4:30am I gave a call to the taxi company and they sent a car. 5 am I am on my way to the airport in this taxi. 30 mins later I felt the need to pen the last 30mins down because I had just met an unusually usual person named Ashraf, a 50+ year old taxi driver.
The first thing he asked me was where I was from. Knowing that we share a common place he asked me "can u help me log in to Facebook"? With a smile on my face I helped him wondering what he wanted to get out of this world of social networking. He could read my mind and told me " I met a friend of mine from school and he told me he was on Facebook. He studied well in school while I bunked". Yes dude for sure u bunked, that's why u r driving a taxi today-the arrogant person inside me said.
Then he told me how he got a small shop after he stopped studying (very early in his life) which he then worked on to make a living. It grew into a decent one stop shop in the village which prompted him to open a restaurant and to keep his supplies in the restaurant he added a vegetable shop to his list.
He then moved to Dubai to fund his growth and started working as a driver. He didn't stop there. He owns a small cafeteria (snack shop) in the city and has also bought a truck with couple of his friends pitching in. By then the arrogant person inside me had vanished into an awestruck person.
The list didn't stop there. He already had a fair share of land in the city where I was planning to invest myself, the difference is I would have to take a loan to buy 1/4th of what he already has. If I wanted to buy as much as he had........well banks in Dubai won't lend me so much.
By then we were about to reach the airport and I asked him one question that you would be thinking too...."Why the hell are u working as a driver"? The answer was quick and to the point while he collected his fare from me...." my sons are growing up, one will graduate this year and I need to bring him here and throw him into this world which is quite different from the one he lived on his father"......." once he manages to get a grip with some business, I will go back to my wife.....she has been running the restaurant alone and is also turning old".
I shook hands with him as I left....hoping to meet this unusually usual man once again in this city of dreams.
The first thing he asked me was where I was from. Knowing that we share a common place he asked me "can u help me log in to Facebook"? With a smile on my face I helped him wondering what he wanted to get out of this world of social networking. He could read my mind and told me " I met a friend of mine from school and he told me he was on Facebook. He studied well in school while I bunked". Yes dude for sure u bunked, that's why u r driving a taxi today-the arrogant person inside me said.
Then he told me how he got a small shop after he stopped studying (very early in his life) which he then worked on to make a living. It grew into a decent one stop shop in the village which prompted him to open a restaurant and to keep his supplies in the restaurant he added a vegetable shop to his list.
He then moved to Dubai to fund his growth and started working as a driver. He didn't stop there. He owns a small cafeteria (snack shop) in the city and has also bought a truck with couple of his friends pitching in. By then the arrogant person inside me had vanished into an awestruck person.
The list didn't stop there. He already had a fair share of land in the city where I was planning to invest myself, the difference is I would have to take a loan to buy 1/4th of what he already has. If I wanted to buy as much as he had........well banks in Dubai won't lend me so much.
By then we were about to reach the airport and I asked him one question that you would be thinking too...."Why the hell are u working as a driver"? The answer was quick and to the point while he collected his fare from me...." my sons are growing up, one will graduate this year and I need to bring him here and throw him into this world which is quite different from the one he lived on his father"......." once he manages to get a grip with some business, I will go back to my wife.....she has been running the restaurant alone and is also turning old".
I shook hands with him as I left....hoping to meet this unusually usual man once again in this city of dreams.
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