I was on a pilgrimage trip to Makkah and Madinah, this Ramadan. While driving back to Dammam, we had a stopover for iftaar and meal at a small village of Al Majma’ah, some 200 kilometers from Riyadh. It was prayer time when we arrived and the village had all shops and restaurants closed for prayers. We decided to stop at a nearby park and relax, till shops open again after prayer break.
To our pleasant surprise, we found two Indians in front of park. One of them Mr. Akilan, who stayed with his family, welcomed us and opened the doors of their home wide open for large team of two cars.
I have read famous Mahatma Gandhi’s quote of around eight decades ago “India is not Calcutta and Bombay; India lives in her seven hundred thousand villages.”
In my experience villagers referred by Bapu could be even Indians staying in villages of Saudi Arabia.
Akilan and his wife Aishwarya who had moved in just six days before, expressed real pleasure saying that, they feel blessed to receive pilgrims as their very first guests.
Akilan has a son Adilram and daughter Harsheta. To our surprise, we came to know that these lovely kids are are national record holders of writing with both hands simultaneously. One in boys category and other in girls category.
During Eid Holidays Akilan and his family visited us in Riyadh and we spent quality time together.
ARSHAD KADLI is from 1986 Batch, Mechanical
He works as a Lead Fire Protection Engineer at SNC Lavalin Fayez Engineering in Saudi Arabia
Linkedin: https://sa.linkedin.com/in/arshad-kadli-84258195
AEC Alumni Profile: https://aecalumni.net/alumni/search/view/95
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