But today let me think about a few random thoughts when I travelled .
Soora ….Soora ….. Within minutes they had snatched my passport and I was like Tintin in the comic strip . In the back of a Mercedes with two 6 foot arabs talking to themselves in random Arabic and me not understanding a word of it ..It was my first visit to a gulf country and this was the reception I got . By Indian standards of hospitality it was subpar but as an adventure ( I take it in that sense ) it was comical . Of course the car after sometime came in front of a nice airconditioned building and I soon realized I was not a hostage but the six footers were my welcome party . I learned arabic in the next few months but still on that day I was Tintin thoroughly confused by the serious looks and nonstop foreign language chatter by my welcome party . I later learnt that due to language problem one of my colleague landed in a chicken farm instead of doctors quarters though the mistake was later rectified .
A beautiful cold morning in Shanghai . Cold makes me walk and I do explore new neighbourhoods . Nice people who don’t stare at you and where there are no gangs to intimidate u is nice in any foreign country . But language problem is severe in shanghai and Chinese is a very difficult language to learn . I still know only “Nihau “ . Anyway after a 3 km walk admiring the beautiful roads , nice neighbourhoods I suddenly heard a thud . Looking back I saw a young Chinese girl fell off her bicycle in the bicycle track . It was only a few minutes after I had admired a shop selling high end cycles (cycling is popular in shanghai ) . From the moment she started getting up she was smiling continuously at me and I was asking her through sign language whether she had any problem . Smile could mean many things : You idiot cant u see I fell down . What do u expect . Of course im little hurt …
Im ok . I know you are a doctor but I don’t need a fracture treatment especially from a illiterate radiologist ..
Anyway actually her non verbal communication and her genuine smiles showed her appreciation that I rushed to help her and except for a few small abrasions she was ok …
She told something in Chinese probably thanks .. but her smiles conveyed it more than any words … Thousands of kilometers from india people are similar in so many ways especially the fundamental things … And no language is a barrier to express gratitude ….
Friendly neighbourhood ….Colombo ….Sri lanka …Compared to other airports this airport was armed to the teeth . Never seen so many gun totting soldiers at that time especially since the civil war had just ended a few years back . But I felt as an Indian it was the friendliest airport . Totally hasslefree and all the soldiers were smiling . Is it because I looked South Indian and though geographically separate they were the neighbours closest in ethnicity to mine . I don’t know Sinhalese and didn’t need any English to feel the “welcome “ in that country .
Lastly I should mention the good old Erlangen germany where most of people I saw didn’t speak English . I learnt deutsch later but in my first visit I was overwhelmed by the people trying to help me best in high speed german the directions . Not the “stupid tourist “ smile but genuine welcoming smile but unfortunately I just nodded at the directions as I didn’t know a word of german then . But I still remember those smiles this time both from the guys and girls ( And never accuse me of being partial ) …
Gut nacht
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