Hey there Steem Gang!
This post was originally triggered by a scent of sweat. It happened yesterday in the night train on my way home from Innsbruck. It was absolutely filled with workers from eastern part of Slovakia going home for a weekend. As one of them passed by me, I immediatelly smelled his body scent and suddenly I felt this weird positive emotion for a second. Weird right? It was the very same smell I used to breathe daily in student dorms in Pakistan. But as this sudden positive sense started to gain on intensity and I've noticed it, suddenly it changed into disgust. ...It was mixed with hard alcohol!
When sweat doesn't stink
I took me several days to get used to how people smelled in Pakistan. With temperatures reaching 50 degrees daily, no ACs in the buildings and their customs of wearing long sleeves and jeans all the time, people definitely developed a special scent there. But my mind identifies this sweaty scent with some of the purest and hardest working people I've ever met and deeply admire. Their religion prohibits them from drinking alcohol and they manage to live in harsh conditions without it. My time in Pakistan changed me in ways I couldn't imagine before and that's why I initially felt a sudden positive emotion yesterday.
Lahore, Pakistan (2014)
When sweat stinks
But these workers in the train were not sweaty because of the environment - they just skipped a shower after the work and went straight to the pub...I dont get it, dont they look forward to a weekend well-spent with a family? Or in general, for 2 nice free days which they could spend well. Yet they choose to get wasted on the way home, probably sleep over whole Saturday and on Sunday they go back for a working week. And repeat..Dont get me wrong, i dont hate on them! They have a tough life I could probably hardly understand. I've seen it on their wrinkled hands...but still, they are in similar situation to many people in Pakistan, who manage same situations bravely without alcohol (and yet we call them terrorists and that's it :/...). Its not that hard physical work which harms them, but the alcohol they consume afterwards.
Thanks for reading! Martin
You can find my latest posts here:
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Mother tongue version
Cavte Steemitaci!
Tak som vcera uspesne po 12 hodinach dorazil vnoci do Trencina :) Uz mam za sebou aj zubara a okrem toho ze som tam z toho priameho bieleho svetla do oci a len necelych 4 hodinach spanku skoro odpadol vsetko prebehlo vpohode :D
Vcera sa mi na trase Bratislava-Trencin stala zvlastna vec. Vlak bol kompletne preplneny robotnikmi z vychodu Slovenska, ktori pravidelne cestuju na tyzden za pracou. Ked jeden popri mne presiel, hned som zacitil pach jeho spoteneho tela...a vyvolalo to vo mne pozitivny pocit! Divne ze? Bol to presne ten isty pach, ktori som denne dychal na intrakoch v Pakistane. No v momente, ked som si uvedomil, odkial pramenia tie pozitivne emocie ktore ma prekvapili, zrazu sa vsetko zmenilo v odpor. ...V tom zapachu bolo citit este nieco ine - tvrdy alkohol!
Ked pot nesmrdi
Po mojom prichode do Pakistanu mi trvalo par dni, kym som si zvykol na specialny zapach typicky pre tamojsich ludi. Kombinacia teplot az to 50 stupnov, skoro ziadne fungujuce klimatizacie, kultura propagujuca nosenie dlhych nohavic a rukavov vzdy a vsade - toto vsetko sa podpisalo na vsade pritomnom pachu ludskeho tela. Ale moja mysel identifikuje tento pach s neuveritelne cistymi a dobrymi ludmi, casto pracujucimi na hranici vlastnych sil, ktorych hlboko obdivujem. Cas straveny v Pakistane ma neuveritelne zmenil a preto moja mysel pri zapachu potu casto spusta pozitivne spomienky a reakcie..
Lahore, Pakistan (2014)
Ked pot smrdi
Ale tito robotnici neboli spoteni, kvoli tomu ze pracovali na stavbe v 45 stupnoch. Oni smrdeli preto, lebomiesto sprchy sli po robote do krcmy....Toto naozaj nikdy nepochopim, netesia sa na vikend domov na rodinu a deti? A pokial aj ziadne nemaju, netesia sa proste na dva dni volna a oddychu od tazkej manualnej prace?Miesto toho sa ozeru uz v Bratislave na stanici, sobotu potom prespia a v nedelu cestuju naspat..A toto sa opakuje..Nechapte ma zle, nehejtujem ich! Maju tazky zivot, ktory si ja od pocitaca viem tazko predstavit. Ich zrobena a zvraskavena koza na rukach hovorila za vsetko....Podla mna im vobec neskodi a zivot nenici tazka manualna praca, ktoru vykonavaju, no alkohol a jeho efekt. Su v podobnej, ak nie lepsej situacii, ako mnoho ludi v Pakistane - a ti to statocne zvladaju bez alkoholu (a jedine co o nich povieme my, ze su to teroristi :/)..