A VISIT TO A MOSLEM FAMILY IN SOUTHERN SRI
LANKA
I
can’t remember how long I have been loyal to Qatar Airways?
But
the new Hamad international had not opened and the old airport and the lounges
were organized at different levels. A Parsee traveller to Bombay was sitting with me
sharing a snack when a pleasant young man introduced himself. He was from Sri
Lanka.
I
was on my way to Jakarta to visit Pak Joe whom I had recently met on a flight
who was to become a good friend later. On my return journey through Doha, once
again I ran into my friend from Sri Lanka. Our friendship grew over the years and we kept up a correspondence.
I
had a trip booked on Cochin this week, on Qatar Airways of course. My friends
in Cochin advised me not to come as the weather was chaotic and many of the
roads under water, thus would make my journey less than palatable. As if
decreed elsewhere, I received an enquiry from my Sri Lankan friend wondering
where in the world I was and when I explained my quandry; he helped me
organize a sojourn in Sri Lanka. A Car, A hotel and some sight seeing tips all
arrived quickly.
Thus
I find myself in a hotel, in the Asian sense of the word, large space with
attached bathroom, with air conditioning, a restaurant attached. The view of
the large Madhu River is very soothing and I have ensconced myself to
recuperate from other travels.
The
driver assigned to me is a childhood friend of his and today the driver
suggested that we drop by the house of my Sri Lankan friend whom I had met many
years ago, while in transit at the Doha International Airport.
In
many parts of South Asia, the magnanimity of the employment in the Gulf States
is easily visible. Old villages remain the same, but interspersed with some
opulence, by their standards, usually in the ornamental gates or the car or motorcycle
parked outside. Kerala in India is well known since at least half of their able
bodied youth are employed in the Gulf countries, in jobs which require very
little outside expenditure (the employers are very generous
with their benefits to their workers) and they remit their earnings to their
families in their ancestral villages.
These
are humble people with no great pretensions, salt of the earth, who express
their genuine pleasures and happiness. Wife and two children of my friend, with
her parents received me in their airy home.
I
could see from their faces that they were genuinely pleased to see a friend of
the star of the house, who is away working and makes sure that their future
is secure.
The
communication was a little difficult. My driver was a childhood friend of my friend, and I could see his reluctance in translating from Tamil
to English and vice versa.
They
belong to an interesting ethnic group, generally referred to as Muslims,
distinct from Muslim traders from India or Tamil speakers of Muslim faith in
the north who can trace their ancestry to Tamil Nadu. Like all converted people
professing Islamic faith, they like to link their origin to the Original
Muslims, the Arabs. I hear this often in Malacca that it was the Arabs that
brought Islam to what is now Malaysia that was founded by a Hindu Prince from
Majapahit in Sumatra.
The
similarities in their thinking and food and aspirations to the Muslims of
Malabar Coast are striking and I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a historic
connection. The Malabar Muslims and Moplahs have Arab connections, at least in
trade if not in blood and I would expect the Sri Lankan Muslims to be something
similar.
My
friend’s family prepared me the milky tea chai that spread from the South India
to Malaysia as Teh Tahrek. The chai offered tasted very similar to the Princess
street chai stalls in Fort Cochin!
The
next day I was going to Galle Fort but they insisted that I come to their house
on my return for a typical Sri Lankan Muslim food. I told them not to prepare
anything elaborate.
(this is what they prepared)
I
felt very gratified with this piece of human contact. An innocent encounter in
2014, I think at an International Airline Lounge has blossomed into a
friendship and we have carved each other into the memories… for years to come,
Inshallah!
