A letter to Belal

7 min read

It was the year 1998 I wrote this letter to my brother in UK after reaching USA. My mother, dad & younger brother went to the departure lounge at Dhaka airport the day I left for USA in Feb '98 at 9 P.M. My dad paid the airfare 70 thousand BDi taka it was so pricey! My luggage & boarding pass for the big white suitcase stuffed with my clothes bought recently & the blue suitcase, the ticket, passport & some foreign currency in my big hand bag, cleared my embarkation fee & travel tax from the airport desk before I boarded in. I saw my family with heavy hearts, waving at me in the departure lounge My journey was for 2 days . My flight scheduled from Dhaka ................. to Delhi (India)........ to Dubai (united Arab Emirates)..........to London (UK) ................... to Washington DC (USA) ....... finally to Miami, Florida (USA) by British airways. I was going to reach Miami next day at 5 P.M. (local Miami time). I was hoping to see my brother in London airport before I left. For him I bought a beautiful mug, a monogram of Scorpio on it's side & some gifts from my mother..

I was looking for the passenger seat which I had on the sticker in the ticket. I was thinking probably I am going into the longest air journey for a long time. Inside the plane with some help from the English air hostess, I was seated comfortably. The air hostesses & the air crews were finely dressed, very smart, each having their own badge, moving to & fro in the isle. Most of the passenger that day were European coming from far east countries.

Soon by the courtesy of British airways dinner (meat, vegi or fish) was served. I chose vegetables to satisfy my appetite. They also served us fruit juice /coffee/ tea & chocolates. As it was my first traveling experience alone outside BD, I was pretty much excited. After one hour of air journey we reached Delhi; held there for half an hour or so but we did not get down. Indian passengers with kids & family- all Hindi speaking, some sheikhs with turban on their head boarded in crowding the plane. I could feel the Delhi's heat even seated inside the plane. Soon all seats were occupied by then. I had no option but to put the headphone & started listening music. But my mind was travelling back home, picturing my family what they were doing when I'm gone. I was wide awake all the time. The passengers started preparing to sleep dimming the light. The air hostess gave pillows those who needed but I was fine without it.

The plane stopped at Dubai for fueling after few hours. This time passengers got down from the plane one by one. The air bus took us to Dubai airport lounge, I could feel the temperature in Dubai warmer then Dhaka probably more than 90 degree F. I saw Bengalese ( labor class) as well as Pakis & Indians sweeping the floor, ignoring me . Most of the women passengers seated next to me were waiting for their flight wore hijab. I asked the airport stuff about their currency, it was 1 Real = 7 taka (BD). After 2 hours waiting in the lounge, we were instructed to get into the plane. The time difference between Dubai & Dhaka is 4 hours.

This time it took 14 long hours to cross the Europe to reach the other end - London. My body was aching with pain. I could not sleep. But air hostess were serving juices coffee , tea all the time. Sometimes it's hard to breathe when the air gets stuffy , I opened the small outlet for cool air. The city London looked beautiful from the sky at night , street lights lit like twinkling stars from above.

I could see the sunrise in the London blue sky from the wing side window, magnificent view. Finally our plane landed at 5:30 A.M. in the morning at Heathrow airport. Lined up like all other passengers only with courtesy smile got out from the plane, went through a tunnel. The ground stuffs were helpful showing me my way in. Behind the counter, the airport officer checked my passport & visa, let me go through the transit lounge, where I saw a huge market place inside the airport. It was amazing to see in different shop stuffed with products made in UK. Some anxious passengers moving in fast pace to catch their flight, some of them were strolling like me, watching the merchandise. Time difference between Dhaka & London is 6 hours. The English currency was 1 pound(UK) =70 tk(Bd).

I moved along, window shopping in the airport lounge. Another 10 long hours as a transit passenger at Hitherow airport London. I saw mostly European passengers wearing long coat , gloves, ladies wearing high heel, long boots with colorful scarfs around their neck, all waiting for their flight, tired passengers seated or lying down, some kids playing .

Restaurants were buzzing with young couples. Some of them were Asian Pakis, Indians, few Bangladeshis (speaking Bangla) wearing saree or salwar kameez some going back to their country. Some African black, Arabs wearing their traditional dress seated in the lounge. I never saw a huge combination of different race together in one big airport as if a united nation assembly was going on that day. The temperature must be below freezing point outside even in the month of Feb. As we were inside the airport building couldn't feel the cold as it was air conditioned centrally .

I came to know later that airport had some restrictions for the visitors to get inside for security reason. Exchange rate 1 US = 2 UK currency (almost double) , bought some souvenir- a beautiful red tie. Little that I had, the foreign currency gone with the wind. I called one of my untie from the payphone, who was stationed in UK from BD government. Had a long chat with her. I also called another untie from my father side who was very happy to hear my voice & that I am going to USA. Then I received a call from the front desk, some airport employee announced my name to pick up the phone from the front desk so that I could talk to my brother. Unfortunately it was only for a short while. I couldn't hand over the items I bought for my big bro which I left that with the airport officer.

Now, I came to a different lounge, grim faced American passengers, waiting in those airport chairs . Some Caribbean, black, European passenger going to Florida for vacation, some going home. some of them were students waiting for their flight to Miami Florida - the sunshine state. I stood in a big queue waiting for my tern. I was boarded into another British airways plane, after checking my passport & visa. As I was going into the plane, the airport stuff said, - your Brother ( who was a British citizen) said goodbye to you.

The next 10 hours was long & boring one. We were crossing the Atlantic ocean, also the international date line heading towards the south; the air inside the plane was getting warmer as if we were getting closer to the sun. I was seated next to an Iris couple who were also going to Miami, some conversation that I had with them I learned they were going to the Beach for holidays. The airline offered us meal as before. This time mostly I was sleeping & listening music with head piece on.

We had a brief stop over to Dulles airport Washington DC. I came out of the plane for 1 hr short break. I was looking desperately for the shuttle to the baggage claim area to identify my suitcases. Again we were in the same plane for Miami. This time, I was seated next to a 6 feet tall big black guy, probably a soccer player. There was not much to talk.

Our plane landed in Miami airport at 5:20 P.M. ( local time) Feb 1998. There was a brief security checking in Miami airport. I was given permission to reside in Miami from the airport. I got my luggage out of the airport in a cart. The weather was warm but breezy for the ocean very near. The famous Miami city looked spectacular in the evening. The highways were amazingly big by the cars, local bus, taxis, limos, huge trailer truck , which I saw only on movies running at great speed. Spanish people playing loud music when driving is a common thing in Miami.

Small coconut kind of trees planted on either side of the road. Street lights were lit in endless rows. I spent 2 years in the picturesque city of Miami in a small apartment until I moved out from Florida. The time difference between Miami & Dhaka is 10 hours. When I called my family from Miami at 6 P.M. , it was next day 4 P.M. in Dhaka. Later I applied for green card & Miami ID from the state Florida I got my driving license from Florida. This is how my life began in USA.

British Airways took me from Dhaka to Miami- the entire journey in 2 days -for a air travel that long, I would prefer to take a laptop or a book, another pair of travel suit, some pain killer, a pair of comfortable shoes in a small carrier & I would spend a pound for taking a shower in London airport

Rewritten for FB , using the airline language. Photos from internet.