If we STARVE

“IF WE STARVE it’s no problem because nobody would know then..just us..but if we have to sleep on pavements for many nights, then people look at us (as if we are beggars). And that was something which I couldn't stand” .Mohamed

I could see my wife’s eyes filling with tears as we listened to Mohamed (while Jith who was lucky to leave soon remained silent) on our drive to the travel agency.

Thursday we met with Mohamed and Jith (not real names) as we were informed by some volunteers that Jith (who recently met with an accident and had 10 stitches on his hand) wanted financial assistance with air ticket. And that’s when we came to know about their touching story.

From a coastal town hundreds of miles away from Muscat, both men came to Muscat many weeks ago, to avail the amnesty scheme. But it was tough days for them ahead. Having no luck with their "Outpass," they have been sleeping on the floor just outside the mosque in Ruwi..All they had was the dress that they were wearing on and a plastic carry bag which contained whatever documents were left with them.

They chose to suffer the hard life in Muscat, without a place to sleep, without much to eat, as they did not want to go back to the fishing town for fear that they might unavailable if they were out in the sea with no mobile signals when the embassy called again....and they didn’t want to lose their chance (amnesty) to fly home!

While we paid for jith’s ticket (Well, Jith called me this morning from India, as a happy man, and thanked a thousand times and I could feel the joy in his words – he was so different..2 days ago, he didn’t utter a word all during our meeting..nor was he excited ..there was no emotions on his face, but numbness), Mohamed said, as if consoling himself, that he had bought his ticket as soon as he arrived in Muscat, so he does not have to worry about that..all he was disturbed was that he did not have a place to sleep..and he is still waiting endlessly for his “Outpass”.

Wasn’t there a better way for these two brothers? Is this how the sons of cash-rich India should live in a foreign country dominated by their own countrymen? Is this what we, as the largest community here, should stand witness to?

Mohamed is still here, like many others, in the premises of the mosque, sleeping on the floor, in the open, like a beggar…

is someone listening?