I have been blessed to have born in a sovereign uncontrolled country, to have the right to study and to speak, a few privileges that I took for granted until I met her the other day.
Toefl was just a day away when she had run into me. She appeared edgy but it was baffling for me to see someone in a dither over a language test, especially a language we have been speaking since childhood. I tried consoling her that it was just a language test and all they test is the ability to convey our messages and comprehend others’ opinions successfully. Besides the level for a housewife isnt that high. It didn’t seem to calm her. She was also worried about her visa.
A little later, I was told that she was jittery owing to her past. She wasn’t as privileged to have normal education in her country. She came from Afghan where she witnessed people being butchered day in and day out. Her school friends were murdered in front of her and she had somehow managed to seek refuge in India just a few days ago. She was worried that she might be deported back to her country if she didn’t find a way to be with her husband in UK and Toefl was a prerequisite for that.
She told me that about a month ago, Taliban poisoned the drinking water in her school. When she saw her school friends dying of drinking the contaminated water, she was scared to death but had gathered enough courage to run away. A picture of a yellow school building with water taps at the other end came to my mind when she described the entire story to me. I could envision many small and middle-aged girls drinking water and falling unconscious within a few minutes. It was so disconcerting to hear the entire episode that I felt dizzy.
Though I have seen a few terrorist attacks, I have never been a victim to any. It also helped that none of the attacks have been detrimental to any of my dear ones. It was for the first time, I heard such a story first-hand. I could feel the blood pressure drop in my veins. But I didn’t know if there was anything I could do to change her past and to help the people currently battling the similar circumstances back in her country.
It was then all the privileges that have been bestowed upon came crashing down on me and led to an anguishing realisation that in some part of the world there are people who do not even have as much as the right to speak up or to get the basic education. There are people who are at someone else’s mercy to get a morsel of food and there isn’t much I can do to help.
2 comments:
It's really sad, but in these places and many more there is a continuous fight for survival. There is no value for human life. Atleast your friend got a chance to run away,there are so many others who live each moment in fear and threat.
This is the first time in human history when man has the freedom to take his own decisions. Before this, wherever you were, you were told exactly what to do and you could not have rebelled.
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