Uber brought us together and we lived happily ever after – part 2

The ride back was chattery. He was a decent person, he was explaining to us about the city as he knows we were new to the city.

It was almost Maghrib time and we haven’t done our Zohor and Asar namaz (prayer in Urdu) yet. I asked him if he can stop for a while at any nearby mosque on our way back.
Understanding our need, he quickly brought us to a nearby masjid (mosque). He dropped us near the entrance and reappeared behind us after parking his car. He followed us inside the masjid and also performed his prayers standing just few steps away from me. We prayed individually as we didn’t have much time left. Once I’m done I went outside but I saw him staying behind waiting for others to finish their namaz and he escorted them out and then escorted all of us to his car again. Wow! he was very thoughtful of our safety.

Again, on our way, we had to request him to stop so that we can buy takeaway meal. We were very tired of the long walks at Lahore Fort and we just wanted to take a light meal in our rooms.

He agreed for this 2nd pit stop. He then stopped by the roadside near a restaurant. “Sir, please wait let me check the shop”. As I was already tired, I didn’t bother to ask him what he wants to check.
He rushed out and I saw him talking to the waiter and he went inside and then he rushed back to the car.
“Sir, we don’t buy food here”. I was hungry and I can eat almost anything now. But why he is being choosy.
“What is the problem? They don’t have food?” I wanted clarification.
“No sir, i went in and checked the kitchen, it was not that clean”. MasyaAllah! How can he be such thoughtful despite the fact we are just on a one time Uber ride.
This act quickly rang a bell to us. We discussed amongst us in Malay to consider hiring him as our driver. He got all our votes. I engaged with him on a impromptu interview without him realising that he was being interviewed for a job. I asked clarification of his previous engagement with Siemens and why he stopped working with them and so on. Towards the end of the discussion I asked him if he will consider taking a job as a driver with us.
He answered almost immediately, “why not Sir”. Was it a yes or not! But I then understood the meaning as a yes when he suddenly become hyped. I took his phone number and told him that we will be calling him for a formal interview.

As we arrived at the hotel, he looked more energetic, maybe he was thinking that he already secure the job. Yes, deep inside my heart also, I was thinking that InsyaAllah he will be driving us everywhere soon.

Within few days, he was called for an interview. It was not a interview per se but more of a process to formalize his appointment. Despite the fact that he looked trustworthy, our local partner did all the needful by doing the background checks, calling his former boss for verification and also getting the police verification which are the normal procedures.

Gulam Shabbir, the Uber driver, whom we met accidentally during our Lahore Fort trip is our driver now. He was the first person to report duty with us. He proved to be a trustworthy person and he adapted to our style very fast. Despite not having high formal education he is a street smart person.

During my days in Pakistan, Shabbir was one of my closest friend.

#pakistan #expatriate #culture #powerplant #9HA #friendship