I was once on a visit to a massive oil facility in the middle of a Saudi dessert. My task was to inspect medical facilities in the camp and suggest necessary improvements. Besides the 40 senior staff members of the parent company who were mostly American and British, there were around 400 personnel from a contracting company. They were mostly from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The moment I landed, word spread that a Malayali doctor had arrived. Soon, a group of Malayali drivers, mechanics, and electricians were at my doorstep with greetings. They jostled with each other to shake my hands. They also invited me to join them for an upcoming Onam lunch at the camp.
Celebrating Onam in a remote Saudi dessert? I was excited! The desert area was Rub’ al Khali, otherwise known as the Empty Quarter. It is one of the largest deserts in the world. Next morning, the Malayalis were again at my doorstep. “Doctor, we have a problem. The catering manager is not willing to conduct an Onam feast for us. He says he has to get the sanction from the head office for such an expensive feast.”
The first thing that crossed my mind was why the catering manager thinks it is “expensive”.
And off I went to meet the catering manager who was a French man. He said he cannot sanction such an expensive feast on his own. And he started telling me the price of each item—goats from Iran, beef for steak from France, lobster from India, fresh fish though costly he can get locally from Saudi … “No doctor, I can’t do it. It is so expensive”, he sighed and threw up his arms in desperation.
“Who told you they need all these items?” I asked. He showed me a list of items sought by the labourers penned neatly in English alphabets … parippe, pappadom, aviyal, inchikkari, upperi … and so on. The Frenchman had no clue what they were. He simply mistook them for the usual non-vegetarian items for a grand gala feast his catering company was used to conducting for the “sahibs”.
I told him that Onam lunch was a purely vegetarian one. He had the surprise of his lifetime. “A vegetarian feast?” he exclaimed? On knowing more about Onam, he agreed to supply items and hold the feast. The lunch went well though it was served in ceramic plates in the middle of a Saudi dessert!
Titus Sankaramangalam
Email: drtitusjohn@gmail.com