India to Riyadh… a long journey
To Dubai
11th march 2010. My maiden journey to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mom and Dad came to see me off at Thiruvananthapuram (tvm) International Airport. It was an Emirates flight which had a halt at Dubai. The flight took off from tvm at 11 am. A worker who was going to Dubai was sitting next to me. He was around 30-35 years of age and could neither speak nor understand English. He was very excited to be in the flight. Apparently, someone had told him free liquor would be served in the flight. He asked me (in malayalam) whether we should call the crew and ask for liquor or not? He was worried if he didn’t ask they won’t serve him liquor. I said,”just wait, they will come and ask us”. Finally a crew member came and asked him,”Sir, Do you wish to have alcoholic or non alcoholic beverage?” our poor guy didn’t understand what he was asked so he pointed to the first juice on the crew’s beverage trolley. Unfortunately it turned out to be tomato juice. I asked for Grape Wine, but he gave me a small bottle of red wine. My neighbour was surprised at this and now wanted beer. He wanted me to call the crew to order for him a beer and to ask them to take away the tomato juice which he was given. The journey was 4.5 hours long. During this time my neighbour had emptied 6 cans of Beer. He tried to order an extra Chicken Biriyani too but it was denied. We said Adiós to each other at Dubai Airport.
11th march 2010. My maiden journey to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mom and Dad came to see me off at Thiruvananthapuram (tvm) International Airport. It was an Emirates flight which had a halt at Dubai. The flight took off from tvm at 11 am. A worker who was going to Dubai was sitting next to me. He was around 30-35 years of age and could neither speak nor understand English. He was very excited to be in the flight. Apparently, someone had told him free liquor would be served in the flight. He asked me (in malayalam) whether we should call the crew and ask for liquor or not? He was worried if he didn’t ask they won’t serve him liquor. I said,”just wait, they will come and ask us”. Finally a crew member came and asked him,”Sir, Do you wish to have alcoholic or non alcoholic beverage?” our poor guy didn’t understand what he was asked so he pointed to the first juice on the crew’s beverage trolley. Unfortunately it turned out to be tomato juice. I asked for Grape Wine, but he gave me a small bottle of red wine. My neighbour was surprised at this and now wanted beer. He wanted me to call the crew to order for him a beer and to ask them to take away the tomato juice which he was given. The journey was 4.5 hours long. During this time my neighbour had emptied 6 cans of Beer. He tried to order an extra Chicken Biriyani too but it was denied. We said Adiós to each other at Dubai Airport.
To Riyadh.
The next flight to Riyadh from Dubai was after 6 hours. I was very excited to see Dubai Airport. It’s very beautiful and have lots of things to see around. As soon as I reached there I enquired with the Airport Authority the boarding gate for my flight to Riyadh. As soon as I had asked the question, a group of middle aged malayali uncles surrounded me and said it’s gate 230. All of them were going to Riyadh and were on the same flight. One of them gave a very valuable piece of information. Since we were Emirates fliers, we can have FREE lunch from Emirates Restaurant located above Burger King in the Airport Duty-Free mall.
All the transit gates, shops and hotels were located 2 levels above the Arrival Gate. We started moving and one elderly person among these uncles struck up a conversation with me. He was 56 years old. He started asking all the routine questions expected from a stranger. Like where I am from, what I do, where I am going, where I will stay, my salary and all. He told he is running a small grocery shop in a place called Olaya in Riyadh.
He spoke about his family too. He earns a below average salary in Riyadh and stays with 5 others in a single room. He visits India once in 2 or 3 years. He got his daughter married and was now going back. I could see a dad’s happiness or rather an achievement in his face for giving his daughter a good life. His son completed his MBA from Kollam district in Kerala and was now searching for a job. We spent some time in the mall and rushed to Gate 230 when the boarding call for Riyadh was announced. I could see a lot of Philipino ladies and Pakistani men in a big Queue. The uncle who accompanied me explained that these Philipino girls are going as house maids to the Arab houses and Pakistanis are normally taxi drivers and low grade workers in Riyadh.
Finally at 6:40 pm we took off from Dubai to Riyadh. I was told beforehand about the harsh behaviours of the Airport authority in Riyadh. As soon as I landed I was surrounded by the same crowd of uncles whom I met at Dubai Airport. I was happy to know that they were waiting for me. But there was a hidden agenda behind all this waiting. None of them knew English and wanted me to fill their immigration form. I filled up 5 forms including mine. Sigh!. These uncles had heard me speaking in English to the Airport Authority at Dubai and thus laid the trap for me.
After filling up the form came the most boring and humiliating phase of the whole journey. Passengers for immigration were told to stand in separate queues. One queue for Indians, one for Philipinos, one for Pakistanies and one for mixed {Europeans, Americans, Arabs}. The mixed queue was cleared very fast. People in all the other queues waited till those mixed queue guys got out of the airport. Pakistanies and Indian workers who looked poor were beaten and shoved around. In fact, they were treated like dogs. I felt pity for these people. I decided to wait in the Indian queue with my poor fellow Indians. I could have chosen to join the diplomat’s queue which was merged with the mixed queue as my Visa was a Government Invitation Visa but I thought I should get to know firsthand what my brothers are suffering.
Finally, 3 long hours after our flight landed, I got my passport back with the Entry seal stamped. When I came to the baggage collection belt, I saw my two Suitcases thrown on the floor. They were waiting for me sadly, unattended. Atlast, I came out of the airport and walked into Riyadh. The Adventure Begins…
After filling up the form came the most boring and humiliating phase of the whole journey. Passengers for immigration were told to stand in separate queues. One queue for Indians, one for Philipinos, one for Pakistanies and one for mixed {Europeans, Americans, Arabs}. The mixed queue was cleared very fast. People in all the other queues waited till those mixed queue guys got out of the airport. Pakistanies and Indian workers who looked poor were beaten and shoved around. In fact, they were treated like dogs. I felt pity for these people. I decided to wait in the Indian queue with my poor fellow Indians. I could have chosen to join the diplomat’s queue which was merged with the mixed queue as my Visa was a Government Invitation Visa but I thought I should get to know firsthand what my brothers are suffering.
Finally, 3 long hours after our flight landed, I got my passport back with the Entry seal stamped. When I came to the baggage collection belt, I saw my two Suitcases thrown on the floor. They were waiting for me sadly, unattended. Atlast, I came out of the airport and walked into Riyadh. The Adventure Begins…
