He’s my condo security guard.
All smiles
Briefly: A lovely man who cannot understand why his protruding belly is growing so rapidly despite him walking up 18 flights of stairs at least twice a day.
Mr Rama spends RM200 a month (about 20% of his salary) on phone calls to his family in Nepal. I am quite sure this is far above the average as far as foreign workers are concerned. Why does he spend so much? He says his wife told him, ‘I don’t care if you don’t send me any money, but call me everyday!’
For a man who is sacrificing everything for his family’s well-being, to make such a request borders on unreasonable. But for Mrs.Rama, to know that her husband is well and their love is alive is infinitely more important than alnything else.
And I don’t think Mr Rama finds his wife unreasonable at all. Perhaps for them, nurturing their marriage is top priority, superseding the need to educate their children.
So many of my friends have all sorts of approaches for long-distance-relationships. There is a lot to learn from people who have healthy and successful LDR’s (term copyright Nat Tan).
Realistically, when Mr.Rama sees his family next year, I think his wife and him will strongly feel the 6 years of separation that have gone by. But you know, I don’t think it’ll be that bad.
There is more I want to say about him but as a virgin blogger, I don’t know how long is too long. Bare with me ya? :)
To summarize:
Mr.Rama has this curious habit of storing some form of tobacco between his front teeth and lower lip. He eats his meals at odd hours (breakfast at 1030 and lunch at 1530). After work, he showers, prays and then cooks dinner. He used to be Brahmin priest in Nepal but he does not conduct ceremonies in Malaysia because Nepali men will never marry locals in fear of them not being able to adapt when back in Nepal. He buys the English newspapers everyday despite not being able to understand much. In his schooling days, he used to top the class and be an ace at reading English. But he has forgotten everything since! He focussed too much on praying while in Nepal and neglected his English and cricket (he showed me some scars on his face because they could never afford the safety equipment).
I will miss him.
pls advise rama not to chew tobacco right away. It’s carcinogenic!!!