In pursuit of Destiny

Imagine there's no country, it isn't hard to do–Lenon's inspiring creation brings nostalgia as I land in the resplendent Dubai airport. Three years ago, I bid farewell to the US after five long years of stay; attaining a degree in the process. I had a 12 hour transit in Dubai airport. Like the saying - what happens, happens for the best - I encountered many Nepali brothers and sisters stranded in the airport for as many as a month. They had been left on a limbo by the manpower agencies who brought them there on a promise of a journey to their destination. Some of them did not have enough money to buy a meal.

Those trapped in the airport held fake visas but they did not realize it until they had landed in Dubai.So, entering Dubai was illegal. Though willing and eager to help, there was nothing I could do immediately. I myself was unsure what I would be doing in Nepal upon returning. I had a degree, but I always wondered how I would make use of it in Nepal. Thoughts and ideas oscillated like pendulum and I felt like Shakepeare's Hamlet in a state of to be or not to be.

With four twenty dollars bill I had put in my jeans pocket, I impulsively bought a few helpings of vegetable fried rice and water. I warned them that they had to adjust on the quantity. Even so, as I saw the folks hungrily gobbling the food, I could not help but tear up. The thought of man power agencies wilfully betraying unsuspecting people riled me. And the ones who had to go through the ordeal. Many swore in rage and mumbled they would get rid of these agencies once they stepped Nepal. One in his late twenties revealed about the grotesque treatment in the counter, "Those rascals take us to their counter and hit us with the danda. What did we do wrong? I sold my beautiful land in Lamjung just to see this day." Complaints, cusses, frustration and hatred abounded all around and understandably so. What amount of money justifies this? I could not fathom it.

Having no answers and not knowing how long it would take to extricate these folks, I, nevertheless, tried to cheer them up and tried to fill their hearts with hope. I took their family's numbers and promised to deliver their messages - which I did. Now in Nepal, I work as a research officer. In fact I had already begun my career from the Dubai airport. A year ago, I got an opportunity to experience Lamjung for a month. It was for a movie shooting – my first Nepali movie - and I remembered one of the people I met in Dubai.

amjung, like he mentioned, is gorgeous. These days as I peruse the news - Malaysia wanting 100,000 Nepali workers; government banning women
to go to Arab countries for work; women working as domestic help being abused - I cannot help and picture the images of those faces in Dubai. Though billions of dollars come to Nepal as remittance from migrant workers, it comes at a heavy price and yet concern from government remains patchy. There are no proper protection mechanisms for people who persevere away.

They deserve to be secured. It is easy to imagine the whole world as one country. But it is still a terrible feeling to not have an national identity and no one to come to your aid when you are stranded in a foreign land. I hope the people I met made their way out!