home sweet home

"Its a stupid country. Stupid country filled, OVER-filled with stupid people!
 The government takes full advantage of the public and we do nothing. Heck it we don't even vote! The public includes just a bunch, a very big bunch indeed, of stupid, stereotypical hypocrites! The poverty rate in India is so hypnotically high! India is highly overpopulated country with under-utilised resources. Corruption is a way of life  for the upper class of India! Superstitions and sentiments rule the decision making in this country of emotional fools!!! The people are so emotion-oriented, they forget what the practical world is like! In India teenagers are not allowed jobs, while there are special jobs reserved for only teenagers in the developed nations! The poverty level of this country touches heights!! This country has NO FUTURE! Just a bunch of people using its resources for selfish motives and a fewer number unsuccessfully trying to protect these resources. I just wanna leave this country, these people, these idiot senseless people praising a country with underutilized resources." "


These were the final words of Rajesh Verma, a 17-year old teenager, who aspires to get a job of lawyer in America. In a few months (4 to be exact), he left the house (rather his father kicked him out) and followed his dreams of being a lawyer in USA  after leaving his motherland he never respected.

AFTER 3 YEARS

 INDIA
"I'm sorry papa. I shouldn't have been so disrespectful to my own culture, my own tradition, my OWN country!!"

"And where did that come from Mr. America! Tell me, how did a boy, who hated almost everything about his country realised that it is the greatest asset of his life? huh? tell me. I don't know if you are worth trusting because the last time I saw you, I saw a storming kid who betrayed his family, his education, his friends and above all his COUNTRY! Tell me. and who is this woman you have brought? Is she..."

"NO NO pa! She is a friend, a very very dear friend. I will tell you everything from the start, from the very start."

"And you think your father is interested in all your experiences and achievements and all that Americanization you have had!! You know how we have SURVIVED all these years. You have no right to come to my house! Just get out of here before I call the Police!"

"Please father please, I will not even enter the house, just let me tell you what I want to say and then you can use your discretion to give me permission to live here or kick me out of here again. I won't utter a word."

"Okay. Start. But remember, nothing you will say will be enough to justify your motherland. Whatever you say, think before you do... Now, Begin"

"I was all set to join the public of the most powerful, superior and practical country in the world, USA (that's what I though back then).  I knew what I had to do, what I was gonna achieve, everything was planned. I was planning to get admission in this amazing law college, South Texas College of law, but the cost was a lot so I had to stick to a cheap institute. In starting, it all felt perfect, all were free practical thinkers and not bound to customs and rituals. I even had a girlfriend, Jenny, and she was wonderful. She was cute, funny, gorgeous and loved cooking! First 2-3 months went fine. Then something happened and it got me thinking!

"One Monday morning, some boys were teasing me in class. Teasing me about my nationality, about my country, about me being from a land of snake charmers and 'stupids'. All my life I used to say that but that day, when THEY said it, their words filled me with aggression. I fought all 4 boys but was easily overthrown due to their number. One of them was dean's son and a very feared student in the university. I complained to the dean about this directly, but he thought that the students are too old to handle such petty stuff. After that day, everyone's behavior towards this Indian student changed hypnotically.

"It was quite confusing because there are no such discriminatory activities seen in this land. Everyone started discriminating me due to my nationality. I was not able to take it but since I had no other option, I had to stay. I started taking liquor as a stress buster. Due to this habit, my attitude changed a lot. I knew I could not go back to India. I neither had the money, nor the courage to stand up in front of you. Jenny was still by my side. She understood me well. She was the only friend I had on that foreign ground.

"I had a part-time job for, you know, make a living as I had no inflow of money in my pockets. There was this garage I used to work in. Its owner, Mr. Gary Smith, was a very generous man with a bald head. He was happily married with a 5-year old daughter. Not a very old man himself, he was around 30-34. I used to get 150$ per month for my job as a mechanic. I must say I enjoyed working there, but just a little. Mr Smith was a friendly man, used to treat me well. I once dined at his place (you see, I was his favorite mechanic. he liked me a lot). He and Jenny were the two people due to which I was able to survive that awful condition.

"But it did not last long. Those university students after some time stopped their non-sense, as exams were approaching and then no-body cared about all the discriminating business anyways. By now, I was about 11months away from home.  The life was okay now. Not as bad as the previous months. The daily routine was pretty much the same, just that now the university part was not as miserable. I had made a few friends through Jenny. Ryan, Alex, Joanna and Henry. They were good to me, but I think it was only because of Jenny, otherwise they wouldn't have been as nice as they seem. So the life was finally 'fine'. This was my basic life style after the end of discrimination.

"I did miss my days in India. Those times, when we used to play and play a lot. Cricket, though not a passion for it now, T.T., Carom, Chor-Police, lock 'n' key and all the others. There was nothing like that in America. The food was not quite a problem as I used to like junk food more anyways and I loved non-veg (as you know). I missed my friends, I missed my schools, I missed my house, our house and above all, I missed you. I missed you a lot pa! I had only one picture of yours and treated as a lucky charm, and you know what, it did work! I had that photo when I got that garage job and also when I got the admission in the university. Sometimes I used to feel a little lonely but then there were two people who did not let this feeling to arise at a dangerous level.

"I used to spend most of my time with Jenny. She was wonderful and it was ridiculously amazing how we two got along so well. Her full name was Jenny Williams. She lived with her father (Mr. Martin Williams, a doctor) , mother (Ms. Bertha Williams, dead in a car accident 5 years ago), an elder brother (Mr. Andrew Williams, doing shoe business) and a younger brother (Adam) who aspires to be a pilot. She was a practical girl who was good at utilizing the available resources to the fullest. She did not get irritated or angry easily and loved cooking! She used to make lovely dishes and I loved to taste them. I taught her a little hindi too. She wanted to get all the corruption out and work for good, and thus she took law, which was apt as she had the potential  of a dynamic lady.

"Everything was pretty much the same, 9:00a.m. to 4:00p.m. university, 4:00p.m. to 6:00p.m. Jenny, 6:00p.m. to 10:00p.m. garage, and then home, heading towards my bed and sometimes doodling with my laptop and surfing some Indian music (of course I hated bollywood still, don't worry about that pa!).

"Lets fast forward all this to 2 months from the end of my course as everything was pretty much what I have already said. I was ready to get my degree, get a job in USA, marry Jenny, have babies. I had even planned the name of the kids as well!! boy - Matthew; girl - Sara. Then one night, when I was surfing through various sites with ghazals and all, I came across this song from the movie Naam starring Sanjay Dutt, 'Chitthi aayi hai...'.  Believe it or not, this song was turning point of my life! I never took hindi songs seriously but now, there I was listening to a song, thinking about you people, both my sisters, my younger brother, amma, and of course, you! how your life must have fared when I was away? I was listening to the song and then imagining things, again listening and again imagining, it was all coming in pictures, one after one, and none of them were positive. Remember how I used to be all emotionless and all, never cry or laugh with full sadness or pleasure, well, this was the first time I remember when I cried and I was sad, very very sad. I instantly changed my plans about settling in US and was on my way to ask Jenny to come with me. It was hard to change her mind but she finally agreed and her parents agreed as well.

"But now I was worried. Worried if you would accept me or not. That after all my disrespectful behavior towards everyone, will you people accept me or not. And if you won't, I'll have practically no place to call 'Home'.  The place I was living was a total dump!! The students with me were not only irritating but also down right stupid. Jenny was always there to help me but then I realized family holds much more importance than friends.

"The exams fared well and I got Jenny, love of my life. This woman sitting in front of you, begging for an apology for me is none other than Jenny"

Mr. Ranveer Verma, although not totally satisfied with his son's "explanation", tried to make his self understand that making mistakes and then overcoming them makes a person a better one. So... he tried to forget his son's foolishness, and accepted him. He took his son and his son's potential wife in his arms and accepted him and Jenny without any more questioning
.
After some days, Rajesh and Jenny got married in the presence of Mr. and Ms. Verma and Mr. Williams.

They both lived in India and Rajesh was a successful lawyer, whereas Jenny was learning how to live a life of an Indian housewife with the help of Rajesh's mother.  Ms. Jaya Verma (Rajesh's mother) and Jenny bonded well. After 1 year, Rajesh and Jenny had a boy and guess what they named him?!