Welcome, Resort Boy

Tranquillity; on a bright, sunny day an Air Taxi (red bird) floats in deep horizon with silvery reflection in the blue waters. Zooming in; the bird grows bigger. Just then the sputter of engines and blast of propeller break the silence. There is no island behind the aircraft but one up front – panorama 360°. The sound grows louder in the close-up. Someone has been delivered to the island but there was no one to pick him up. Nobody at the resort knew who it was.

At the R E S O R T

Monica (reception girl) tells the Manager, “They have sent the shop boy up on Air Taxi and we don’t have a boat to pick him up!”
Manager shrugs, “What about Launch Section?” He’s brief, wearing only sunglasses over his forehead and shirt.
Monica, “They said no boat. All the boats are out on diving,” she in custom wrap – fàli.
Manager, “So, who sent him up today when we have no boat?”
They move to the beach to sort out this matter…

In the L A G O O N

On the aircraft, Shopay (shop boy) sits on the doorway with his luggage left on the float, an Air Taxi crew helping him.
Crew explains, “Listen, Shopay! The island is calling to say they have no boat to pick you up.”
Shopay can’t believe it. He says, “Hasn’t something bad just happened here! But the resort is lying so close to us, they could have sent up a boat to pick me!” He refrains from getting into the waters. He’s frail thin.
Crew says, “No, no boat, they say ‘no boat’. You have two options. One is to get into the waters and swim across to the island or fly back home with us.”
Shopay sees the proximity of the island, two score meters, but no other way. He shrugs. He’s forced to get into the brackish waters and swim across after he flew all the way without getting wet. He climbs down with two pieces of luggage, swims across the lagoon and climbs the white-washed beach.

It happens – WELCOME TO RESORT LIFE.

F. I. T. (Mr & Mrs Dirk)

At the A I R P O R T (Malé International)

An elderly couple arrives, retired and both tarnished from holiday already in Sri Lanka. Hat and sunglasses, casual clothes, Bahama shirt…nationality Geese, they pass the terminal gate. Someone, a Bangladeshi boy, stands at the gate holding a placard for MR & MRS DIRK, sent from a local travel agency who hired him to wait for the clients – one dollar service.

At the T E R M I N A L

Dirk argues with the resort op – Jackie, the guide.
Jackie, “Guten Tag! Bon Giorno! What’s your name?” He’s got a crowd of tourists around him.
Dirk, “Guten Tag! Ich bin Deutsche? Und Frau…”
Jackie asks, “Which Group, Tour Operator?”
Dirk, “Deutsche…”
Jackie, “Tauchan!”
Dirk, “Ya, Tauchan…”
Jackie clears the F.I.T. couple, scribbles their names and pass they go…

On the J E T T Y

On the wharf with boats on either side, Dirk misplaces his luggage and wife in the wrong boat. Jackie sorts out the problem.
Jackie, “Whose is this?”
Dirk, “Not mine.”
Jackie, “Which one is yours?”
Dirk, “Hier!”
Jackie, “Why did you put her into the wrong boat? Our boat is on this side of the jetty.”
Dirk, “Einschuldegun!”
Jackie gathers the missing piece of luggage and Frau Dirk, snappily put them in his boat. They hop on and head to a PARADISE RESORT, leaving behind the Bangladeshi boy by the gate still holding the placard.

On the B O A T

Just outside the canal, headway into open sea, a splash of water throws onboard wetting the new arrivals, in the moment Dirk glanced out at another passing boat full of tourists – water sprayed on him. Jackie stands in the rear where water doesn’t reach.

B U N G A L O W #34

Dirk’s couple arrives at the hotel – the island. It’s close to sunset. In the dim lights, at his bungalow, he unpacks and unwraps. He walks out of the bungalow to his wife in the fresh breeze, (he in his briefs). A gush of wind slams the door shut and locked inside. The key; he left the key inside and there’s no way he could get into the bungalow.
Both get struck outside without knowing what to do.

At the R E C E P T I O N

Dirk, in briefs, walks into the sand-filled reception, into the lights, uttering in German. Monica understands and looks for a key but there is no double key on the board. She calls Room Service or House Keeping and finds out that they don’t have a duplicate key either.
Monica speaks on the telephone, “Huh! What are you guys doing there without a duplicate key? How did you manage all these days without a key? Nobody reported…” Dirk listens. She continues, “OK, ask the maintenance crew to replace the lock.” She ushers Dirk out of the lobby expressing in sign language, somebody is coming up to fix the lock.

B U N G A L O W #34

Now she sent the maintenance crew to break in the door. Koi (room boy) and his assistant replace the door with a new lock. Koi explains to Dirk how the door lock works. (This type of lock, e.g. EPO, can lock the door shut if the button on the interior knob is pressed. It doesn’t require a key to turn in the lock from the outside. There’s no way to open the door without a key once locked.)

At the R E C E P T I O N

Moment later, Monica sits behind the counter, lights flickering – electricity failure. It goes out and the lights came back, Monica was surprised to see Dirk come into the lobby, wrapped in towel and foam on his body. He walks right out from shower. The desalination plant shuts down with power failure and there is no water.
Dirk initially frustrated, “No wasser! No Duce!”
Monica, “Excuse me, sir! It’s a power failure, kaput!” she explains.
Dirk, “Kaput!” can’t comprehend.
Monica calls Room Service, “Bungalow #34 is without water. The desalination plant is out. I don’t know what’s going to happen to the electricity, the lights are blinking. Take a bucket of water to his room. Hurry up!” She hangs up and eases Dirk out of the reception lobby.

B U N G A L O W #34

Koi carries a bucket of water to the bungalow. It’s a red bucket with a label ‘ROOM SERVICE’. Dirk throws water on his feet to wash away the sand he has collected for being wet before entering the neatly tiled bungalow.

At the R E C E P T I O N

It’s got windy that night. Shortly after dinner, Dirks come to the reception, pause at the notice board hanging with one for an ISLAND HOPPING EXCURSION FOR 6+ PAX. No names appear on the list because of the indicating bad weather front. Dirks sign up for the trip and turn to the reception…
Dirk asks in German, “Telefon!” Can I make a long distance call to Germany?”
Monica replies, “Excuse me! The telephone system is out…kaput.”
Dirk asks, “Kaput?”
Monica, “A technician is called to come and fix it by tomorrow.”
Dirk grumbles, “Morgen?”
Monica, “Ya, morgen.”
Dirk, “Immer Morgen!”
Dirks leave with disappointment.

NEW DAY

On the J E T T Y

Breezy morning, foamy crests on the waves, nobody signed up for the excursion other than the Dirks. The couple stands on the jetty with Jackie, out in the breeze.
Dirk asks, “Why there is no excursion?”
Jackie, “Mr Dark…”
Dirk corrects, “D-i-r-k.”
Jackie, “Mr Dark…Dirk, we need six plus pax to go for excursion. We have only two today, you two,” he counts on his fingers, “Maybe we find more people tomorrow. I promise.”
Dirk, “Why six plus? Why can’t we go just the two of us?”
Jackie explains, “That’s the rule. We can’t operate with few clients. It’s wasteful.”
Dirk, “Ah!”
Jackie, “Alas Klar?”
Dirk, “Alas Klar!”
So the excursion is called off and cancelled.

At the R E C E P T I O N

Dirk asks for a rope. Monica asks Doni (launch boy) for a rope and he brings a brand new wire he has recently obtained for the speedboat.
Doni points, “Here’s the wire, a brand new one, newly purchased for the speedboat,” to both Monica and Dirk.
Dirk, “Danke!”
Monica, “Bitte schon!”
He carries the wire with him and...

Enters the S H O P

Meanwhile, Shopay skilfully places a stencil on a T-shirt and applies colour. Dirk observes.
Shopay, “Gut Morgen! Wie gehts?”
Dirk, “Sehr gut,” he inquires, “Wie viel?” How much is this?
Shopay, “Thirty Dollars.”
Dirk, “In Deutschemark?”
Shopay, “About fifty, sixty, I don’t know. Everything’s in dollars.”
Dirk, “Dollars!”
After few inquiries he absorbs. All the items are too expensive.

Shopay occupied in printing T-shirt. Suddenly, Dirk reappears in a hurry carrying a T-shirt, one of his own.
Dirk insists, “I want to do a print myself, I want to try,” whispering in German.
Shopay utters in native tongue, “You brought one of your own and now you want to waste my time!”
Dirk didn’t understand, “Habe?”
Shopay agrees, “Okay, haben, haben, go on and try…” He draws the worn-out T-shirt into the baseboard cursing and places the bottom stencil, applies colour.
Dirk, “Let me do it! I want to learn,” he insists. Shopay assists Dirk until he picks up.
Dirk spills some colour on the shirt, “Ouch!” wipes a backhand and cries, “Ooh!” He puts some white colour on the blot, “Oops!”

Moment later, Dirk did half of the print himself with a lot of paint on him and the T-shirt.
Dirk finds an excuse, “It is noon. I have to go for lunch. Can you finish the rest before I come from lunch?”
Shopay finds no reason, “Okay, Mr Dirk, I will do it for you.”
Dirk, “Auh Wiedersehen!” and leaves the shop.
Shopay utters in native tongue, “I bet you’ll come like you said ‘right after lunch’.”

Shoot out; Shopay’s skill in printing T-shirt. He gets occupied to finish the job. He glances at the clock, lunch hour is almost over. Dirk comes in.
Dirk cheers, “Wunderbar!”
Shopay, “Alas gut?”
Dirk, “Ya, ya!” he agrees and willing to pay, “Wie viel?”
Shopay refrains to collect, “No, no, you don’t have to pay this one, since it’s yours. No pay this time. It’s free.”
Dirk knows he will not pay. He leaves the shop with his used, printed “Maldivian” T-shirt, for free.

NIGHTLIFE

S T A F F Q U A R T E R

In the staff hall, all the cast sit for boduberu – folk dance and drums. After dinner, the lights are dim here. Fitte (powerhouse boy) sits behind a drum. He’s a lead player, overweight, dark boy. He fits to his nick. Shopay (new recruit) sits next to him. He’s frail thin. Somebody lowers a glass of water to the floor. Fitte swallows the contents in a wine glass. Somebody removes the glass.

Fitte asks Shopay, “Do you know how to play boduberu?”
Shopay smiles shyly, “No, no, I don’t. You go ahead.” A glass of water is lowered to the floor.
Fitte swallows, “Look, I’ll show you. My folks back home in Kela play the real thing.” He strums the drums. The glass is removed while another glass is lowered. “Play that.”
Shopay refrains, “I can’t. I don’t know. You play.”
Fitte, “Come on! Play it!” he snaps and swallows the glass. An amba (chorus) begins and for a while the crowd is taken into a boduberu song.

It stops…

Fitte, “Do you know how to play funa?”
Shopay, “I’m telling you I don’t know. I don’t play boduberu.”
Fitte, “My folks back home in Kela play the real thing. Here’s how you do a funa,” he demonstrates finger strums. He takes it keenly, not that Shopay listens.
Monica asks, “Fitte, do your play dhamman?” Fitte swallows another mouthful and the glass keeps rotating.
Fitte wipes his mouth, “Yeah, we do, we do, indeed, we play ‘baburu lava’, ‘dhamman’, ‘dhigu lava’…here is how you beat a dhamman…” he strikes the drum. “Shopay, you try this…a dhamman…”
Shopay says, “No, no, no…”
Fitte, “Come on! You do it! Do it!” He grabs Shopay’s elbow. “I’ll show you.” He tries to slam Shopay’s arm to the drum but Shopay rigidly held back. “Come on! Relax! Ease tension and strum on, easy…easy…with your fingers, like this…” he demonstrates with slacken fingers strumming the drum.
Fitte cries, “Now your turn, try!” He grabs Shopay’s elbow, “Show me!” this time Shopay relaxed, not rigid. A sudden plunge Fitte delivered to Shopay’s arm in knocking the drum brought instant pain to Shopay’s knuckles and elbow joint.
Shopay cries, “Alifanoi!”
Fitte swallows another glassful and starts beating the drums. He gets up for a dance, in full chorus and drums. In a crescendo, Fitte pulls off his shirt, ravelling his body, moving every muscle, shaking to the real thing – boduberu.

Daybreaks…

Fitte wakes up, heavy in his head. Koi lowers to his bed with a mobile phone.
Koi, “Look! Take a look at this!” he shows the picture to Fitte.
Fitte cries, “Mikalo! Who?” Mother! Who?
Koi replies, “Tha,” You.
Fitte, “Magè!” Me!
Koi, “Ya, it’s you, last night.” Fitte realises it’s him, exposed, on the mobile phone.
Fitte breaks, “Gandiyanaga!” He grabs the phone and throws it smashing to the floor, “Nobody plays fool around with me. I’ll show you folks tonight. Nobody cheats on Kela Fitte…” He goes right to the shop.

At the S H O P

Shopay waves, “What’s up? I saw your picture…”
Fitte, “Have you?”
Shopay, “Yes, it’s already on every mobile phone in the country.”
Fitte, “Look, I want to buy those pants. Nobody cheats me tonight.”
Shopay draws a pair of red pyjamas, “It’s too late. You got too loaded from a whole lot of drinking.”
Fitte, “Drinking?”
Shopay, “Yup!”
Fitte, “Really! The Devil!”
Shopay, “I’m still aching in my arm. It’s agony. You gave me such a yank I wasn’t expecting.”
Fitte, “How much does it cost?”
Shopay tells, “Twenty-nine dollars.”
Fitte, “Shit! Twenty-nine dollars! It’s too much. Come on, Shopay, put this on your account, friend!”
Shopay shrugs, “No. You bring me twenty-nine dollars or you leave your balls hanging out.”
Fitte, “It’s guest price!”
Shopay, “This is a guest shop.”
Fitte, “Okay, I’ll bring you twenty-nine dollars.” He leaves with the red pyjamas.

NEW ARRIVAL

At the R E C E P T I O N

Morning hour; welcome drinks, guests at the reception lobby, a crowd of Orientals. A couple happens to be local guests, two girls, popular movie stars – Fasah and Maya. Mr & Mrs Dirk enter the reception.
Monica greets, “Guten Tag!”
Dirk, “Guten Tag! Telefon?”
Monica replies, “No, no telephone. It’s kaput. The guy comes tomorrow.”
Dirk, “Morgen?”
Monica, “Ya, morgen.”
Dirk sighs, “Immer noch nicht!” He turns to the notice board. “Ah! Excursion…” Six pax already listed. Dirks sign up for a SUNSET FISHING.

B U N G A L O W #33

Koi keeps busy that day with new arrivals making rooms. He reaches the door of Bungalow #33, with cleaning kit, bucket, mop and detergents. It’s the red bucket again with the label ‘ROOM SERVICE’. His assistant follows with drapery. This bungalow is occupied by the two local girls. Golden rule is to knock before you enter, knock and wait for a response. Often it goes, and Koi did the same that day; knocked and entered simultaneously so that he might capture a glimpse of the occupants taken awkward.
Fasah cries, “Eek!” It gave a shock to Fasah to find him open the door all of a sudden.
Koi, “Good Morning!”
Fasah, “Good Morning! Maya is in the toilet.” She calls, “Maya! It’s the Room Service…”
Maya comes out, wrapped in towel, “I’m done. Let’s go for a walk on the beach while they do the bed.”
Fasah, “Yes, let’s go!” The girls leave for a walk.

The room is in a mess, the bed crumbled. Koi is in a hurry that day – his custom wrap (fàli) turned up from the rear between the butts. He applies skill in doing the room. He enters the bathroom first, flushes the toilet and pours detergent. Koi instructs his boy to do the bathroom. Koi walks over the tiles, humming a rivaru, throwing water and detergent to the floor. He picks the vase and drops the flowers into the dustbin. He picks the dustbin and empties them under the bed mattress. He gathers the bedcovers and drops them to the floor. He steps on them and walks around wiping the shelves with a duster, at the same time, he keeps mopping the floor with the blanket under his feet. He does a room in five minutes.

Fasah and Maya return to the bungalow. Finding the door left open, the room boys are still working in, the cleaning kit left outside – the red bucket. Fasah and Maya step on the door.
Girls shriek, “Amayai!” like they saw fright.
Koi and his boy were laying the bed, holding the blanket, one on each side of the bed when the girls came in. They got attracted by the girls and turned to glance. The girls shrieked because the boys wore ‘dust masks’. The room boys picked the girls’ panties, red bikini and pink underwear, fastened around their faces, their eyes peeking out of the leg-holes and breathing through the crotches.

That way they hold a gaze at those girls who ran away petrified.

At the R E C E P T I O N

Doni rushes into the reception, “Monica, I need the wire. I have to go to Malé on the speedboat.”
Monica, “Dirk has taken it. Let’s see if we can obtain the wire.”
They head to the other side of the island.

On the B E A C H

Dirk’s wife sits right outside the bungalow #34. Dirk is in the waters tied to the end of the rope coiled around his waist. The sea is rough. He has wrapped the rest of the wire around the jetty, under it, over it, around the stilts and a great deal all over the rocks stretching out to support the jetty. It’s been knotted at several points and the wire keeps scratching on the rocks, splitting up threadbare.
Monica cries, “Oh no! Look at Dirk!”
Doni, “He’s ruined my wire!”
Monica calls, “Mr Dirk, we need the wire.”
Dirk, “Ah! Ya,” he climbs up.
In a while, Monica and Doni undress and get into the fizzing lagoon to retrieve the wire. A sudden swell sweeps over Monica wetting her through.
Monica utters, “Look now what Dirk puts us into!”
Doni, “My brand new rope is entirely useless, it looks like a brand old one, huh! How long is he going to stay on the island?”
Monica, “I don’t think they’ll ever leave.”
Both get busy undoing the knots to salvage the wire.

Outside the R E C E P T I O N

Weather turns bad, very bad. Mr & Mrs Dirk go to the reception. Meanwhile, from an inner office that stands to the pathway, Manager and Monica peek out of a ventilation over head. They watch the couple come up.
Manager exclaims as the couple reaches the window, “Aye!” in a falsetto voice imitating a female and ducks down leaving Monica to stare at the couple embezzled.
Dirks greet, “Hello!” feeling that was very unwelcoming.
Monica drops her eyes to the Manager kneeling beside her, “What the hell was it?” she whispers.
Manager asks cheatingly, “Did they look?”
Monica, “Yes, they did. They would think it’s me!”
Manager laughs.

As Mr & Mrs Dirk near the corner to the path lying across, the watchman staggers out rolling his shoulders on the wall around the corner, to pose upright with an empty can of beer in his hand.
Ali (watchman) greets in native tongue, “Dondhatha!” rather ‘white sister’.
Dirks return, “Hello!” and glance twice at him, he’s drunken.

The Dirks enter the reception to come across Jackie holding a folder.

At the R E C E P T I O N

It starts raining.
Jackie exclaims to the couple, “Sakarai! It is bad weather we have to cancel the Sunset Fishing Trip.”
Dirk shrugs, “Immer noch nicht!”
Jackie explains, “You have missed two excursions, so I’m going to give you a free Full Day Excursion tomorrow, the weather forecast shows it’s going to be sunny tomorrow.”
Dirk agrees, “Ya!”
Jackie, “Alas Klar! I will give you a free drink at the bar. Come on! I’m going to call out for guests tonight at dinner to sign up for the Full Day Excursion tomorrow.”
Dirk insists, “I’ll make a long distance call to Germany,” turns to Monica behind the counter, “Is it possible?”
Monica, “Ya! Now the telephone system is repaired. The antenna turned off course due to strong wind.”
So the couple books in a call and Monica tries to connect them. Meanwhile, in the background, Ali (watchman) crosses with the empty can, still staggering on his way like a drunk.
Monica, “Here’s the call connected…” passes the handset to Dirk.
Dirk, “Hello! Mamma! Mamma! Wie gehts es Ihnen?” he speaks loud. As soon as he got connected, there happens to be an electricity failure. “Kaput! Hello! Hello! Ma…kaput…”
Monica apologises, “I’m so sorry, the electricity is gone…”
Dirk, “Scheize!”
Monica, “I’ll put you right through once the problem is sorted out. I’ll give you a free call. Sorry about all that.”
Dirk understands and the couple prefers to wait while the rain is escalating. Ali stumbles into the reception lobby still holding the can.
Monica instructs, “Ali, hurry up! Go and check what’s wrong with the electricity. Guests are here to make calls.”
Dirk observes some of the room boys and staff members enjoy a shower under the gutter where a drain pipe is disconnected.

Outside S T A F F Q U A R T E R

Since Dirk didn’t have a shower for a number of days he joined the boys outside the staff block of rooms, under the gutter. Koi comes out from his room with foam on his body, soap and shampoo, in his panties. Dirk finds easy access to all the toiletries inside the staff quarter. He goes in and applies soap and shampoo, toothpaste, anything. He takes a fresh shower right under the gutter in the falling rain, shortly before sunset. That’s the way to do it – Maldivian Style.