My father is from India and my mother is from Bangladesh. When I go to visit my family in those parts of the world it’s interesting to see how close everyone is to one another.
I remember one time I went to Bangladesh after not having visited for over ten years and I was getting really irritated by how no one seemed to respect my personal space. I mean, how dare these people keep interrupting me while I’m on Facebook!
But, the same thing happens every time. I grow to love the human interaction and that feeling of belonging to a community.
England always feels sterile, lonely and sooooo quiet after a long trip to B’desh!
I remember one occasion when my maternal grandmother became unwell and she was admitted to hospital. All of a sudden the whole extended family descended upon this small hospital room and filled it with food and flowers and music. I thought to myself how lucky my grandmother was to have so many people truly care for her.
Now, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows in Bangladesh.
In England we as individuals have so many opportunities. Opportunities that 80% of the world can’t enjoy.
I feel that the freedom and opportunities we have in England come from how independent we are. We move away from our parents, move to cities we haven’t lived in before to study and work and marry people that aren’t from the social circle we grew up with. This freedom is actually a necessity to achieving our goals and dreams.
I have seen so many elderly patients admitted to hospitals in England who don’t have any visitors at all. It’s quite sad. But, I guess that’s the price we pay for living so independently.
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