The Incident at the Mountaintop

"You're too over protective," my eleven year old son complained, "why can't we go anywhere or do anything without you making a big deal out of it." He was right I was skeptical about everything and everybody in this world. When it came to my children, I did not trust a single soul on Earth. I let them have fun and do everything that kids of their age do, but I tried to make sure that they were safe.

"Okay, go have fun, I'll pick you up at 7."

As I was driving back home my mind flashed back to my childhood. Marole Gaon was a beautiful village on the outskirts of the big city, Bombay (now Mumbai). There were mountains, trees, lakes, ponds and wide stretched rice fields. I used to be outdoors all the time with my neighborhood friends in the summer--climbing trees and mountains, running in the fields and playing in the water.

One unfortunate day my friends and I decided to race to see who will be the first to reach the temple on the top of the mountain. We were three girls and two boys, all running very fast to see who will be the first to reach the top. Baloo, one of the boys, was way ahead of me and the other three were far behind, after a while I couldn't see the three behind me at all. I was very tired myself, my legs couldn't keep up any more and my chest was hurting with every breath I took.

"Run!" I heard Baloo scream. I looked up and saw him running down terrified towards me. Right behind him I saw two scary looking men with long, scruffy beards, unkempt dreadlocks, wearing saffron color wraps and chanting mantras. Horrified, I turned around and ran frantically back down the hill. As I neared the friendly confines of my community, I looked around expecting to see Baloo, so that I can ask him what happened.

Panic stricken, I looked around for him but there was no sign of Baloo. "Baloo! Where are you?!" I screamed and looked hopefully towards the mountain. There was no sound except the quiet rustling sound of leaves on the trees. A cold sweat rolled down my forehead as I felt the bile juice in my mouth. They got Baloo, I thought.

A search party was dispatched as soon as I informed everyone of the horrid incident. As I awoke the next morning, I heard the inaudible murmurs of people talking in the living room. I quietly walked to the door and overheard my father saying, "I can't believe that such a thing still happens today. I don't know what I would have done if my daughter had been caught instead of Baloo. I can't believe Baloo was taken and killed as a human sacrifi--." My father stopped speaking when he noticed me huddled behind the living room door. The news was all over the papers in the following days. Baloo was sacrificed to the goddess Maha Kali by some rogue, alienated tribal people.

"Did you have a good time?" I asked my son as he got into the car.

"Yea, the pool was great. I wish we had one too."

"Oh yea?" I said, "well, I'm glad you had a good time." I don't think he understood how content I was to see him safe that day.

Home

I am a very ordinary person with a very eventful life. Ever since I gained conscious I don't remember ever living in one place for a long time. My life always took drastic turns. I was constantly moving, though never with my concern, except when I came to USA.

United States of America was the only place where I came willingly not for myself but for my children. I thank Allah everyday for helping me make this decision. It has been 19 years since we came here.

In these 19 years we moved a lot. We started with Yonkers, NY, lived there for 2 months then moved to Hackensack, NJ. This town of Hackensack is great I love it for an unknown reason. We have been in Hackensack since then but we constantly kept relocating within this town. We started from living in somebody's basement apt. in Hackensack to a one bedroom apt. then we moved to two bedroom apt. and finally a house.

It took me a whole year to look for the kind of house I wanted. I went all over NJ East, west, north & south. Could not find anything anywhere, and then there it was a beautiful house in Hackensack. I immediately fell in love with it. We bought the house cleaned it, carpeted it, decorated it with every tiny details. Then had parties, barbeques and gatherings all the time.

I was very happy, I thought that this was my final residence. I thought I did not have to move around anymore I will spend rest of my life here. My children were adults now I don't have to worry about them anymore. I had quit my job I was working on my clothing business. life looked wonderful.

I was wrong, life was not settled yet at least not for me. A big tempest came and my dream house was gone. We had to sell the house move back into an apartment in a building close to the house.

My older son moved to North Carolina with his family. They were alone here in this totally new environment with their new born baby.I came along with them to help them with their baby( my first grandchild).

Now I am in Charlotte, NC. It is a beautiful place. Everything is new here. Brand new beautiful houses, new buildings, new malls, new shiny roads and highways. People are very friendly here. weather is fantastic, winters and summers are much shorter than spring and fall.

My son lives in one of these beautiful new houses (Alhamdulillah). Everything is perfect here except that I feel like I am stranded on a beautiful island.I am waiting for a boat to come and take me to my new destination.

A small piece of clothing made all the difference

I did not know that trying to save 50 bucks on my plane ticket will be so painful. The trip from NJ to NC which usually takes one hour took 11 hours. The plane ride was only 2 hours the rest was unnecessary flight delays. I was very tired and frustrated I tried to stay calm and make the best of this uncomfortable situation. I looked around and saw a lot of passengers in the waiting area eating, sleeping, or reading while they patiently waited for their flights to be announced.
While I was waiting there I tried to make small conversations with people around me but everybody seemed to avoid me. Some would reply in short answers others would just be very rude and totally ignore me. Why is this happening? Why nobody wants to talk to me? I was very confused.

I am a friendly person, I like talking to people and people always loved talking to me. "Why is everybody behaving like that?" I thought to myself. Anyway I sat down in a corner and started reading the novel that I had just bought. After a while I looked up and noticed a couple sitting across my seat staring at me and talking about me when their eyes met mine they looked away. I got up and went to the ladies room. As soon as I saw my image in the mirror I realized what was wrong, it was my attire. I was wearing regular clothes, black pants, grey sweater and a long winter coat. I was also wearing a grey SCARF around my neck that also covered my hair.

I had a lot of stuff stored in my mind, I wanted to share all with the world. Right now I am sitting at my desk with my fingers on the keyboard my eyes on the screen but my brain is blank.
I will try again later.

My First Post

Stay tuned for a vision of the world through the eyes of Nasreen. I'm going to post soon.