Life is Beautiful !!

A couple of months back, I traveled to India on Gulf Air. I was quite worried about the airlines, their service and everything as I had not heard a whole lot of good things about them. But quite to my surprise my journey was pleasant and hassle-free. Considering the price we paid for the tickets, I think the service was not bad at all. I realized that it is not a bad option in case one needs budget tickets. I flew from Dallas to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Bahrain, and Bahrain to Bangalore. My flight from Bahrain to Bangalore was particularly memorable, not because of the flight or the service, but because of my co-passengers. Usually I sleep on flights or watch movies, but on this one I started talking to the ladies sitting next to me and time just flew by. We spoke non-stop for 4 full hours. I got to know about them and their lives and was really touched.

The first one M was working as a maid at a Sheikh's house in Kuwait. She worked there for three full years and was going back home for the first time in three years. Her job was to cook and she saved all the money that she earned and sent it back to her family in India which comprised of her husband, 2 daughters (4 year old and 8 year old), and her mother-in-law. Most of her living expenses were taken care of by her employer. But she was never allowed to go out anywhere as it was not safe for women to go out by themselves. It was amazing to hear her story as she was staying away from her family, all by herself, in a place which is not safe for women, just to earn some extra money that she can send back home. It was very impressive to see how much she was doing to take care of her family.

The other lady B was a nurse at a hospital in Saudi. She had been working there since 2 years and was going back home for the first time too. She stayed away from her family which included her husband and 5 year old daughter, again just to make that extra money for her family. She said that Saudi was even tighter about security. She stayed in a hostel where all other nurses stayed and they were not allowed to go out anywhere. Anytime they needed to go shopping, a hospital vehicle with security would take them. They would have to cover themselves from top to bottom completely in black. The only part of body that could be visible are the eyes.

What kind of a life they had for those 2-3 years? Living all alone in a new place with so many restrictions and safety issues needs lot of courage. They were doing it to earn money for their families. Hats off to their courage and dedication that made them go through such a difficult life. It was amazing to hear their stories and know that these women took situation into their hands and went about finding a solution rather than just and waiting for things to get better. Of course one can argue that they could have done better by staying in India with their family and looking for some job there. I am not arguing that. The time spent with them on the flight is memorable for me. I was touched and listening to their struggles in life gave me a new sense of appreciation for my life. I was revived with energy and enthusiasm to live life to the fullest.

Animal Farm, Disgrace and Interpreter of Maladies

After a long time, I am back and want to write about the books that I read in the last few months. The first one is "Animal Farm" by Geroge Orwell. It is a short story, which is basically a political satire. The story is setup on an Animal Farm taken care by Mr. Jones. The animals are not happy being ruled by human beings. So they plan to throw human beings out of the farm and gain independence. They successfully drive away Mr. Jones and his family. Now the challenge is to take care of themselves and the farm and earn a living. The pigs turn out to be the intelligent ones and hence start guiding all the other animals. They slowly become powerful and start ruling the farm. So the animal farm throws away one dictator only to find themselves in the hands of another. This is an interesting read which shows how power can change attitude of people, often which is what happens in the political world.

The second one is "Disgrace" written by J M Coetzee. It won the Booker Prize in 1999. I had mixed feelings about this book throughout the time I was reading it. I didn't feel good about the story but at the same time couldn't stop reading it. It was a strange feeling. The book is about a divorced, professor of literature in South Africa. He didn't enjoy teaching as much, instead was more involved in researching about Byron. He gets into an affair with one of his students. The University finds out about it and he is forced to quit his job. Disgraced to live in the same city any longer, he visits his daughter who lives all by herself on a huge farm in the countryside. The author describes the relationship between the father and daughter, how the daughter wants to be independent and is passionate about living on that farm far away from everyone. The story takes a turn when they are attacked & assaulted on the farm and the daughter is raped. The remaining story is about how they deal with this tragedy and continue with their disgraced lives. The book has nicely described the relationship between the father and daughter and the emotional turmoil they go through but at the end, I was left with sad feelings.

"Interpreter of Maladies" written by Jhumpa Lahiri, is a collection of short stories. It won the Pulitzer prize in 2000. Most of the stories are about Indian families living outside India. I found all the stories very touching and I could relate to most of them. It discusses issues in families, how parents try to pass on their culture to the next generation, sensitive issues related to love and affection. Some of the stories were quite thought-provoking. On the whole it was fun reading at least 6 out of the 9 stories in it.