Of dreams and opportunity

The UAe hAs mAde Us compAssionATe, cosmopoliTAn And TolerAnT

Everything about a beach is infinite. An infinite indigo sky that melts into an infinite turquoise sea. Miles of powdery sand that stretch into gleaming infinity. Hungry fishermen staring into infinite emptiness. An infinite confluence of the elements and natural mise en scene that’s philosophical enough to make anyone dream. Welcome to my birthplace.

Squatting beside my mother on the bank where a rivulet joins the Arabian Sea, I dared to dream. Dreams big and small. Some wild and some romantic. Some seemingly realistic and some utterly improbable. Whenever my little brain wondered what’s beyond the horizon, my mother explained there’s life beyond the ruthless waves and the big blue canvas. “Who are they?” I was inquisitive. She said there are people such as the Arabs, the Americans, the Germans, the Russians, and the Africans. She said she had not seen them. And that she might never. She never got to see Sri Lanka, the Dubai of olden days, though her husband worked there. Like thousands of other forlorn housewives in South India in the 40s and 50s, and to this day.

“When you grow up, venture out. Go and catch the falling stars,” she advised.

Poverty and political killings made people flee my place, seeking out peace and prosperity elsewhere. They moved to places behind the big blue horizon and returned with goods made by the Germans, by the Japanese, by the Arabs. Youths from the neighbourhood — who came flaunting Dubai Duty Free bags, Panasonic tape recorders beating the bulge of their red and black striped suitcases — gifted us silky smooth polyester and terry cotton shirts and cheap jasmine perfumes. They painted my dreams in all the hues of the rainbow.

I sat on the beach, mouth wide open when NRIs exaggerated their experiences on yonder shores, such as “Dhuffai” (Dubai) and “Abu Dubai”. I was in awe of all that they boasted about. I asked no questions. I listened, spread my wings and flew away. My metamorphosis into Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

Thousands of Jonathans followed, throwing themselves off the cliffs of societal and familial conventions. They flocked to the oasis of peace and harmony in the UAE and nested there for the rest of their lives, breeding generations of an intelligent, civilised and humane diaspora.

For the Jonathans, their migration was not just about the affluence and quality of life the UAE delivered on a silver platter. It was a journey from crudity to refinement. It symbolised a subconscious war on a malignant mindset then gnawing at India’s soul and social fabric. We were then a nation deprived of opportunities for youth, a nation drowning in public sector inertia, a nation where ‘the best’ became doctors and engineers, and the rest laboured to find a footing.

Time was as worthless as life in India those days. A small geographical shift brought volcanic changes in the way of life, unthinkable by Indian standards.

Back home, rules were to abuse, filth was to litter, women were to harass, exams were to cheat, and queues were to jump. A banker, who strolled into his Indian office 45 minutes past his reporting time, became as punctual as a clock in his Dubai office, and as smart and tidy as a soldier. He never spat on the footpath. He never fretted and fumed about the winding queues at offices back in the 90s. His wife never threw garbage out of the kitchen. His kids never smashed street lights after late night movie shows. They never littered their campus with candy wraps. The discipline Mrs (Indira) Gandhi envisioned but failed to enforce through Emergency was instilled in the expat community without coercion.

Camaraderie was the chief guest at social events in the UAE. None mixed friendship with faith. The UAE is where we learned the art of living in harmony and in peaceful coexistence, where agreeing and disagreeing do not come with misplaced angst. Everyone celebrated everything. Secularism is better practised in this Arab country than elsewhere, and we’re all willing partners in the social mission. It’s here we also learned to be patriotic, albeit ramped up by nostalgia of things past, and places far. Each one of us turned an unofficial ambassador and for the first time said good things about India. It cost us a visa and flight ticket to be patriotic.

It’s here we learned the values of genuine bonding with fellow human beings. This nation taught our children to be compassionate and cosmopolitan. We realised Pakistanis are friends, not enemies. We weren’t at war with our neighbours like back home. Instead, we shared our problems and went the extra mile to lend a helping hand. We never felt desolate and bereft.

It’s here we learned the significance of selfdiscipline and hard work. This nation offered infinite opportunities for anyone to learn, grow and thrive. Its business-friendly environs converted common men into Forbes-listed leaders. Neighbourhood groceries went on to become multi-chain hyper markets. If you had the will, the UAE showed the way.

This nation made us realise that the words vision and visionary are not political jargon used to beautify public profiles. The UAE is a classic example of how a visionary leadership can transform a dusty stretch of desert into a magical world of all that’s best. From architecture to infrastructure and from education to health, the list is endless. This leadership made us realise that a country needs more than wealth and resources to call itself a great nation. Millions of poor across the globe now look to the UAE to mitigate their plight.

Today, when all the Jonathan Livingston Seagulls flap their wings in salute to this country and its pragmatic leadership, it is also a chorus of gratitude for helping us reboot our corrupted mindset and think positively. suresh@khaleejtimes.com Suresh is Senior Editor, Khaleej Times