Careering through Cairo

After transiting through the glitz, glamour and sheer scale of Dubai airport, the Cairo airport is a bit of an anti climax. Yet it’s cramped quarters, outdated design and cheerful chaos have a wonderfully familiar feeling for incoming Hindis (as we are known to native Masry’s).

The drive into one of the many international hotels which dot Cairo’s landscape is not unlike in other major cities in the world. The typical sweeping highways from the airport, miles better than most Indian cities barring Delhi, then the passage through some of the major architectural wonders of the current administration, detours around the seamier sections and then into the island of Zamalek which is the commercial and night life hub of Egypt. Traffic befuddles most Westerners with it’s high speed lassez faire approach, but drivers and pedestrians seem to continuously avoid mishaps by inches with blasé insouciance. For Hindis, it is again a touch of déjà vu.

Egyptians are a smiling, happy people. They have polished manners and an innate desire to enjoy the good life, with time to spare. Coming from an environment in India which encouraged a frank interchange of ideas, I am always conscious that I need to be more sensitive and spend more time on social niceties before subtly approaching what needs to be done. Expats find most Egyptians are happy to discuss anything at work, whether it is of direct relevance to the task at hand or not; they are also passionate in defence of their own ideas and convictions, even when sometimes it seems to a non Masry that there is no real difference in viewpoint to debate!

Egyptians do sometimes appear puzzlingly contradictory, unlike many dispassionately logical and conservative colleagues in my earlier assignments in the Far East. While Egyptians are deeply conscious of and take pride in their ancient civilisation and know about the step pyramids of Saqqara, the Great Pyramid entombing Pharoah Khufu and the Sphinx in the image of Pharoah Khafre–I was amazed that most Masrys I met had not seen the 2,000-year-old Roman citadel, nor the Coptic Museum where the Orthodox eastern church philosophy was created. Similarly at work, most organisations in Egypt are filled with articulate, evaluative minds that are surprisingly hesitant to take decisions, preferring to delegate upwards till it generally reaches a single key man at the top.

A Frenchman I met a few days ago explained this phenomenon by citing the structure of the government, which is of course controlled by the President and is not a democracy. In his vast experience, that often set the tone for corporate structures.

Egypt has its share of powerful government companies that dominate the economy, typically utilities and oil & gas sectors. But there is also a resurgent private sector with booming opportunities – especially in familiar areas like travel, entertainment, IT and ITeS. While traditionally wealth and resources have been polarised in distribution, the new generation Egyptians are more egalitarian in outlook and less accepting of disparity, indicating that even more change is inevitable.

Although there are a few Indian restaurants to make a new NRI feel at home, Indian spices are not easily available and the Indian cable network card has to be imported from Dubai. Yet there is a cricket league at the Oberoi Mena House, a wonderfully welcoming and close knit Indian community, Holi at the Chancery and a universal Masry adoration for Amitabh Bachchan that makes Cairo easier to call a home away from home!

HSBC, Cairo