BORN into a conservative Muslim family, in a village in Pakistan. Rouf'Malik Joined the government service having completed his higher education, although he had never dreamt of one day doing this, as his forefathers were against the administration of the British in India. One of Roufs relatives was in fact hanged by the British, having been declared an anti-state element for his participation in the Mutiny in 1857. However, his father and younger uncle also served in the British administration.

His younger brother, however. Joined the Pakistan Army.

Rouf Malik was brought up in an unusual environment, in a village which was dominated by a Hindu population of different castes.

^his had a direct impact on his upbringing. Rouf did not have any prejudice against other religions and his mind was secular in nature. His village house was surrounded by a vineyard with plenty of mango plants, which have a soothing effect on one s life.

He had never been to Europe before but this time he had been chosen to be posted there. Unfortunately, he landed in the eastern part of Europe, which was lagging far behind the western part of Europe in terms of per capita income and economic development.

He regarded it as a challenge to work in Eastern Europe as it was under the totalitarian monolithic communist system, and he accepted it in good faith.

His first experience in Eastern Europe was unique. It was July 1986. On his way to Romania. Rouf had to stop over in Athens Airport. It was a beautiful airport overlooking the Acu an

Sea. After doing some shopping In the airport, he had a meal in a greek restaurant. In the afternoon. Rouf boarded a flight with Tarom. which was the national aircraft carrier of Romania. Before hoardim* the aircraft. the Bucharest-bound passengers lined up in the queue to have their luggage checked. Thereafter, the passengers were advised to take their seats in the aeroplane.

Although no seat number was given on the boarding card. Rouf was given due courtesy and allowed to take a seat in the first class area of the small aircraft of the Fokker type, with fewer than 20 passengers on board. When the aircraft took off the passengers, mainly from the Aslan continent, were praying to God for a safe Journey to Bucharest. A good-looking hostess emerged from the cockpit ten minutes after the take-off and offered to serve tea and snacks. It was. however, hardly possible to sip the tea as the aircraft was flying unsteadily, even bumping occasionally. Despite his fears. Rouf recalled the Warsaw Convention which limits the liability of airlines for death or bodily injury. At one stage, the air hostess apologised to Rouf as his tea had spilled over from the cup and spoiled his suit. At this stage. Rouf was furious. Meanwhile a steward came forward to apologise again for the Incident, which was however, beyond their control. The services of the Romanian Airlines was so bad it was beyond all imagination. Finally, the aircraft landed at Bucharest Airport at 21.00 hours. Rouf was astonished as he became aware of the dim light, and even areas where there was no electric light at all. He had not dreamt that such a situation would occur in Europe whether east or

west. At the immigration section, the officer concerned looked at him several times to verify his identification. After passing through different hurdles. particularly the immigration section. Rouf was met by a gentleman who had come to the airport to receive him.

He was driven to a hotel In the city center. While traveling by car from the Otopenl Airport, one can see attractive natural landscapes with meadows and oakgrovt \firr ten miles, the road takes a turn from Sclenteia Square, which has been renamed Plata Presel Libere after the fall of the communist regime of Nicole Ceausescu in 1989. From here, a number of newspapers used to be published dally. As a matter of fact. It was known as the Flelet Street of Romania. The old Scantier House was the largest printing enterprise in Bucharest.

According to historians. Bucharest became the capital of Romania in 1862, Sprawling over 605 square miles, Bucharest stands in the Romanian Plain on the Dimbovita River. 30 miles from the Bulgarian frontier. The river passes through Bucharest, but the city is not divided by its river as is Budapest (Buda and Pest), the capital of Hungary.

As part of his diplomatic assignment. Rouf established acquaintance with many people in Romania — political leaders, educationists. Journalists and business people apart from ordinary citizens. One evening, he had an invitation from the Chinese Embassy in Bucharest.

It was a dark evening in Winter. The Chinese Embassy was hosting the National Day Event in October 1987. The Embassy compound in Bucharest was crowded with people from the different

strata of society in Bucharest. It seems that the Chinese Embassy in Bucharest had established good contacts with the Romanian people despite the fact that the entire society was under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu and his clan. It was monolithic culture. Ceausescu and his wife Elena Ceausescu had ruled the country for over 25 years with an iron hand. As a result, the people had been made timid and lifeless.

It was amazing for Rouf to find Romanian people in the National Day Reception in the Chinese Embassy to be informal and receptive to talks with foreigners. Rouf had been given to understand that Romanians were forbidden to talk to foreigners, and if found in such a situation by the police, he or she would be asked to give the nature of the talks. But its information was not disclosed voluntarily to the police.

That was the state of affairs in Romania. A person who was arrested on the charge of meeting a foreigner would be retained in jail for a period of time unless he was given clearance by the Securitate (Secret police force of President Nicolae Ceausescu). This special security force was built up meticulously for the security of Ceausescu and his clan. They were mostly recruited from orphans and illegitimate children. As a result, they were naturally obliged to Ceausescu and his family at the first instance. Rouf incidentally met a number of people, including women, in the reception. Rouf was greeted by a woman in sub-continental style as soon as he introduced himself. The style of greeting attracted him and he took the opportunity to have talks with the woman. He asked her name and was tuio ,u.ii she was

Carmen Mihaela Mihai and handed over her visiting card to him. Smilingly. Carmen extended her hand to Rouf. While shaking hands, he felt shy as this was the first time he had shaken hands with a woman. In the traditional Muslim society from which Rouf hailed, a man is not permitted to shake hands with a woman.

Carmen was a charming woman, slightly shorter than Rouf, slender and with blonde hair. While shaking hands, she had asked Rouf. “How are you?" in Hindi. He was taken aback on hearing Hindi In a place like Bucharest. In his reply, Rouf said. “I am fine. But how are you?" She did not reply, as she had no more Hindi words on stock. Still smiling. Carmen asked. "When did you arrive in Bucharest? Do you like the country?” Rouf replied. T am here only for six months. It Is a beautiful country and the women are beautiful too. I like Bucharest. Rouf considered Carmen to be in her early thirties.

After a while. Rouf took leave of Carmen, but the impression she created remained with him. On return to his residence. Rouf thought of her and decided to talk to her over the telephone as soon as possible. A few days later. Rouf tried to telephone her. but received the reply that Carmen was not at home. In his frustration, he decided not to pursue the matter, and Carmen did in fact phone up to respond to Roufs calls. He was still looking forward to talking to her and his impression was that she had been known to him for ages.

In this gathering, Rouf got to know another woman by the name. Olga Jora, who was Editor of Editora Universe. a Romanian Journal. Olga Jora was of the same age group as Carmen.

Olga distinguished herself as activist in promoting the cause of women in Romania.

On an invitation. Rouf had been to the residence of Olga Jora to see for himself the life-style of a Romanian family. In fact, that was Roufs first ever visit to a family In Bucharest. As he knocked at the door. Olga came out to welcome him. He was entertained with Romanian delicacies and coffee. To the query of Rouf. Olga spoke a great deal about their family life. Her husband was a diploma engineer, but whatever amount he earned, he spent it on hard drink and gambling. The husband usually came home at midnight and beat his wife although he had married her for love. This was the routine of events in her family. A boy. who was bornout of wedlock was sent away to school.

After completing her story. Olga began sobbing. Rouf patted her and gave her solace. He was Informed that Olga was in the process of seeking a divorce and wanted to live alone with her son. She adored her son. Micky, and wanted to groom him like a perfect gentleman. Olga said that the life of many of the married women in Romania was pathetic. Prior to the marriage a boyfriend had made promises to make life as comfortable as possible and built imaginary castles in the air. After the marriage, the boyfriend turned husband became ruthless and heartless in his behaviour. Apart from spending the money he earned himself in an extravagant way.

Very often he concealed his marital status from unknown women in order to have extra-marital relations. In fact this was the state of affairs for womenfolk in Romania during the communist period. To be continued