“So its been 21 months since you are left India. Don’t you miss it? Don’t you miss your family, your friends?” Someone asked him this question almost casually.

A brief pause. A straight face. A meek reply:
“No, I don’t.” he said.

He walked away grudgingly to some mall, almost as if that question ruined his mood. It was the international week, or something like that. He was pleasantly surprised to see the entire alley decorated with flags of various countries.

As he saw all these flags, his heart started beating faster…

He hurriedly scanned each and every flag. He was walking with his eyes focused on the flags above, desperately trying to find something. It was almost like a navigator looking for the North star among a hundred other stars in the sky.

And then he found it.

His eyes sparkled as if he found a treasure. His face glowed with a smile as if he was meeting his loved one.

“There it is!” some million anonymous voices screamed.

He stood there stupefied and stared at the flag for like a minute, or maybe more, that’s not important. He gulped down the saliva that accumulated in his mouth. He closed his eyes before they got too wet. He took a deep breath, and walked away.

- - -
Congratulations to everyone who celebrates freedom, culture and peace. Happy Indian Independence day, August fifteenth.

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I believe we can fly

It’s India’s 59th Republic Day today…

Pick whichever way you’d like to hear the greeting from this Hinglish chat conversation:

Friend: Republic Day की हार्दिक शुभकामनाऍं
Me: Happy प्रजासत्तक दिवस to you too!

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On October 14th, a newly arrived Polish immigrant died at Vancouver International Airport after being Tasered by the police.

Taser is an electroshock weapon that is used by the police to fire a high-voltage electric shock at the victim in order to subdue his muscles. “Electroshock weapon technology uses a temporary high-voltage low-current electrical discharge to override the body’s muscle-triggering mechanisms. The recipient feels great pain, and can be momentarily paralyzed while an electric current is being applied. It is reported that applying electroshock devices to more sensitive parts of the body is more painful.” (Wikipedia)

Robert Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant arrived at Vancouver, Canada after his first international flight. Speaking only Polish, he was left helpless at the airport arrival lounge for over 10 hours. This left him frustrated, he turned violent, and was left dead when the police fired Tasers at him aiming to control the unarmed man. The whole incident was captured by an eye-witness Paul Pritchard on his camera.

While I strongly condemn the Taser incident there is something in the Canadian society that I think is worth appreciating:

• I respect Paul for handing over the video to the police in order to help the investigations. Note that this incident involved the police, who, were also the investigators of the incident.
• I respect the faith a common man has in the police and law enforcement officers here.
• I respect the fact that the police returned the video back to Paul, fully knowing how humiliating and embarrassing it would be - not just to the RCMP, but to Canada itself.
• I respect the freedom of press here and how the matter is being discussed openly and transparent manner.
• Finally, I respect the fact that the common here man believes that justice will be delivered, despite the police themselves being involved in the incident.

The video is here. Content warning.

Indeed, there are many things we (Indians) need to learn…

Image from CBC News

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