I was in Iraq in 1980 on a teaching
assignment with the University of Baghdad.
I had gone alone but my wife and two daughters also joined me
later. This was the golden period of
Iraq. Though the war with Iran had
started a few weeks back, but it did not seem to have any effect on day to day
life in Baghdad. Iraqi dinar was a hard
currency. One dinar could get you 3.3 US
dollars. Today one US dollar fetches 1100
Iraqi dinars. Iraq of those days was a
very good country. Life was very
cheap. Law and order was one of the best
in the world. Crime was virtually
absent. Saddam Husain was aiming to make
it a welfare state.
It was my first visit outside India. Youngsters of today may not imagine how India
was in 1980. “Imported goods” used to be
a dream possession of everyone. So an
opportunity to visit a foreign country and that too on a paid assignment to a
country like Iraq where expatriates were not only paid heavily but were also
allowed to send home 75 per cent of their savings, was considered to be a great
luck.
A street fruit vendor in Iraq
Till my family had not arrived, I was
living in a hotel on a side lane of the
Sadoon Street, one of the most modern and fashionable streets of Baghdad. Being
in a foreign country for the first time, I used to loiter in markets in the
evening looking at shops for things which I had not seen before. I also tried
to talk and befriend with local people. Every day I had some new and
interesting experience.
That time was the date season in Iraq. Before that I knew only one kind of date
which we get in India. This is the type
which is exported as because of its high sugar content, it can be shipped to
long distances and can also be stored for quite long. I was surprised to see the large variety of
date fruits at the shops. I was told
that in Iraq there were over one thousand different varieties of dates.
Sadoon Street of Baghdad during good old days
Being a fruit scientist, I wanted to taste
as many kinds of date as possible.
However, a problem arose. The
fruit and vegetable vendors of Baghdad do not like sell less than a kilo of
anything. The other practice in that
city was that customers were not allowed to touch the fruits or vegetables for
making a selection as we do in India. If
some customer touched anything, the Arab shopkeeper would lose his temper and
start shouting at the customer.
A small fruit hawker used to sell fruits at
the gate of my hotel. He always used to
have 4-5 types of dates. When I requested him to sell 100-200 grams, he refused
and looked quite angrily at me. Though
the fruits were very cheap, but still it was not possible for me to buy more as
I could eat only that much at a time.
Most dates varieties have to be eaten fresh could be stored for long at
room temperature. I tried to explain hawker
my limitation, but would not just listen to me.
Then I found a way. I explained my problem to one of hotel
waiters and requested him to help me to convey my point to the hawker. The waiter told him that I was alone, lived in
the hotel, had no refrigerator, was a fruit scientist teaching fruits at the
University of Baghdad and therefore very much interested in tasting different
varieties of dates which he was seeing for the first time. The waiter then pleaded with hawker to sell
me lesser quantity.
At this the hawker agreed to sell me half
kilo at one time. We then requested him
to give me half kilo not of a single variety but from 3-4 different
varieties. The hawker softened and
agreed for that too. So I could taste dates
of many varieties grown in Iraq.
Later we became friends. Whenever he got fruits of some new variety,
he would gift me a few for tasting.
Does this way of fruit selling is still in practice there? Sir, you always come with a very interesting and informative article or experience... Thank you so much fir sharing with us, God bless you sir...
ReplyDeleteI do not know as I have not visited Iraq after that. But it must be there as this is the nature and habit of those people.
DeleteBy the grace of God, I got an opportunity to travel a lot. nearly all over the globe. I like to mix with people and make friend, so I have a very large number of stories to share.
This blog was started by me at the suggestion of some friends who I narrate my experiences. Then my wife, who has also travelled a lot with me, has also been insisting.
Please advise whether I should write in Hindi or in English. My Hindi posts have been read by more number of people but English posts have been read in a wider area. What should I do.
Sir. Bilingual will be better. You writing is very good in both languages. Hindi will bring the world to the Your Indian Followers, whereas English will do the same for your foreign followers.
Deleteईश्वर करे वह उसके बाद हुए युद्धों के बीच सुरक्षित हो।
ReplyDeleteहिंदी में भी सही है,सबको समझ बीबी आ जायेगी।
ReplyDeleteYou should write in both languages sir... There are both readers few people doesn't know to read Hindi and few English... So there are much possibilities that you can reach to more people...sir
ReplyDeleteSir u have so many Interesting memories to share.. I like reading your blogs nd always wait for new stories.
ReplyDeleteWrite in both languages sir...