William Iqbal, An Unlikely Pakistani 'Friend'

May 26, 2011

There is an old saying, "Every person we come across is important. Never underestimate anyone, because they have some sort of a bearing on our lives."

This name William Iqbal came to my mind one Friday, during our routine lazy afternoon, when my wife, known for her uncanny knack of taking me by surprise, asked me, "Who do you think had the most profound effect on your life?" .

This off-the-hook question startled me a bit. I replied, "There are many including my parents, relatives, my boss, my colleagues and of course you." She nodded and we went on talking about other mundane stuff and before taking a short afternoon weekend special nap, Friday being a weekly off here in the Middle East.

I was somehow unable to sleep and kept recollecting the past. Memories whizzed past my mind, beginning from March 1995, when I first landed in Abu Dhabi.

My first impression of Abu Dhabi was mixed, starting from the beautiful road and ending up in a deserted industrial area. For the first time, I had a hands-on experience of what homesickness was!

My first day in the office was an introduction to my boss, an Irish gentleman, and also to an in-charge who was a Lebanese and two colleagues - an Indian Keralite and a Pakistani. Having met all of them, I felt a kind of warmth, except with William Iqbal, the Pakistani. His sharp eyes and deep voice unsettled me a bit. He was aggressive in approach. Me, I was still reeling under homesickness and a little dazed. In the back of my mind was a simple thought, "So I was to work with an enemy of my country!" Memoirs of 1965 and 1971 came to my mind. Kargil had not occurred then.

Within a few days I had managed to mingle well with all, except Iqbal. He had a penchant for entering into an argument with me on all subjects. He had his own theories, or should I say a distorted history! For example – Indians had lost 1965 war miserably, 1971 war was purposely lost by Pakistan since they wanted Bangladesh to secede, Amitabh Bachan was secretly a Pakistani admirer, 99% of Indians were poor, Gandhi was responsible for the Direct action plan riots, even an ordinary Pakistani girl was more beautiful than Aishwarya Rai....the list was endless. Everything about India had to be imperfect. I was getting sick with his attitude and we always ended up arguing bitterly, until he became the most hated man I ever met.

I would have loved to have him in trouble and even imagined him getting into all sorts of problems, and even this sense of imagination gave me vicarious pleasure .

Things started getting ugly and we almost came to blows at one time. I suddenly realized how aggressive my nature had turned out to be. A soft-spoken, responsive, happy-go-lucky sort of person had changed into an arrogant, proactive, tough talking young man. My mannerisms had undergone a sea change. Relatives close to me found me a bit too irritating, as I spent most of the  time arguing on almost all subjects and also ridiculing the opposite party. A time came wherein I decided to change my job only because of Iqbal. Many may think it was far-fetched, but having experienced the onslaught only I could understand my predicament.

Finally, as I started discussing with my other colleagues about moving out from the existing company to greener pastures, Iqbal was back again taunting me that no one ever left the company on his own, either life got terminated while in service or the service was terminated. I took this up as a challenge and was lucky enough to get a job in tune with my qualifications. My Irish boss was kind enough to facilitate a smooth employment release which is very difficult in most parts of the Middle East. Finally I joined the new organization and the intricacies of the new trade and job activity had me fully occupied and I almost forgot my past.

Years passed by and in the year 2007, my hard work paid off and I was promoted. After almost a year of dilly dallying, one day I decided to pay a visit to my previous place of work. Almost all the people were the same, except by Irish boss, who had passed away a few years back. I met my Lebanese colleague and an Indian who was very close to me during the erstwhile years. I noticed William Iqbal through the glass window in his cabin and had no intention to meet him. The others including the Lebanese and my Indian ex-colleague looked too preoccupied with some job and were disinterested in continuing the conversation with me.

I felt it was time to move out and started walking towards the door, when suddenly, I heard the deep voice of Iqbal behind me, "Yaar Arun! Where are you? Leaving without meeting your old friend?" I turned back and reluctantly moved towards him. He put out his hand towards me and I very slowly extended mine. Suddenly, he came close and embraced me warmly. I was taken aback as I hadn't expected this. He took me to his chamber, ordered tea and offered me some special Turkish biscuits which he had bought with him during one of his pleasure trips to Istanbul. We chatted for long and he was genuinely pleased at my career growth and this was evident from his tone and eyes. After sometime I left, pondering and thinking.

Today, I consider William Iqbal as one of those who have had an immense effect on my life. He changed my personality totally, making me proactive, aggressive during the past years. Later when I had met him, his friendly, warm approach removed the negative energy I had developed against him. My short visit had helped me, through Iqbal, to build a personality, to grow towards positive energy, pro-activity and sensible aggressiveness. I also started admiring the great algebraic formula –

(-) x (-) = (+) = Iqbal's negative vibes had helped me to develop my personality towards growth and positivity.

(+) x (+) = (+) = During the last visit I experienced a positive energy from Iqbal, which doubled my positivity and I was finally at peace.

Another thing I learnt was patriotism to one's country, irrespective of the religion you follow. Iqbal was a Christian and yet was a staunch patriot of his country Pakistan.

Lastly, the lesson I learnt in life was that in every problem and tribulation, lies a reason which can be deemed necessary and can be a turning point in one’s life. One should never disregard any person, because he or she definitely has a bearing on some aspect of our life.

 

Arun D'Souza Archives:

Arun A D'Souza
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Comment on this article

  • geoffrey, hathill

    Wed, Jun 01 2011

    There's an old saying : there are three things that you should never discuss at work religion, politics and another man's wife. Less number of people know about your affiliations towards these, the better off you are.

  • Clara Lewis, Kemmannu/Dubai

    Wed, Jun 01 2011

    Some of the Pakistanis try to hide their countries weaknesses by showing some kind of patriotism specially to Indians, but most of them agree that their country is very dangerous to live even for muslims, police harsh people on daily basis, unemployment is high,filled with poverty, no good schools are avilable, no freedom and no security for common people in the country, they feel more secure, rich and enjoy the freedom in their adopted countries and likes to settle in other countries than their own.

  • Anil Pinto, Mumbai/Abu Dhabi

    Wed, Jun 01 2011

    Mr. Dsouza, you have a positive outlook towards life. Not everyone has the ability to channel the negativity around them into something constructive (like what you have done). Not only that, you have managed to forgive your antagonist and made peace with him as well as yourself. Kudos to you.

  • Wilson Saldanha, Shirthady/Kuwait

    Tue, May 31 2011

    Nicely written article Arun. Being in Middle East, I feel the Indo- Pak controversy is purely political. The citizens don't want be enemies. Most of the Pakistanis soft spoken and friendly. Every country has good and bad people. We can learn many things from both type of people.

  • Harold Dsouza, Belman, Qatar

    Sat, May 28 2011

    ARUN...! good one, specially style of narration. but that paki is working with many Indians...!! how he / they behave...!?

  • Jaimini P.B., Manipal,Sharjah

    Sat, May 28 2011

    Very intersting article.Pakistani changed Mr.Arun D'souza's future ! Sometimes negative comments from friends or relatives make us to reach higher goal. One should thank those negative minded people but at the same time remember that NEGATIVE IS ALWAYS NEGATIVE .I am sure that if Arun joins his old company again,then William Iqbal will say "Pakistan didn't give shelter to Bin Laden and US didn't kill him ,it it is only a drama because no one saw Bin Laden's body " .I have been staying in Pakistanis controlled area in Sharjah.They are very polite to me ,but when question arises about Pakistan's problem,without hesitation they say that India is helping Baloochistan fighters to create problem in Pakistan !! I just smile..no other option !!

  • Mustafa, Mlr-KSA

    Fri, May 27 2011

    Langoolacharya., Belman/USA.
    What do you mean by "brainwashed not necessarily in Madrassas"..... What do you know about Madarasas. Indian Muslims possessing Madarasas more than Pakistan do. Before putting any allegation you have to prove yr stand with concrete evidences. Do not act on behalf of Westerners. It's just a matter of hour to blame Pakistan, otherwise taken for granted of Madrasas, Muslims are always blamed blindly. Do you know USA is equally responsible for whatever happening in India (instability) by aiding Pakistan? David Headly was a double agent ? Why don't you people accept the facts .

  • Joyer Noronha, Kinnigoli

    Fri, May 27 2011

    I liked the crisp language but What I liked more was your frankness in expressing your thoughts and perception that alone could make it a good article, not to mention other positives.

    It's unfortunate that we are forced to think people of so and so country caste community etc are bad. This venomous thought is the root cause of our sadness and most troubles of our society.

    During my Europe tour I experienced great affection and warmth every time I visited a Pakistanis store, people are the same everywhere. Similarly whenever I was in troubles in life my friends from other communities have been more supportive than I could ever imagine.

    Pakistani's may be bad, but we all the rest are equally bad then.

  • kannadiga, mangalore/dubai

    Thu, May 26 2011

    Somehow, I am not in agreement with this article. It may be 1:10000 case of Pakistani Vs Indian in Middle East. I am in the Middle East for the last 31 years spending life around 3 GCC states and never come across whether in public place, work places or in the streets even!! it is high time that to project always Pakistanis are bad and Indians are good, smart, broadthinking people, well educated and so on. I suggest Mr. Arun D'souza to attend a Mangalorean getogether, function and will find what sort people he will come across and when compares definetely he will opt Pakistanis are better in a way!!!!

  • William Mascarenhas, Moodbidri/Dubai

    Thu, May 26 2011

    Nice article Arun.. Keep writing.......

  • Langoolacharya., Belman/USA.

    Thu, May 26 2011

    Arun A D'Souza,

    Most of these Pakis are brainwashed especially in their Schools( Not necessarily in Madrassas).....

    Only force holding them together( As a Nation) is their religion( In this case guy is a Christian) and their anti-Indianism....

    Their military spends 50% of their national revenues and to sustain this they need constant tension with India... they use terrorism( Jehadis) as a tool to sustain this ( Mumbai terrorism is a classic example for this...).

    Now MANmohan and Sharad Pawar want relationship with Pak to normalise is not difficult to guess....

    Probably you need little more time to gauge change of heart of William Iqbal in a visit of few minutes...

    Good luck Arun,,, I am happy that atleast you changed a Paki ,,, we need many like you to change a real Banana Republic called PAKISTAN..............

    Jai Hoooooooooooooooooooooooo

  • Eric Rodrigues, Pangla

    Thu, May 26 2011

    Reading your article I remembered some of the Pakistanis I used to know. These brain-washed sick people used to write in their resumes/CV that "I am Pakistani and I'm Handsome", eventhough they looked horrible and as though it is one of the key skills for the job requirement. This doesn't end here, they used to compare themselves to famous and good-looking celebrities as if they are entitled to it by the virtue of their nationality, but in actual fact they did not posses any class or the character.

  • Jasmine, Mumbai/Mangalore/Qatar

    Thu, May 26 2011

    Nice article, simple narration with a beautiful moral. Every individual is what his circumstances have made him. If we have a positive outlook to life, we will realise that each and every person that walked our path, each and every blessing earned or hurdle crossed because of them can only enrich and enhance our personality/character.

  • justin, kinnigoli/melbourne

    Thu, May 26 2011

    Hey Arun,

    what you saw when joined the Company was Iqbals Positives.Good article enjoyed it,Let me think positive,Be morepositive from today

    What you felt when you returned later was Williams Positives.

  • Najam Batrekere, Bajpe

    Thu, May 26 2011

    Wah ! Kiya baat hai Arun, Keep writing.

  • Teena Tauro, Dubai

    Thu, May 26 2011

    Very Well-written!!!
    Keep up the good job, Mr. D'souza. :)


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