Thursday, December 08, 2005

The Life of an Expatriate

The Life of an expatriate…….is a mix of sacrifice and selfishness. You can not know that which is more….Do the money have a direct connection with happiness? I guess Not, I heard people saying that they will be back once they get some money to lead a happy life but this does not happen, there is no end, no defined boundary of how much money you need to live a satisfied happy life. In fact happiness is a state of mind more than anything else.

A piece from a fellow blogger:

The life of an expatriate....the life of a perpetual nomad. No matter how long i stay, my roots never seep deeper than the superficial layer. It doesn't happen. I can try and pretend but even Canada doesn't feel like home. I know this about my life, that a county will never feel like a home to me, only the walls that contain me feel like home. These crisp foreign winds, the lush flora and forna, this is the impetus for what keeps me in awe of this country. Without even knowing, my body knows when winter comes... it's when the tip of my nose peels.... like a onion, later after layer after layer....i still do not know who i am.....

Expats, no matter what they pretend, but they are dealing with identity crises. After living most of the life as an "AJNABI", they even loose connection with their own country. The people in their home country don’t treat them the same way as before. The feel that there is some kind of hesitation in their attitude and its normal. When you are not around the people connected to you fill the gap with some activities or some new friends, they can't keep waiting for you to come and party with you. And when you travel back, you expect them to spend all their time with you as it was before, but it does not happen. Hence disappointment and again its selfishness on our part.

Another view point

I hold a Canadian passport, does that make my nationality Canadian?? But isnt that just a paper identity for me?? I mean what does it mean in my life to be Canadian....is that even something that is important to me...or is it simply the means to an end... So if not Canadian then what?? Am I Pakistani, but I have spent no time in Pakistan, I know nothing really about that country.. Should not there be more substance then simply having the same color skin as everyone in that country.... Neither Arab, I feel no love or affiliation for that land, my love is grounded in my family there and the memories of times spent there.. So I come full circle, what is my nationality?? In this whole world, there has to be a place I can call home and feel that I belong....

What you people think about this????????

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