“Yes Sir! Thank you sir!”

On my previous trip to Dubai in September, I wrote about aspects of Dubai that recalled colonial India:

Notwithstanding the pen name used by this blogger to anonymize his internet presence, I have not personally experienced India during the era of British colonial rule… Migrants from India and Pakistan constitute as much as 75% of the entire population of the Dubai metropolitan area. And it is a fierce class distinction as well. Wealthy Arabs and Westerners dine at expensive restauarants, stay at 4 and 5 star hotels, and run the banking, financial, business, and legal superstructure. The worker bees who keep the city running are all from South Asia. The Uncle Tom-esque friendliness of these South Asian service industry workers in the face of borderline abusive rudeness by Arabs and Westerners is unnerving, even for this most superior person.

What do I mean by “Uncle Tom-esque friendliness”? Allow me to recall my arrival at the the airport. Walking through the exit at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m., I was greeted by a cheery South Asian man holding a placard with my name. I said hello and he immediately took the trolly with my luggage and led me towards the parking lot. I’m a social guy and curious about new environments and new people—I engaged in small talk and asked him his name and where he was from. His response: “Thank you sir! I am Muhammed from India.” I asked where in India. “Thank you! I am from northern India, near Kashmir.” I asked him how long he had been in Dubai. “A very long time now, 13 years. Haha!” I asked him how he liked it. “Thank you! It is a nice place, with lots of changes during my time here.” Most questions, although they required no appreciation, were regularly begun with an exclamation of thanks—and a very jolly thanks at that. As we approached the car, he had to take a detour with the luggage trolly to get up a ramp, so he bolted to the car, opened the door, and invited me to sit me down while he ran back to the trolly to put the luggage in the car. I didn’t sit and instead helped him carry the luggage because it makes me feel uncomfortable to relax while people are working around me. This in turn made him even more uncomfortable.

To make a comparative observation, this type of attiude is frequently seen by Indians but rarely by Pakistanis. Most Pakistanis who I encounter are much more reserved in how they interract with people, and are soft-spoken but generally very warm and friendly in nature. Reading pre-9/11 Robert D. Kaplan, I would surmise that he could attribute this difference to the fact that India was long under British civilian imperial rule, while Pakistan was never really held by more than the military rule of Britain. Pakistanis probably preserve more of their native cultural norms whereas many Indians may, through experience, feel this servantly position to be suitable.