Loading ...Canada - My New Home
A mega city in a huge continent is this Toronto. When I came out of the airport, I was so surprised to think there is no poverty. This was all about the Canadian movie, the story from the immigrants and readings from novels to me. Then after crossing the hard questioning of immigration and visa officers, I finally arrived in this country flying over the serene oceans, thirteen rivers (my language). On the weekends, we went to Wild Water Kingdom, Sky Dome, CN Tower, one wonder of the Seven Wonders of the World, Niagara Falls. I was so fascinated standing by the falls. In the evening, the falls become dreamier, water is running from far away, it gathers and jumps down the valley continuously, it is amazing.
The good days pass quickly. One morning while my daughter was getting ready to go to work, she found her father unconscious. She called 911 right away. Within 5 minutes, a team of paramedics arrived like angels to save my husband’s life. In the hospital after a check up the doctor decided to do open heart surgery. My daughter and I eagerly kept waiting in the waiting room of St. Michael’s Hospital, and then the surgeon came out with the good news that the operation was successful. His sense came back but his life was over so, his kidneys stopped working and he went to sleep forever. He is lying down in Pickering today.
We go to visit his grave on weekends and came back with the tears. One day while we were coming back from there my granddaughter pointed to a new grave full of fresh flowers and told me “that’s the grave of Parisa,” a sweet girl of 15 years who was involved in a road accident while she was coming from school and lost her life. She is the only child of a Bengali family. The mother is not able to have any more children. There is pain over the pain. I forgot the pain of losing my husband I feel that is more miserable for them. When I get back home, I write an article about Parisa’s sudden death. I attend the ESL class where I get a chance to meet people from so many different cultural backgrounds. I listen to the war history from a Vietnamese classmate. Canada the country of humanity saved her life. I listen to the destruction of Sri Lanka and how they found a safe shelter in Canada. Somalians are suffering from their country, when they came here; they were saved from civil war.
I remember the freedom fight of Bangladesh in 1971. After that war, my free country is still going through political sufferings – democracy has been killed. Secularism is out of the constitution.
Still every year I try to visit my country. For the celebration of international language day, on February 21, a book fair goes on for the month of February. I attend this as a writer. After staying a few days back home I miss Canada again. I come back in spring, when nature wakes up from the winter snow. The bold trees start blooming with new leaves, the colour of flowers and the singing of birds.
Spring brings back the life to nature as well as to people. ESL class and the teacher make me feel important in this world. I miss my motherland each moment, but this great Canada gave me a new life. I lost myself in this beautiful country. I want to live with happiness and enjoy a nice environment.
I love Canada, my new home.