THE OBSERVER - His Eye is on the Sparrow - an excerpt
PAGE 91 -92
Thomas married me in Bangalore and brought me, as his wife, to this small town in northern Ontario. The town is named after its largest body of water, Elliot Lake, and the pretty, primarily small homes of the residents are built on streets which seem to wind and circle all around this lake. I am used to Bangalore; an ancient city with very old buildings and homes. Here in this place everything is new.
Thomas tells me this city did not exist before 1955; that because of the discovery of uranium, mines were established and people from across the country and even from other countries came to Elliot Lake to work in the mines just as he did. I am a friendless foreigner.
It is a very long journey from Bangalore to Elliot Lake. On our arrival Thomas takes me to his apartment building on Hillside Drive. I learn later that, by Canadian standards, this apartment is a very average two-bedroom home with a small kitchen, a bathroom, and clothes closets in each of the bedrooms.
To me, a woman who has been living in one roach-ridden, small room in a run-down tenement rooming house in a bustling city with a population of millions, this apartment is luxurious. The small town with a population of less than 30,000 people is a quiet oasis surrounded by forest on all sides. It is a pretty place, filled with natural beauty, but I do not feel at home.
There is no large marketplace in Elliot Lake. There is nothing like the one where I had worked selling saris in Bangalore, but there is a small indoor shopping mall plus more small shops in the area. Compared to Bangalore, there are a very few shops but there are sufficient stores to provide for our needs.
I arrive in Elliot Lake in the summer. Dressed in my blue sari, chappals, and with a disfiguring scar on my dark-complexioned right cheek, I am someone who attracts attention; unwanted attention. I don't like it. I don't like people looking at me. I feel self-conscious and shy. I can feel the stares of these Canadians and they feel like sharp knives through my heart. I wonder if I will ever make a friend. .................
THE OBSERVER - His Eye is on the Sparrow is available on all Amazon sites in both kindle and paperback formats. You will find it in my author's page at https://amazon.com/author/audreyaustin
No comments:
Post a Comment