For many
years I have worked on a cruise ship, I used to share the room with just one person;
we got a bathroom, a bunk bed, a TV, a chair with a desk, 2 lockers and nothing
else; but I learnt to appreciate my roommates when I got one who used to make
the cohabitation not so pleasant, he was from India and he was thinking just
about himself, different from another Muslim from Indonesia who was my roommate
as well; this Indonesian guy was great, we used to share great moments talking
about life, soccer, sharing drinks and snacks, if one of us was missing
anything like toothpaste, detergent, etc the other one offer his back stock
right away knowing that the one who received it will give it back as soon as
possible, if not was not a problem because we used to be very good friends like
a family; both roommates were Muslims but clothes doesn’t make the man, isn’t
it.
Now I will
give a couple of examples to make you feel my point:
·
Indian
roommate: his “friends” didn’t use to invite him to parties, he used to like to
drink on his bed (Bottom bunk) alone, once, I got into the cabin and he was drunk,
just to make a conversation I greeted him, he answered lively and then we
started the conversation, of course during the whole talk he didn’t offer me a
bit of his whisky, he was very happy for his recent built house, he showed me a
picture of it, then I asked him if he was married, he answered negatively,
alleging that women in his country are gold diggers; so I asked about his
parents, then he told me that his father was a grouchy old man and his mom was
very nosy , so I asked him whom do you live in that big house with?, he
answered by myself, and then I reply but that house is huge, is just for you? I told him that so big house for just a person
is like buying a big refrigerator for just a piece of meat; he just replied me
laughing at me saying that the tranquility doesn’t have a price is better to
live by yourself and I don’t need nobody else. For me hear that was sad,
because the tranquility is in you, you don’t have to be alone to feel it,
definitely he didn’t know nothing about
share, charity, give without expecting something back, all those things which
make us feel spiritually rich.
·
Indonesian
roommate: He was different, he wasn’t the craziest one, and a saint either; but
once we talk about this man from India, he was Muslim as him, and he told me
something that I remember until now; one house is expensive to build it and it
has a price, but a home doesn’t cost anything to build and is priceless, in a
few words, business logic “build a home is better business”.
After 10 years working on a cruise ship, I
learnt how important a home can be, and home is not form just by a couple and
kids, a home is form by people who love and care each other, people who know
what share means; people who can warm those cold walls of a house, but human
warmth, people who can decorate it with smiles and happiness, people who can
illuminate it with moral principles as they practice in it and if is necessary
to spend all your efforts to maintain it
solid, you should do so, no matter the price you pay for it; just to finish I
don’t think the man I was talking about, can’t afford to buy a home as he
bought his house, because the wallet for it is not in the pocket is in the
heart, and it has to be full, I hope someday he can afford it.
See you next time bloggers….