Lemons of life.......

At the work site where I have been working on for about a month now, I have come to know some of the hired hands personally and their life stories can be pretty amazing. I guess, being who I am , I am always very interested in the lives of the people whom I come in contact with each day. Let's just say that I am genuinely interested in lives and I want to be able to overcome and challenged the prejudices, the pre-conceived ideas, the differences and try to make this space on each a better place to live in. I would be glad if I could learn something off this experience of working at this site and the people who had worked at this site. It is a hard time at the site but it is these colorful personalities that brightened up the work site and I kinda............miss it! Sure, it is absolutely ludicrous but that's the honest truth......

It started out with four hired hands or the main cast namely in Shafeeq, Firdaus, Pak Man and Nafee. Then it's an alternate between Shah, Pak De, Fairuz and Din.  Long-haired, quiet and kinda averagely built, I thought Din would last but he was actually the first one to tumble out and couldn't last the pace of the work after a hard day's work.He disappeared after a day at work!  Interestingly over the weeks, I was able to see the other side of the remaining workers and blend in with them by being a friend to them during breaks and meal times. On work times and days, I would ensure that work was done properly and sometimes, I received acknowledgement as the bad ass at work. So be it if that's how they are going to perceive me as I also have a job to do and need to get the work done correctly. In all, Shafeeq earned my highest respect. He is a leader, easy-going and generally a good worker. He commands the guys well and co-ordinates the work properly. The surprise package is actually Firdaus. Small size, very young boy and loud personality, this guy can really work. In some work I asked him to do, he was quite up to it and even does it well enough as far as I was concerned. A few days ago, he suffered a deep cut on this left hand but he still worked on. So was Shafeeq who suffered a deep cut on his right hand and still worked on. Pak Man is the oldest in the group and thereby the wiser one. He is the father-in-law of Nafee. He had worked tirelessly at the site and ensured that everything is in order before my inspection. He cleaned up the place quite nicely. A joker and an easy going person but sometimes gets tired easily especially after an all-night work at the docks. Yup, these guys held other jobs too namely they worked at the docks. Pretty interesting, isn't it? But I must say, they are quite "lasak" bunch of people.

The two characters whom I will always asked questions would be Shah and Fairuz, probably in their early 20's. These are people who had been VIP ( very important penganggur ) for the past 2 years. Yup, you heard me right! It is jobless for the past 2 years! I often wonder how one could be jobless for 2 years. I probed and got their views on why they were jobless thus far. Honestly, there wasn't an ounce of reasoning on their part but downright excuses. I tore to shreds their reasoning which was really poor excuses. In fact, I told them both jokingly that if I have been been their brother, I would have whipped their sore ass so bad that they would begging for mercy and work! It really intrigues me when people say that they are jobless. Even Shafeeq, Firdaus and Pak Man would shake their head in jest when I jokingly poke fun at them during breaks. I told them that it is no excuse not to have any work. I told them to get their butts off the floor and get some decent paying job and start putting food on the table for the family. Gave them some sound advice on the need to work for the well-being of the family and also, to ensure that one's dignity and sanity are kept sound. I even told them that there is no hard and fast rule to the road of success. Every journey of life starts with the small steps and progressed slowly from there. Somehow, these days, the boys seemed to work well and I was truly glad I had the peptalk with them. Then there is Nafee, the short and plumpish stevedore. He wasn't the fastest worker nor the intelligent one but he is hardworking. Despite his tonnes of domestic problems/issues, he was still working at the site diligently until a few days ago when something traumatic happened. I was glad that everyone gave him a piece of good advice and I was no exception. I took him aside, spoke to him of my early struggles and managed to pump up his spirits during work in those working days. Unfortunately, I was told he couldn't withstand the difficult time he was facing a few days ago. Poor chap! Anyway, everyone did their best to cover his work at the site and pulled their weight together for him. Sometimes, when in deep pressures of life, it is better to go to work and let the energy go into it than to sit down and brood in broad daylight wallowing in self-pity and self-condemnation. Yesterday, I had asked Shafeeq to take care of Nafee so that he would not land too deep in the pit of worries lest blow the fuse in his brains. Knowing these young people, they would probably blow the fuse even before the switch is placed on. Somehow, mentally, these young dudes are not as tough as they look, serious.

All in all, it has been a tremendous pleasure and joy being able to work with such personalities. Sometimes, you learn a whole lot more from such people because they are the ones who are really on the ground and working hard to eke out a living each day. So , in diverse and extreme conditions, it is always how we juggled life's lemons, right?