By Dhruva Thapa
Sam,
it’s your last day in job
We can’t extend your visa anymore
Please join tomorrow’s farewell party
A note from his boss compelled to think.
Suddenly he remembered his high school days
the last day of school — a farewell party to attend
With lots of dreams and ambitions, he simply forgot
His school days, teachers, his own village for many years
All of a sudden the word ‘farewell’ reminded him his golden days
All these words suddenly drove him to pure nostalgia.
Now he is trying to search for his schoolmates on social media
With first name, last name, or even with nicknames; he hardly finds
A few with whom he kept connecting even after leaving his homeland.
How could he find them when even his name changed from Ghana Shyam to Sam
As did cities like Bombay to Mumbai, Calcutta to Kolkata, or Madras to Chennai
Having spent all his life working in a foreign land, now he has been asked to return
Now he has no other option but to go back to his motherland
Where he has already lost his mother, father, and most of his elders
Kids are grown up and have moved to their chosen places, as he did
He hardly visited his country, his native place, two or three times
The place he was born in, spent childhood days, and learned to read and write
Recalls the days riding his Hercules bicycle inherited from his grandfather
Working in rice-field and carrying rice paddy on his father’s bullock cart
Walking almost a day to reach his maternal house, running behind his mother
Grazing cattle around the wildlife sanctuary and swimming in the rivers
But now nothing is there, except his old house with his uncle’s family;
When he visited ten years ago just to attend the final rituals of his uncle
He could not stay for more than 13 days because of his job
Had to leave even without meeting any of his school-day friends
Even didn’t know if they were still there or had moved away!
He noticed a lot of changes going on
Most of the straw houses had been replaced by concrete houses
Roads had been built to his maternal house
Where he had to walk a day
Now he is retired
Leaving for
Nowhere
damn!
[Dhruva Thapa is a blogger, award-winning poet, (recipient of Poetry Ambassador medal in 2006 from the International Library of Poetry), songwriter and a published author. His published works include his poetry collections Dhruva Thapaka Geet ra Kavitaharu in Nepali and The Dream We Had Together in English. He lives with his family in California and is active in Lions Clubs international and other social and literary organizations.]