Distances

Many years ago, during one of my first trips to the Gulf, I was meeting a Saudi friend at my hotel, in Manama, Bahrain .
While we were sitting and enjoying a drink at a coffee shop in the lobby, I started to notice some strange movements .
Young guys came and sat at the tables nearby, and after some time also a group of old men appeared .
I was puzzled by the fact that my friend was much more interested in them, than in our meeting, so I asked if there was anything special going on .
My friend explained that the Bahraini Minister of Interior was at the table next to us, and he was busy discussing something with a Chinese delegation visiting in those days .
I was surprised and asked whether we should go away .
He said that it was not necessary .
I observed that if we had been in Italy, security would have kicked us straight away .
My friend smiled and whispered : "I know that, but here is different" .

After some years and experience, I understood what he meant .
Definitely royalty and richness are bound to certain families and tribes, but this is not a reason to create social gaps between classes .
This is something coming both from Islam and Arabic culture .
There's indeed a great deal of admiration toward people who made the history of the country through political events or by building commercial ties, but it is not felt as a sort of inferiority complex .
It is rather seen as a model to follow, a source of inspiration .

In the same way for example, it is the relation between families and their maids or drivers, mainly coming from India, Philippines and Sri Lanka .
While here in the West, despite being very respectful of their rights and wages, we put lots of barriers between them and us, in any Gulf country, it is not uncommon to find a nanny or a house cleaner, sitting at the same table with their family and participating at Ramadan or Eid celebrations or going with them on holidays, even if their services are not required .

I remember I was surprised to hear a friend speaking quite fluent Hindi at a shop, and when I enquired about his ability, he candidly answered : "it's many decades they are coming here for work or business . They practically live with us . The minimum we can do, is to learn their language " .

Of course it is not all gold as it shines .
Reality is made also by tyrant rulers and abused maids, but that is not the majority .
Here in the West, there is a lot we need to learn from Arabs .