Asha

we just clicked. right from the beginning, as i sat on the bed in the room her family eats/sleeps/entertains in, i knew she would be one of those kind of friends i would connect with deeply. she has this magnetic personality that draws me to her and leaves me sad when we part. if i could, i would try to fit her in my suitcase and take her home with me. but then i’d be depriving mother india of one of her most beautiful daughters, asha.

teaching indians english and foreigners hindi, she is well known in the community. few pass us without her cheerful ‘nameste’ as playfully she argues with the shopkeepers for our goods. i feel taken care of as i walk besides on the streets of mussoorie. the middle of five children, she is the oldest left at home and runs the household…cleaning, chapattis, and laundry. her days are full yet she still makes time for me. saturday nights in oaklands are not only blessings for us, but escape from her responsibilities at home. she loves taking a shower without having to go outside and sleeping in a room void of the rest of her family. in the morning, we both indulge in filtered coffee and peanut butter toast. i sit across from her on the couch, the mugged, warm goodness, still resting in our hands as we share our stories…

‘our life is very different from other chr-stian’s we know,’ she declares from the beginning.

her parent’s had four girls until the gods finally gave them a boy. it was because of her father’s drinking that they lost their house. often he hit, other times he just yelled, ‘our family was broken, very broken.’ although he was allowed to keep his job at the international school, he lost the privilege of staff housing. asha was only seven when she saw all of their belongings on the side of the road; an image still frozen in her mind. there was no place to go, no house to find, no one to help. no one, that is, except judith. she and other chr-stians in the community welcomed asha and her family into their homes. ‘before then, nobody wanted us and i felt so alone.’ life after that was never the same.

their new friends told them about a Gd who was different from the others; He was personal and full of love. ‘before, i never knew what to do or who to turn to. J-sus changed my life. i am not a chr-stian, i am a believer in J-sus.’ there’s a difference and asha understand it. all the females in the family came to faith and began attending the local chrch. her father came as well, but more out of respect for the people who had done so much for his family. relatives rejected their new beliefs and believed there was something evil in their family, but ‘we never stopped believing. i knew Gd was Truth. when J-sus came, peace came to our house and for the first time, i felt real joy.’

after several years, they were given a small room and adjacent kitchen in the school’s staff housing where they have remained for the past thirteen years. the family that once rejected them, later found refuge between her family’s walls as they lost their own housing. ‘we forgave them. we didn’t want them to go through what we went through.’ her father still drinks, but he no longer hits or goes to the temple; he’s changing, everyone can see it. ‘if we keep pr-ying, he will come.’

asha and her family have become the backbone in the small community. though they are the only light in their neighborhood, they shine brightly. ‘we are all humans and sometimes i’m mean and sometimes others are mean to me. but i want to forgive; i want to make friends not enemies. i want to love them. i want them to know the Truth and hope that they see it in us as well. they come to us for pr-yer when they’re not at peace or healthy. they know we worship a Gd who answers our pr-yers.’

our time together often ends with pr-yer to that same powerful Gd. she petitions in hindi while, at the same time, i lift up english words. this time i cry; i cannot stop the tears nor the thoughts of how precious she is to me. i wonder when or even if, i will see her again. i want to be there when her arms are covered with henna for her wedding day. we need more time to cook together and watch silly bollywood movies late into the night. i want to take walks and drink chai, go shopping and have dance parties… but for now, i have to leave my indian friend and trust that someday, our Father will allow our paths to cross again.

as we part, she hands me a crumpled piece of paper. a new nose ring, a big smile rises across my face. she had taken me to get it pierced and as long as my nose is indian, i’ll have her with me.

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