Life wisdom comes from unexpected places at unexpected times. On one particular evening I was making my way from Abu Dhabi to Dubai and I found myself seated next to Mr. AJ from Nepal, a taxi driver-philosopher-extraordinaire. As I got into the car I asked how is life? and his immediate response was, “I am a bad man, I have wasted my life chasing money.” I knew right there, this was going to be an interesting ride.
Making a life in Nepal has become more and more difficult over the past 20 years and as a result, hundreds of thousands of Nepalese are now working outside the country and sending money home to family members. They can be found in countries like Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, the UAE, and until recently Saudi Arabia. Mr. AJ has tried working in many of these countries but a combination ofhostile politics and racism would eventually land him in Abu Dhabi, a place he doesn’t love, but has come to understand. At the age of 36 he has arrived at a life altering realization, all these years spent “chasing money”, away from his family and the people he loves, have been wasted. The pursuit of material things has led him to the conclusion that he and many people like him have been focusing on the wrong things in life. What is needed to find true satisfaction and happiness, Mr. AJ explains, “is to either help someone or grow something.”
During this long car ride we talked at length about what humans are doing with this planet and with their lives, and what could be done to improve things, and what we as individuals will do in the coming years in an effort to reach that happy place so many of us wish for. It’s an example of taxicab wisdom at its best and a great example of why I wanted to do this series in the first place.
Ali Al Saloom, better known on the internet as Ask Ali, came on the scene in the same way many of us podcasters, bloggers, and other independent content creators did over the past 10 years; with an idea and a dream. His goal, to teach the world about his people and his culture, to dispel myths and contribute factual information about the UAE. The result: thousands of published answers to all kinds of questions about the UAE, a successful cultural consultancy service, and an internationally recognized representative of a country and a culture that until recently were little known or poorly understood
A pioneer in both new media and internet outreach, Ali can run down the list of reasons people around the world are coming to this region and he is proud of what his nation has accomplished. At the same time he sees the risks and responsibilities that come with success and wealth, as he talks about the things that concern him in the near future.
While much of my journey has been about taxi drivers and the wisdom they can share about this place and life as a whole, a conversation with Ali Al Saloom provides a rare chance to hear from a citizen of this nation and to learn from his unique experience.
Mr. A is a young man in his early twenties, but he refers to himself as an old driver. So it goes in a country where the average taxi driver has a contract of 3 or 5 years. Like many drivers he is a modest man and when I ask him about life, at first he says he leads an uninteresting life. But after a few minutes of talking about Dubai, we find just the opposite to be true. Unlike many people of the modern metropolis, Mr. A believes his life is just fine, especially after seeing the kinds of problems his passengers are carrying with them. Though respect is an issue and the stress is considerable, here is a man who’s number one matra is “I can’t complain, I have a good life.”
As we drive along the famed Jumeira Beach Road, passing alongside the world famous Burj al Arab, we talk about how he got started as a taxi driver. What his life was like in his home country. And what its like to love a job that so many people, including his own family, label as no good or unacceptable.
I may have come to Dubai to listen to the stories of taxi drivers, but what I quickly figured out is there are many layers and many stories in this rapidly growing city that has attracted people from every corner of the world. And so, on my first days in Dubai, in between taxi rides, I did a quick search for healthy quality cuisine in this extremely new neighborhood I was staying in. Although this massive area is filled with hundreds of restaurants, the internet somehow led me to Marta’s Workshop*, where Marta Yanci originally from San Sebastian, Spain, and her talented staff, cook up a different menu everyday.
Marta’s work represents a growing movement in a city that is more known for its tall skyscrapers and massive shopping malls rather than small, unique neighborhood businesses. The moment I sat down at the communal table in this modest and charming dining room, I knew something worth talking about was going on here. A thought that would be only further reinforced when I tasted the fantastically delicious food.
No it isn’t a taxi story, but it is an interesting part of this big Dubai puzzle that – honestly- few media organizations ever dedicate the time and energy to look at in its entirety. Dubai might be young in terms of history, but it already has many layers, each of which shows us something potentially worth learning from. My original inspiration and my focus is still Taxi Drivers, but what you might notice when you listen to Marta, and I have noticed in and out of the cabs, there is something bigger going on here that interconnects everyone.
Mr. X seemed a bit miserable and quiet when I threw myself into his front seat. He seemed to be talking to himself somewhat and I slowly removed the soundless headphones from my ears. “Were you listening to something very closely, like your music? – I though you were. Maybe it is just habit?” I look over at the brown skinned smiling gentleman in his 60’s with streaks of silver in his dark sideburns. – You’re absolutely correct, it is a bad habit of mine.
That is how the conversation starts, the subject of audio in one’s ears is a gateway for me to bring up radio and my passion for recording stories. Mr. X, an Indian gentleman who has been driving in Dubai for over a decade, is amused, “So you record people’s stories, like who?” — Like you — I tell him. Watch, I’ll show you, and to his consternation I’ve got the recorder and microphone out and on before he can say another word. “So I just talk about me? My life? My work?” — Yes I tell him. I want the world to know that there are people inside and around this shiny buildings, that make the city what it is today.
Mr. X considers this idea and lets out a big laugh and licks his lips, “Ok then, let us try it!”
Much can be learned from 30 years of watching the international hacker community develop, or a decade of watching China do the same. From the broadcast area of the 30th Chaos Communication Congress in Hamburg, Germany, this week I am joined by internet audio pioneer Tim Pritlove and the guru of all things blinking and TV turning off, Mitch Altman. Together we discuss just what is and has happened at this world famous event this year and what it all means for the big picture of work, life, and tube messaging.
