The Man with Sea Secrets in Him
The guy who collects lottery money from local shops in some regions of Dubai usually started his day like this. He took his vehicle and visited all the shops one by one. He came to Ibn Battuta Studio. Einstein was there. Einstein welcomed him with a new phrase unknown to all the other customers standing in the shop: “Magandang Araw.” It’s Tagalog, a language widely spoken by Filipinos. The lottery collector was a Filipino. When he left Ibn Battuta Studio last time, Einstein had greeted him with another Tagalog word: “Salamat,” meaning thanks. That day, he was confused and decided to ask Einstein about it today.
“So, bro, you know Tagalog?”
“Yes, man.”
The lottery guy smiled, reacting through his face – Superboy.
Einstein continued with excitement, “West Zone girls taught me.” (west zone is one of the famous Phillipines supermarket network in Dubai, most of the billing counter workers here are the young women from Phillipines)
But that explanation disappointed the lottery man quickly. Einstein understood and tried a few jokes to make him smile. Nothing worked.
The lottery guy asked him for the shop’s Wi-Fi and shared his phone with Einstein. The Wi-Fi window suddenly closed, revealing the home screen: a photo of the lottery man, his wife, and a little kid. A crack in the phone’s broken glass drew a line between the family and him. After connecting to Wi-Fi, he opened a mobile app and texted a girl. Einstein noticed they shared red heart emojis more often than words.
The lottery guy said: “My wife.” (she must be working in west zone )
The idea of family makes men more vulnerable and happy at the same time. We can view this as: we can be happy only if we are vulnerable.
Einstein was reading a novel that night and came across a passage describing a character named Estha: “He began to look wiser than he really was. Like a fisherman in a city. With sea secrets in him.”
Two concepts, secrets inside and a fisherman, stopped him there.
The book was written by Indian author Arundhati Roy and titled \’The God of Small Things\’. It had won a Man Booker Prize, one of the most prestigious awards for fiction in the Western world.
But the phrases \”secrets in him\” and \”fisherman\” stayed with him.
The next evening, Einstein was drinking tea at a restaurant. In front of him, various meat fries and delicious, eye-catching dishes were displayed inside a glass box. He couldn’t afford to buy any at the moment, but he didn’t like food that was overly aesthetic or “Instagrammable” either. Sitting there, sipping tea and staring at the food, he seems like a teenager watching porn and masturbating.
He diverted his gaze elsewhere in the restaurant. But after eliminating the food, the only thing left was the people. Migrant laborers carry different stories of family burdens and debts. In Dubai, even hiring managers ask about a candidate’s burdens during interviews to gauge their likelihood of staying with the company long-term.
Einstein’s eyes locked with one restaurant employee.
“Any winnings today?” Einstein asked.
“No, bro. Insha’Allah, one day,” the man replied.
The guy remained optimistic.
This was a usual conversation between Einstein and others in the region. He didn’t know what else to ask after saying hi, so he inquired about their lottery status.
They all seemed like Arundhati Roy’s fishermen—people carrying big, hidden sea secrets inside them.
Einstein’s father was a fisherman. Some days, he thought about his father and all the actual sea secrets he carried throughout his life. But he often abandoned those vast thoughts to observe the people around him and their hidden stories.
The untold stories. Are all stories meant to be told and unveiled?
Einstein used to have friends who created new stories on social media daily. But he found nothing original in their lives. They lived on Instagram. He saw it—a customized life, optimized for Instagram stories and posts. Some even forgot to think about earning their next meal, addicted instead to portraying beautiful lives online. Others, with money and technology at their disposal, didn’t need to worry about daily survival and spent their lives on social media. Their actions felt like SEO-optimized content, tailored for online platforms. (SEO is a technology professionals use to come first on social media and google like search engines- while they searching for relevant information)
Among all the Instagrammable people Einstein met, he noticed two common traits: jealousy and fakeness. This remained a peculiar coincidence in his life.
So he preferred being among the “sea secrets people.” That night, he divided the world into two categories: sea secret humans and Instagrammable people. And life’s simple logic: whenever we figure out who’s fake and who’s real, it either gives us a bad shock or good sleep. So, Einstein slept well that night.
The Virtual People and the Real People
When Einstein was hired to work in a local studio shop, the idea of a journalist working as a shopkeeper was hard for the owner and workers to digest. But once he started the job, Einstein realized that being a shopkeeper in a studio communication store and being a journalist had similarities. Both involved meeting people with problems and working to solve them. Instead of earning from ads, he was now directly paid by the people—a new kind of crowdfunding journalism.
In the past, living a life inside a room and interacting with people online had made his life lazier. If he didn’t like someone online, he simply muted them or removed them from his interactions. But as a shopkeeper, he couldn’t remove the Bangladeshi worker who was yelling at him, unable to understand why the Dubai government was charging more money for unemployment insurance.
He has to face reality now. Solve the problems of the real world. Interact with real people, not those suggested based on your interests.
Yet they treated him poorly, insulted him whenever they could. But He didn’t notice, though, as he was busy observing and studying them.
The Fishermen Effect on the World
After reading Arundhati Roy’s lines about fishermen and their sea secrets, Einstein started noticing the word “fisher” everywhere. In Kerala, his home state (often misspelled as \’Kerela\’ by North Indians), the word \”fisher\” was uncommon and not the one treated with respect.
He searched for notable people with the surname Fisher and discovered:
– M.F.K. Fisher, a food writer blending gastronomy with humanist philosophy.
– Carrie Fisher, the iconic actress known as Princess Leia.
– Bobby Fischer, the chess prodigy and grandmaster.
The name \”Fisher\” originated from the Old English word \”fiscere,\” meaning fisherman. It signified those associated with fishing—a vital occupation in medieval England.
Too much information can be more tiring than too many people. After reading all this, Einstein went to bed early.
The Diary
Before sleeping, he wrote in his diary: \’Einstein Fisher.\’ The world-renowned observer? Then erased it. The world-renowned psychologist? Erased again. The world-renowned writer? Erased. A world-renowned journalist? A world-renowned shopkeeper? A world-renowned photographer?…..
After all this, he asked himself: What does this word \’world\’ mean? The world inside us or the world around us? The secrets inside us or the secrets outside us?
NB:
“Magandang Araw” in the first paragraph means “Good morning” in Tagalog.
Good morning to the New Year 2025, everyone!