Chalk and Cheese

Sisters Shireen and Ambreen Hussain, 33 and 29 years old respectively, work in the booming Information Technology field. While appearances might mislead you to believe that they might be identical twins, their personalities and approach to life are as different as chalk and cheese.

Shireen is a business leader of international recognition. She has been lauded and appreciated for her contribution to her workplace and industry across the globe. Having lead several projects to success and growth, she now shoulders responsibilities that take her across the world. In her free time, she holds dear several causes including emancipation of women and cultural minorities. Despite her hectic transcontinental work life, Shireen has an ever-growing circle of friends. She has good friendships that go back to her days in college and post-graduations and she has professional relationships that have been nurtured for years into friendship. On the face of it, she’s a woman who is ambitious, driven yet deeply spiritual, grounded and traditional.

Ambreen, the younger of the two, is also leading a business in her organization. As an Asia-Pacific at her last organization she traveled across Asia and also spent a year in New York. In her new responsibilities she travels within the country handling expansion of the business and client interaction. As the youngest, she is the more pampered of the two. Ambreen shoulders lesser family pressures and burdens and therefore is the bolder, more experimental and more rebellious of the two sisters,.Her personality though is introverted, her friends circle restricted to a trusted few, her interests span across different art forms and her approach to her less traditional, more contemporary.

Both sisters have traveled extensively across the world on work and leisure. But the mantra they swear by is “travel reinvention”. “Even if we are going to the same city, we always try and figure a new route to it. So stopovers can be a new experience. I thoroughly enjoy walking around at airports! For instance the Singapore and Dubai airports have so much to offer as opposed to Frankfurt and London! We look forward to cities that have something new to offer us culturally on every trip! That’s why New York is a favorite!” says Ambreen. While Shireen has seeks a spiritual journey, “Since our recent holiday to Al Hambra, Spain, we realized we wanted to trace the route of how our religion grew culturally! That’s why we have Turkey on our wishlist next!”

Ambreen is also fairly clear about her expectations, “While on a business trip, my sole expectation is comfort. You want the flight to be on time, want to run in to the meeting full of energy and focus and leave the meeting and head straight for home! But off late with the travel time extended few hours before and after the flight, you invariably need to stay an extra night after and fly in an extra night before. It seems like instead of the processing being eased, we are falling into a regressive trend. On the other hand when I am traveling for pleasure, I am willing to make compromises. I am usually traveling on a budget and I’m not in too much of a hurry! Yet I am still looking for the gentle caring touch because I don’t want a rough experience ruining my holiday! See basic expectations like spaces between the seat, polite service have now become like hygiene”

For Shireen, the joy of traveling is two fold, “For me, airline traveling is the switch-off hours! No blackberry, no internet and no phone calls! I get to catch up on all my emails, my reading and interaction with people from beyond the realm of work! Rather than walk around airports like my sister, I like to sit and chat with the old Aunty going abroad to meet her son! The tales that unravel are more exciting than the shopping around!”

Shireen for instance recalls her encounter with her favorite Bollywood actor as a memorable experience. She was sitting in the Business lounge reading through a holy scripture, when she saw the young actor enter with his parents. As it turned out, they were sitting next to each other and the actor struck conversation telling her that a young lady like her reading a holy scripture was very attractive! It’s moments like this that allowed her to be child again!

For Ambreen, travel is an experience to learn more about herself, turn inward and spend some time with herself. Her holidays typically stay awake from tourist hotspots and veer around the obscure local haunts! For her travel is inward, soul-searching.

For Shireen, travel is about people. Her sister teases that easily 90% of her friends were people she met either on an airline, a bus and the tubes or in transit at the airport! Apparently she rarely snoozes on flights and spends most time out of her seat. Most of her memorable conversations were struck during airplane travel including hearing about the life and love of airhostesses.