Lost in Translation

She checks the time ... "oh its nearly six! should call a cab otherwise it won't get here for ages, what with the rush hour traffic and all!".

Picks up the phone, dials 2080808, the phone gets picked up by the system after a couple of rings ...

"ahlan wasahlan bekum fi taaksi Dubai ... Welcome to Dubai Taxi ... al'al istamrar fil lughatul araabia wahid ... to continue in English press 2". She presses two. An Arab operator answers the phone ...

"Hello welcome to Dubai Taxi, how may I help you?"

"Hi, I need a Taxi in the Jebel Ali Free Zone"

"Where in the free zone?"

"At junction 12, gate 5, the company is P&G"

"B&G"

"Procter&Gamble, P&G"

"B&G?"

She suddenly realizes that arabic doesn' t have the "p" sound in it, the closest approximation is 'B'. "Yes"

"When do you need it madam?"

"As soon as possible, please"

"May I have your name and cell number please?". She gives the details ...

"Anything else Madam?"

"No, Thank You!"

She hangs up the phone and turns back to her laptop, winding up work for the day. The cabbie should call any time now. Her phone rings once. Missed call from an unknown number. Has to be the cab driver. So she calls back ...

A subcontinental voice answers the phone

"Haallooo"

"Hi, I called a taxi"

"Yaas, yaas, this is the taxi"

"So where are you?"

"Eye yam neaarr gate 5, wherrre eye comme?"

"Okay, go straight from here and you will come to junction 13"

"uhhnnnn?"

"go straight and you will come to roundabout 13"

"Yaas Yaas, raoundabaout 13"

"Take a left"

"Laft?"

"Yes, left"

"oakay, oakay, naow wherre eye goo?"

"Go straight and you will reach roundabout 12"

"12?"

"Yes, 12, take a left"

"oakay, oakay, 12 naoww, laft?"

"yes, and as soon as you take left, its the first building on your left again, it has a blue gate"

"oakay, oakay" hangs up.

She packs up, since the taxi is barely 5 minutes away. 15 minutes pass, no luck. Just as she is beginning the wonder, the phone rings.

"Yes? are you here?"

A frustrated subcontinental voice replies ... "Thaere is nooo aaafis here, eye haave chaeked aal bildings"

"you took a left from roundabout 13?"

"yaas"

"and then a left from 12?"

"yaas"

"So then it is the first building on your left, it is a white building with green windows and a blue gate, found it?"

"nooo"

"okay, okay, do you see a black building on the other side?"

"uhh uhh whyyeee essss ellll buuh... buuh ... byoo ..."

She is confused for a while then realizes he's trying to pronounce beauté. Can't blame him, poor guy, French is not for the faint hearted! "Yes, that one, now look on the other side, the white building on the other side, come there"

"butt thaat ees P und G"

"Yes thats the one, P&G, blue gate, come inside"

"Buttt eye have been looking faar a B und G, thaey told me B&G!"

"No its P&G". Shakes her head and hangs up.






Disclaimer: pronunciations and accents have been highlighted to convey the essence of this situation. The writer does not intend or endorse any sort of discrimination whatsoever!