where honesty is what they offer

nagmakhan — Thu, 28 May 2015 05:02:29 GMT

. No matter whether I get it or not but I have to try.
I spared time from my busy schedule to start on for this journey whose destiny I was highly unsure of. I started in the much familiar Delhi Metro carrying all the required documents with me, boarded-unboarded, took an auto which took me to the Pakistan High Commission, New Delhi. Standing right opposite to the technologically updated Australian High Commission, I witnessed a building which reminded me of the olden era. You see persons with typewriters sitting right near the gates of the high commission to fill your forms to be produced at the commission. As the sun rises people flong to the area to queue up for getting entry to the commission. You see people resting on the bedsheets spread over the roads.
And the gates open to take people in groups inside the embassy. The gates will open only thrice till 11 for the visa applicants. I also formed a part of the queue waiting for my number. 'You are not allowed to take your bags and phones inside', somebody tells me. And I am like where should I keep it. There comes a lady who asks me that I can keep my bag with her. I was appalled. How can I just hand over my valuables to a stranger in this world where the place for trust is shrinking each day. Two persons standing before me tells me that I can give my bag to her as she has been doing this job for some good twenty years and she is widely known there by the name Fatima. My mind instantly told me that I should take advise from my father on phone and he immediately said yes. I didn't think another moment and handed over my belongings to her saying I am believing in you.
And so I came out as the gate opened. She was right near the wall sitting on a bedsheet. She gave one bedsheet to me from the pile of sheets that she offers to the people visiting the place. She also runs a small business of providing food to people who come there and wait for hours at a reasonable price. I talked to her regarding the embassy being outdated. She told me these words- we can only offer honesty at our high commission. And she recounts an experience of her when once a person who had a bag full of indian rupees was apprehensive of handing it over to her but he had no other option. And when he returned, he was delighted to see the rupees being intact at their original position. He happily gave her certain amount as a token of respect for Fatima's honesty. Yes honesty is what they can offer.

Sharing Stories - A Glimpse into Another's Life - yokoso japan

nagmakhan — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 03:28:16 GMT

I woke up early in the morning, because of the change of place plus the excitement inside my heart.. I was arranging my things in the hotel room when suddenly something popped up causing the fresh light to prevail over the gift of the night. I turned back to look from my french window and got stuck with amazement at the thought of experiencing what till date I had only heard and studied in the textbooks: the sunrise in the land of the rising sun.
A glimpse in to the japanese lifestyle made my vision broader.Discipline is inculcated not from above, the approach is bottom to top as japanese don't believe in doing two things at a time viz. eating and walking at the same time. In our cultural exchange programme we were taken to adore the beauty of the Venus Fort. Shops were left to be guarded not by the shopkeepers but to the honesty of the people or probably no need was occasioned of the same as the fear of losing things prevail when there is lack of belief and integrity in others.
Though english seemed as a blue moon , it being their
some third or fourth language, courtesy their strong cultural affinity, people do their best to make you feel at home. My stay with the host family enriched me with the first hand experience of japanese traditions and culture. You should not take the outside footwears inside the house for it is against the rule of hygiene and cleanliness, but don't worry : you will have separate footwears for the house and the bathrooms. There is also a tradition according to which each person has to take a dip in the bathtub in the same water one by one, which is becoming extinct with most of the families . They will attend you with all the affection and warmth .The peace memorial which I happened to visit in Hiroshima stands evident to the rapid recovery and progress of the bombed cities which have witness the worst of the disasters.
The most remarkable and perhaps the most distinguishing of all my discoveries was their priceless possession in the form of time, most akin to them . Japanese value it as a medicine ,
neither a dose higher nor a low; for you may not reap the fruits of the seed you sow , just the accurate for life to go.
The maple trees on the island in Hiroshima and the cherry blossoms by the roadside add just another feather to its crown.Yokoso japan is a word worth mentioning and often seen on a number of travel magazines and roadmaps when one happens to visit such a wonderful place. And indeed it is so.

Land of the rising Sun

where honesty is what they offer

Sharing Stories - A Glimpse into Another's Life - yokoso japan