BRIAN entered the cafe, as he did every morning, for a chat with Ali over breakfast. Brian was expecting Ali to be as pensive as he had been for the past week minus the witty sarcasm which Brian enjoyed very much. Instead, Brian found Ali sitting at their usual table, legs outstretched, hands in pockets, whistling a song tune from the 1970s.

Brian: Hi, Ali! Thank God you are back to normal.

Ali: On the contrary, I feel terrible.

Brian: Why? Family? Job?

Ali: None of those. It’s just that I... maybe I shouldn’t talk about it.

Brian: Why not? Why don’t you get it off your chest? Really, tell me. Maybe I can help you.

Ali: Where have the Papas gone? Where have the Mamas gone? “Far, Far Away” — whereupon Ali began humming the old song.

Brian: Who’re the Papas? Who’re the Mamas? Have you gone crazy?

Ali: Do you know, Brian, that at the beginning of the 19th century, the population of Chechnya was four million and the population of Egypt was only one million. Today, the population of Chechnya is one million and falling steadily while the population of Egypt is over 65 million. Where have the Papas gone? Where have the Mamas gone. “Far, Far Away...” (Ali began to hum again.)

Brian: Maybe they went to other countries. How would I know?

Ali: Maybe the Chechens suffer from endemic and chronic infertility. Or maybe their kind, humble and benevolent neighbor Slavs unloaded their “white man’s burden” on the Chechens. Or maybe the cross and the hammer and the sickle were too sharp for the shoulders and necks of those “uncivilized barbarians.” Or maybe the Siberian winters are so hot that the Chechens died of heat stroke. Where have the Papas gone? Where have the Mamas gone? “Far, Far Away...”

Brian: Sarcasm aside, Ali, you know the Chechens are terrorists. Maybe they have always been so. They must have terrorized the Russians then as now, doing exactly what they have been up to over the past decade. Naturally, they got what they deserved in the end.

Ali: You mean “infinite justice” has been meted out to them for the past 200 years and more of the same is in the offing? Where have the Papas gone? Where have the Mamas gone? “Far, Far Away!” Maybe you are right. Some say the world is divided into two parts. The first is a huge posh restaurant in the middle of nowhere. The other part is whatever is outside the restaurant. And the twain shall never meet. A signboard explaining the divide states, in bold red letters: Blacks and Dogs NOT ALLOWED.

Brian: I am sorry you feel like that. Things have changed for the better since the middle of the last century. Whatever remains of your grievances will probably also change in the future. We now have the UN, its Security Council, the World Bank and IMF.

Ali: With or without a struggle?

Brian: Maybe both. Let’s go or we’ll be late for work.