Shah Rukh Khan is a likeable actor ; yet his acting credentials remain to be tested to the full makings. Of Course, not being the point of discussion we can drop the discerning performer atleast for the time being.
A lethargic evening walk beside a consumer electronics shop near my residence, I stood a few minutes watching a Hindi film. The enterprising hero was depicted planning a Hydro-electric project for his village. The subsequent scenes were appealing as I stood there almost till the completion of that film. I couldn't recognize the film, or the Director for that matter. Back in the bed, those scenes haunted me for reasons which are hazy till date. Next morning, I went to the nearby DVD shop for getting one copy of that film, but I never knew the name . I elaborated to the man about all those scenes, but he couldn't identify a Shah Rukh film in which he played the role of a village guy, which left me more confused……………I…InIn between all the frantic work pace, I passed over those scenes, but, the thoughts and haunting questions raised by that unknown film caused enormous bedlam in my mind requiring sustained hours of avid introspection.
Someone who gained all his education and other valued possessions from his home country ; Just because your native soil could not fetch you a job of your interest and money, you left her for better prospects. Starting my career in Ankleshwar, Gujarat, as a trainee of ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India) , I ought not have left my country , had I opted for fidelity rather than leave her under the delusive impression that the Arabian oil fields make you a local sheikh. As it happens with every human being ,ambitions and dreams take prioroty when it comes to a decree of prospect. When ambitions fly high, you too fly to unknown dwelling places, leaving your coconut grooves orphan.
Bangalore could have been a safe abode for a techie, but for a fabricated techie the outside world looks so dark and cruel when he finds a lot of computer engineers working as internet café attendants and unpaid guest lecturers in professional institutions, mechanical engineers as workshop boys, electronics engineers as watch repairers and a lot more avatars of the worst kind. So just as in a Mohanlal film of the '80s one had to flee to desert for want of new oases. If it's not one thing it's another.In one's right mind one finds the most justifiable reasons to be there.
Nostalgia and reminiscence are two words used often by almost every Non Resident Indian, but do these words convey the pertinent concerns ? May or may not, but there are grave concerns. Inspired from the works of Mikis Theodorakis, the great contemporary music composer of Greece, one is tempted to preside over these concerns rather than daydream about the coconut grooves back in Thrissur.More than the coconut, NRI s miss the melody of monsoon , the rhythm of mosquitos in Kochi, the majestic KSRTC bus stand of Perumbavoor,Electrifying hartals & last but not the least , former girl friends who are married and have grown older (hopefully prettier & wiser ! )
One can use his limited finesse for the progress of his country, but what if one is discouraged by everyone if he want's to be someone who can contribute to the development and betterment of one's country and simultaneously earn for a decemt living. NRIs (Often described NARIs by Kerala journalists),are often criticised for selfishness and heavy issues like “brain drain”. After all it's your life and it's upto you to decide and live the life of your choice. The concerns over your motherland need not bother you too much since you have opted for a better domicile in terms of ready money and living standards .But what if one is left with a fine bank balance, a better car, a better house of one's dream, a fiancee cleverer than your college love interest, but still one feels missing something and not fulfiilling certain ethereal obligations.
Hailing from a country of rich cultural heritage and moral values, these dilemmas are often faced by any non resident Indian. Indian Rupee may be devalued and “kamzor” in an international market where brutal competency and killer instincts determine the monetary Moguls. The Dollar, Pound or the Dirham is finally metamorphosed to an Indian rupee draft . So the final interest lies in the Indian Rupee, regardless of how devalued it is. One realises the value of Indian rupee and the warmth of one's homeland when one pay 2 Dirhams (equivalent to 23 Indian Rupees) for a small coconut. When you pay 6 Dirhams for a small water cylinder (Don't ask how much the volume is !) you will automatically turn nostalgic about the deep, watery, pond in your courtyard where you used to swim like an emancipated torpedo.When the monsoon sings swiftly in your homeland, you are left barren in 46 deg.cel temperature and severe humidiy which leaves you hapless after a tiring day's work.. But one is forced to draw a blank when it comes to a question of being loyal to oneself. Nevertheless, the pitiless facts remind you it's not often of any worth remaining dangerously honest and sincere in this era of globalised liberals.
Back at home, all the news papers, channels and other media cry vehemently about hartals, political insurgencies, corruption and all what prompts you to call the god's own country satan's own country. But after all we are the largest democracy in the world, which is often reminded when your honest ex-pressions are ruthlessly edited by a Indian editor. Back in India he would have praised you for your clarity of vision and the muscle of your expression. But here you are tied with unknown threads, god knows what they are. The earnings in India may be less, but you have your loved ones within a gaze. . In your homeland you need not worry about a potential job loss, for the reason that an array of alternatives are still left open even for estranged computer engineers ! There is no denying the fact that an expatriate basically remain a refugee in other man's land. That's the classic legend, and it still holds true. So, be a refugee and face the music of Arabian fairy tales. Ultimately it's your destiny.
Everything happens for a reason and it happens for good. That's what they say .
But when your Pakistani HR manager heartlessly rejects your leave application on ridiculous grounds, you feel like taking a new avatar of Bhagat singh (Inquilab Zindabad !) .But the next moment you attain composure since you are from the proud nation of Swami Vivekananda and you bear the virtuous traces of great Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, who left her homeland listening to the call of the humanitarian concerns of the orient, inherent in your conscience. Possibly that might be his way of taking revenge against an underprivileged Indian. Anyway this is said without any malevolence against the brotherly, (feminists ; please read it as sisterly) nation of great Bharat.
“Ohhh….e.enthonnu gelf ente thomacho, aarpookkarayile mannonnu kelachu marichechu varan thonnuvanne…….….”.” (Oh Thomas, What's there in gulf, I feel like going to Aarpookara and plough my land.) ; declaimed Mr.John Mathan Pakalomattam, an astute accountant of Abu Dhabi.
.Those were words radiating from a soul pulled out from the heart. I don't know anything about the scenario in western countries, but you will definitely hear similar voices in each emirate of UAE. Even after 25 years in gulf, Mr. John and the countryside of Kottayam district are still head over heals in love with each other. That was an odd surprise for neo-gulfites like us.
Back to SRK and that heartwarming film, it looks wonderful to come back and do something. But the local sheikh reminds : your kanji & chammanthi (the generic cuisine of southern Malabar) is here……………s…soso beloved boy, come back to the desert !
The loved ones ask passionately,
“When will you come ?”.
After a few days with them, the same fellas shout,
“Enthonnadey, pokunnille ?” (Hey , why aren't you going ?)
Now those gleaming lines we all learned in high school comes to the mind……“…“T
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep”
Another August 15th …………….….W.
We don't have a tricolour to salute or a grande parade to march off…….….B.
But there comes a Muscular “Jai Hind” from myself and my elderly friend “Aarpookarakkaran John achayan”…………………….….S.
Sayeed Roosh
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Sayeed Roosh took his BTech Degree from UCE and is currently working in Marine Operations dept , of Dubai ports & Customs as an Info.Sys.Engg .
Author can be contacted at
Sayeed Roosh (
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