“It was 1982. Remember that I had returned back to my village and married my beloved Runa? My wife? Well I returned to London without her and settled back into my routine life here. I went back to running the café by day, and I also started working stacking shelves in a local Jewish delicatessen for a couple of hours in the evenings. It made all that much of a difference to my wages, as I was going to need every penny I could get my hands on if Runa was going to join me. the following spring I received word from the Home Office that she had been granted permission to come and join me. I will never forget the excitement when my plane landed on the tarmac of the Osmani International airport. I was going home! I was going to see my beautiful Runa again. How my heart had yearned for her…..i just hadn’t let myself feel the pain up till now, and now that I had, it was a heavy burden to carry. I simply couldn’t wait to see her again. Make sure that it hadn’t been a dream. Make sure that I hadn’t been painting a rosy picture all those months that I was away from her. It had felt as if the months wouldnt go by, at times. I hailed a CNG back to the village, grabbed my suitcase and entered the gates. As soon as Runa saw me, she dropped her broom handle and came running over. Checking over her shoulder to ensure that the courtyard was empty, and no elders around, she hugged me with her might. She leaned her head into my shoulder and breathed a sigh of relief. This lasted for a brief second before she took a step back and composed herself. “I’m happy,” she said, “to see you back safe and sound. Now come. Amma will be delighted to see you too,” before leading me by the arm into my mothers house. That night after prayers all my siblings gathered together with the rest of the local villagers and we lit an almighty fire in the fields just behind the village. It was a sight to be beheld for miles. No particular reason, other than they were all happy to see me, and one thing lead to another and before we knew it we were all gathered there. The fire did an excellent job of keeping the mosquitoes away and gave us the opportunity to sit around and enjoy each others company until the stars came out. That’s something else I wont forget about the life in Bangladesh. How clear the stars were at night. In London, they’re hardly to be spotted. Afterwards I retired to my quarters and fell asleep holding my wife tight, like I haven’t held anything before. I swore to myself that nothing would ever part us again. Where I went she would follow, and where she went, I would be there right by her side. (c) S. Jones 2014 Life of Hai
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 13:25:53 +0000
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