Kualalumpur, Malaysia
I've tried to memorise some words in KL.... Keluar, Tendas, Dilarang Masuk, etc. are some of the common learnings.... these are written everywhere and easy to read, since Malaysians use English alphabet.... but another word caught my attention only because I was roaming around with a friend, Avikbangalee..... yea, it had to be him.... if I write two parts about my KL visit, one has to be on him.... Avik Bhai has been a friend and "boro bhai" for some time now.... thanks God that one fine morning I've picked up that machine called camera.... I've come in contact with so many great guys since that day....
"Abang" is word of respect that people use to call others.... there can be other uses of this word, but with my limited knowledge of their language, this is the best I can do.... I watched Avik Bhai call every local human being Abang, whether they were male or female.... I really got curious about the use of this word.... when Avik Bhai used the word to describe me, I was a bit shaken.... since he's so much senior to me in terms of age... but truly speaking, I learned something from him about how to respect people... it may come as a surprise for a lot of people who know him well or little....
the moment I got to see him there, I knew I was in good hands.... it was an official trip for me and my official work didn't last longer than the lunch on day one.... so, I had more than one day to spend there..... I was overwhelmed by the hospitality I've received from him during this day-and-a-half visit.... this is especially true since there are so many of us visiting KL so regularly.... I was honoured to be the one...
we had a very busy schedule all through.... but managed to spend some time talking while we had some special KL menu..... also had some cool adda with Arup Bhai, who hosted a cool dinner, followed by a hairy ride..... and before I left, we also had another adda with Rafi and family, who were, incidentally, visiting Malaysia at the same time.... it was a lot of walking; in very warm, and sometimes wet weather.... but that walking saved time on a lot of occasions, especially on the day of my leaving.... the adda with Rafi took some toll of our time.... anyway, no damage was done... I was home and dry....
some cool hang-around with Avik Bhai took me to several landmark places of KL.... he was always complaining about the extremely short nature of my visit, but I wish I could... so, the sight-seeing was sort of a compromise....
will miss him over there until it happens again.... it was such a great time, but so transient.... he surely misses us more living in that foreign land.... he's the person who misses that road-side beef chaap, a rickshaw ride, that dusty path leading to a photo-heaven.... its hard to find replacements for him there.... perhaps the only thing we can wish for him is that he gets to see his motherland more often....
wishes....
