Some corporations have been swift to cash in on the popular revolution in Egypt and milk it for all its worth. A hoarding by telecommunications company Mobinil at Cairo airport carries the picture of a huge crowd of people with this slogan: “The people of Egypt are the greatest people on earth and they deserve the Nobel prize for peace: Austrian President Heinz Fischer.”
JANUARY 25
Many Egyptian cars bear stickers that mention January 25 (the day their revolution to oust ex-president Hosni Mubarak started) followed by words such as “Peace” or “Freedom.” Egyptians are proud of their revolution, and delighted to know that others overseas are closely following the developments in their country.
Chatterers all
One of the things that immediately strikes a visitor to Egypt is how much its citizens talk. They appear to be talking incessantly, and most animatedly, (presenting a close competition to noisy Indians). An official with the Egyptian Tourism Authority agreed with this observation: “We love to talk, and this is nothing. You should see us before a football match, we start talking three days before and continue talking for three days after.”
‘NORMAL' TRAFFIC
Anyone complaining about the traffic in Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore must visit Cairo. It takes forever to get anywhere in the bumper-to-bumper traffic that knows no time of day or week. The Indian Ambassador in Egypt, on being told that the Indian media group was late for its appointment with him because of the heavy Cairo traffic en route said: “Oh the traffic is back. Then things must be back to normal in Egypt.”
HINDI URDU AND YOGA
The Ambassador's wife Suchitra Dorai is associated with the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Centre for Indian Culture in Egypt, run by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. “Hindi, Urdu and Yoga classes conducted at the Centre are in great demand among the Egyptians,” she said.
EVERYONE KNOWS SRK
The Khan el-Khalili bazaar has been in existence since the Ottoman period and is said to be one of the oldest markets in the world and the most popular in Cairo for tourists. Everything here is said to be more reasonably priced than anywhere else in Egypt. The young shopkeepers there shout “Shah Rukh Khan…” as we Indians pass by, and want to know how the film star is doing and whether we have met him. The older ones shout “Amitabh Bachchan.” So many people appear to be so very familiar with Hindi films, and quite up to date on them too.
FIERCE HAWKING
Hawkers selling trinkets such as small sculptures and painted papyrus at the tourist spots in Egypt are particularly persuasive. Now that the revolution has led to dwindling tourist arrivals, they have become aggressive to boot. They tuck their wares into your hand or into your bag, in an attempt to force you to buy. Or they start quoting a price of, say, 100 Egyptian pounds for an item, pursuing the tourist with lower and lower quotes, as low as 15 or 20 Egyptian pounds. This is another tactic (most familiar to Indians) and tends to make a customer buy out of sheer guilt.
LIQUID STIMULANTS
The Egyptian equivalents for our roadside tea, coconut water or buttermilk are black tea, Turkish coffee, tamarind-water and hibiscus tea (an infusion of dried hibiscus flowers in water), the last two meant to beat the heat. You can sip these drinks while lounging in one of the many tea shops in the bazaar areas of the country. The sheesha or hookah is also available at most of these tea joints.
CURFEW
Everyone in Cairo is waiting for the 2-5 a.m. curfew (following the revolution) to be lifted. Apparently, Cairo is a city that never sleeps. Souks or bazaars used to be open throughout the nights; and the tea shops too, not to mention the hotels and restaurants. So it is a more democratic late night life that happens, not as in India where there are shut down times for restaurants and only the five-star hotels can be patronised through the night. Alcohol is not forbidden in the city but as a practice it is not widely available or demanded.
HEADSCARVES
Most of the women dress in western clothes but in long skirts that reach to the ground, or in trousers, paired with shirts or t-shirts that cover the arms fully. The headscarf is very common. However, it is not uncommon to see working women wearing no headgear and in western business suits, some of them even smoking away at their workplace.