I’m sitting the International Doha Airport, in Doha, Qatar. My eyes and head are heavy with fatigue and my stomach is confused. I’m desperate for a bed and a shower but my flight to Kathmandu doesn’t depart for another 2.5 hours.
My 13 hour flight to Doha left me dehydrated so I’m chugging down bottles of water and contemplating the fact that I’m in the Middle East, a part of the world I never thought I’d step foot on. The desert landscape was quite an image to behold while landing. I’ve never seen the desert stateside (on my list of things I really want to do) but I just landed on the motherload of desert. On my return flight in September I’m scheduled to stay at a hotel n Doha so hopefully I’ll be able to explore the city on foot a bit. I’m watching Muslim woman as black swaths of floating entities, only eyes.
When I nestled into seat 35 B on Qatar Airways flight from Washington D.C. to Doha there was a older man sitting by the window. The seat in between us was empty. When his cane fell from the baggage compartment up above, I offered to put it up more securely. That broke the ice and I soon found out that I was sitting next Muhammad, a 64-year old Pakistani Muslim and American citizen with a vibrant history.
He was a very passionate man, wanting to pass the wisdom he had gained in his years. The words that he had for me were apropos (and incidently, aligned with yogic and Buddhist philosophy) when he said, “The future is a mystery. The past is history. Now is the gift! God is One!”
To hear those words and love those words is one thing. To realize them is quite another. That is perhaps why the universe would have me sit next to Mr. Muhammad. To remind me that as I ventured into the unknown, there was indeed nothing to be afraid of.
My 13 hour flight to Doha left me dehydrated so I’m chugging down bottles of water and contemplating the fact that I’m in the Middle East, a part of the world I never thought I’d step foot on. The desert landscape was quite an image to behold while landing. I’ve never seen the desert stateside (on my list of things I really want to do) but I just landed on the motherload of desert. On my return flight in September I’m scheduled to stay at a hotel n Doha so hopefully I’ll be able to explore the city on foot a bit. I’m watching Muslim woman as black swaths of floating entities, only eyes.
When I nestled into seat 35 B on Qatar Airways flight from Washington D.C. to Doha there was a older man sitting by the window. The seat in between us was empty. When his cane fell from the baggage compartment up above, I offered to put it up more securely. That broke the ice and I soon found out that I was sitting next Muhammad, a 64-year old Pakistani Muslim and American citizen with a vibrant history.
He was a very passionate man, wanting to pass the wisdom he had gained in his years. The words that he had for me were apropos (and incidently, aligned with yogic and Buddhist philosophy) when he said, “The future is a mystery. The past is history. Now is the gift! God is One!”
To hear those words and love those words is one thing. To realize them is quite another. That is perhaps why the universe would have me sit next to Mr. Muhammad. To remind me that as I ventured into the unknown, there was indeed nothing to be afraid of.
