It was the beginning of January 2000.
After a great holiday, I was I was travelling with my wife and 2 children from the northernmost atoll in Maldives back to Male, the capital city. We were travelling by boat, which is the normal form of transport, and usually would take about a day to get back. We started after breakfast, and we were able to reach about halfway when it got dark; so the captain of the boat decided to stop over at an island, refuel, and start when the moon came up, so as to reach Male around 6 in the morning.
When the boat was properly anchored, I went ashore with my family to look around the island, and stretch our legs. Some of the other family folk also got down and we strolled around the shore. After a while, I noticed that some children, about 4 of them, kept following us. After walking around we sat down at some benches near the harbour; the eldest of children approached us, and very shyly invited us all to her house for dinner, compliments of her mother.
We were all strangers in that island, and further, we were all in need of a shower, and not really in an acceptable condition for social visits. So we politely thanked the girl and asked her to convey our apologies for not being able to go with her. The children, however, refused to leave us, and kept insisting that their mom would not be pleased with them if they did not bring us home. We tried again, to convince her that we were a large party, and it would not be easy for her mom; but to no avail.
Finally, when it was obvious that the children would not take no for an answer, I decided to visit their house and explain directly to the mother. Along with a friend from the boat, we accompanied the children to their house, and again politely explained to their mother that due to being a large crowd with many children, it would really be too difficult for her to cater to us. We did no better with the mother; in fact she even insisted that all the ladies and children take a shower at her house, take dinner and rest there until we were ready to travel. After many unsuccessful attempts to decline, we finally left all the women and children at the house, after insisting that the boat would be preparing meals as well, and that at least the men should eat there.
When it was time for our departure, we went back to the house and knocked. The lady opened the door, and our group departed after thanking the lady for her hospitality. During all this time, I never saw the landlord, or any other men in the house. It was the lady and her little children only. On top of that, it was really surprising that the house were quite modest, and not the type of house you would expect to entertain guests, let alone total strangers. So I inquired from the lady, where the menfolk were, and that I would like to thank them as well. She informed me that her husband was living in Male, working there, along with their eldest daughter who was studying. After obtaining the address of the gentleman, we left her.
After reaching Male, I tried to contact the gentleman, but it was only after trying for 4 days that I finally managed to reach him by phone. Apparently he works from 6 in the morning till 10 in the evening, pulling a handcart. Now that is one of the hardest, and least paying jobs, and like any other capital city, Male is relatively expensive to live compared to the rest of the islands. I was really humbled. This gentleman, with his low paying job has to stay away from the rest of his family, so that he can provide an education for his daughter. And while just being able to make ends meet, the family opts to take care of travellers and strangers as honoured guests. I told him how well his family were to tour group, and whether there were any little thing that we could do in return.
His answer? He just thanked us for being gracious enough to accept his wife’s hospitality………….
It is truly humbling that a poor family who can hardly make ends meet, can provide so much kindness to total strangers, and does so without expecting anything in return.
Not so long ago, Maldivians whether rich or poor, took pride in being hospitable to strangers. It is sad that such a beautiful culture is being erased from our society, and I was really surprised to find such poor people still practicing it.
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