - I will call you over to Dubai. Considering the insecurity and violence that was taking place in their city, she thought it would be best for both of them. Kamran had to borrow from friends to pay for this visit visa. He was told that it was a visa of two months and he could extend it to another month on payment of another AED 500 ($137 or INR 6,000 approximately).

As he approached the immigration officer for the stamping on his passport, there were thousands of questions that were crossing his mind. All those questions went dead when that officer gave him a stare to confirm his picture on the passport. "Thump" came the stamp and the door was open. He has finally reached his destination - Dubai. Once he came out of the immigration his eyes went seeking familiar face from among the many in the crowded terminal. Kashif did come. He saw Kashif waving his hand fiercely. Kamran almost ran to greet his friend. Kashif came from the same locality in Pakistan. He had offered shelter to Kamran for a few days. They were not exactly friends but for the moment, he was the only person he could depend on this huge city. Most part of their conversation came from Kashif about the Do's and Dont's in Dubai. Kamran was confused because he only heard what he should not be doing more that what he could possibly do in Dubai. However, he knew that he had to be a Roman in Rome.

The first couple of days just flew by. Kamran did get an opportunity to meet a few people and explain his position. They all promised him that they would let him know of any jobs that would suit his profile. Nobody seemed to call back. These were the times when he would run his fingers down to his purse and feel the last few notes of Dirhams that were with him. He knew that soon they would also vanish and he would have to make sure that he replaced them quickly. He did get some odd jobs as a helper for maintenance works. He could not join Kashif in his work because Kashif was a truck driver and you need a driving license. He was told that the amount that he would have to spend to obtain the license, would be almost half of what he could buy a small home in his hometown. Yet, that was an addition to his dream. He finally got a temporary position as a Stores assistant. His job was that of ensuring that the right products were loaded into the distribution vehicles of a food manufacturing company. He had to work from 7.00a.m. in the morning right upto 9p.m. in the evening. There was a break of three hours for lunch. This went on for about three weeks. He was reminded that it was only a temporary job and that the company would not be able to provide employment visa. So Kamran had to search for a job that would also provide this visa. Time was running out. Someone among his new acquaintances mentioned that there might be a job in a courier company in Sharjah. A telephone number was given to him. Kamran did not waste time in pursuing this call. It was going to be his first official interview.

On his friend's advice, Kamran bought a new pair of clothes and shoes and also wore a tie for the interview. His heart was beating wild and again the feeling of a thousand questions on his mind and his ears could not believe what he heard - "You can start from tomorrow. We will process your visa in the next three weeks". He got his job. He was asked to report. The first few days he was asked to sit in the office and observe the work procedures. He was then given a few jobs of delivery to places like Ras-Al-Khaimah and Dubai. Then the delivery work became more regular. Slowly, he was fixed to a routine delivery job. Every day he had to board a bus from Sharjah and travel to Fujairah. He would have to deliver a parcel to a particular 'person' at the bus stand and then return by bus. It did seem strange that he had to deliver it to a person than to a company, but that did not matter now. After all, this was his company.

After a few days, he did inquire about his visa process and he was told that the "Arbaab" (boss) is not available for signature. It will take another week or two. His delivery errands continued. He could still remember that fateful day. As he got off the bus at Fujairah, there was a person who came up to him and pulled him aside. He seemed to ask "Pathaka, Pathaka...?" (this means the Labour ID). Then the person was joined by another. He had no Labour permit and therefore he was taken by both the men along with the packet that was meant for delivery. He was taken to a place that looked like a police station. There he was asked a few more questions. He told them that his visa is under process. The officer then asked for the company telephone number and Kamran provided the same. The officer called his office. The officer spoke something and quickly slammed the phone. The next thing Kamran knew was that he was behind bars. He later was told that his employer denied the knowledge of any person called Kamran. His parcel was inspected and inside the parcel was found about 50gms of Heroin. Kamran tried his best to explain the situation and expressed in tears the ignorance of the content of the parcel. There was no way he could prove any thing. They had taken away his mobile and he did not remember anybody's telephone numbers. This mean that nobody in the world knew where Kamran was.

The crime of possessing or peddling drugs is serious. He was to be jailed for 10 years. The dreams of a glittering destiny were now overshadowed by the bars in his prison cell. Kamran had no other option but to submit himself to his fate. The only grief he had was his aging mother. The lady had nowhere to go. The moment people came to know that he was under charges of drug peddling, they would avoid him. Life went on without any hope - days became weeks and weeks became months. The Holy month of Ramadan was very painful. He used to weep in thought of his dear mother. People slowly began to speak to him. He was told that some people were hopeful of being freed on the festival Eid. It was not going to be possible for him since the crime in question was unpardonable. When his friends started writing appeals to authorities he just watched them helplessly. One of his cellmates had frequent visitors. His crime was a death caused by a car accident. His cellmate had to raise blood money for the relative of the deceased person and people were trying to organise the same for him. Finally, it was arranged. The cell mate was from India called Arjun. When Arjun got released from prison Kamran was very happy for Arjun. Arjun, on leaving, asked him - "Is there anything I can do for you?". Kamran laughed and then wept and said- I am ready to die here but I just want to see my mother once. Arjun came out and told the story of Kamran to his friends. All of them were very touched. In one of those emotional scenes that normally happened at the table of drinks among friends, they concluded that they would try to make Kamran's wish come true.

The group of seven people got ahead in the plan of action. Arjun first went an visited Kamran in jail. He asked him of the name, address and details of his mother. After that, they spoke to some people from Lahore and a contact was established. A pakstani friend who was going home for his vacation, went up to Lahore and met the mother personally. The mother, was all alone in a desperate situation. She thought that her son must be either dead or in some trouble. She knew that it was not possible for her son to forget her. Arjun and his friends went up to the Senior Jailor and gave the details of Kamran's case. The Government official also showed empathy and facilitated for a telephonic call between the mother and son. They were to speak after 3 years. By now, the group of seven had increased to almost fifteen with some pakistanis also joining in. They felt that just a telephone call was not enough. They went about to bring the mother to visit the son. There were going to be problems as the mother did not even have a passport. It is said that if your intentions are good even the almighty will reward your hard work. Within a month the passport and visa were arranged. The mother and son would now be able to see each other.

Finally, the day arrived. The mother was brought to the Avir Central Jail. The moment the mother and son saw each other - both of them burst into huge sobs and cries. They tried to hold each other's hands across the small hole in the window. They could not say anything to each other. The mother just said - "Son, you kept your promise - you called me to Dubai; but I did not think it would be like this". Everybody who saw that scene on that day felt very moved. In their minds were sympathy for the grieving mother and son but they all knew that there was hardly any hope. They helplessly kept watching the intimate moments.

There was another silent spectator - The Senior Jail Superintendent. He was also terribly moved by the proceedings. He moved a petition of mercy to His Highness Shaikh Mohammed, the Ruler of Dubai. He knew that the chances were not very good. Yet, it was important for him to make an attempt. Somehow his heart told him that this man could be innocent. The mother was then taken back to the city of Dubai. On advice from the Officer, she was not sent back immediately after the visit. The petition was to be submitted and she was to hand it over to the Ruler's office personally. In the next two days, the petition was submitted. The mother had to be sent back. The actions of all people concerned towards this mother and son, who were not related to them, did yield result. His Highness granted mercy and the son was deported back to Pakistan. The son joined his mother in another two months. This was an incident that pays rich tribute to humanity. Someone once said "Individually we are one drop, together we are an ocean". People across the world should learn from stories such as these that there is always hope for the right, for the good and for the human kind. Like what Kennedy said - "Inside, we are all the same...."