Shukran Lakum (Thanks a lot)
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Long ago, there lived a boy in a farmland named Troy. A really tragic event in his house had forced him to live away from his family. He had nothing- no house, no food, no money. All he had was determination to find a place to stay. He roamed in
the streets for really long and finally found a kind and simple lady taking care of the lawns in her house. Troy described his tight condition to the lady, who called herself Mrs. Green. Mrs. Green happily invited Troy into her house. She laid a beautiful tea-and-cake supper and explained that years ago, when the wrinkles in her face were nowhere to be found, she was in the same situation as Troy and was really happy to have Troy residing in her house. Troy was pleased by Mrs. Green’s hospitality. Days passed. Troy got so suited to his lifestyle at Mrs. Green’s, a day in his life would pass by him waking up in the morning to the nearby forest to chop wood, would go to the other markets to sell his wood and try for another petty work, would come back home at dawn and tuck himself in to Mrs. Green’s just fascinating supper. Mrs. Green also made sure Troy didn’t fall back in his education, and taught him herself. Even though Troy was really content with his lifestyle at Mrs. Green’s, she found Troy’s usual-down-to-Earth personality deteriorating. This bothered her a lot, but she decided not to point this out to him.
One fair morning, Mrs. Green heard a knock so thunderous on her door, she thought for a second that her door would collapse. “Troy, get the door!” she yelled. Troy obediently opened the door to find a group of people with rugged clothes. “Oh, Troy!” the eldest lady in the group exclaimed, and pulled Troy into a tight hug. “Who ARE you and what do you want?” Mrs. Green asked angrily. But she got her reply from Troy.
“They’re my parents” Mrs. Green was frozen in shock. A man in a pinstriped suit then stepped up to her and said, “As the legally accepted parents of Troy, we would love to have him back to our house, where he belongs, not in this ghetto trash!” Mrs. Green looked hopefully at Troy, but all she could see in his eyes was the desire to be back with his family. She
definitely couldn’t blame him, for she spent hours with the only picture she had of her family. But she couldn’t bear to lose Troy, the only person she had close to a son. “Goodbye, Mrs. Green” Troy said, threw a few dollars towards her and went away with his group of family, all cuddling him.
Troy grew up to be a strong and sensible, and most importantly, a rich man. He had truckloads of cash, of which he could never even think of back at Mrs. Green. One day, when he was travelling from the nearby town towards his home, he smelt a strong fragrance of the tea-and-cake supper he used to get back at Mrs. Green. He felt a nostalgic feeling creeping upon him, and not knowing what possessing him, he told the cart driver to take a turn towards Mrs. Green’s house. He gently knocked at
the door, and found a note attached to the door, addressing him. He opened it. It said:
Dear Troy,
If this is really you reading, I want you know that I am lying on my deathbed now, and my life is perfectly complete. Congratulations on your wedding! I used to wait for you every day at dawn, to make you those cakes you seem to favor so much.
But seeing that I cannot be meeting you anymore, I have called back my niece Veronica, and have taught her how exactly to make your tea and cakes.
Feel free to pop in anytime. Even if the tea-and-cake isn’t that well-groomed, I know you always make do with what you have. Attached to this note are the dollars you gave me for my services. I am affirmative that you need this money more than I do.
Love, Mrs. Green You can guess what happened next. Troy started crying, he became a better person, visited Veronica every day for his supper etc. But I think you can relate to more than just that in the story.
We all are the ‘Troys’ in the story. Troy’s parents is our proud country India. And Mrs. Green is this land that we reside in, Kuwait. Given a chance to stay back in our country, we all can bid goodbye to Kuwait like Troy and be back with our family, culture and nature. But, we all fail to understand that no matter how much we dip into our Indian lifestyle, Kuwait will definitely welcome us back with open arms, just like Mrs. Green did.
I’m pretty sure, just like me, the kids have a huge history with Kuwait. Some kids were even born here. 30 years later, when somebody mentions Kuwait, our nostalgia instincts are going to run all over us. Kuwait has been more than just a place to stay for us. It’s provided us with opportunities, gifts, a life, and most importantly, Khaboos.
Kuwait, like all other countries, has had a rough history. They’ve been invaded and enslaved. These two days 25 th and 26 th of February are more than just excuses for holidays for us. National Day is when we expats come outside to bid our ‘Shukran Lakum’ to Kuwait. Thanks for a place to stay. Thanks for the memories. Thanks for all these amazing sights and sceneries. Thanks for becoming the pivot point of our lives. We might say Kuwait is a boring place to live, but on the inside, we all know: this place is tougher than Steel Dragon 2000. It welcomes us with open arms and treats us with just equal hospitality. India and Kuwait have a bridge between them. That bridge is the love for Kuwait from all us expats. And National Day is a chance to prove it.
So, what can I say? Shukran Lakum!
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