By Laraib Waheed
I often ponder upon the courage required to pack up a bag and leave the place you call home.
Familiar scents and air for a place you wish you could call home.
My parents building a new life, with a bag in one hand and each other in the other,
With only hope to rely on.
An escape.
Towards what, is the question?
Unfathomable is the concept of working your whole life, reputable, reliable,
changed when all is unrecognisable in the western, white eye.
And having to work bottom up because they brought in the label Paki.
Unimaginable is the wisdom required to love and raise three kids in a world that’s not open to you.
Is it time to go back?
Was it time to listen to the ringing left in our ears every time the phrase
“Go back to your country!” was raised
from those ignorant people.
The same ignorant people who left our home countries in such a state the only option was to leave.
For good.
For the better of our children.
For the better of our children, my mum altered traditional flavourful foods to take to school so we weren’t called smelly.
For the better of our children, my mum stopped nourishing our beautiful hair so weren’t called freaks.
To only realise,
No matter how much prevention gets put in place
racism doesn’t pick and choose.
So,
Was it worth it?
About the Author: Laraib Waheed is a British-Pakistani 22-year old poet based in London. In their words: “Having grown up in London I have experienced a lot of diversity whilst also facing a lot of racism and through my poetry I like to express the untold experiences of modern day struggles, for South Asians specifically.”