Things Egyptians And Indians Have in Common

I wrote this upon the request of a dear friend of mine.

I’ve been lucky enough to visit Hindustan or Al Hind as we call it in Arabic, back in January 2016.

Here are some observations:

We Both love life and like to party like crazy. We find excuses to dance and celebrate pretty much everything. I remember one of my Indian friends telling me about taking an Uber in Egypt once and

there was a wedding procession on the road, the driver almost got out of the cab to join the dancers.

Our family ties are so strong and mean the world to us. Our people are so sociable and nosey

sometimes and we pay attention to what the people or society would say.

We all care about what the aunties would say about us when it’s gossip time!

Brothers take care of their sisters and consider it not just a responsibility but also an evidence of their masculinity and well upbringing.

Chivalry and generosity to one's guests is not just a rare trait, It's the norm.

We Love to brag about our children's and siblings' education and jobs.

Doctors and engineers are always the first thing parents think about for their children's job title in the future.

We are so loud when we are excited about something or when our elders are talking on the phone ( Don't ask me why!) and our weddings are so noisy that you can't hear the person sitting next to you because of the loud music.

We like to express our love and care by food, not just any food, but mouth watering desserts.

We adore our food and our sweet tooth is hard to beat with weird tolerance to sweetness! :D

We both tolerate so sugary desserts, be it Gulab Jamun or Basbousa, Jalebi or its huge Egyptian cousin, Meshabbek.

Cakes are nice too but they are lame compared to traditional sugar bombs we grew up eating. Indian Laddus or Arab Maa'mols are always in handy in Eids (feasts) and happy occasions.

You love someone? stuff their faces with food, even if it's not breakfast, brunch, lunch, supper or dinner time, Who cares about such names we give to meals, whenever guests show up they have to eat something. If guests refuse food we're both hurt, take just one bite for me …. Please! ….. pretty pretty please. It's like emotional torture if you're really full and don't feel like eating or drinking, but you know it's out of love.

Just like Indians are witty and lighthearted, Egyptians like to crack jokes all the time and everywhere, sarcasm is a way of life to Egyptians, we like to make fun of everything and we start by making fun of our own selves.

Both countries suffer from many problems and there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor.

Hope that changes one day soon God willing.

We just share so much in common.

This Couplet of Sahir Ludhianwi can sum it up perfectly :

"Malik ne har insaan ko insaan banaya. Humne use Hindu ya Musalman banaya"

God made every body just a human being, we made them into Muslims and Hindus.