After a hard day at work, Mahati also had a hard time at home. The air in the apartment that she was sharing with her fellow Indian friends was full with unpleasantness. Mahati wondered what would have come up this time. "It is always difficult for us Indians to live in countries like this" her friend was saying. Mahati quickly realised the gravity of the situation and completely agreed with her friend and joined her in bashing the western world because she knew that if she did not, there would be no dinner and she was hungry. In the canteen the next day, her friend brought up the topic again. Confident that there is no problem with regards to food, Mahati freely spoke her heart out this time. 'Why are we unhappy?' she asked. 'Because we are not given the opportunity to be happy.' Mahati wondered whether it was the salad, because she was not happy with those huge lettuce leaves in whose pockets were hiding one or two tomatoes.
She realised that the salad was not the problem. 'Why are we not allowed to explore and express ourselves?' 'Who is stopping you from expressing yourself?' Mahati asked. 'We are discriminated by our looks, color and language. These are no reasons to discriminate. Why should we not be allowed to explore?' Mahati now understood. Something at the workplace or the salary slip, she decided. 'We come here for opportunities, yes,' her friend continued 'but we also work hard. We are here not because we have no opportunities back in India. We are here because, these countries are rich enough to have enough opportunities in every field of work. And since we do well in our work, we deserve to be respected on par with the locals.'
'Agreed. But I do not think that these are reasons enough to be unhappy about. We are all lucky that at least we are given an opportunity to prove our talents, to be able to eat food whenever we are hungry and sleep when we are tired. We also come from a country where there is enough food for everyone even though some individuals get food equivalent to a hundred people and some go hungry for days. Still there is food for everyone and hence most households are full of laughter. Maybe not every household, but every one who go out of India for these so called better opportunities all have a home to which you can look forward to going to and there is always some one looking for you to come home. What more can one ask to be happy? There are millions who cannot define what their home is. No matter what, we know that we can always go home, right, unlike many others.'
'Yes. But why on Earth should we not be allowed to be happy when we are away from home? Should I be happy only thinking about home?' Mahati replied, 'Nobody is stopping you from trying to be happy with your life, are they? Just try to enjoy life and be thankful.' 'Yeah sure. Thanks. Aah. See, look how happy that girl seems. She is fair and liked by everyone here. She has no reason to be unhappy like us.' he was saying, Mahati's friend. Mahati got up and went to the girl and introduced herself. 'Hi. Nice to meet you.' said that girl.
'Which part of this country are you from?' Mahati asked
'Oh no. I am not from this country. I have come here in search of some opportunity to work.' the girl said.
'I see. You were so nicely mingling with the people and seemed very ha..I mean, we thought you are from this country itself. Why did you come here then?'
'Oh, you see, I did not want to come, I had to come.' the girl winked.
'Where are you from?'
'Syria'
She realised that the salad was not the problem. 'Why are we not allowed to explore and express ourselves?' 'Who is stopping you from expressing yourself?' Mahati asked. 'We are discriminated by our looks, color and language. These are no reasons to discriminate. Why should we not be allowed to explore?' Mahati now understood. Something at the workplace or the salary slip, she decided. 'We come here for opportunities, yes,' her friend continued 'but we also work hard. We are here not because we have no opportunities back in India. We are here because, these countries are rich enough to have enough opportunities in every field of work. And since we do well in our work, we deserve to be respected on par with the locals.'
'Agreed. But I do not think that these are reasons enough to be unhappy about. We are all lucky that at least we are given an opportunity to prove our talents, to be able to eat food whenever we are hungry and sleep when we are tired. We also come from a country where there is enough food for everyone even though some individuals get food equivalent to a hundred people and some go hungry for days. Still there is food for everyone and hence most households are full of laughter. Maybe not every household, but every one who go out of India for these so called better opportunities all have a home to which you can look forward to going to and there is always some one looking for you to come home. What more can one ask to be happy? There are millions who cannot define what their home is. No matter what, we know that we can always go home, right, unlike many others.'
'Yes. But why on Earth should we not be allowed to be happy when we are away from home? Should I be happy only thinking about home?' Mahati replied, 'Nobody is stopping you from trying to be happy with your life, are they? Just try to enjoy life and be thankful.' 'Yeah sure. Thanks. Aah. See, look how happy that girl seems. She is fair and liked by everyone here. She has no reason to be unhappy like us.' he was saying, Mahati's friend. Mahati got up and went to the girl and introduced herself. 'Hi. Nice to meet you.' said that girl.
'Which part of this country are you from?' Mahati asked
'Oh no. I am not from this country. I have come here in search of some opportunity to work.' the girl said.
'I see. You were so nicely mingling with the people and seemed very ha..I mean, we thought you are from this country itself. Why did you come here then?'
'Oh, you see, I did not want to come, I had to come.' the girl winked.
'Where are you from?'
'Syria'
