The Ibn Battuta studio
After spending two weeks with laborers in Dubai\’s industrial regions, Einstein understood that everyone here loved their family deeply. He thought about the continuous messages from his mother on his phone, to which he couldn’t reply. Einstein was always a person of solitude, but that was his strength. He lived in the present moment, with his mind, heart, and body fully engaged in the world around him.
This ability wasn’t natural; he developed it after a significant breakdown caused by an innocent love during his school years. At that time, he lived entirely in the past, seeing his estranged lover everywhere and even talking to her in his mind. It took him three years to recover. Afterward, he began to avoid anything that could deeply attach him to others—new friends, colleagues, relatives, siblings, their children, and even, to some extent, his mother and father.
Anyway Einstein was truthful and loved everyone wholeheartedly when they were in front of him, yet lived a lonely life.
One afternoon, Einstein picked up his phone and called his mother to reassure her that he was alive and that she shouldn’t worry. Talking to parents during life’s hardest times was always a comforting experience.
That night, in the labor camp\’s dirty bed space, he observed the others. Some walked in the corridor, some sat on the steps, and others lay on their beds, all with their mobile phones in hand. On every phone screen, two videos appeared in a single frame: a larger one showing their wives, children, parents, or friends, and a smaller video in the right bottom corner showing their own image. Einstein thought the screens symbolized their priorities—family occupied most of the space, and the space for themselves were too little.
Migrant laborers were treated like celebrities when they departed their home countries for work. But upon arrival in the Gulf, their lives resembled a prison. The world felt like the movie \”Shawshank Redemption\”, where hope seemed like an insane notion. But they still believed in luck and bought lottery tickets daily.
A barber visited the Ibn Battuta studio( the shop where Einstein works) four times a day, each time to buy another lottery ticket. After each purchase, the barber returned to the barber shop, only to think, \”What if the next lottery changes my life?\” Then he came back for more.
One day, after spending 100 dirhams on lottery tickets, the barber won 10 dirhams. While collecting his winnings, he noticed a bottle on display with a child’s photo printed on it. As he waited for the shopkeeper to attend to him, another customer came to collect the printed bottle.
By watching this the barber stood up and came near Einstein and said that, \”I should have got a bottle like this for my child, with her picture on it, instead of buying so many lottery tickets.\”
Einstein replied, “Yes, brother. Our emotions matter more than chasing money\”.
The barber looked into Einstein’s eyes and gave a knowing expression, as if to say, \”You’re absolutely right, boy.\”
But to life\’s irony that evening, the barber got drunk and bought three more lottery tickets than usual.
Einstein, too, began pondering ways to make more money gradually.
But for one change both men dreamed that same day about seeing their loved ones’ faces printed on water bottles, mugs, or pillows.
“When you see yourself on meaningful things, it brings happiness. If you can give that happiness to your loved ones as a surprise, it will bring them joy. These are the two basic emotional needs that everyone craves for in life through different ways,” Einstein wrote in his diary that day.
(To be continued…)