Life as I know it was never the same when I came to this paradise. I had been shifting my whole life. Since birth, I had shifted from my native city to the capital of my country. There I grew up slowly. Within the capital itself I had been shifting often, never to settle in one place. I made many friends and had tons of fun. But life was not stable. From there I moved to Vietnam, lived life till my age of 7, and changed again to the Gulf. Thought I would be happy there but even in midst of my life in Gulf, I had a trip to Europe for a long time. After coming back to the Gulf I shifted to Nigeria. I learnt languages of each country I had been to, thinking I would live there for a really long time. But before I knew it, I came to this wonderful land, which is like a paradise to me, right now.
I still remember, the first day of my arrival, my dad took me in his car to our so called apartment. On my way to my residence, I saw the concrete masses and was amazed by their beauty. Each building was one of a kind, and each of them had its own unique symbol. Of course they had a meaning, but I had no clue about any of it back then. There were so many cars I had seen that day, which I had hardly seen before. And I was amazed by the traffic system. In between we halted in a mall, and as far as I remember, that was the first huge mall I had been to in my life. You see, I didn’t reside in the developed parts of Vietnam, and of Nigeria. Gulf region that is in Saudi Arabia I never left my house. My parents would always do the shopping. The mall they would go to contained only a Giant of one floor stretch, which was within a limited space. The huge mall I entered was like a maze, with so many rows and countless number of shops. For me it was awesome, but for them it was the same old life of congestion. After that experience we went to our new shelter, an apartment on the 17th floor.
Standing down at the reception, I looked up to try to see the top of the building, but I was far too small to reach the 20th floor when it had 33 floors in total. As I enter my house, I saw on the left a sandy sofa, so soft I could almost get lost in it. It was a set for 5 to sit with three on one and two separately, as you know the general style of sofa. The sandy sofa was completed by a big 32 inch Panasonic television, with all my favorite shows filled in it. The area was compact, but it was cozy. The walls were white was snow and at the end of it was a glass door, so transparent, it looked like few layers of air stationary at the point. This glass sliding door gave way to the crazy balcony. I first ran to the balcony to check it out. And as I looked down, I felt like I was on top, and the world beneath me. From the main door of the house, five steps to the right was the kitchen, full of cupboards and a tall fridge. I could almost live in it. The kitchen had the pathway to the servant quarters on the left, but I was too excited to see my room that i never saw the quarters till the end of the day. Back to the main living room, I saw a long thin corridor stretching to end in a huge bedroom. On the middle of this corridor was a tall woody brown door on the left. This door opened its gates for the first time for its king to enter. This thought came in my mind as I entered my room.
My room was rather small in size, but it was kingly enough for a small boy of 11. It had a tall dark cupboard on the right, and a snowy white wall on the left, and right, but that’s not the point. The room contained two large single beds combined as one just for me to sleep in it. And I was so happy; my parents gave me this room. The room even had a computer table where I could place my laptop with all my CDs and DVDs. And the room had a large window that was wider than my height back then and was as tall as me. As I was checking my house I flashbacked of all the houses I lived in, I always got the biggest room. And in this house I was given the smaller room, on a promise that by the next year it would be jointed with its consecutive room and it would become as big as two rooms, in one. I was so delighted by the thought, I forgot to check the rest of the house when I heard we had to leave to buy more groceries and take lunch somewhere out. So I freshened up and got ready to leave.
I was young back then and after moving so many times, I had almost forgotten what it is like to stay in one place and enjoy it completely rather than shifting so many times and not knowing the entire beauty of a place. I never knew this place would become my home for the next 6 years of my life, and the last 6 years of my life. By now, you would have known what place I am talking about if you know me, but if you don’t, then I would reveal it to you soon. This is not my native e country but I don’t know why, people here seem so close to me, as I would feel for my own countrymen.
That day, as soon we left house, I was awestruck by the endless road running along the apartment and a long procession filled up the entire path. It seemed as if he procession was celebrated just for my arrival in this utopia. Everything seemed so perfect and remarkably beautiful. There were so many colors and so many types of music; I had never imagined my past life till that one day. I don’t quite remember the procession because I was famished and very sleepy, but I do remember that there were at least twenty SUVs and more than twenty pickups all filled with people celebrating a very special occasion. As we made past the ceremony we ended up in KFC, the world famous fast food center. I still remember I ordered two sandwiches plus rice and two chicken pieces for myself. I wonder how I finished that all by myself, when I can hardly eat one sandwich nowadays. The juicy paddy was so crunchy in my mouth that even if it were poison, I would happily eat it up just for its amazing taste and smell.
After that lunch I was left back at home for my parents to go for shopping stuff I wasn’t interested in at all. As I reached my room, I passed out till dinner time. I believe a lot had happened within those 6 hours. Because when I got up, I saw the room smelt of the sweet wine and as I headed for the dinner table, I saw plates were arranged as if it were a dinner with the president and at the center of the table was a large big pot covered by a lid with wonders inside. And beside it was a large pot of rice. As I sat by the table, my mom opened the gates to her excellent art. She cooked the best chicken curry in the world. I always loved my mom’s food, but that night there was something special. And I loved it so much, my stomach had almost burst. Right then I watched TV and went back to bed.
That night I thought for hours, as for whether this was my final destination or whether this one of more of those houses that I would live in for few days and move again. But one thing was sure, whatever it was; it was the best experience I ever had. I still reside in the same city, different apartment though. But I can never forget the first day in here. And for those of you who do not know, where “here” is, it is a capital of the country with most number of islands in the world. It the famous city of Indonesia, Jakarta.
This was my first day in here, and was the best thing that ever happened to me till now. Actually it is the second best thing. The best thing which happened to me is something that I would share in days to come. Jakarta changed my life, and i love the change it brought in me.
No comments:
Post a Comment