Lunch at Nasser's home
Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Sun 30 Jan 2011 04:27
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Sunday 30th January
I'm not sure if I have mentioned
Nasser before, he is a boat boy who is extremely helpful and can do almost
anything for you. He has worked very hard every day since being here in
re-filling all the boats with fuel, cleaning boats, running errands in his
rickshaw or boat, buying food and drink and anything else you may wish for. He
works alongside his son and they provide a fantastic service, so much so that
the other three boat boys pretend to be him so as to get customers, but then
they rip people off and short change them on the fuel giving him a bad name.
We were invited for lunch at his
home along with Blue Magic, Miss Tippy, Sol Maria and Richard the BWR director.
15 of us piled into his boat which has a capacity of 10 people and made the 20
minute journey across to the Fort. He kept telling us that his house was small
but of course this did not bother us in the slightest and we just felt
privileged to have been invited. The whole family was there for the occasion,
his 37 year old wife, his 18 and 15 year old daughters Nisini and Tasini,
his 10 year old son and of course Nissam his 21 year old son and partner in
business.
  Unloading at the boat
dock
 Nasser, always
smiling
Most of us sat in the lounge and
chatted with the TV blaring in the background and the girls sat in the bedroom
talking to Nisini and Tasini and looked through photo albums and stacks of loose
photos. Nisini had an arranged marriage last May and is now expecting her first
child this May. Given the option Nisini chose an arranged marriage, so that if
anything should go wrong then it will be her family's fault and they'd be there
to support her. If she had chosen her husband and had problems then she'd
be on her own and have to deal with it herself. Apparently 90% of young girls
chose this option. I say young because the marriage proposals will flow in
during the ages of 17,18 and 19, then when they hit 20 they will slow down.
According to Tisini, Amy is too old and no-one will want to marry her. That's
the rule for Muslims but they say if you're Hindu then you marry around the age
of 23-26 once you have completed your education. Nisini seemed perfectly happy
with her husband Nishad and was looking forward to the birth. The first baby is
born in the mothers house and the second will be born in the fathers house.
Whilst looking through the photos
it became apparent that the family had strong connections with an English
couple, Gordon and Jackie. The house is named after them, their photo is on the
wall, they're godparents to all the children and their faces kept popping up in
photo albums. Nasser met the couple whilst they were staying in the marina some
15 years ago when he was living in what can only be described as a corridor. It
was a metre or two wide but was long and in there his family slept on the floor
where they would have to step over one another. Gordon and Jackie out of the
goodness of their hearts paid £4000 and bought Nasser the house he is living in
today and have of course developed a bond and friendship with the whole family
that will last forever. 
 Gordon and Jackie's
Home
 Nasser's wife and
Nisini
 Eating lunch.......I'm not sure
what Richard said to Paul and Jeremy!
We had a delicious lunch of beef
biriyani and then Tisini decorated the girls hands with henna paint. We spent
the rest of the afternoon watching Nisini's wedding dvd, there were 650 guests
overall and the ceremony lasted for 3 days. It was a great day and we feel very
lucky for being welcomed to their home and getting a glimpse of how they
live. 
 Tisini painting Amy's
arm
 The children played in the
courtyard outside just the other side of the gate
 And the goats roamed free and
fought
 Walking back to the boat it was
as if someone had warned people that a group of white people were coming,
everyone was out on the street
 Boys playing on bikes and with
spinning tops
 Danger 11000 Volts out on the
main street!!!!!!!!!
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