Nameless Faces

Life is extremely strange! (atleast my life is J!) My experiences in life has been such that the support and help I needed, always arrived from least known and least expected quarters. Many of these helping hands, I never got to meet, some I met but never got to know their names – what I call as nameless faces and faceless names.

I was in Gothenburg recently on a business trip. Though the Nordic culture is not new to me, having lived over two years in Nordic countries, nothing about Gothenburg struck a chord with me strangely.  This was my first time in Gothenburg city.  On the first day of landing in Gothenburg, I had a strange feeling of disorientation, unable to make out what place I am in, which direction to go – typically the feeling, when somebody is woken up from a deep slumber.

              It was a cold Monday morning and I had to go to the office. With no internet connection on my phone and no working mobile number to call anybody, I was already half mad. I did not understand the routes and maps very well. All I knew were the bus numbers that one of my colleagues had mentioned to me earlier. I had to get off mid-way and take another bus to get to my office. However, not all the bus stops were in one placeJ! If one bus stop was oriented towards the east, the interchange bus stop was in the northerly direction a few 100s of meters away. It needed an initial escorting to understand the bus systems, after which one would be very comfortable.

With lot of self-doubt, I started for the office. I got into the bus number 24 at Amhult and had to get off at Sorredsvagen bus stop platform A. From there, I had to board bus number 32 from the same stop at platform C to go to my office.

Before getting off the bus, I tried to understand from the driver as to where the next stop was. Even however, the driver did tell me vaguely, it was not very clear from his language.  I got down at platform A, Sorredsvagen, only to realize that I could not find Platform C. The place did not seem to have many people either. I had absolutely no clue which direction to look - for this platform. There was no bus stop in sight for what seemed like several miles! 

Utterly confused, I looked here and there, wondering what to do. I found a young man walking near the platform A. I ran up to him and enquired in English as to where the Platform C was. Thankfully, this gentle man spoke English. He replied that he was new to the place and did not know. I was disheartened and did not know what to do. He seemed to sense my discomfort. He said, he could help search for this “platform C”. Glad that I had some company in a search like this, we started walking towards the other side of the road just in case we come across this platform C.

                   I picked up a conversation with him and learnt that he was from Lebanon but was raised in Gothenburg.  With keen interest in learning other languages, he learnt English too and was on his way for a job interview.  The moment he told me, he was a Lebanese; I assumed he was a Muslim. I began to wonder why I had to come face to face with this Muslim man and God know what he was up to.  As there was no other soul on that street, I had no option but to continue to seek help from this man.

                    After a little bit of walking in the cold, we found a deserted bus stop platform but were not very sure as the numbers were not clear on it. I was looking lost, I guess, as the young man comforted me saying he would be there until I got into the right bus. I asked him if he was not worried about getting late for his job interview. He replied that he had left very early as he wasn’t very sure of the buses too. He walked up to some other bus stops that were a few meters away, spoke to another man in Swedish and enquired about the bus and stops. He came back and told me that there was a bus expected in a few mins and that he will wait and talk to the driver to stop at the right bus stop so that I don’t get more inconvenienced.

                    Soon, the bus number 32 arrived. I got into the bus and this young man, came in and spoke to the driver in Swedish, requesting him to drop me off at my office stop. I thanked him profusely before he got down. Just as the bus started, I realized that I had not even bothered to ask him his name! This name-less young man’s timely help made my day and I reached office on time!

                   Even today, I wonder, if my experience would have been any different had I known this young man’s name! His name, in fact, meant nothing to me, but his actions made me realize, that humanity still exists. This experience confirmed my firm belief that help will always arrive on time, provided I do not let my assumptions overtake me! This nameless face is etched in my memory forever.