Towering at seven feet five inches, Abdul Jabbar has been the face of Dubai's hospitality for more than a decade.
Since 1994, the 41-year-old from Pakistan gets mobbed nearly 100 times daily by guests – the tallest ones reach only to his chest – at the InterContinental Hotel Dubai.
They usually want a quick photograph, but some stick around for a little chat with the big guy. "Why don't you play basketball?" is the usual question they ask Jabbar.
As a doorman, he is quite popular among his staff too. Taking giant yet soft steps, he quickly catches up with unsuspecting colleagues and hugs them as if they were little children. "I love everyone and everyone loves me," says Jabbar, sporting a pair of tinted glasses to go with his yards and yards of beige work attire.
Witty and confident, he livens up the mood wherever he goes. "I don't want to look down on others but I can't help – I'm 2.25 metres tall," Jabbar says.
He says the hotel management looks after him well. The company gives him a business-class air ticket to travel back home so that he can have extra leg-room. He sleeps under a tailored blanket on a custom-made bed in a studio flat – all of which are arranged by the company. "I can approach the general manager directly at any time. He's been very good to me and I've enjoyed working here. I wouldn't go anywhere else."
Unless of course his plans for the movie world works out – Jabbar wants to get a role in Bollywood.
"I also want to be an ambassador for peace... I'm trying to find sponsors for my trip to various places, where I want to spread messages of love and coexistence," says Jabbar.
Jabbar's friends advised his wife (she is 1.62metres tall) not to say ‘yes' to him when he ‘proposed' to her. "There were people on rooftops who wanted to see me when my family visited my wife's home for the first time," recalls Jabbar.
"All she could say then was, ‘My goodness'. Thankfully, now we're the happiest couple. When I'm on holiday back home, we always eat together and share our worries."
A father of three, Jabbar's children are studying in Lahore and want to become doctors and engineers.
Jabbar has taken his height as a boon even if he cannot drive a car, shop for shoes or visit public rest-rooms.
"Life is a one-shot deal. You have to live it to the fullest. Be happy, and cooperate with people, especially the poor," he says.
