Take One
Once upon a time there were
two teen-age girls, both foreigners in the land of Jinnah. They played, they teased, they both grew up
together in a special playground of diplomat’s elite.
They parted ways with
adventures ahead, amassed experiences, and eventually settled in different
lands continually labeled as expatriates.
Their families grown, it seemed and deemed that the childhood playmate
in a distant time was lost forever.
Until the advent of social
media, the group admin for unknown reasons, invited me to re-connect with
long-lost ex-catholic convent school
girls who hop-scotched in the playground at the
heart of an Islamic enclave.
Yes, we were challenged then.
As I scrolled down the myriad
of hundreds of daily text messages; some read - some passed me by until the
city of Melbourne stood out. This is where my friend lives.
and
I was going there.
A scurry of text messages
exchanged and miraculously before long, I was sitting across the sofa sipping a
cuppucino with my school mate; desperately trying to encapsulate 50 years into
two hours. You would think it would
have been an impossible task; between bites of sushi and slurps of coffee; the
heartbreaks, the success, the incredible role of motherhood; and the façade of
our characters stripped bare. In that moment
we stood still at fourteen, understanding in the receiving and giving of
our friendship so long ago and still very intact, strong and immovable.
I have learned something
valuable today.
Take-two
Once upon a time two little
girls of Asian disposition in the land of durian and chopsticks could not be in
more contrast when questioned, answered in polite British Queen’s English to a
confused native of anyone’s land. They
were the products of elite diplomats; determined that the children must
immerse in culture, language and history
of the old established British Empire they admired.
Well, they did not realize in
parenting these two girls in the pink cloud of the hoity-toity world of
Britain, we slowly but surely lost our heritage, deeming it ineffectual in our
chosen daily life.
Our meeting in Melbourne over
wine, beer and excitement united what we thought, felt and left unsaid. However difficult the road our parents paved
the way, however scrambled, misfired or
plain afterthought; we emerged strong, with a solid core, a love of realism and
a struggle worth fighting for. I saw in
her, reflections of myself and now no longer feel alone.
I have learned another
valuable lesson today.