Walking alone in Gulf - part1

It drizzled mildly that evening all the way until I reached at the superstore from the office. Mom and I had planned to meet there for some shopping related to my business trip to UAE. We both ransacked the store for it and completed our day with all the packing. Soon the day had come when I was supposed to leave for Dubai. Mom, Dad and I were at the Hyderabad International Airport. They both were propped up against the rope which was tied with the purpose of, blocking people beyond the visitor’s area. Lot many expressions were dancing on my parents face. They were very happy, they were proud parents, they were sad, and they were worried about me.

I smiled and then went to collect the boarding pass along with check in of the luggage. My luggage was exceeding the minimum limit, it weighed 50 Kgs. Emirates has limit of 30 Kgs as check in luggage and 7 Kgs as cabin luggage excluding laptop for its international flights for the passengers of economy zone. I had food items which weighed ¾ of my total luggage weight. As being veggie, I was more concerned about my food. I got worried about the luggage weight and beads of perspiration spangled on my forehead. After few minutes of hassle I somehow managed to check in my luggage through my colleagues' bags. After collecting the boarding pass, I came towards my parents to bid good bye to them, I touched their feet, and could see tears prepared to pour down from their eyes but somehow they controlled it to giving me a happy see off. I then went for the immigration check. The guy over there was in his 50’s; he must have been handsome in his early years. I gave him my passport and boarding pass, after which he asked the reason behind my trip. He looked puzzled and gave a brief glance at me when I answered that I was on a business trip. I was about to take out the client authorization letter to show him the authenticity of my answer, but before it he seemed to be least interested in verifying it and said okay in a typical male voice. I silently thanked to one of my friend, who gave me those papers in the morning, which would have landed me in trouble otherwise. I received many calls from my family and friends wishing me happy and safe journey and safe stay further.

While attending to one of the calls, I heard the announcement, "This is the last call for the passengers of flight EK527, please report at the gate no 6". I was wondering when the first announcement was made, then thought I might have lost it. I went to the gate no 6 from where I saw a tunnel which leads to the gate of the air craft. It covered the entire air craft, making it difficult for me to guess which air craft it was. Only on stepping inside I realized that it was Air Bus 320, as I had to cross 3 compartments to locate my seat which was perhaps at the end of the air craft. Inside, I saw a very beautiful air-hostess wearing formal mini skirt and coat, followed by a traditional Arab "Naqab". She looked at me and told me about the extra work, which she had to complete, as the plane was fully packed with the people. Listening to her accent, I guessed she must be British. I nodded and said few words in reply to that talk and then smiled.

The gap between the seats was very less, making it difficult for me to stretch my legs properly. I have heard about Emirates flights that they used to maintain world class standard and they perhaps have been awarded for this, 6 times in a row, but may be an award criterion doesn’t pay much attention to the comfort of passengers in the economy zone. I somehow slipped in that seat and made myself comfortable. After distribution of the complimentary items, another air-hostess came and gave me a menu card, I browsed it to order what I wanted, but to my surprise she came up with the dinner without even taking my order. Later I got to know that they gave the menu card to the customers, to make them aware of the varieties of cuisine available in the dinner to be served. After having the undoubtedly delicious dinner, I saw our current position above Arabian Sea and Muscat was the next country we would fly above. I napped till I heard the final announcement made. As far as I remember, the announcement was something like, "Welcome to the United Arab Emirates, we are now flying above Dubai, which is our final destination. It is Ramadan month and it’s a holy festival here, requesting all of you to respect it and do not eat or drink anything outside. Have a pleasant stay and thank you for flying with Emirates". I peeked from the window, and gave a mesmerizing stare to the view of the city below. It was around 1.30 AM and the first thing that I did is to sync the time of my mobile and watch as per the UAE time. My team mates were seated at some different place. I was scared for some time till I saw one of my team mates coming towards me and then we both headed towards the exit of the plane.

My eyes were wide open when I moved out from the plane towards the airport. It was magnificent and most beautiful airport I have ever seen. I could see the gleams of white light turning to color one, when struggling to come out from the glasses propped up against the stairs and the walls and roofs, making the overall look and feel of airport more amazing. For few minutes I was trying to absorb the beauty of the airport, filled with people from different countries. Among them I noticed few officers dressed in white thawb, wearing a shumagg on their head, supported with the black ogal. Arab people are extremely beautiful and fair. I wished to have a photograph with them, but couldn’t get the courage to ask this stupid thing at the airport, so I went ahead and collected my visa. I then moved towards the immigration counter with a long queue. Dubai being a hub for all the international flights, so it is supposed to be the crowded airport. Queue was equally long at all the counter, so I chose the one handled by a handsome officer among all the counters available. I again started looking towards foreign people and the airport and was changing my gaze from one thing to another frequently as I wanted to soak up everything around me.

I was not at all prepared for this trip, but somewhere I wanted to relax from the current life. I wanted to go to some place where I can live in my own world, without people around me, due to which I had agreed for this trip in a gulf country. While I was lost in reminiscence of my last few weeks in Hyderabad, the officer asked me about my passport and visa. I gained my consciousness when he again repeated it. I provided him all the stuffs, he needed for verification, he then signed my passport. We came outside using the horizontal escalator, first time ever I had seen it. We then hired a cab to Abu Dhabi. I was surprised the most when I saw that, a beautiful Lady was driving it at midnight. I must say Arab government have maintained a high level of trust in its people, that they can roam and do their work in odd hours without being worried about their safety, as safety is being taken care by the government. Hats off to them.

Journey in desert continued ….....