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Finally it was 1:35 P.M and time for us to board our flight. She asked me what my seat number was and as I had expected our seats were miles apart. But being polite and a friendly smile always helps, and in spite of the flight being jam-packed the airhostess managed 2 adjacent seats for us.
“Are we on the right flight?” was her first question before taking her seat next to me. “No! ,this flight goes to Moscow and I am very sorry for lying to you for so long,” I spoke these words with such a poker face that I could see her getting pale and numb for a moment, but the last thing I wanted was to make her cry ,so I started laughing the very next moment. Once again the same thought popped in my mind, that she was just another Indian girl(no matter how Americanized she had become),very cautious and slightly nervous at being away from her loved ones for the first time.
As the flight took off, her grey eyes(courtesy, her contact lenses!!) could be seen gleaming with excitement and joy. I too knew what this excitement was, it had hardly been 2 months and 8 days in Europe for me and I was already having this strong urge from within to get back to India. I don’t know what, but there is something mystic about India which inspite of all its heat, population and the anomalies which the so called developed nations find, seduces you. For me, the thought of getting to see my parents, relatives and friends back at college was just too tempting.
I had been in Salzburg, Austria for slightly over 2 months for an internship at a research firm. Summer is the time when most of the European universities and technical firms are brimming with Indian interns from reputed universities across the length and breadth of India. These small stints give the Indian students an excellent opportunity to learn, not only in terms of their work but also in terms of getting familiar with new cultures and an altogether different way of living .The best part is that you don’t spend a single penny from your pocket as the stipend you get is more than enough. Moreover, the host company or the university takes excellent care of you and you also get a chance to see most of Europe if you plan your weekends well.
Since, I was unable to see a single Bollywood movie during my stay in Austria, I was really looking forward to seeing the on flight movie. But, as luck would have it, the film buff inside me had to wait longer. To be precise, I got to see my first Bollywood movie in over 2 months only after I landed in India as they were showing a really stupid movie ‘Love in Nepal’ (no hard feelings intended towards the makers!!) on the flight.
In one way it was good I thought, as I would get more time to interact with Miss Confusion. But the poor girl, she had not slept in 2 days courtesy the erratic flight schedules fuelled by the difference in the time zones. She was not looking very good, I could sense that there was something wrong. She couldn’t sleep and also didn’t feel like eating. “Are you alright??” “Yes,” her faint voice indicated that she was not well, but this is something I really find funny with people ,whenever they are not okay and someone asks their well being, they always give a nod as if they are on the seventh heaven. Within minutes she had to rush to the toilet to puke, now this really worried me. I just wanted the girl to reach India safely into the protective cocoon of her family. When she came back I asked her if she was really feeling okay, she smiled and said that she tried to throw up but couldn’t. However, within the next few minutes she was sleeping and this time I smiled, I knew she would feel much better when she got up.
While she slept I listened to some music and did some thinking, that’s when the term Miss Confusion struck my mind like lightning. In her own words, “I am so Indian yet so American.” “I am really excited to be visiting India after so long!! But I miss America and my family too.” She loves wearing salwaar kameez but wears it only when she goes to a mandir or on some special occasions. She celebrates Christmas and the 4th of July (which also happens to be my birthday) with all her passion but doesn’t celebrate 15th August. On diwali they generally do a barbeque, ironically most Indians don’t eat non vegetarian food on diwali!! When I ask her that whether she celebrates rakhi, she says that she is not that American not to celebrate rakhi!! She loves her independence, supposedly has her own car and a partime job in a shopping mall, but says that working in a shopping mall is okay but McDonald’s is out of question as it is considered cheap or low class working there.
Before this encounter I always thought that movies like “American Desi” were just too exaggerated but after looking at things from Miss Confusions perspective I was forced to change my opinion. If not all then at least parts of movies of such genre really succeed in portraying the dilemma, call it culture clash, in the lives of teenagers of Indian origin living in America.
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Writer Profile
Priyank Nandan
Confused is what I am, and am constantly looking for answers to those ambigious questions of life like,what do I want to do?what is my calling in life?do I realy love what I am doing?what is my purpose in this life?
Currently I have just joined a software firm and am engaged in some social activity and ofcourse I love writing...it keeps me sane.To know more about me visit my homepage:www.geocities.com/rishu_nandan
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Comments
nice R Kahendi | Apr 7th, 2007
nice piece. perhaps we all are "confused"!
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