"History, Thought again!"

She asked me, “Don’t you think you left your country on time? You are lucky than the people who are suffering in your country.”I smiled to her but did not answer because I don’t think she would have expected the answer I had in my head.

I don’t exactly remember where but once I read that “It is good to know about our history, but it is better not to repeat it.”

Few months ago, my country, Nepal, got a new face; new promises for a change and new leaders to lead. Before the revolution, my friends were frustrated to live in a country where their lives and future were at risk. Many people wished that their sons (not daughters) were in some foreign countries so they could move there. (Still the feelings have not gone) But how did I feel?

I know wishes to be with one’s family in the most insecure times is obvious. Being homesick when away from family is natural. But the time when maybe even my parents had wished they would have been in some other countries; I wished I had been in my own country. This was the answer in my head. It’s not just my patriotic feeling or that I wanted to be involved in the revolution. I wanted to be a part of my country’s history.

When the lady told me that I was fortunate than the people who were suffering in my country, I totally disagreed with her in my head. Instead, I thought I was unlucky to be separated from my history. I know physical presence doesn’t always matter. We can contribute in our country’s development from any part of the world. But for me I wanted to be with my countrymen, share the pain they were suffering and join hands with the people who were working to solve the problems.

In future, I wanted to tell people about the history and aware them not to repeat it. My presence in my country would have become my support. George Santayana has said that “those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” and I believe it’s true. I don’t want to see the blood of my brothers and sisters again, and I believe nobody would want to.

By telling all this, I did not mean that I regret to be in a foreign land. I am here for a good cause; to build my career, to be empowered and go back to my country and develop it. What made me uncomfortable were the thoughts of people who wanted to escape when our country was facing the most important days in the history. I wonder would moving to other place comfort them.