Do you feel “Prabasi” in your own skin?

Prabasi -An emigrant is a person who has left their own country to live in another country.

A random phone call from a friend led to a tea invite and I added another friend to that invitation thinking they should meet. 

They both live in neighboring town and are very involved in local school system. The Tea invite with the first friend was in making for   so long but this time in a jiffy we picked a date like it was meant to be. I think universe for waiting for a trio meet.

3 of us met , a hot and humid day but Tea and conversation make it a breeze. we got settled and started with simple introduction. These two ladies were raised in different places than their parent’s home state.

The recent events were the opening of a whole new conversation. we talked about being immigrant, new beginning and how naive we were. The conversation turned into subtle racism and challenges we faced and witnessed. We could recount memories how unconscious biases always existed in the society. 

Before we knew the Tea turned into dinner and more. we talk for almost 6 hours. school, local and town politics, history, families, siblings, parents, grandparents, education, kids, husbands, friends, passion and work we ventured in so many topics but still felt we could talk more. the week night, a dog waiting at home, tired body everything kind of forced up to wrap up our conversation around 11 PM.

I drove back home thinking of meaning of “prabasi” How relatable this term is in every sense to all of us. You don’t have to go out of your country to feel “prabasi” sometime you feel very much at home in strangest place and sometime you don’t belong even in your family, home, friends. 

 Do you look back and wonder about the inbuilt injustice in our family, society and system? Do you talk about it loud? Do you feel the “prabasi” sometimes? what do you do to make you feel home? 

The dinner. It was supposed to be a chai meet :) 

We loved this fan, a very hot day and this fan was very fascinating. The house was cool due to central AC but both of us guests loved this Woozoo :)  in my shopping list. The host had a beautiful garden and we sat outside for a little bit.