The Home in the Past.... (draft essay #3)

“Yes, we finally landed!” exclaimed someone on the airplane. I took a big sigh of relief, as I stood up after a fourteen hour flight. Walking outside the airport in India, I noticed a group of kids sleeping on the ground. My dad exclaims, “Don’t worry son, you are going to see a lot of that.” I could see some kids shivering from the cold, December night. Those young kids have no idea of what the world is outside their little area. As I place my jacket around one of the kids, another wakes up, and I saw the need in the little boy’s eyes. I hand him 100 rupees, but my sister yells, “Don’t do that. They all are going to follow you until you give them all something!” As I hurry up, I give the boy 100 rupees, and I ran back to my family. On our way to the car, a group of old men came and started grabbing our luggage bags. “Hey, welcome to India, long live your kids!” they yelled. “Let us carry your luggage for you.” My dad said, “No,” at first, but the group of young men kept on yelling, “Long live your kids, let us please carry your luggage.” I thought to myself, “Wow, is this India?” Overcome with sadness, my dad handed each men 50 rupees, and yelled, “Please leave us alone.”

All seven of us got in the car that only holds five people. “You guys ready?” asked the driver. I responded by saying, “Yes” in a discomfort voice. Once we left the airport, I saw little huts, with people living inside of them. “They all treat us like God,” exclaimed the driver, talking about the people living in the tiny huts. I was shocked to hear this. “Ok guys, we are approaching a red light,” said my dad. I wondered to myself why he was telling us that. Next thing I know I see kids banging on our window, trying to sell us stuff. My mom, who felt bad, bought a rose and gave them 100 rupees for tip. My uncle said, “Too bad all that money is going to get snatched by the kid’s boss.” I remembered when my dad always told me, “You guys are lucky to be in a country like America.” I then thought to myself, “Is this my background?” Next thing I knew I fell asleep.

All of a sudden I wake up, finding myself looking at a relatively beat up house. I asked, “Where am I?” My dad answers, “This is our house, and it is where I grew up.” I, being astonished, opened the door and looked around to see the house. My mom says, “Do you realize how lucky you are to have a house like you do in America?” I asked my uncle where that smell was coming from and he said it was the sewage. He explained to me their sewer system, it was a three inch wide gap on the side of all the homes that had all the wastes in it. I followed the gap and it led to some river. My uncle yelled, “Hey do you want to go see something?” I being excited, said, “Sure, I would love to!” We reached the river and I saw some very poor people taking a shower. I yelled at them saying, “The water isn’t clean and healthy, and it could be a hazard for your health.” They all looked at me and said, “This is the only water we have.” I said to myself, “Is this the ‘real’ life in India?”

Life is completely different. I used complain all the time about getting new clothes, yet in India, people didn’t even have a single shirt, and they never complained. I have always been dependent on my parents my whole life, and never would I imagine some sixteen year old kid, trying to make a living by himself. Here in America, we have the privilege to go to school, and learn about things. While in India, some people are called fortunate if they go to high school. Kids are forced to work, and don't have the opportunity to build their future. I have a hard time to picture a young boy being slaved to work, and still not have enough food for him. My trip to India showed me the real world outside of America, where people have to fight to get their daily bread. I am completely lucky to have an abundant life full of happiness and the necessities of life. It completely changed the way I think about life forever.

This trip made me want to make a change. I find it to be my duty to take care of my home country. I am planning to get my MBA, and open business schools in India for free. This will enable the poor to join, and I would provide three meals a day to each child. Hopefully, this will establish a little bit of a financial support for some families, and be able to provide them with food every night. This may not solve the entire problem, but it is my job to start a change and hopefully other people like me will step up. I can still remember the little boy who was shivering in the cold, having no idea of what a blanket is. Life is extremely harsh and tough especially in a third world country. Although things are getting better, there is still a long way to go to get rid of all the poverty.