A couple of weeks back, I was in a taxi, on my way to my customer, just outside of Kuala Lumpur.
I had no clue of where the customer office is. I simply handed down a piece of paper with the address, to the Bell Captain at the Sheraton, where I was staying, and he obediently ushered in a taxi, and soon I was on one of the many beautiful expressways that Malaysia boasts of. Surprisingly, there was no traffic snarl that day.
The catch was- it was a hazy day, and I could not quite locate the sun, on the move. Eager as I was, to know the direction we were heading, I asked the taxi driver which direction we were headed. He did not quite understand my question.
The wise-crack in me woke up. I then asked him which direction the Sun is (so, I thought, I could figure out myself which direction we were headed towards). I drew a blank again from the poor cabbie. He did not quite make out what I was driving at. The scholar in me got a frustrated.
Then, something struck me. I asked the cabbie " which direction is Makkah( Mecca)?" . Without thinking for a moment, he showed me the precise direction! And I was quick to turn my calculations on, and figured that I was headed North!!
This simple incident taught me two things:
1. I was stunned by the cabbie's awareness of Kiblat ( the direction of the Kabah in Makkah) at any given point of time, even while in motion. It showed me his reverence for the holy place, and the fact that God is on top of his mind all the time. I felt humbled by his steadfast belief. In my eyes, the cabbie immediately went a couple of notches higher.
2. I realized the futility of scholarly approach to simple problems, and the importance of understanding the living the local culture. I come from India, where the Sun is the index. For most people in the Islamic World, the direction of Makkah is the index. I realized that it is better to be a Roman in Rome.
