In Pakistan, there are not many toll roads. Most of the toll roads are motorways that connect major cities. In Lahore, there are very minimal toll roads not like Kuala Lumpur. In Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, you won’t miss being forced to pay a toll during your normal daily commute even to work or shopping.
Most toll roads in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor were built to elleviate the traffic jams. Ironically, many of these paid toll roads are also jammed up during peak hours and some of them are jammed due to the toll booths themselves.
Coming back to Lahore, one of the main toll roads that we use is the newly built ring road which connects our housing area to the Lahore International Airport. This ring road has shortened our travel time from our house to the airport by more than half.
I still remember, prior to the opening of this ring road, we need to pass by the Lahore city centre to go to the airport. During the 1st year when I was returning back to celebrate Eid, Shabbir advised me to go to the airport early i.e. to do iftar at the airport. I was reluctant as the airport does not have a good restaurant. So, we moved out slightly late as to arrive at the city centre around iftar time so that we can have our iftar in a restaurant in Lahore city. My flight was at 9.30 pm. I need to be at the airport around 8 pm and the iftar was around 7 pm.
Unfortunately that day, the traffic in the city was extraordinary. Pakistan generally is known for an unwarranted political demonstration. Despite being in a month of Ramadhan, one local political party held a demonstration at the city centre. Due to the heavy traffic, we arrived late at the city centre and we don’t have enough time for dine-in iftar. I told Shabbir just to go to the drive-thru McDonald’s. Yes, Pakistan has McDonald’s and they are many McDonald’s not only in big cities like Lahore but also in smaller cities like Gujanrawala. I myself was shocked to see a very big McDonald’s there with a drive-thru.
After grabbing the Mc Value meal, we proceeded to the airport. The traffic was still heavy. We did our iftar while stuck in the traffic. The clock was ticking, and I kept on pressuring Shabbir. I was coming back to Malaysia for Eid. The ‘Balik Kampung’ song was ringing in my head. I don’t know what will happen if I miss my flight. This is peak season and missing the flight could mean me celebrating Eid here in Pakistan. I’m sure to celebrate the next Eid here. That was the agreement I had with my colleague. He will allow me to celebrate this year Eid in Malaysia while he stays back and I return the same favour to him next year.
“Sir, if we use the normal route, with the current traffic condition I’m afraid we won’t be able to make it ” Shabbir’s explanation shatters my ‘Balik Kampung’ song.
“But Sir, we have one option” He continued while I was changing my song track in my head to Sudirman’s ‘Dari jauh ku pohon maaf’ song.
“Let’s do it!” I did not have the patience to hear his explanation. “We can cut through cantonment and save time”. He wants my confirmation. “What cantonment?”. I wanted to know why this is an option and not the main route. “Cantonment is an army controlled area and foreigners are not allowed to go in”. He explained.
“Yar, I’m Pakistani, even the army won’t believe you if you tell him that I’m a foreigner” I justified.
“Yes sir” Shabbir concurred. He was manoeuvring to get us thru the cantonment. But the queue at the cantonment checkpoint was also long. But Shabbir was confident that this could be faster. When we were queuing at the checkpoint, my watch was showing 8 pm. I’m supposed to be at the check-in counter by now, I mumbled inside. I can see Shabbir was equally worried. I was not sure if he was worried that I might miss my flight or he will also miss getting his ‘duit raya’ if I reached there late and I hurriedly enter the airport forgetting all about his ‘duit raya’.
It was 8.30 pm when we cleared the checkpoint and Shabbir told me we will reach the airport within 15 to 20 minutes. “Don’t worry sir, you still can make it. Your flight is at 9.30 pm” he was trying to comfort me. Did he think that I’m taking a local bus to Malaysia that I can reach the bus stand just 10 minutes before the bus departs and I still can board the bus? I did not have the strength to explain the reality. I was just hoping for a miracle while Sudirman’s lyrics were cutting through my heart.
Rindu hati ini inginku kembali
Pada ayah bonda dan saudara
Tetapi aku harus mencari rezeki
Membela nasib kita bersama
We arrived at the airport 10 minutes before 9 pm. The entrance to the airport was crowded. This is a normal scene at this airport. For every passenger, there will be ten family members and friends that will come to send him off. Fighting the crowd to enter the airport itself has always been a challenge. I was very sure that I will be turned back once I reached the check-in counter. By now, all the passengers will be at the gate. The check-in counter would have been closed. I have to pass thru security check and custom check before reaching the check-in counter.
I quickly settled the duit raya for Shabbir, and we hugged. I pushed my bags heading towards the entrance. “Sir, I will wait at the parking!” Shabbir shouted. So he knows that I will come back. “Sudirman continue your song”.
Hanya kusampaikan doa dan kiriman tulus ikhlas
Dari jauh kupohonkan ampun maaf
Jangan sedih pagi ini tak dapat kita bersama
Meraikan Aidil Fitri yang mulia
The only blessing here is that the airport is not that big. I quickly pushed my trolley and managed to reach the entrance. When I reached the security check, I can see the check-in counter. My heart shattered. There were no one at the counter. So, I will be celebrating my Eid here. This is the 1st security check and it was brief. I went to the custom and Alhamdulillah after the scan they just allowed me to pass by without asking me to open my bags for any verification.
I walked straight to the counter. “Assalamualikum sir, why are you so late?” A familiar voice greeted me. I turned and saw this neatly dressed man. His attire resembles the pilot minus the hat and he is a handsome guy that if he pretends to be a pilot people will believe he is one. “Syed sab, I’m very sorry, the traffic was terrible” I explained to Syed. Mr Syed is the manager of the ground crew of Malindo Air in Lahore Airport. As I have been frequently travelling, we know each other. Without me saying anything further, he quickly entered the counter and requested my passport. If you arrived this late in Malaysia, no one can and will help you. But this is Pakistan, the land of hospitality. Syed was more than helpful.
I sighed in relief. Change of tune. Sudirman’s Balik Kampung again.
Ho-ho-ho …
Balik kampung!
Ho-ho-ho …
Balik kampung!
Hati girang!
Terbayang wajah-wajah yang kusayang
Satu-satu tersemat di kalbu
Pasti terubat rindu di hati
Menyambut kepulanganku nanti
He checked in my baggage and quickly issued the boarding pass. He then ushered me to the immigration counter. We did not have much conversation, he then left me there and told me that he will be at the gate. The immigration process was also brief. I proceeded then to the next security check. My bags were being scanned, and I was waiting in the queue for the body scan. I hear the announcer was saying something in Urdu and mentioning Kuala Lumpur. I know this must be the final call for my flight. The were two-man in front of me. I then saw one man came and put his bags on the scanner and conveniently walked into the metal scanner cutting the queue. The other two-man in front of me did not even raise their eyebrows. This is again another big cultural shock for me. Queue cutting is tolerated everywhere here. I have experienced when I was queuing to buy movie tickets (yes they have cinemas in Pakistan and huge screens with a good sound system also). I have seen frequently some people will go straight to the counter ignoring all the people queuing, pretending to ask something and end up getting the tickets. The staff at the counter will tolerate this and also those who have been waiting in the queue will also tolerate it. The same happens on the road.
I have once confronted some girls who tried to cut the queue when I was standing almost near to the counter. The girls then retracted without making any fuss. I was celebrating my victory for teaching these girls a lesson. However, later I was informed by my Pakistani friends that they usually tolerate or rather encourage girls to cut the queue. They don’t want girls to stay in the queue together with men.
I felt terrible that I confronted the girls previously and now I have tolerated them cutting queues. However, I told myself that I won’t tolerate it if a man does this. There was again another incident that happened to me at the shopping mall. I was queuing to pay. On weekends, supermarkets are super busy. Cashier counters will always have long queues. I was tired of standing in line for paying and when it’s my turn, one guy cut the queue and passed by me conveniently to make the payment. “Excuse me, sir, I have been queuing here!” I sounded annoyed and confronted him directly. He gave an angry look at me. I was shocked, how can he feels that what he was doing is right. I tried to be polite and when I spoke to him just now, I did not even raise my voice. Was he upset because I was talking to him in English? Did he mistaken me for Pakistani?
“This is priority lane,” he told me as he was showing the board on the counter. I felt like I had just taken a heavy punch on my face in a boxing match. I wanted to retaliate but my head is spinning and my hands do not have the energy to return the punch. What priority lane? Who has the priority? I observed the board which was hanging over the counter and I just realized that it was a priority lane for the elderly. As I was trying to console myself it hit me again, that this guy neither looked that old to be called elderly nor he looked sick. He looked healthy as a horse. This is again another culture that I need to embrace.
Back to the security check scene, after the guy who cut the queue went by, the guy in front of me passed the metal scanner, and he was being body scanned again. The scanner detected something. The security confronted the guy and I saw him arguing with the security. OMG, please guys, I need to board this plane. I want to celebrate my Eid with my family. He was asked to clear his pocket and put everything inside the scanner. As the guy was coming back to the scanner and I was ready to move forward, suddenly a man in a white salwar khamis has approached the metal scanner from nowhere. Yes, yet again someone came in without waiting in the queue. This guy was tall with bright skin. He was clean shaved and I noticed he was wearing the Pakistani chappal. I was scanning him before he was scanned by the metal detector. He was accompanied by a potter. In this airport, they have a potter service who carries your bags even the hand carry up to the gate and sometimes I have noticed they carry the bags till inside the aircraft.
Unfortunately, the potter service is also used to cut queues. It is an unspoken rule that when a potter brings someone, everyone will accommodate them be it immigration or security.
I was enraged further. There was another announcement again in Urdu and Kuala Lumpur was mentioned. I’m sure this might be the last call. My watch was showing 9.20 pm. Maybe my watch is wrong, I searched for the airport clock. OMG, yes it is 9.20 pm. My flight is supposed to depart at 9.30 pm. I’m not even at the gate.
It is the turn for the sad Eid song again.
Jangan sedih pagi ini tak dapat kita bersama
Meraikan Aidil Fitri yang mulia
Restu ayah bonda kuharap selalu
Demi anakmu yang kini jauh
I just stood there to see the guy who was accompanied by the potter to pass by and also again the guy who didn’t clear his pocket earlier to go thru the gate again after putting all the things on the scanner. I almost can hear the ticking of the watch on my wrist. I was telling myself if anyone will come to cut the queue after this, it will be a boxing match here.
I quickly entered the metal detector gate. There was no beep sound. I have already cleared everything in my pocket earlier. However, the security still insists on the body search. What! I thought the body search will be done if something triggered the metal detector. I didn’t want to argue as this could only lengthen the process. He did the body search. I took my bags and other belongings from the scanner and I checked my boarding pass to confirm the gate. Gate 22, I turned left and headed towards the gate. The airport is not that big and I can reach the gate within minutes. My heart was pumping, I knew I could be minutes away from being denied boarding or even that gate might have been closed. I was also thinking if the baggage that I checked in will reach the aircraft. I have bought lots of Pakistani sweets for Eid. My family loved Pakistani sweets especially the barfi, which is a white-colored sweet which has the sweet milky taste.
I saw no one was at the gate and the door was closed. I’m done. I saw some of the ground crew was standing at the boarding counter. I don’t see Syed. He was the only guy that I knew personally. He could help me to get on board, I was hoping. I gazed outside to see if the flight was still on the tarmac. I hurried to the counter and showed them the boarding pass. “I’m sorry I’m late”, I pleaded. I put on a sad face. Actually, I was sad but I was angrier for what happened at the security just now. I will never forgive those guys who cut the queue if I missed my flight.
“You can have a seat first sir”, the lady at the counter answered. Why she wants me to sit? Did I miss the flight? I turned around and saw that many people were sitting near this gate. I turned to the crew and asked her? “Has the boarding started?”. “The flight has been delayed sir. The incoming flight is going to touch down anytime”. My legs stopped shaking. What the announcer was continuously announcing in Urdu was actually the delay of the Kuala Lumpur flight. Alhamdulillah!
My happy Eid song started again
Perjalanan jauh tak ku rasa
Kerna hati ku melonjak sama
Ingin berjumpa sanak saudara
Yang selalu bermain di mata
Balik kampung oh oh
Hati girang
Ho ho… Balik kampung
Hati girang
‘Balik Kampung’ song is an evergreen Eid song which depicts the story of a traveller travelling back to his village for Eid celebration. Whereas, ‘‘Dari jauh ku pohon maaf’ is a sad song of a traveller who cannot be back with his family for Eid celebration.
Ek Safar (The Journey) 