About Him 2 - The Introduction

He is a very honest and understanding person who does his best to keep everyone happy, by helping people and loving everyone he comes accross as a decent person. He must have got these attributes from his late mother, and his relatives say to him that he does behave like her, loving, generous, open minded and always willing to help.

In the community he lives in now, the reputation he has built up is the highest anyone can have. He is regarded as the most honest and down to earth person in the community who give him respect and welcome him everywhere. This is of course in England, as he emigrated there in the freezing cold month of December in 1989. How or why he came to England was a mystery to him.

His grandmother used to say to him, 'Remember when you used to be four years old, and you used to walk around with an umbrella by your side, and you used to say goodbye to everyone because you were leaving to go to England?'. He walked around the big old Oak tree in the open space, and in the scorching heat of the sun, with his umbrella open, explained to his friends what he will do when he goes to England. He said he will earn alot of money and give them as much as he can, and own his own house and business. Well, that didn't happen, not quite as he wished. He would stand in the openness of big fileds, and could see, in the very far distance, big hills and mountains curtained by the white clouds, imagining he would one day fly over them and be in England.

Going back to why his mother who used to feed him powder milk and bananas in secret, and him sleeping with his Aunty and Cousin, he still feels angry and dejected. He feels he can never forgive the people who planned all this, which has now put him a position he did not want due to their greed and ambition. Yes, their greed and ambition.

Apparently his family wanted him to get used to staying with his Aunty and Cousin, so that he could go to England and stay with them there, with his Uncle, already in England, working and coming back to take them there. Making him forget about his real brother and sister, mother and father, which worked at the time, with the reason being, he was excited at the prospect of emigrating to another country.

After his mother passed away, he did not have any attachments with his brother, sister and father, and was always looked after by his Aunty. He did not call his father 'dad', and never referred to his siblings as brother and sister.

His father remarried, and within 12 months, they had a baby, who was a female. He grew so much in love with his new step sister, because she was a baby and he could give and receive love with her. The time was getting nearer to him leaving for England, but as the days passed, he was falling in love with his country more and more.

He used to wonder why his family were not very eager in educating him, and only used to send him to school when he felt like it, and also used to attend mosque. The winter months were very dry and chilly, but not too cold, and the summer months were very hot and after the monsoon passed, the whole village used to get flooded. There are six seasons in bangladesh, and all of them have their own story. The only mode of transport at the time of flooding was by boat, which he really enjoyed when his young uncle used to take him around the rivers and villages, where he could see children playing and swimming in the mud coloured waters. He could not swim, although he tried with the bottom of his heart, he still could not get the hang of it. The lake where his family used to bath was his training ground, and his uncle used to train him to swim, but he grew scared of fish, snake and crocodiles biting him in the water, although there were no crocodiles! Up to now, he still cannot swim, and he does not try, which may be because of his fears of Bangladeshi waters.

The time is very close to leaving bangladesh, with his oldest Uncle back from England to take them away for the trip of a life time! He had a soft spot for his real younger brother, and one day he took him to the fields on the outskirts of the village. Snapping off a thick twig of a tree, he took off the skin and shaped the twig into a knife. When he was happy with it, he gave it to his younger brother and said, 'Defend yourself with this from bad boys around the village. If they try to hurt you, hurt them back with it, and don't let anyone treat you bad.'

The time has now come to pack his bags, while the villagers were gathered around, trying to catch the last glimpse of this young boy who is so fortunate to be able to go to England, and have a great life. Everyone swarming around like bees in a beehive, but without the honey, as they were thinking all the honey is going to be his. It will be a very long trip to the airport in Sylhet, but he's not worried about that. He is excited, but his love for his baby step sister has grown so much, he can only think of her, leaving her like that. He was hoping she would remember him, and call him big brother if he ever came back to see them again.

To be continued...

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