It was my favourite night of the week- Ladies night!
My friends and I flocked to a club at
Dubai Mall to get our share of free drinks. By midnight I had had one too many
drinks for the night. As I staggered out of the ladies room, I lost balance and
stumbled. Suddenly a young man appeared from nowhere and held my arm to keep me
steady. Even in the dim light of the club, I could make out that he was a ‘desi’
(the term that Indians use for each other overseas). Dubai definitely has its
fair share of desi population, and the number is surprisingly large.
As our groups of friends mingled and got talking, I
took a moment to put things in perspective. I had been in Dubai for over 4
months, my longest stay out of India ever. Yet the most carefree and candid
conversations I had ever had were with ‘desis’ overseas. When we are outside
India, we are more accepting of people and their fallacies. But when we are in
India, we become judgemental and look at people as Marathis, Assamese, Biharis,
Hindu, Muslim and so on and so forth. We are even ready to kill each other over
such differences.
The word
‘desi’ is endearing for it breaks our regional boundaries and gives us one
unifying identity. I feel that we are much more of a desi when outside India
than when in it. In all my life I had never celebrated Independence Day with as
much energy and ardour as I did this year! There is a beautiful bond between
all Indian families here, oblivious to any differences. Its so beautiful that
it makes me wish for the hundredth time that this was happening in India and
not in a foreign land.
Maybe the unifying force we need is that of a
neutral government, one that will keep the various entities in check. My friends and I miss India a lot. But then we
wonder what would we go back to – communal riots, sexual assaults on women, scams
and forgery? Is it worth it? Every ‘desi’ abroad mulls over this question.
Almost on cue, the DJ played a Punjabi number (yes
in Dubai too!). And all the ‘desis’ in the house were on their feet in no time,
just like that.
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