Just another Indian

“Yes Mangalam, the car has arrived and I am just about to get in. Why are you so worried? I told you I will be fine.”

After a brief pause while he listened to his wife over the phone, Iyer told her “Okay I will call you after reaching the airport. Bye.”

The cab driver got out of the car to assist Iyer in keeping the luggage inside. Iyer was surprised to see that the driver was very young and looked very sophisticated in formal wear. Even his shoes were neat and shiny and everything about him spelled classy.

“May I have the OTP for the ride Sir?” The driver asked in impeccable English and Iyer informed the number that his neighbour had written down in a paper and given to him after booking the cab for him. Iyer had no experience in booking the cabs through his mobile and had taken the help of his neighbour.

“What is your name?” Iyer asked him curiously.

“Ahmed Iqbal, Sir.” Came the soft and swift reply.

“Oh.” Iyer replied with trepidation and sat inside the car wondering why he had to get ‘that’ driver of all the drivers in the world. If Ahmed noticed his reaction, he didn’t say anything. He focused completely on the road ahead and drove swiftly and efficiently.

Iyer looked out of the window and prayed silently to reach the airport as soon as possible. He never trusted ‘these’ people and didn’t do how to deal with them if he ever had to interact with anyone of ‘them’.

After a while, Ahmed cleared his throat and asked him. “Off on an official tour Sir?”

“No. My daughter is expecting her second child. She is staying in Bangalore. My wife has been staying with her since the last one month to help her. The baby is due in this week and I just want to be there when it arrives.” He replied politely and unwilling to talk further, he looked outside the window.

His phone rang for the tenth time since morning and he had to control his irritation at his wife Mangalam who had been constantly calling him to take regular ‘updates’. With a tired sigh, he received the call. “Yes we have left the building and are on the way to the airport. I should reach there in an hour and half.”

He listened to her and then replied. “I may have taken it. Wait let me check.” So saying he started searching his bag for something and then told her “I guess I forgot. I will buy it at the airport and shall take the medicine there.”

Again he listened patiently while his wife went on for few seconds and then he said “Just a bottle, Mangalam. I forgot a freaking water bottle. Why are you fussing so much over that? It will not make any difference if I take the medicine an hour later than usual.”

Apparently his wife was not satisfied and went on speaking for a while, not giving him any chance to reply. Iyer looked outside the window in frustration. To his surprise, Ahmed stopped the car to a side and after a brief gesture to him to wait inside, he went out.

Fear gripped Iyer as he looked around and saw that they were in a small lane with few shops and few commuters. What is his plan, he wondered miserably.

“I will call you after some time.” Before his wife could answer, he cut off the call and started looking around frantically. Ahmed came from the other side and got inside the car. He handed over a bottle of water to Iyer who first felt relief and then surprise and slightly guilty.

“Thanks.” He muttered, realising that the water was not cold. It surprised him to see that the boy had actually paid attention to his age while buying water. “Off course, you can add this to your bill.”

“No no Sir. This is not a big deal. Please have your medicine.”

Iyer noticed that the boy didn’t start the car till he took his medicine. He felt ashamed of his unnecessary fear and tried to make small talk with him.

“You guys really get to drive nice cars isn’t it?”

“Thanks Sir, this is my own car. My father gifted it to me for clearing my CA exam right in the first attempt.” Ahmed said simply yet with a little hint of pride for the car.

“Oh, first attempt! Congratulations! What does your father do?” Iyer asked him, half-scared to hear the answer.

“He is a heart surgeon Sir. He is aged 65 and with Allah’s grace, going good and strong.”

A heart surgeon! Iyer thought thoroughly amazed. “So, the boy breaks hearts and the father mends them, ha...” He said with a wink and saw Ahmed smile shyly.

“But then... why are you driving a car? Aren’t you doing any job?”

“Yes Sir, I will be working soon but I am doing an extra correspondence course in Finance. It will help to make my resume stronger.”

“But surely your father would have objected to this?”

“No Sir, I have his full support. You see, I have an elder sister who would be marrying soon. When we were children, I had promised her that I would gift her a diamond on her marriage. I am working so that I can fulfil my promise.” Ahmed said with a smile.

“That’s... That’s really very nice of you. Very good.” Iyer couldn’t say much more than that and looked out of the window. His phone rang again and with an apologetic look at Ahmed, he answered it.

“Don’t worry. I will manage fine at the airport. So many people travel alone for the first time, even children do that now-a-days. I will seek someone out there to help me with the formalities. Please stop calling, you have already exhausted half of the battery!”

He saw Ahmed trying to hold back a smile and had to smile himself. After the call ended, he said to Ahmed. “By now you must have guessed. That’s my persistent wife Mangalam who has taken it as her life’s mission to protect me always. You see I have never travelled by plane alone. If this wasn’t an emergency...” He left it at there and looked outside with a worried expression on his face.

Ahmed cleared his throat and said “Sir, do you mind if I make a call?”

“Please go ahead.” Iyer replied without looking at him.

He heard Ahmed talk over the phone. “We will reach the airport in half-n-hour. Can you come out to meet me at the departure section? I need to introduce you to someone who needs help as he is travelling for the first time. Great. See you soon. I will call you after I reach there.” He ended the call and said “Sir, you need not worry. I have a friend who works at the airport. He will guide you through all the formalities. “

Iyer felt an immense sense of relief and said “Thank you so much! You don’t know what that means to me... I have been trying to put up a brave facade for my wife’s sake but I really was scared that I would miss something important at the airport...”

“No issues Sir. Now everything is taken care of. Don’t worry.”

Iyer was feeling more and more perplexed by now. Ahmed obviously belonged to ‘them’ and he was not supposed to be so good. But till now, he hadn’t done anything other than go out of his way to help Iyer and make him more and more ashamed for his thoughts and feelings towards him.

“You know, we just lost a match to you people recently. I am still angry over that.” Iyer said jokingly.

But the smile that he expected from Ahmed didn’t come. In fact for the first time he saw a hurtful expression on his face when he said softly “Sir, we too lost the match to Pakistan” and looked at him, daring to say something to contradict his statement.

Iyer then realised the full error of his statement and was totally flabbergasted. “I didn’t mean to say... you know... I didn’t...” He could find nothing that could salvage what he said.

“Sir, at the end of the day, I am just another Indian.” Ahmed said softly, still seemingly hurt by Iyer’s careless remark.

“I know Beta... I am sorry for that thoughtless statement.” Iyer replied, feeling too miserable to notice that he had addressed him as Beta, something which he would not have done before.

Ahmed smiled and said “No issues Sir. It is a very common mistake that people make. You are elder to me, please don’t apologize and make me a sinner. I just want to say that for one terrorist, there are ten loyal Indian Muslims here. We love our country, we love our countrymen and we definitely enjoy a good match with Pakistan. It is a really exhilarating feeling when we win and it surely hurts like hell when we lose.”

Iyer still couldn’t say anything. So Ahmed went ahead to say “It will take a long long time to forget this match, isn’t it Sir? Heart-breaking it was... “

“Yes, a real heart-breaker. It always hurts when we lose. But to lose so spectacularly... unimaginable!”

Ahmed smiled seeing Iyer’s spirits lifted as he kept a continuous tirade about which player should have done what properly.

They reached the airport soon. As committed by him, Ahmed called out his friend who came within minutes to meet them.

“Sir, this is Akshit. He will be helping you out with the formalities. Please guide him Akshit.” Ahmed said after he had assisted in taking out the luggage from the car and kept it in a trolley.

Iyer wanted to tip the boy handsomely and had tried to give him some additional money but Ahmed refused vehemently. “Just your blessings, Sir and the ride fee that’s all...” He said playfully.

Iyer patted his shoulder and told him “You are a good person Ahmed. I see a very bright future for you. May you be blessed always.”

“Thank you Sir. Please save my number in case you want any future rides... That is, if you are willing to...” Ahmed said with uncertainty, not sure about how Iyer would respond.

“Of course, I will be riding only in your car from now.” He said gruffly, his voice thick with emotion.

 

With a smile and a good-bye wave, Ahmed sent him off and Iyer watched him get inside his car, ready to take another call and change someone’s perspective forever.

True to his word, Akshit guided Iyer with all the formalities and said goodbye to him before the security clearance. Iyer thanked him for his help, silently thanking Ahmed too.

As he stepped inside the plane, he found that he was seated next to a guy with a long beard and dressed in traditional muslim attire. He waited for the feelings of distrust and fear to appear but realised that he didn’t feel anything. The guy saw the luggage in Iyer’s hand and immediately got up and helped him in keeping the luggage inside the slot.

As they both were seated, the guy received a call. He said “Assalaam Vaalekum. How are you? Yes I am seated inside the plane. You never came to meet me! Oh no, please don’t remind me about the match!! I am trying to forget our worst ever defeat!!”

Iyer smiled as the guy went on talking about the match as if he had suffered a personal heart-break. Just another Indian, he thought...