On this very day
Five years ago on this very day, there was a 15 year old girl who held fast to her seatbelt as the Lufthansa Airline, prepared to takeoff from Cochin Nedumbasseri Airport. She had one hand held on to her mom and heart pounding ..as she sat for the first time for a take off. Seldom did she knew that her life will be taking an immense turn as she leaves for the so called land of opportunities. With dreams of a better future and life, she leaves her motherland and loved ones half-heartedly. There began her feeling of incompletness and insecurity. She didn't know what to feel right then, happy? for being able to get to this much awaited golden land or sad? she didn't know. She knew she had to stay strong, for this three day journey, with her mom and 11 year old brother.
As she looked out through the windows, she realized that her sweet home, the neighbourhood that brought her up, the grandmother and grandfather she held the dearest, her truly greatful friends and her little doggie Jimmy was all so far away from her. She wondered if all the things will be the same when she returns. Will her Jimmy come running up to her when he hears the gate clinging...will her ammachi(grandma) and appachen(grandpa) be there to come and give her that hug and drown her in tears of joy...will her little naughty neighbourhood kids even remember her...will her friends be the same...will her house be the same...how will the garden which she tended with care all these years be...will she be able to come back to this same place and be the same girl again.
This was not of her to decide...these were in the hands of almighty she knew. She tried so hard to get her attention to something else. Her brother seemed to be enjoying the flight with the inflight music and games. Her mom on the other hand was lost in thoughts....and the cold AC and one stretch sitting seemed to bother her after a while. After about four hours in the air, the announcements for landing starts to comes up. It was time to get off at Bahrin Airport and catch the connecting flight.
They looked lost, "what next" they said to each other. She had to take the initiative to do something, as she was the only one who could communicate in English then. Like a god-send, they met another family from their native who would be with them till London. The connecting flight took them to London and from there they boarded Jet Airways for US. She felt that flight to be a little different from the others, since it had very few Indians. After a loong 14 hour flight, she was tired and so was her mom and brother. All they wanted was to get some rest. The loong journey had weared them off. When they were almost there near their destination, she watched the tv screen as the flights route was changed and the flight lands at another airport for fuel filling. There was a long delay and after a lot of inquiring she figured it was because of the harsh weather in texas and the flight had to be delayed. When all seemed clear the flight took off again to land at Houston Intercontinental Airport. Immigration clearance, passport clearance, luggage clearnance and there went the list of inspections that they had to go through before getting out of the airport.
She had to take the initiative to answer the much annoying questions from the officers and cops.
Officer: "Do you have any food items in the bags"
SHE: NO (She was told to say so, eventhough they had a bag full of pickles, sweets and what not)
Officer: "Do you have any sharp items in the bag"
SHE: NO (Does nailcutter and safety pin count as sharp she wondered)
Officer: "Did you pack your luggage yourself"
SHE: Yes (Again she was told by her dad to say so..)
Officer: Does the bag contain just your belongings?
SHE : Yes (pff should she have said no there is a whole bunch of parcels from ppl back home for ppl living all over the States)
the questions didn't end there it went on for an hour.
After all the impediments with a final relieveness they walked out of the airport to be greeted by their family. A little rest was all she longed for then, she forgot to realize that she has now stepped into a crazy world. Nothing seemed different to her at the first glance...then they drove back. She started wondering how her new home would be like. She was excited to stay with her uncle whom she only knew as a visitor who visited them once in a while with a handful of gifts. As they drove through the highway..she sat in the car silently. Her uncle inquired "what happened to the vayaadi". She just sat there not intrested in anything around. Her brother was "Whoaing" at the big sky scrappers, the unusual flyovers, at the roads without gutters, at the uniformly flowing cars....but she din't seem to notice.. anything. They got to the house, her uncle welcomed them "welcome to our hut"...yes it was a small house, smaller than the house they lived in India but well-equipped, it had much less space, but she liked small houses...it lessens the distance between the people living there...everyone would be much closer. Her uncle arranged pizza for dinner, she was eating pizza for the first time in her life...it didn't seem tasty at all to her after the long tiresome journey and all the food in flight. The sound of vrooming cars kept her awake a loong time..much different from her little town where everything is peaceful and quiet after 10pm except for the chirping crickets. She rememebered her dad's words "America never sleeps"....that night she slept inspite of all the noises, looking forward to a new and brightful day in the new world.
-to be continued
PS: I got the inspiration for this format from Ms. Vibhaji...
vibharaj
As she looked out through the windows, she realized that her sweet home, the neighbourhood that brought her up, the grandmother and grandfather she held the dearest, her truly greatful friends and her little doggie Jimmy was all so far away from her. She wondered if all the things will be the same when she returns. Will her Jimmy come running up to her when he hears the gate clinging...will her ammachi(grandma) and appachen(grandpa) be there to come and give her that hug and drown her in tears of joy...will her little naughty neighbourhood kids even remember her...will her friends be the same...will her house be the same...how will the garden which she tended with care all these years be...will she be able to come back to this same place and be the same girl again.
This was not of her to decide...these were in the hands of almighty she knew. She tried so hard to get her attention to something else. Her brother seemed to be enjoying the flight with the inflight music and games. Her mom on the other hand was lost in thoughts....and the cold AC and one stretch sitting seemed to bother her after a while. After about four hours in the air, the announcements for landing starts to comes up. It was time to get off at Bahrin Airport and catch the connecting flight.
They looked lost, "what next" they said to each other. She had to take the initiative to do something, as she was the only one who could communicate in English then. Like a god-send, they met another family from their native who would be with them till London. The connecting flight took them to London and from there they boarded Jet Airways for US. She felt that flight to be a little different from the others, since it had very few Indians. After a loong 14 hour flight, she was tired and so was her mom and brother. All they wanted was to get some rest. The loong journey had weared them off. When they were almost there near their destination, she watched the tv screen as the flights route was changed and the flight lands at another airport for fuel filling. There was a long delay and after a lot of inquiring she figured it was because of the harsh weather in texas and the flight had to be delayed. When all seemed clear the flight took off again to land at Houston Intercontinental Airport. Immigration clearance, passport clearance, luggage clearnance and there went the list of inspections that they had to go through before getting out of the airport.
She had to take the initiative to answer the much annoying questions from the officers and cops.
Officer: "Do you have any food items in the bags"
SHE: NO (She was told to say so, eventhough they had a bag full of pickles, sweets and what not)
Officer: "Do you have any sharp items in the bag"
SHE: NO (Does nailcutter and safety pin count as sharp she wondered)
Officer: "Did you pack your luggage yourself"
SHE: Yes (Again she was told by her dad to say so..)
Officer: Does the bag contain just your belongings?
SHE : Yes (pff should she have said no there is a whole bunch of parcels from ppl back home for ppl living all over the States)
the questions didn't end there it went on for an hour.
After all the impediments with a final relieveness they walked out of the airport to be greeted by their family. A little rest was all she longed for then, she forgot to realize that she has now stepped into a crazy world. Nothing seemed different to her at the first glance...then they drove back. She started wondering how her new home would be like. She was excited to stay with her uncle whom she only knew as a visitor who visited them once in a while with a handful of gifts. As they drove through the highway..she sat in the car silently. Her uncle inquired "what happened to the vayaadi". She just sat there not intrested in anything around. Her brother was "Whoaing" at the big sky scrappers, the unusual flyovers, at the roads without gutters, at the uniformly flowing cars....but she din't seem to notice.. anything. They got to the house, her uncle welcomed them "welcome to our hut"...yes it was a small house, smaller than the house they lived in India but well-equipped, it had much less space, but she liked small houses...it lessens the distance between the people living there...everyone would be much closer. Her uncle arranged pizza for dinner, she was eating pizza for the first time in her life...it didn't seem tasty at all to her after the long tiresome journey and all the food in flight. The sound of vrooming cars kept her awake a loong time..much different from her little town where everything is peaceful and quiet after 10pm except for the chirping crickets. She rememebered her dad's words "America never sleeps"....that night she slept inspite of all the noises, looking forward to a new and brightful day in the new world.
-to be continued
PS: I got the inspiration for this format from Ms. Vibhaji...
vibharaj