Two Kurdish Drivers

The group i deal with the most, day in day out, while being in Sulaimaniya is the taxi drivers.

I rarely use the cheaper buses mainly because i don't know their exact routes, or to avoid going into the busy bus stations; but i use taxis at least twice a day.

I don't tend to speak with taxi drivers, not in Sulaimaniya, not in Baghdad, and not anywhere i've been to. I believe that i should not distract the driver from his job, which is to drive, of course.

But i do really recall two conversations i had with two drivers who were very different from one another.

The first conversation was about a year ago with a young driver, who was looking in awe at the high buildings built (or being built) on both sides of Salim Street, when he said to me with a wide smile:
- "Kak-e gian! (My dear sir!) Sulaimaniya is Europe!!!"

There was one thing i learned from living in Iraq for a long time under Saddam: Never trust what taxi drivers say to you because you don't know their motives to say that, and whether they were Security apparatus agents (wakeel Eminn) or someone who is speaking honestly.

So didn't argue with the young driver. I would've said to him:
- "Excuse me! But does Europe have 8-10 hours electricity blackouts per day?! Does Europe have water shortages several times a week?! Does Europe have unsolvable traffic jams on streets full of potholes?! And finally, if Sulaimaniya is Europe, then what is Dubai?!?!"

But i chose to remain silent, for if words were made of silver then silence is made of gold (at least in that case).

However, the driver that i met today spoke in a way that was genuine, honest and true. We almost witnessed an accident by a reckless driver in a new car, on of many (cars and reckless drivers) filling Sulaimaniya streets.

The driver said:

- "You know, kak-e (Sir), this country astonishes me! You see drivers like this in a car like that and cannot stop yourself from thinking that someone must take that car from him and give him a donkey instead!"

Today, it was early in the morning so i was in a mood to turn his monologue into a dialogue.

- "But you know something? I met a driver last year, and he said to me that Sulaimaniya is Europe!"

- "Europe?! Take a look around you!!! What kind of 'Europe' is this?! This is the land of (administrative) corruption! And i mean all of Iraq!! This is not Iraq! This is Gandalistan!!! (The land of corruption)"

He went on:
- "You know what?! Despite the fact that there is corruption and money-pocketing everywhere in Iraq, but i believe that Nuri Al-Maliki is a real man! He is a man more than anyone here in the Kurdistan Regional Government!!! You know why?! Because whenever there is peace in any part which was volatile in the past, construction and services rush to that place, and people's lives go back to normal in no time; whereas we in Kurdistan have lived in stability for like 10 years now, or lets say five since Saddam's threat was gone, and the services remain the same if not worse!"

There was even more:
- "You know?! I don't care who comes and rules what! I don't care even if it was the Devil himself! But the most important thing is that he, as a ruler, would make his people live in dignity without poverty or need, and give people their God-given and Iraq-given rights!!!"

There, i was silent again; not because that i disagreed, but because of what he said, which was soo good that made adding anything else rather useless.

As i went out of his car after reaching my destination, i wondered if any Iraqi politician or Member of Parliament, living in their Air Conditioned environment, and riding their brand-new cars, would ever think of listening to "their" people, and the voice of a taxi driver who simply thinks that his city in Iraq is light years away from being close to Europe!