Naila Ahmed

Professor Amir Hassan

English 101

October 10, 2021

Seeing The Taj Mahal

Couldn’t be more surprised seeing Toma the second time in the corridor! She just had

chai with me two hours back with her boyfriend and went back! Never happened like this

before! I know we miss each other a lot, as we got split out in different colleges after high

school. We still live in the same city we were born. I was so devasted with my broken dream to

go to an international study trip with the class! Why? This time not because that I’m eagerly

waiting for a silly permission which was waiting to be granted by grandma. But now it’s another

big, huge problem. The problem that shutdowns every big or medium sized dream of a middle

class family living student like me; happens all over the world. Money! Yes! This time I didn’t

have the money to pay the fees for the trip. I’m so sad that I couldn’t even enjoy my favorite

spicy samosa with chai this time! And now why she came back again?

I’m just sad, super sad for last whole month. Super stressed out with the worry from

where I can get the money! I’m just a twenty-one years old girl who doesn’t have a loving and

caring dad, who would have solved any of my problems even before I would ask him. I wish I

was born in a western country so that by the age of eighteen, I would have lot of my own
money. As I always see in movies! They are so independent with their chosen life style or

earning their own money, what was the word again? Self-sufficient! Hmm, why I’m not self

sufficient enough to pay my study tour fees? Why? Usually, girls don’t go out to earn in our

family, until they complete a college degree. I’m so sad! Depressed! Why don’t I even have a big

brother who will be happy and appreciate for my achievements as I’m the first student among

my cousins to go to Dhaka University (commonly known in Bangladesh as the Oxford of the

East)! My brother had good income to give me or at least as a loan. I tried to convince him by

explaining why it’s important for me to go.

I tried to explain as he never been in a state university. After my dad died, he became

my unwanted (he was just one year older than me!) guardian, traditionally the big brothers

become the kind-of-guardian for all the junior siblings, even for the moms too. The college he

been in was a technical one, he had a civil engineer diploma, was making people’s building

while building his bank balance. And he was always against me going to study in a big

university, where I was studying. He simply wanted me to join his real estate business where he

wanted me to work as an interior designer (I was naturally gifted with Art; I had some

experience on that field in a smaller range). I didn’t to want to join him without finishing my

four-year degree, so he was always mad at me, anything related to university. My poor mother

who was a house wife, didn’t have the amount I needed at the moment. So, mom and me tried

to explain him, my brother without this trip - my course requirement would not be fulfilled. It

was a requirement for the course and was worth of 25% credit to go visit the archeological

places, those were in our syllabus. And have to submit an essay on the trip. Wasn’t this a big

enough reason for him to help me with money?

 I knew he could easily give me, even if he didn’t have it, he could have managed from

somewhere else. Unfortunately, he didn’t. So, my next mission was to seeking help from my

maternal uncles. In our culture mom’s brothers are the savior for a married sister, especially if

she is a widow. There is a saying in Bangladesh – “Maternal uncle’s home is a bucket full of

honey”. By the way pure honey is very costly over there. So, you can assume how much love

hold in a bucket of honey (don’t get mixed up with Honey Buckets of USA please!). My mom

was another super shy lady, will never ask for any help from her brothers. Especially financial

help. I literally started crying to make her request my uncle. This uncle was one of my favorite

persons on earth. So soft hearted, so loving, so caring and so religious too. We all used to just

love him. He was very soft-spoken person. I knew he would never send me back empty handed.

He was only hope for me in that situation. Yet my mom was not ready to ask him. On top of

that she started questioning me – what if a student doesn’t have money? What is the

academical process if a student is very poor? Look how bad was my life then! When I’m thinking

mom can save me, now she’s bargaining with me on this! Now I’m frustrated that no one

understand my problem on earth! May be there was some other way for poor student’s

funding but I never heard about that! Our teachers never told us where to go if you don’t have

the money. I never thought of that part! How can one even imagine getting money from other

than family, where taking loan consider as a worst-case scenario, that was commonly used by

adults for housing, car purchasing or for buying land. Of course, I never heard of student loans

in my life then! I only knew people sale their properties or lands to give the money to their

children for their higher study. That is still a very common practice over there.
 Anyway, now I’ve to start the strategy again how to present it to my uncle. I wanted

mom to call him right away after my bro’s refusal. But mom is like, “No! we’ve to prepare some

sweets and ‘Pitha’ (deshi style cake) for him, then we’ll go visit their place and will talk about it

in detail.” Woe to me! That’s another week of worrisome sleepless nights. We were supposed

to go in the weekend. His house was a little far way, about forty-five minutes’ drive. Can anyone

imagine how my days and night were passing with fear of failing again? Cause I know my uncle

also have a family and he usually doesn’t have the ability to spend extra expenditure in almost

end of a month. I can assume he might have to go to the bank to get the money if he’s really

ready to give that much. But again, those days, nineties, didn’t have any card system to get

money from ATM booths (I’m not sure in which year they started in Bangladesh!). Means even

if he agrees we’ve to wait for the next working days of the week. Not fun! Then inside me a fear

of my aunt, what if she prohibits my uncle to give the money! Think think think again! How to

convince her? Another battle started inside me. Trying to accumulate my words for the aunt.

Now I’m getting ready to talk about my syllabus, how many of my friends have already paid the

fees, how excited I was these last few years as this was a dream trip for me and blah blah blah. I

was already feeling so heartbroken that thinking of the request scenario was bringing tears in

my eyes! And my demanding selfish mind started laughing at me – as I find myself planning to

cry! Which I could never appreciate. I always used to think I’m a strong girl and will never cry in

front of anyone! The only point was giving me hope that luckily, she was from India and we’re

supposed to go to India to see the archeologically famous monuments! During the study time

we used to watch all the beautiful colored pictures in our huge hard covered books and used to

dream to visit those countries where those historically famous buildings existed. And visiting Taj
Mahal was in the top of our list. Everyone understands how lucrative is the deal to visit so many

important places in only one country without even going to a honeymoon trip! When my turn

comes, I can get a chance to go to some other country such as Paris, to see the Eiffel tower or

to visit my dad’s sister in the famous New York city! Dream country of freedom!

After all this going on my mind for last whole week, I was super stressed as today was

the day me and my mom planned to go to Mama’r Bari (Uncle’s home) after my college

finishes. My mom would be busy preparing those special dishes for her brother. I couldn’t keep

my mind engaged in any class! Couldn’t hear anything my professor was saying in hours long

lecture. I was just eagerly passing time until all the classes are over and I could go home. I was

in lunch break when first time Toma came. Usually, we always chat on phone at least three or

four times a week. But last week I didn’t get any of my friend’s calls as the battle was going on. I

didn’t want to share my financial issue with my friends. Not having money means I’m poor, and

being poor is an unbearable shame! So, Toma came to check with me – if I’m okay or what?

There was no way to avoid her as she was one of my best friends. We had chai and samosas in

our cafeteria sitting together where I had to tell her the truth. I was feeling so embarrassed in

front of Roman, her two-in-one, boyfriend and first cousin. Roman was just four years elder

than us and was finishing his masters in management. Toma couldn’t say much or give me any

suggestion but I felt happy to share with her. Roman was sitting quietly as always. He is always

a gentle man material. Anyway, they left just two hours back and now I was getting ready to

leave campus for home to go to my uncle’s with mom. And here she is again! I don’t have time

to talk with her. I assumed she must have forgotten something and came back to pick that up,

we girls were very careless sometime in our student life, about pens, books in hand would have
forgotten on a table or wherever we sit for a while. I asked her as I’m rushing towards the

stairs, “Hey! What did you forget? I didn’t see any of your stuff here, I was here since you left!”

She came forward, stood very close to me, right in front of me, very quietly. Don’t know why

she almost started crying and then put her arms around me. It was a silent long hug. My heart

started trembling for an unknown fear. Couldn’t ask her anything but just holding her tightly.

We were standing on the corridor of our department, that was on 3 rd floor. I could see Roman

standing down there on the grass, looking at us with his glowing smile all over his face! I’m so

confused! I asked impatiently “Toma! Will you please tell me what happened?”

She just put her hand in my bag without saying any word with tears in her eyes. I was so

surprised as it never happened before that someone would reach in my bag without asking!

Even if she’s my best friend! She gave me a light kiss on my cheek, smiled and said, “Go home

and wrap up”. I couldn’t understand for few seconds, then my eyes went back to Roman again.

Minutes back I was thinking he might have done something wrong with Toma as she was crying.

Now he’s just standing there looking for a rickshaw to leave. Toma almost ran away from me

towards the stairs, saying “I’ve to leave Leena, Roman is waiting for me down there”. “But what

did you put in my bag or was you looking for anything that I don’t know?” Without replying she

just ran down. I open my bag and found the crumpled-up cash she shoved in my bag! Now this

was my turn of crying alone on that lonely corridor from where my best friend just left. Couldn’t

stop crying for another few more minutes until the clerk came out of the department office.

Asking me, “Naila when are you paying for the trip? Everyone has paid their fees today but you.

Do you want to talk to a teacher”? Few minutes back I was preparing myself to ask him for two

more days for the payment. God send me Toma that day to save me from humiliation of not
having enough money, and specially when it become open in front of the whole department! I

wish we all have at least one friend like Toma, that you don’t have to prepare any rhetoric to

get something from them. I’m glad that I didn’t have to go to anybody else and say things those

I didn’t want to.

That day, my best friend Toma saved my day. Oops! Or should I tell you the truth it was

Roman, our secret angel. Do you want to know the cost of the trip? It was only $76.03, 6,500

Bangladeshi taka(money), and it was in the year of 1996. Finally, I could pay off my fees for the

trip and go with my group to see our dream historical places in India. But did I really visit the

famous Taj Mahal? That’s a story for another time.

*** This isn’t finished yet. And I know there’s lot of grammatical mistakes here for which I don’t

have time to correct them.