He kept looking at the strange faces at the airport and felt a little discomfort. He wasn’t even there in the flight yet and started feeling sick. It was his fear of going out alone. He started feeling nervous about what will happen next as this was the first time he set out on a journey to another country by himself alone. Due to this nervousness, he started double-checking everything that he brought with himself in his bag. He checked his passport, he checked his phone, checked another identity proof. Everybody who looked at him could sense his insecurity by the way he acted.
Then finally the clock was about to struck ten when he went to board the plane. He sat in the Economy class. He listened to all the instructions that the flight attendants gave him and then followed them rigorously. And as soon as flight took off, he felt a jerk as he leaned back to his seat. This made his heart beat even faster. He felt like asking someone for help but when the plane reached to a certain height, he started feeling comfortable with it. He looked out of the window and all he could see was clouds below him.
He took a magazine which was kept on the back cover the front seat and started reading it. On the magazine were pictures of beautiful beaches and he started imagining one of them to be in the Bahamas. He imagined himself travelling in the sunny weather of Bahamas and chilling out in the exotic beaches. He got lost in his imagination when suddenly he woke up and a beautiful Air hostess was standing next to him. “Do you want something to eat for the breakfast Sir?” she asked with a genuine smile. “ No. I don’t feel like eating anything right now. Thanks for asking. But can you please get a water bottle for me?” he asked. “ Sure Sir, I will just get it in a minute. Do you want anything else?” “ Nothing else. Thanks” he said. He took the water bottle and drank nearly half a litre of water to get refreshed. He looked at his Hungerford watch which struck twelve. He went to sleep again only to wake up in the evening just before the flight was about to arrive at the Nassau Airport.
The plane arrived at the Nassau Airport at the expected timing. He took his luggage off the counter and stepped out of the Airport. He saw a man standing in the waiting lane holding a Play card in his hands on which was written ‘KARAMJIT SINGH From India’ in bold letters. He immediately got to know that this is the person that his uncle Gurtej Singh was talking about. The man was tall and big almost twenty centimeters taller than him. He went to him and told him his name and the man shook hands with him and said that his name was Mr. Richardson and showed Karamjit the way to his car where they sat and took off for their destination. Karamjit was sitting quiet all this while and Mr. Richardson could easily figure it out that he was an introvert.
“ Tell me something about you, Karamjit? ” he asked as he took a sharp left from the highway joining the airport. “ Umm... I am here to get a bachelor’s degree in Business and Administration from The University of The Bahamas ” “ So what are your interests?” he asked. “ Uhh... I like to spend time with my friends, visit Gurudwara and some gardening. That’s all I used to do in my spare time in India.” “ I see that you have never travelled by yourself eve r in your whole life and your shy nature is a proponent for that. But anyhow, doesn’t matter. Since you are here now, I would suggest you to be very open minded. I have had some friends who used to live in India. And observing them I can very well say that they too were just like you; shy and introvert. But all of them have become good communicators now and doing well in their respective areas of competence. I am sure you will reflect on that too.” He paused for a second and looked at Karamjit’s face and then continued.
“ You see Karamjit, I have never met you before and I figured you out in just two minutes that you don’t speak much and are reluctant to speak up your mind to others. But you see, you can live the way you want when you have someone to care for you. But when you come to live in another country all by yourself, you become responsible for yourself and you cannot survive here in this culture if you don’t speak up for yourself. People will eat you alive. I know that because I have been living here as a citizen for the last twenty years. Gurtej Singh and I have been very good friends since last couple of years as I met him through your mother during my visit in India. Your mother and I graduated from Bahamas University in the same batch, if you know. She was a good friend and that is why I am advising you. It will become difficult for you to survive like that forget about thriving in these challenging times with grinding competition in the market and the globalization has even made it worse. Do you understand what I am saying or am I just talking to myself? ” he asked as he took a look at Karamjit.
“ Yes, Sir. I do understand what you are talking about.” he responded almost immediately nodding his head. “ Then please do give me response. I am telling this to you because I don’t want my friend’s son to suffer in this hard economy.” He said. He kept driving for another one hour after which he said, “ Okay Karamjit, we are about to reach to our destination. Get yourself ready.”
He stopped the car in an alley. Karamjit unbuckled his seat belt and stepped out of the car. As he stepped out, he saw that the place was full of dirt and mud everywhere around that place. Manholes were kept open and stray dogs were eating the mud sprinkled on the ground. Karamjit looked a bit scared looking at the dogs and Mr. Richardson saw it. “ Don’t worry about those Potcake Dogs. They are loyal and intelligent. They’ll get to recognize you soon as you spend some time here.” Said Mr. Richardson. As he turned around, he saw a small apartment. “ This is the place where you will live Karamjit. Let’s go and take a look inside. Take your luggage with you.” Said Mr. Richardson. Karamjit took his luggage with a bag on his shoulders and walked towards the house carefully stepping on the ground protecting his shoes and pants from getting dirty from the foeces of the dogs.
Mr. Richardson knocked on the door, a feeble voice came back. “ Wait, please. Coming...” and after a minute the door opened in a slow manner and an old woman’s face was the first thing that he saw. The woman was rather short about five feet tall probably in her seventies. The woman lifted her head up to look at Mr. Richardson who was looking a giant in comparison to her. “ Yes?” she asked. “ Hello Mrs. Olsen, how are you doing now? It’s been quite a long time. Right?” “ Yes, dear. I am doing great even at this stupendous age. How did you remember me after such a long time Richardson? The last time you visited me was about a year back I suppose.”
“ Ahh... yes. You know the pressure of work doesn’t allow a man to spend some time with a beautiful lady like you. It’s not my fault and you know that.” “ Come inside please.” She said. “ Come Karamjit” said Mr. Richardson. “ By the way, who is this young man, Richard?” she asked as she pointed her finer towards Karamjit. “ Ahh... I forgot to tell you that he is coming. This is the boy that I talked to you. He is from India and he is here to get a bachelor’s degree from The University of The Bahamas. You remember? I told you about him on the phone.” He asked. “ Oh.... Now I remember. You see, this is the predicament of the old age. You never know when you forget even little things so easily. Old age really sucks Richardson.” “ Ahhmm.. I know that. I can feel your pain.” Said Mr. Richardson in a witty tone.
“ No, you don’t Richardson. You are still in your fifties. You are young and healthy. So, don’t pretend that you understand the pain that this old lady is going through. Okay? And I have warned you many times before, not to try your sarcasm on me. I think you will learn it the hard way. Don’t you?”
“ Ha- ha- ha. I was just kidding. Don’t get too serious about that Mrs. Olsen. You are just like my mother. And that’s why I respect you so much. I have spent almost half of my life with you, that’s why I care for you so much.” “ Okay, okay. I know that. Don’t be so cheesy now. I am making some hot tea for both of you. By the way, what is the name of this young man?” “ He is Karamjit Singh. You can simply call him Karamjit or Sardarji. That would be even better.” “ Okay then. Karamjit, tell me something about you please.” She asked. “Uhh....” He hesitated while Mr. Richardson interrupted. “ A
ctually he don’t speak a lot. And while I was driving him here, I told him that it’s necessary for him to speak to be heard. Otherwise, people won’t treat him right. That’s good advice. Right Mrs. Olsen?”
“ Yeah. I mean, who could give better advice on speaking than you huh? You can’t stop talking all the time, you always want to say something just for the sake of saying it. Do you want to be humiliated more?” she said. Karamjit kept there sitting on the dining table sipping his tea listening to them talk so compassionately with a little bit of wit and humor reflecting the connection they both had with each other.
As they finished the tea, Mrs. Olsen told Mr. Richardson to take Karamjit with him and show him the room where he will live. “Come upstairs Karamjit” said Mr. Richardson as he stepped up the stairs. Karamjit followed him. Mr. Richardson opened the door of the room and dust sprinkled outside the room as the door opened. Sharp light came from the window in the corner of the room. There was some furniture piled up with bed sheets folded up near a fragile bed. The floor was all dusty and dirty with a strong smell which messed both of their senses. They covered up their noses.
“ I think some work needs to be done in this room to make it clean. We can get the worker to clean the room until tomorrow. Meanwhile, you can stay in the basement for today Karamjit. Will that be okay for you?” he asked. “ Yes, it would work for me.” “ The only problem in the basement is that there is no faculty for air conditioning and not even a fan. And the temperature is very hot. So you will have to manage to stay there for today somehow.” “ No worries. I will manage it. After all, it’s just for one day.” After which, Mr. Richardson bid farewell to Mrs. Olsen and left in his car for his business trips to come back to her the next year. That was all that Karamjit knew about the life of Mr. Richardson.
Karamjit went to the basement and stuffed up his luggage there. There was no bed for him to sleep. So he took some bed sheets from the room and laid them on the ground and rested there for some time. He was tired after a long and arduous journey. He started thinking of Amrit and Riya. He was even amazed that he still has not encountered any problems in this journey which was not so usual for him. He even anticipated for some bad things to happen to him as it was the part of his life that he couldn’t get away without encountering a bad circumstance which would rip him apart. All that was normal for him and he even had constructed this mindset where he would wake up every day and anticipate some really terrible things to happen to him.
He thought of calling Riya and Amrit to gather his emotions together. He called Riya at first but she didn’t pick up his call. He became a little skeptic and worried as she also didn’t picked up his call when he was about to leave his home. He started thinking: what could be the reason for her not picking up my phone? Is she okay? Or is she just upset about the fact that I left her and came to the Bahamas? He started gathering a bunch of emotions about it. Then he called Amrit and luckily Amrit picked up his call.
“Hey Karamjit, have you reached that place Bro? Tell me about your journey. Oh.. I am so excited for you.” Said Amrit. “ Yes Amrit, the journey was fine for me and I met Mr. Richardson, the person that uncle talked about and he took me in his car to this apartment where I am staying right now which is owned by an old lady named Mrs. Olsen. The room in which I have to stay is actually quite filthy right now, so until it gets sorted out I am living in the basement for now.” “ Great. So tell me about the weather. How is the weather? Is it too hot there?” “ Well... it’s really hot in here. Even though I haven’t been out. I came here straight through the car but still I can feel my whole body sweating as I am speaking to you now. The place where I am living right now is called the Bain Town. It’s close to the Capital Nassau.” “ What about the University where you will study. When will its session begin?” “ Maybe in the next month or so. I am not really sure about its opening. They say you will get a notification when the academic session starts. All the fee for the education is paid for. The rent for this apartment is paid for the next two months. So, I don’t think there is anything left to worry about.”
“ Sounds cool. So you will be enjoying the cool breeze with the sunset on the beach. Don’t you? “ Ha Ha. Sure. That’s on my bucket list. That would be kind of normal here” “ Alright. Have you talked to Riya?” “ No, I haven’t. I don’t know why but she is not picking up my phone since I left home. Do you know anything about her?” “Well, she left with her family about two days ago in their jeep somewhere and haven’t come back yet. Maybe they’ve gone to some weekend trip as her father had some government holidays issued to him.” “ I see. Okay, just let me know when you talk to her and inform her that I wanted to talk to her.” “ You getting so desperate Huh?” Amrit said jokingly. “ Hey, come on man. Be serious sometimes. Okay, I will get back to you later.” He said as he hung up the phone.
He laid down back on the ground over the bed sheets and took some rest until the evening. When he woke up, he heard a knock on the door. He opened the door and saw Mrs. Olsen standing at the door. “ Yes Mrs. Olsen?” he asked. “ Come Karamjit, the meal is ready. Freshen up yourself and come on the dinning table. Let’s eat the dinner.” “ At this time?” he questioned. “ What do you mean ‘at this time’?” “ I mean, isn’t it too early to eat dinner. It’s only seven.” “ We eat our dinner at this time. It’s good for you to eat early and then go to bed early. So, if you want to stay here, you have to follow the rules. We can’t cook separately for you on your desired time. Getting it?” “Coming then....” he said in a lowly voice.
Karamjit went to the main room where he ate his dinner. The food was cooked hot and he could almost smell the beautiful fragrance coming from the meat with hot sauce all over it. He ate the dinner making sure his stomach was full and then went straight away to the basement to sleep. The next day, his room was cleaned up and now he shifted to the room which was way better than living in the heat of the basement. All day, he would just keep laying there thinking about Riya. This routine continued for him day after day without breaks.
6.
The Commencement....
After about one month, it was time for him to join The University of The Bahamas. He got the notification on his email that the academic session has been started and all the students who have applied for intake in the university must come up on the very first day for the inaugural ceremony of the academic session. Karamjit was nervous and excited all at the same time. He would constantly think about the people that he would encounter at the University. And then get worried thinking if the people that he meet there would be exactly like the bullies that he faced in Patiala. But then he would remind himself of his father which encouraged him to think of not quitting and rather embracing difficulties and hardships as part of life.
And finally the day came when it was time for him to visit the University. It was the first day of the academic session. He got up early, washed his face and bathed. After which he ate his breakfast and dressed up in a casual manner just as he would dress up at his home in Patiala. He came out of the apartment, shut the door, and took the cab to reach university. “ Can you take me to The University of The Bahamas please?” he asked the cab driver. “ Sure. Please sit.” He said. “ It seems to me that you have come from another country to study here” “ How do you know that?” he questioned.
“ Well, I can say that just by looking at the way you politely asked me to drop you. People are quite discourteous in the Bahamas especially in the Bain town. Only outsiders talk in such courteous manner.” “ I have seen that also. Even the owner of the house which I am renting is rude and impolite. She is old but doesn’t seem that she has any experience to deal with people in the right manner.” “ So what are you going to pursue in the University?” “ I am going for the Bachelor’s degree in Business and Administration” “Have you researched about the university before you joined it?” “Not quite well. I saw a thing or two. Can you tell me something about it? You must be knowing about it very well.”
After travelling for about ten minutes, he reached the university. All this while, he couldn’t relax but instead he was getting nervous every passing second. So he couldn’t realize when he reached there and the cab driver had to wake him up to his senses. He thanked the driver for letting him know. He stepped out of the cab. The cab left and as he turned around, he saw a big rounded stone one which was written “The University of The Bahamas” and as he moved a little further, he saw a huge architecture which was carved to shape into the hands of a praying man. It was called the praying hands.
The campus was humongous. Everywhere Karamjit could see, there were trees and plants and gardens all spread throughout the vast expanse of the campus. The round stone carving just besides the praying hands had an inverted triangle with a man in between. Around it was written: “mind, body and spirit signifying the connection between the three elements which make up a whole man or woman”. As he moved ahead a hundred meters, he saw a building which was called the ‘Praying Tower’.
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