The Hindu Business Line : Of tears... and smiles

"MY name is Basima. It means a smile in Arabic," says the 40-year-old attractive Iraqi woman, with a flicker of smile lighting up her deep black eyes. But for the most part of the conversation that she has with me onboard the ship Jabal Ali 1, on its way from Port Rashid in Dubai to Um Qasr in Basra, those eyes are filled with tears... pain, suffering and above all questions of an uncertain future.

Basima lives in Baghdad with her 16-year-old daughter Sura ("it means a tall tree) and 14-year-old son Zaid ("a horseman"). Though she calls Baghdad home, it has hardly given her shelter since the US-led coalition forces attacked Iraq in March. "On the very first day of the attack we sailed out of Basra by this very ship to live with my father's brother in Abu Dhabi," says Basima, who lost her husband, an Iraqi soldier, in the 1991 Gulf War.

"My son was hardly 18 months old and my daughter three years old," she says wiping away a tear. Though life after his death was tough, it was not impossible for the woman who has got two years' education in a Baghdad university. "In those days there were many, many jobs in Baghdad. The food was cheap, the clothes were cheap and it was easy for me to find a job in a bank. But now things are totally different. All of us are very, very happy that the tyrant Saddam is gone," she says searching hard to find the words in English to keep the conversation going.

Among the numerous reasons for her dislike of the ousted Iraqi President, Basima resents the fact that during his regime, education in English language was not encouraged. "Like me, lot of Iraqis wanted to learn English, but Saddam had only contempt for the English language and did not encourage it being offered as a subject of study even at the college level." At the moment though, lack of English language skills is the last of her worries. "We returned to Baghdad after four months when my uncle found it very difficult to feed us. But unfortunately, Basima and her children returned to a home which was no longer there... it had been destroyed in the war. So she took shelter in her mother's house.

A month ago she returned to Abu Dhabi to stay with her uncle and scout around for a job. "Things are very, very bad in Baghdad and there are no jobs available. I have no father and I don't know how long I can continue to live with my mother. All our jewels are now gone." She feels that she is finding it difficult to get a job "because the Americans think that since I had a job earlier, I might have been a supporter of Saddam."

Strangely, Basima has more contempt than hatred for the American soldiers. "Oh the American soldiers... they talk only through the gun, and they are so afraid of the Iraqi people. If an Iraqi so much as touches an American soldier, he pulls out his gun. The American soldiers are not really brave men... they get their strength only from the gun." For the first time Basima breaks out into a hearty laugh as she says, "The Americans are afraid even of little Iraqi children playing with toy guns that spout only water. While playing when these children point the toy guns towards the American soldiers, they slap the children. They are so afraid."

Her laughter takes the mind back to the coach full of Iraqi women and children — the men had to pile into another coach — which took us to board the ship. We were escorted by a lone male officer and all of a sudden the women, who were sitting quietly in the departure lounge of the terminal, perhaps due to the presence of the men, burst into chatter and giggles.

There is light-hearted banter, all in Arabic, and though one does not understand the details, it is clear that the women are pulling the leg of the officer for the company he has managed to get and the officer is game enough for the ragging! The children are chattering and playing, smiling and giggling. Most of these people have come to Imarat (Emirates) for a holiday; to meet their relatives and take a respite from the woes of their battered lives. But soon enough it will be back to a Basra, Baghdad or Najaf... their houses are all under occupation and there is dearth of everything, whether it is power supply, water, petrol... or smiles.

Response can be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
Of tears... and smiles