An ESL blog

I just learned from this post that “143″ is now a new hit with youngsters to say ” I love you”. I never heard anyone saying 143 to someone. I think it’s used in text messages on cellphones. Any thoughts?

I received a forwarded email with a story. It’s a story about an Indian software engineer who migrated to US from India. I though it’s worth sharing.

ONE BEDROOM FLAT… WRITTEN BY AN INDIAN SOFTWARE
ENGINEER..- A Bitter Reality

As the dream of most parents I had acquired a degree in Software Engineering and joined a company based in USA , the land of braves and opportunity. When I arrived in the USA , it was as if a dream had come true.

Here at last I was in the place where I want to be. I decided I would be staying in this country for about Five years in which time I would have earned enough money to settle down in India .

My father was a government employee and after his retirement, the only asset he could acquire was a decent one bedroom flat.

I wanted to do some thing more than him. I started feeling homesick and lonely as the time passed. I used to call home and speak to my parents years of Burgers at McDonald’s and pizzas and discos and 2 years watching the foreign exchange rate getting happy whenever the Rupee value went down.

Finally I decided to get married. Told my parents that I have only 10 days of holidays and everything must be done within these 10 days. I got my ticket booked in the cheapest flight. Was jubilant and was actually enjoying shopping for gifts for all my friends back home. If I miss anyone then there will be talks. After reaching home I spent a week going through all the photographs of girls and as the time was getting shorter I was forced to select one candidate.

In-laws told me, to my surprise, that I would have to get married in 2-3 days, as I will not get anymore holidays. After the marriage, it was time to return to USA , after giving some money to my parents and telling the neighbors to look after them, we returned to USA .

My wife enjoyed this country for about two months and then she started feeling lonely. The frequency of calling India increased to twice in a week sometimes 3 times a week. Our savings started diminishing. After two more years we started to have kids. Two lovely kids, a boy and a girl, were gifted to us by the almighty. Every time I spoke to my parents, they asked me to come to India so that they can see their grand-children.

Every year I decide to go to India .. But part work part monetary conditions prevented it. Years went by and visiting India was a distant dream. Then suddenly one day I got a message that my parents were seriously sick. I tried but I couldn’t get any holidays and thus could not go to India .. The next message I got was my parents had passed away and as there was no one to do the last rights the society members had done whatever they could. I was depressed. My parents had passed away without seeing their grand children.

After a couple more years passed, much to my children’s dislike and my wife’s joy we returned to India to settle down. I started to look for a suitable property, but to my dismay my savings were short and the property prices had gone up during all these years. I had to return to the USA ..

My wife refused to come back with me and my children refused to stay in India .. My 2 children and I returned to USA after promising my wife I would be back for good after two years.

Time passed by, my daughter decided to get married to an American and my son was happy living in USA .. I decided that I had enough and wound-up every thing and returned to India . I had just enough money to buy a
decent 2 bedroom flat in a well-developed locality.

Now I am 60 years old and the only time I go out of the flat is for the routine visit to the nearby temple. My faithful wife has also left me and gone to the holy abode.

Sometimes I wonder was it worth all this? My father, even after staying in India , had a house to his name and I too have the same nothing more.

I lost my parents and children for just ONE EXTRA BEDROOM.

Looking out from the window I see a lot of children dancing. This damned cable TV has spoiled our new generation and these children are losing their values and culture because of it. I get occasional cards from my children asking if I am alright. Well at least they remember me.

Now perhaps after I die it will be the neighbors who will be performing my last rights, God Bless them. But the question still remains ‘was all this worth it?’

I am still searching for an answer…………….!!!

This can be a controversial issue to few people, because some people believe that having a special day for someone important is useless and it is just for the commercial purposes. Having a single day to respect the loved ones is not enough and people should show the respect and love to their Mothers every single day.

But on the other hand, I am here to convince you to think how important it is to have a special day like Mother’s Day to show love and care for a special person. If you are the person who doesn’t like to celebrate special days like this, I hope you also don’t like to celebrate you birthday too. Think how important your birthday is.

“A mother’s love is patient and forgiving when all others are forsaking, it never fails or falters, even though the heart is breaking” ~ Helen Rice

There is a great history behind the Mother’s Day celebration. This day is emerged from a custom of mother worship in ancient Greece. They worshiped Cybele, the wife of Cronus (mythology), and this custom was held in most part of the Asia and eventually Rome itself (March 15-18). In the USA, Mother’s Day was copied from England after the American Civil War.

By remembering the importance of motherhood and respect in the one who gave you life is not a controversial issue after all. Everyone should at least remember what their mothers did to them and show gratitude towards their mothers. They give only love and care without showing any selfishness towards their children.

“A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.”~ Tenneva Jordan

People who live far away from their mothers will get a chance to show their gratitude and express their love by getting something as a gift or something to show how important their mother is to them.

Even though we pray god every single day, there are few special days like Christmas, Ramadan, Hindu festivals and etc. You celebrate these days for god who you cannot even see, but why can’t you celebrate a day for your mother who is like a god and you can see her here in the world right in front of you.

“God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers” ~ Jewish Proverb

Publish your comments and share your thoughts of motherhood.

I think everyone has the inner desire to prove them selves better than others. What ever the culture; what ever the color of our skin, it’s the basic nature of human kind. In every society there are class differences according to the financial status. Even between the close relatives there are comparisons with their possessions and achievements. Is it all because of our inner motive to prove ourselves better than others?.

I guess we all face insult from those who think they are better than our selves(I play soccer well, Look at my dress, I am smarter than you, We are richer than you…)in life at some point. But usually we avoid those who brag too much about them selves.

Once I get to this country I faced a different kind of people. Their behviour which shook the core of my personality. I was in the edge of believing that I am worth less. I couldn’t come out with an answer to all the questions and doubts in my mind?. All the traditional common values seem equal with the other people out there who make me feel inferior with their actions and speeches.

Are their parents richer?, Any racial differences?, Are they well educated?, Isn’t our family habit and manner not good?. Are they smarter?, Am I lacking in any skill?. Are their family invited here by the Canadian prime minister?. No we are all same from a same community who came as refugees to this country to escape a brutal war. Nothing special in us as a whole we are same, then why these people behave like this?.

All came to light when I heard this “Those guys are FOBs?”. I researched what is FOB. Here is the wikipedia definition for FOB.

In the article it clearly says about the offensive part:

The term “FOB” has been used with offensive intent, often to those with a foreign accent or ethnic style of dressing. Depending on the person’s attitude to the culture in question, he or she may or may not take offense at these statements. The term may also be used by people who themselves were immigrants years ago, in a way turning the insult once hurled at them onto the new arrivals, and in so doing emphasizing their own progress in assimilation or improved language skills.

Compared to world poverty, Iraq invasion, AIDS and terrorism it is not a big issue, but I know youngsters who confused them selves about their goals and purpose of their life by this kind of peer pressure. For those who come to this country in their teen age it is a real problem. But it’s all in our attitude. Other people cannot make us better or worse.

If a person who came to US in his 21st with little English can become the (Arnold Schwarzenegger)Governor of California why we can’t do more.

We can’t say being proud of one self is not good. We can be proud of our achievements. I believe that being different is one of the driving force behind some of the people’s success. But I don’t understand the concept of making others feel bad because they are newer to the place. The big stone sitting in front of my house which stays longer in Canada more than I do.

It was the worst killing in America’s History. On April 16th Monday 32 people at Virginia Tech were killed by a student from the same institution . It was a very tragic incidence, but nobody knows the answers for the similar incidents happens here. One part of the world suffers from war, in this part of the world with so many opportunities to grow why a young mind choses this path.
Two things about this killing arose many questions in mind.

He was very clear about what he wanted to do

The weapons used are legally purchased.

A true hero sacrificed his life to save his students. Dr.Liviu Librescu is 76 years old from Romania a Holocaust survivor. In US president’s words,

We saw this courage in a teacher named Liviu Librescu. With the gunman set to enter his class, this brave professor blocked the door with his body while his students fled to safety. On the Day of Remembrance, this Holocaust survivor gave his own life so that others may live. And this morning we honor his memory and we take strength from his example.