It was Friday, the Friday with long awaiting evening, late dinner and then long night. The only thing I would ask for is peaceful sleep of 7-8 hours since Saturday is my only day off. We retired to bed around midnight and suddenly around 2 o’ clock both of us were up. Reason? The head banging music and drink party at next door. And this was not something new. If weather is good, every weekend night in summer ends up like this and our reaction? Curse them and change the place to sleep. But this time it was unbearable and I was so mad that either I would call 911 or go down and request them to keep it low. It was just an impulsive reaction though. Later I thought cool headedly, I felt scared of doing any such thing.
Here in America, even for small trivial matters people call 911. To expect freedom and get respect is your basic right. Being here for little over 3 years, I have tried embracing American traditions and culture to whatever extent possible. We always try to keep good balance between India and America. And here, WE stand for all immigrants like me. Still when time came to complain or fight against something, which is unjust, I got scared. What if they do some harm to me, especially when I am alone during weekdays? I would not have given second thought before doing so in India. In fact, I have done it quite many times in train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Why did I have those uncomfortable, scary feelings? Answer is, probably this is a foreign place and will always remain foreign!!
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