From Syria with love

Expat zone

Majd Mashfej, a Russian from Syria, moved from Kuwait to Bengaluru in May. He’s still finding his way around the City and is taking time to understand what makes the City earn its global repute.

“I got a long list of instructions from friends and family who have been to India before on what we should do and what we should not. Of course, the don’ts outnumbered the dos,
but I must say that I found joy in those don’ts as well because they were a great learning experience,” he says.

Majd holds a degree in business administration and has done multiple jobs. He feels this experience, in not only managing administration but also the practical side, has come to good use in his current job with the Mantri Group.

He began getting a feel of what it is like to work for a living when he was in college. “Like any other student, I too wanted some pocket money but I didn’t want to bother my parents, so I used to catch the next train out of Syria to Russia, to sell different items. I used to do this at least thrice a year,” shares Majd. His parents and siblings live in Damascus. “My parents made sure that we all completed our education and never dropped out half way. My brother is a judge and my sisters have got into the teaching profession,” he states.

Mention the crisis in Syria and he says, “Yes, in fact, I travelled to Syria to move my family to a safer place. It was hell for us but now things are looking up.”

Majd has toured the world on work but recollects that his best time was his stint in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. He would shuttle to Dubai over the weekends.

“Saudi Arabia is a very conservative place. We were not allowed to drink, party or even meet friends outside. Even the most educated of women were restricted from venturing out alone without a male accompanying her,” he states. He recollects that he and his bunch of friends used to meet at his place. They would cook together, watch movies and indulge in some barbecue as well. “This brought a lot of people close together and we were more like family than friends,” he says.

He finds the same spirit of bonding and closeness among the people in Bengaluru.
“This is the first City in India that I have visited. While the people are nice, I cannot deny that initially, I did find it very difficult to get a house. People wanted to know which country we were from, why we were here and whether we ate meat. They asked us all sorts of funny questions, which we found really absurd,” he states.

He finds the government system and procedures here very long-winded. “My biggest problem here is communication and cannot drive around in the City alone, thanks to the maddening traffic,” he rues. But all said and done, Majd and his wife Wafaa, who is also from Syria, found it exciting to move to India.

“We were always fascinated by the colourful festivals, sweets and the vibrant culture of the country. It always held a lot of surprises and each corner of the country is wrapped in a story, waiting to be unwrapped. We had heard about all this and now we are thrilled to experience it first hand,” he states. 

Wafaa says that she had heard stories about India, its history and how the country and its people are warm and welcoming.

“I’ve always wanted to travel to India and Majd’s job came as a perfect excuse to relocate here,” she adds.  But she hopes the government would do somethng to ease the never-ending stream of traffic and control the non-stop power cuts.

 “Bengaluru is called the IT capital of the country but it is surprising that the internet doesn’t work most of the time and power cuts are unpredictable,” she says.
    She spends her time exploring the City and when she’s familiar with it hopes to
pursue a degree in English and get into the teaching profession.

The couple spend their weekends at home or they try out different cuisines and particularly like hanging out on Indiranagar 100 Feet Road. “There are some amazing restaurants in Indiranagar and I really like the prospect of being able to eat and shop in the same place,” states Wafaa.

    However, they concede that travelling from one place to another is a battle in itself, thanks to the traffic jams. Majd and Wafaa love travelling and they have already visited Agra, Goa and Bandipur.

   “The first thing that my wife said when she set foot in India is that she wants to visit the Taj Mahal and our friends have also suggested that we travel to Kerala which we will be doing very soon,” points out Wafaa.