Love Thy Neighbour For A Lovely Orchid

I thought the phrase 'Love Thy Neighbour' is non-existent in Dubai dwelling community. There is no clue whatsoever who live behind the closed doors of the same floor I live in. Once in long while, I meet some of them in the elevator or at the parking lot. The neigbours are always in a hurry, look either tired or occupied and very few would exchange smiles with me, but our smiles are the faint and the reluctant ones. Here, neighbours talk only in a time of crisis, like two months back when our electricity was cut for a silly reason. We ganged up at the lobby to discuss the action plan. After that, they are lost behind their doors, nowhere to be seen, what more to love and be loved.

Yesterday I found this notice in the elevator. One of my neighbours in the building is leaving the country and offering his personal effects. There was a list of things, but one that captured my attention was the orchid plant. It was 9:40PM on a Thursday night. I figured some folks sleep early or some are sweating and clubbing out there. There is no sense of bugging them at this hour. So I sent an SMS that read, "I'm interested in the orchid. Still available? Can I see? -No 422".

Today, I was in my apartment after my Friday prayer. There was someone at the door ringing my bell. To my disbelief, there was a man holding a pot of white orchid plant. He is the man who posted the notice at the elevator. He is a Canadian who will be back to his home country in a week time. He smiled at me and said the orchid is for me, for free. He asked me to come over to his place if I need anything else. I thanked him and told him I would drop by later. It was not exactly like the prized orchid plants I had seen in the Shah Alam Pesta Anggerik. It is an orchid plant in its simplest form of existence. It has only 2 white flowers, one long stem, one thick green leaf and a cluster of roots.

I call the orchid plant simply "Orked" and I'm her Muhsin admiring her presence in my apartment. I spend some time looking at Orked's details. She has remarkable details despite her simplicity. I make a spot for Orked to reside, next to my family photo frame, my wife's wishing well card, Hadiff's toy bear and Aimi's Mickey pillows . I hope Orked likes her new home.

Later after lunch, I dropped by at the place of my Canadian neighbour. He was a bit surprised to see me with a small bag of assorted chocolates. He accepted the chocolates and he was very excited showing me his other stuffs. I also met his wife, an Indonesian from Surabaya. It was lovely to hear her asking, "Apa khabar?" and I replied "Baik" with a big smile. I told him that I am only interested in small items since I live in a furnished small apartment with little space for new additions. I ended up buying his foldable air mattress with the pump, a Phillip alarm clock that can project the time on the wall in the dark, a box of tools and a Tefal sandwich maker, all for only 100 dirhams. They are very nice couple. Too bad that I only get to know them in the verge of their departure. I wished them "Bon Voyage. Selamat jalan". It is long way to go before Dubai residents from over 200 different nationalities from many corners of earth surface would live the 'Love Thy Neighbour' residential concept. But I have experienced a humble start here, thanks to Orked.