Desi Bhai ( Brother from my Country)....!!!

Desi bhai (BanglaDESI Brother). I looked back over my shoulders hearing that in bengali. It was a bangla speaking, mid 40 guy with a shabby looks.

I was in Changi Airport to receive my lecturer.
"Do you have some loose coins, I need to call my agent here"
I did not have loose coins, so I let him use my cell. He took out some half torned paper where he has the number and started calling. I went a bit further to allow privacy.

"Ki boltase bujhtasi na. Apni dahen akbar(Dont know what is he saying.You please try once)" - he said with desparation.Somebody rightly said that in anger, love or emotion people starts talking their own language or in proper tone. I could clearly felt that this guy is from Shillete of Bangladesh (A state of Bangladesh)

I tried to call the number and heard that somebody is talking in chineese on other side.Clearly some wrong number.
-"You might have noted some wrong number".I told the guy.

-"Aita kothai hobe, ektu bolte paren ( Can you tell, where will be the place)"?. He again took out some oily paper with an address nearby to Kranji. Might be some dormitory.

I felt annoyed.What a pain? Anybody can recognise me as a Bengali from my looks..!! I cursed my looks.
I can see that my lecturer is also coming. I directed him towards the taxi que and asked him to show the paper to the driver.

Me and my lecturer was about board the cab.Suddenly the fellow come from backside."Brother, you gave me your cell to use".He is holding a 10 SGD note in his hand.
-"No, no its okay. And after all the calls do not cost 10 $ at all.Keep it"

Now my lecturer suddenly became enthuastic hearing somebody from his place and talking in his mother-tounge....!! I hold my head. I know when two first comers meet in a foreign place what happens.

Well,their long discussions ended after a gracious lunch offered my lecturer. I knew that the bengali guy has got a lucrative offer to work as a plumber with basic salary as 700 SGD with extra overtime...!! He is very excited that he can do so much overtime and send quite a lot of money back to his home where he left his wife and two kids.

I almost forgot that incident until I felt the need to adjust the height of my ceiling fan. I called the electrician.I became amazed seeing my friend once again.
-"Bhaijan chinte paren? Kemon asen?( Brother, can you remember me? How are you?"

-"yes, of course. What a surprise!! You as a electrician!! As I remember you came as a plumber,right?"

-"Yes, nowdays not so much work of plumber.I saved some money and that finished in that bad time. And I changed agent once again and this time made my job as a electrician. In this atleast I will have some work from time to time."

"Why dont you go back?" - I asked when I knew that whenever he changes a agent he need to pay around 2000 $. "After all in this way you can not save money. And Singapore job market is not good. And dont mind, dont you think that you can not earn 700 $ in your country?"

Many foreign workers come here with the dream that they can earn a lot. And for that they sell their lands, mortgage their house to collect money for the agent. And they understand the reality just after reaching here. They wish so much to go back but they can not accept the fact that they will go back with empty hand whereas they have their house morgaged, their land also gone.They continue more time in dormitory which is over-packed by some more dreamers.They got work sometime and sometime just do any odd works like packing-unpacking goods in supermarket. People hate them, nobody wants to sit beside them in MRT or buses. Ladies avoid them as they used to glare them.

The other weekend I was helping my Malay friend to shift his house and oh my....The same bengali guy is here with a gang. He saw me and friends.
-"Apanar malay dost o ase naki?(you have malay friends too?)"- He asked jokingly while moving the refrigerator inside the kitchen.I knew from him that now he is doing this 'movers-job' as a part-time hiring the truck from his boss.

-"Do you have driving licence to drive?"- I asked.
-" Apni ki bhaben je apnar sudhu malay dost ase?( Don you think you only have malay friends"). He replied with loud bang on his chinese friend back - "Lim is our driver". Poor Lim did not understand why he got such a bang. BUt I understood that my friend is quite popular among his friends.

He will never take the mover's charge when he knew that the guy is my friend. "You gave me a lot of extra when I went to repair your ceiling fan. And yours friend is my friend too"- He insistingly said. I signalled my friend that no benifit of forcing to give them money. So we offered then a good dinner donwstairs.

It is really strange that a person can laugh so heartily without any tension when he is earning from hand-to-mouth. It is stranger to show such a gratefulness to some stranger who is incidentally his friend's friend. And who is his friend?- Who helped him by lettling him call two time to some local number!!

I did not see that guy after that.
Neither I saw him in the crouds in front of Mustafa(24 hours popular store in Singapore) who are buying some mobile burgain and getting one free goodie bag nor in the small mini-vans carrying the exacly same tired looking workers who are dozzing in slumber to their dormitory.

Nowdays if I saw that some "Desi Bhai" sitting alone in a jampacked bus,I accompany him. After all I can not change my looks and in emotion I also speak up in bengali. Let others think whatever they want.