Spots and Scars

My last evening in Paris will always be etched in my memory. I returned from Luxembourg and was totally drained from a long day of presentations, discussions, talk of future employment, thrashing issues back and forth and finally meeting the reclusive grand old man of IPR. There are some people who it is a privelege to meet and I was privileged to meet and talk to him.

When I reached the hotel, tired, happy and somewhat buzzed in the head (as my friends say, i'm always buzzed and touched in the head) I looked forward to a peaceful and calm evening. After a long soak in the tub, I was ready to eat my last french meal. There was hardly anyone in the hotel restaurant but when has that deterred moi? I ordered guinea fowl and foie gras (not in that order) and had just started enjoying my meal when suddenly we heard a loud voice screaming, "Lay off you Pakistani, don't hassle me." I looked up and saw a young jewish man (I knew he was jewish because he was wearing a yarmulke) shouting at the affable Mauritian gentleman who had been dining at the table next to ours. I do not know what had transpired between them, but the Mauritian looked shocked and my jaw dropped. The fellow continued in that vein. Amongst the epithets hurled around at the top of his voice were, "Pakistani pig", "black man", "Allah-lover", "smelly pakistani" and so on and so forth. He ended his diatribe with, "Who lets these dogs in here? I am not afraid of their Allah." He then proceeded to sit 2 tables away from us and to give instructions to the maitre'd to cook his fish so that it was kosher. What hurt even more was that the hotel staff did not say a word. They did not ask him to leave and were nice and attentive to the man. The mauritian seemed shell-shocked and I think lodged a complaint at the hotel. We (one of my colleagues and me) spoke with the Mauritian gentleman later and he told us that he was trying to help the fellow since he asked him what the salad consisted of, at the buffet table. We gave him our cards and told him that in case he wanted to take further action, he could get in touch with us. I was shook up and shocked. I've had occassional "pakis" thrown at me while attending school in Germany but never had to confront blatant racism this way. It was humiliating and sick. I've always hated religion of any sort because I believe it makes bigots out of perfectly sane humans. My belief has been reinforced by my last very memorable meal in Paris. I'm better off without an Allah, without Jesus Christ, Ganesha or Yahweh.