Chetan aka Chin chin choo 😉 is my friend from school, who recently moved to Egypt on a year long assignment. This is an account abt his first friend in the land of Pharoahs and Mummies. Chetan loves reading, exploring new places, making new friends and of late writing. Wishing him all the best for his ventures and wishing his friend all the happiness in the world. And Happy Reading to you guys
Neither it was a Love at first sight, Nor It was a friendship for a long time,
It was just the “GLIMPSE OF CARE” she showered upon me, which will be remembered in her sweet memories for my entire lifetime.
“yanee yanee (In her soft tone)”, these were the first words i heard from her.Short, young, chubby, smiling lady.
Her words had a magic in them which were so pleasant to hear. In a city where it is so difficult to get something done due to the language barrier, she was always there for me.
CAIRO, 25th May,2010.
Having reached the city a day before, my excitement knew no bounds, as,it was my first abroad assignment. New City,New People, New Language, New Culture, New Currency. Many things were new for a man coming from Mumbai, the commercial capital of India.
The Cars population nearly equalled the humans, petrol being cheaper than water. The city infrastructure was built so good that there was rare traffic jam but the parking problem existed. The city,known for its GREAT EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION, the pyramids,the pharaohic culture,the sphinx statue are the attractions of Cairo and the city has the largest Citadel.
Coming from Mumbai, where i used to stay with my friends, here i had to stay alone in the company’s flat for the next one year.One side of the coin was offereing me so much, on the other side, the loneliness was disturbing.
I was told that i need to prepare my own food, Having took the training from my mom, now the time had come for successful execution.The lazy man was put to some serious work. I was ready for the new experience.
Day 1, having spent in one of the best hotels of Cairo, today i had to shift to my new flat. Many thoughts passed
by mind about the flat, in which i was to spend my next one year.
Finally, i reached the flat with my two collegues from India, who were in Cairo from the past 8 months who also worked in the same client’s office where i was deputed. We were 15 minutes late.
Old Lady, Mrs. Salah, the owner, and her assistant Soffie had already reached the flat. The owner knew only arabic and we were layman to arabic language.My Collegues looked at each other clueless as it was very difficult to communicate to the owner.
Soffie, the native from Italy, aged between 26-28 had come to Cairo 6 years back and was employed under Mrs.Salah.
Soffie knew both arabic and english.It was a huge sigh of relief for me as it was easier to communicate to owner through her.
The owner had smiles on her face seeing us,as,the egyptian people love Indians. “Welcome”, she said. I smiled. “Amitabh Bachachan”, this was the next word from Mrs. Salah,she turned to Soffie and said something in arabic. Soffie explained us as “YANEE.. YANEE.. how much love the egypian people have for Mr.Amitabh Bachchan”.Her voice was was very soft and sweet, Whenever Soffie spoke she used to start with “YANEE.. YANEE..” ,Her words had some magic which were so pleasant to hear.
“Ur name?”, She asked me in her slow tone, after we had begin the conversation.”Chetan”, I smiled. She was getting this word so difficult to pronounce, she started to call me “Chin Chin Choo”, and started kidding with me,she felt happy kidding with me.Her smile was so attractive, I just kept seeing her smiling face and her chubby cheeks,this reminded me a saying from one my teacher during my school days “A Thing Of beauty is a Joy forever”. Soffie helped me to get few formalities concerned to the flat completed.
In just half an hour i had found my first new egyptian friend. She called me twice a day for the next two days and inquired about my well-being. I felt so much happy that some unknown person is so much kind and helpful to me. In a city where it is so difficult to get something done due to language barrier, she was always there for me.I got adjusted to a new place.
Days passed by, and day by day i was excelling in my work and and i had become a good cook. I had become a specialist biryani maker,the only concern was about the round chapati. A month passed by, there was a minor repairing problem related to the flat for which i had to call my owner. I decided to call Soffie, I tried calling her 2-3 times on the same day there was no response from her end. On the same day around 10.30 P.M. i got a call from her.Her voice looked bit depressed, she could not speak much and after inquiring about the problem she disconnected the phone.
I could not stop thinking about her, as, she was the one who had helped in an unknown city. There was no response from the owner, neither,she called me up in the next two days. After 3 days i got a call from her and the flat problem got rectified. This time her voice had no more magic. She sounded like she might be passing through a problematic phase of her life.She could not speak much.
The Glimpse of care she showered upon me could not stop me thinking about her. I pray to almighty that my new friend, if passing through a bad phase, get enough strength to overcome the problems in her life.
Neither it was a Love at first sight, Nor It was a friendship for a long time,
It was just the “GLIMPSE OF CARE” she showered upon me,
which will be remembered in her honour for my entire lifetime.
–Chets.
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