Pic courtesy : Google.

Xavier had just reached home from work. Exhausted he just landed on the sofa in the living room. He had just been transferred recently to a new township by his company. He had lobbied hard against the transfer as he didn’t like the vibe of the new area. But nothing seemed to work. He had a son aged five and a daughter aged two.

He was averse to any kind of different culture or ethnicity. He didn’t hate the difference but he was just scared of the change and never wanted any alterations in his way of life. Xena, his wife on the other hand was very dynamic and inquisitive to new people, new culture and new faith. This issue used to bring a lot of upheavals in their relationship many a times. However it didn’t matter much as, Xavier had always been able to stay put in a place where his neighbours were always of his same belief. But this time was different. It was a complete different set up and thinking about staying in such a place gave xavier many restless nights. But he was helpless. On the other hand, his wife was quite happy to get to meet new people. She had already started befriending her next door neighbours. They belonged to a different culture. Inspite of Xavier restricting his wife, nothing changed. She continued to mingle with everyone. She loved different aspects of life and wanted to see life through different prisms.

Just while relaxing in the sofa that day, Xavier called out for his wife and kids but there was no answer. He checked his phone to find that there were around 12 missed calls. He called back but Xena did not answer his calls. He had silenced in his meeting and thus was unaware of what had happened.

He got worried and after many hours of search was clueless. He anticipated that it was only because Xena’s over friendliness with the neibourhood that such thing has happened. He went to the police station to report the case only to discover his family there. The moment Xena saw her husband, she came running and hugged him saying that today she might have lost their only daughter. Xavier came to know what had happened during that fateful day. While he was busy in the meeting, some kidnappers had tried to capture their only daughter while she was playing alone in the garden. Xena was busy in the kitchen and by mistake had not been able to check on their daughter. It was their neighbour who discovered the kidnappers trying to flee with the little girl. He had not bothered about his life. He pounced upon the kidnappers inspite of being shot in the arm. He yelled for help and that’s when people of the township with the help of collective effort were able to capture the kidnappers and had informed the police. Inspite of many calls that Xena had made to inform Xavier, she failed in her attempts. Xavier was in shock. He was not able to digest that people whom he never wanted to come close to had indebted him for his life by saving their little doll. He held his neighbours hands in his and tears rolled down his cheeks and he apologised for his attitude towards them.

That day he understood that his xenophobia was baseless and he understood that the Entire human race is God’s creation. We might have different colour, race, ethnicity, beliefs, language but we are all one. He eventually became one of the most amiable personality with time and loved visiting foreign lands with his family trying to explore different cultures and life styles. The only person who was the happiest with this change was of course Xena!

Sometimes our prejudices act as veils and we fail to see the beauty of life!