Dear India.....

Dear India,

I'm sorry it has been a while- 4 years to be exact. I miss you and the wonderful people who are lucky enough to call you home. I appreciate you every day. You gave me my identity, my culture and many of my loved ones here a dose of COVID vaccines in the UK. The irony that you are going through the pain and suffering that your scientists have worked so hard to stop the rest of the world doing the same fills me with sadness.

I understand that you are not perfect. The man who leads you does not care for your elderly, your fragile, your minorities. Yet that is not a reflection on you. Your people accept and provide sanctuary for Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, Sikhs and Atheists. Your finest President was a Muslim, your father was a Hindu and those that keep us safe are mainly Sikh. As Mumbai burned during the terrorist attacks in 2008, you provided safety to Baby Moshe- a little Jewish child who tragically lost both parents in that same evening.

Yet those of us who left look back in horror as you lose your people to this invisible virus. The foreign media shamelessly video them dying on the streets, with no access to oxygen. They cheer when you export vaccines, yet they abuse the exportation of your people.

How can we not feel any guilt? One minute we cheer your cricketers defying all the odds by beating Australia. Yet the next minute we cry, watching our elderly relatives trapped in their homes, afraid. Yet you still continue to defy the odds to defeat this virus.

Sometimes, I wish I never left. Sometimes I wish I hadn't chosen to see the rest of the world, and visit you one more time to see those I love in your country. I will be back. To see your mighty mountains in the North. Your gorgeous backwaters in the South. To hug the Grandparents that are experiencing crippling anxiety whilst I can have a burger and pint at the local. The same grandparents who care more about me eating properly, than their own health and situation. Until then, I wish to help you in whatever capacity I can, because that overriding guilt of not being there at your time of need is all I can think about right now.

Best,

Karan from London