President
30 Sep 2007 — About a month back, I had to go Male for a few days to attend Kissaru 07, which is a job fair organized by the Maldivian Youth centre, aimed at providing an opportunity for youth to meet with employers from various sectors and explore the diversity of jobs available in the Maldives.
This event was officially opened by the President, who as these events go, delivered the promise of an inescapably long and tedious speech — made all the more painful because I was in my uniform standing under a tent under the Maldivian sun not understanding a single word of Dhivehi. He then took a walk round to all the various stalls, during which I had the honour to be graced by his presence and even got to shake his hands. The moment was apparently captured and featured on the news that night — and so many a fellow team members informed me the next day. Oh well, it was just funny to me, meeting this man, wouldn’t have otherwise looked twice passing him on the streets. It was my five seconds of Maldivian telly fame, and that was it, over and done with.
But then lo and behold, an envelope from the President’s Office was delivered to the resort, and herein lies its contents:
Wah… I so duah-bai ah? The president himself actually sent me a photo of our “moment” together, not the other way round?!? Haha! I guess I should find a solid-gold frame to display it or something equally befitting. If for nothing else, this makes for an amusing dinner party story, another quirky Maldivian memory for later on.