May 26, 2011

There is an old saying, "Every person we come across is important. Never underestimate anyone, because they have some sort of a bearing on our lives."

This name William Iqbal came to my mind one Friday, during our routine lazy afternoon, when my wife, known for her uncanny knack of taking me by surprise, asked me, "Who do you think had the most profound effect on your life?" .

This off-the-hook question startled me a bit. I replied, "There are many including my parents, relatives, my boss, my colleagues and of course you." She nodded and we went on talking about other mundane stuff and before taking a short afternoon weekend special nap, Friday being a weekly off here in the Middle East.

I was somehow unable to sleep and kept recollecting the past. Memories whizzed past my mind, beginning from March 1995, when I first landed in Abu Dhabi.

My first impression of Abu Dhabi was mixed, starting from the beautiful road and ending up in a deserted industrial area. For the first time, I had a hands-on experience of what homesickness was!

My first day in the office was an introduction to my boss, an Irish gentleman, and also to an in-charge who was a Lebanese and two colleagues - an Indian Keralite and a Pakistani. Having met all of them, I felt a kind of warmth, except with William Iqbal, the Pakistani. His sharp eyes and deep voice unsettled me a bit. He was aggressive in approach. Me, I was still reeling under homesickness and a little dazed. In the back of my mind was a simple thought, "So I was to work with an enemy of my country!" Memoirs of 1965 and 1971 came to my mind. Kargil had not occurred then.

Within a few days I had managed to mingle well with all, except Iqbal. He had a penchant for entering into an argument with me on all subjects. He had his own theories, or should I say a distorted history! For example – Indians had lost 1965 war miserably, 1971 war was purposely lost by Pakistan since they wanted Bangladesh to secede, Amitabh Bachan was secretly a Pakistani admirer, 99% of Indians were poor, Gandhi was responsible for the Direct action plan riots, even an ordinary Pakistani girl was more beautiful than Aishwarya Rai....the list was endless. Everything about India had to be imperfect. I was getting sick with his attitude and we always ended up arguing bitterly, until he became the most hated man I ever met.

I would have loved to have him in trouble and even imagined him getting into all sorts of problems, and even this sense of imagination gave me vicarious pleasure .

Things started getting ugly and we almost came to blows at one time. I suddenly realized how aggressive my nature had turned out to be. A soft-spoken, responsive, happy-go-lucky sort of person had changed into an arrogant, proactive, tough talking young man. My mannerisms had undergone a sea change. Relatives close to me found me a bit too irritating, as I spent most of the  time arguing on almost all subjects and also ridiculing the opposite party. A time came wherein I decided to change my job only because of Iqbal. Many may think it was far-fetched, but having experienced the onslaught only I could understand my predicament.

Finally, as I started discussing with my other colleagues about moving out from the existing company to greener pastures, Iqbal was back again taunting me that no one ever left the company on his own, either life got terminated while in service or the service was terminated. I took this up as a challenge and was lucky enough to get a job in tune with my qualifications. My Irish boss was kind enough to facilitate a smooth employment release which is very difficult in most parts of the Middle East. Finally I joined the new organization and the intricacies of the new trade and job activity had me fully occupied and I almost forgot my past.

Years passed by and in the year 2007, my hard work paid off and I was promoted. After almost a year of dilly dallying, one day I decided to pay a visit to my previous place of work. Almost all the people were the same, except by Irish boss, who had passed away a few years back. I met my Lebanese colleague and an Indian who was very close to me during the erstwhile years. I noticed William Iqbal through the glass window in his cabin and had no intention to meet him. The others including the Lebanese and my Indian ex-colleague looked too preoccupied with some job and were disinterested in continuing the conversation with me.

I felt it was time to move out and started walking towards the door, when suddenly, I heard the deep voice of Iqbal behind me, "Yaar Arun! Where are you? Leaving without meeting your old friend?" I turned back and reluctantly moved towards him. He put out his hand towards me and I very slowly extended mine. Suddenly, he came close and embraced me warmly. I was taken aback as I hadn't expected this. He took me to his chamber, ordered tea and offered me some special Turkish biscuits which he had bought with him during one of his pleasure trips to Istanbul. We chatted for long and he was genuinely pleased at my career growth and this was evident from his tone and eyes. After sometime I left, pondering and thinking.

Today, I consider William Iqbal as one of those who have had an immense effect on my life. He changed my personality totally, making me proactive, aggressive during the past years. Later when I had met him, his friendly, warm approach removed the negative energy I had developed against him. My short visit had helped me, through Iqbal, to build a personality, to grow towards positive energy, pro-activity and sensible aggressiveness. I also started admiring the great algebraic formula –

(-) x (-) = (+) = Iqbal's negative vibes had helped me to develop my personality towards growth and positivity.

(+) x (+) = (+) = During the last visit I experienced a positive energy from Iqbal, which doubled my positivity and I was finally at peace.

Another thing I learnt was patriotism to one's country, irrespective of the religion you follow. Iqbal was a Christian and yet was a staunch patriot of his country Pakistan.

Lastly, the lesson I learnt in life was that in every problem and tribulation, lies a reason which can be deemed necessary and can be a turning point in one’s life. One should never disregard any person, because he or she definitely has a bearing on some aspect of our life.