Nostalgia

It has been always a strong desire for me to give vent to my thoughts among like minded people and get their reviews and know more from what others have to say....I belong to a new generation of expatriate Indians who had to move out of our home town on account of marriage or professional and career aspirations.It has made a big difference in the way I see the world ..While I was at home, I had always desired to experience what is often hyped as the exciting hi tech life style of a foreign country.I was always whining about poor infrastructure in Kerala, corruption of the bureaucracy, inefficiency of the Government, lack of opportunities, lack of exposure...I felt as if my growth has been stifled and restricted...I was of the opinion that this place is not worth living and cursed myself of not being born in Europe or America or even in Delhi or Mumbai...At that time I didn't care much about the beauty of rain that the nature endowed on us.... the greenery which was all around.... the gentle breeze that wafts across me and carry away the tiredness of a day.... the peaceful sleep I had enjoyed abundantly.... the family prayer where all of us sat on the mat and prayed together....the joy of watching a movie together with family...the hot tea and snacks I found on table every evening when I cam back home after school/college.... endless conversations with my mother and sister at night on everything from morning to evening....the hartals and bandhs which were a great family time ....friendly talks with neighbours and co-passengers...an afternoon nap during holidays...weddings,baptisms and house warming which preoccupied us most Sundays...occasional fits of anger by my Grand mother .....standing at the tomb of my Grand father....I had taken all these as granted and was always looking to the other side of the pasture as greener although I loved my country and my place very much..It was just that my expectation and imagination of the life in a foreign country had blinded me and made me believe that I am missing so much things in life.

Now that I am here in Singapore, I realize that whatever may be the comforts and conveniences of life here, I am missing my SOUL here....I am looking at my home in a new perspective...and I now feel that life was a bliss back there ....Whatever may be the promises of government here on equality and equity , little can be done on the basic attitudes of people who look at Indian skin tone as dark and inferior.Not that I have faced any bias at work place.(Hats off to ITC-School of Business and Laws,where I am working..I feel I am in the best work place in the world). But I can read the thoughts of people in the way they look and express themselves. I would also like to add that I have enjoyed graciousness of quite a good number of Singaporeans; but of course not so good experiences also...At least at home we were KINGS AND QUEENS.. We had plenty of time for everything..We didn't have tensions to carry home...We had time for friends, family and society...Is this again my Utopian dream????

It is the memories of our past that sustains us through an alien country.But often we can find that once we get used to a life style in a foreign country, it is very difficult for us to come to terms to reality on reaching back home for good. We would start comparing everything with Singapotre/US/Dubai/Australia/UK or wherever we were before. So this vicious cycle again continues...

My attempt is to find out how we can make best use of the both worlds we are privileged to be in. I expect all the readers to give your sincere comments on that. Let us not give a false impression to people back home that life is as glamourous as a Holly wood film in a foreign country...Let us give the true picture that life has got many opportunities as well as many challenges here...Let us learn to appreciate life wherever we are...Let us imbibe in us the virtues of hard work, discipline , life- long learning that we have found in the people here..Let us be proud of our Indian culture and heritage wherever we are...Let us not forget to stand as a testimonial for that great country which had let us to be born educated and grown...Let us not forget our mother tongue Malayalam...Let us not forget to wear Saree and Mundu..Let us not be ashamed to speak Malayalam among ourselves...Let us not recklessly follow others ...Let us be guided by foresight and wisdom...Let us be reminded that we are representing a country with a population of more than 1 billion people....Let us socialise and create a harmonious community among ourselves...At the same time we should not be passive about happenings back home. We should be able to reach out to the country in times of crisis. We should be able to give at least emotional empathy and support to victims of earthquakes or floods or violence. We should be able to accept our country as it is. We should be able to influence Government from taking unethical or undesirable decisions. We should be a voice and we should be a force...We may not be able to do BIG things..but the small steps we can make, we shouldn't refrain from making....