America (Destination)
By:Jiban Debbarma, Category: General, Posted on:2010-09-18 11:23:43
 America is well known in every corner of the world. Every race of people speaks of America as if they have captured the universe. People may not even know the capital of their own country, but they can pronounce the name America. Throughout the world, America is known for its advances in modern technology and the latest developments in the sciences. It is associated with every kind of invention, as well as the discovery of the moon. Since the creation of man, people have believed the moon to be something extra ordinary. Many tribes believe in the sun and the moon and worship them till today.
I still remember that when I was a child, we believed the moon was to give light to the human race and the whole world at night. In the tribal areas, because there were no street lights, they totally depended on the moon to travel at night from one village to another. We used to believe that there was a gigantic banyan tree and a big frog sitting on the moon. Often we would wonder if that frog ever moved. We believed him to be like God, until we learned otherwise in our fourth grade science class.
My grandma used to tell us that America is below the earth, and that is why when it is daytime in India it is nighttime in America; and when it is nighttime in India it is daytime in America. Although it used to confuse me, I would always repeat the same thing to my friends: America is opposite to us, below the earth. White people live there; and white people are associated with intelligence, science and great riches.
Recently, when one of my clients was studying the Aconqua tribes of Africa, he told me about their lifestyle, culture, and beliefs. It all sounded so familiar to me, as I too had grown up in a tribal society, with a very similar culture and system of beliefs. But later on, I was converted to Christianity.
As a child, I was sponsored by Christian missionaries for my education in a neighboring state. Prior to that, I was accustomed only to my local language. But in this new school, I began to learn English and to study in that medium. The school was a Catholic mission run by the Salesian missionaries of Don Bosco. There I was given the opportunity to develop my skills and talents in many different areas, such as music, singing, dancing, quizzes, etc., as well as in different fields of study, and in leadership qualities. Consequently, as I was exposed to different people in this new environment, my ambition in life grew to wanting to become a lawyer, a doctor, or a film director. At that time, I was totally ignorant about social work as a profession, although I wanted to help poor and needy people and do something for the society. I became engaged in social work for a long period of time but never had any idea of how to build my career into it until I went for my higher studies in social work (BSW and MSW) in the big city of Mumbai.
As I look back on my childhood days, I remember that I had two wishes in my life as a raw village boy. One was to travel in an airplane at least once in my lifetime, and the other was to see the city of Mumbai before my death, as we were fascinated and very much influenced by Bollywood movies. Mumbai is still well known for its film stars. We almost worship them, and even today lots of their photographs are hanging in tribal huts.
But today, with my feet standing on US soil, working as a Therapeutic support staff/behavioral specialist for the needy children of America, I feel proud and honored to see how far I have come, almost full circle from what I was before. This is a great achievement in life. It is called DESTINATION.
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