Refugee – A Word Full of Pain
The devastating floods of 2015 that crippled Chennai can never be forgotten. Among the worst-affected areas was Mudichur. The place where I lived was completely submerged, and it felt like being stranded on an island. I was lost, not knowing what to do.
At that very moment, I received a call from my friend—
“Don’t think twice. Just come over to my house immediately,” he said.
He knew me well. If he had continued talking, I might have come up with some excuse to decline. Twelve years of friendship had made him understand me completely.
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The Comfort of Friendship
Once I reached his place, it took me a day to regain my mental balance. Long conversations, laughter, and casual chats slowly brought me back to normal. Luckily, there was a bus facility from his locality to my office, so travel wasn’t a problem.
One day, while traveling by bus, I met a colleague. With a look of surprise, he asked,
“How come you’re in this area?”
I replied that I was staying at my friend’s house.
A few days later, while sipping coffee at the office, that same colleague casually remarked with a laugh,
“Right now, Raja is in our area. Until things settle down, our neighborhood is like a refugee camp for him!”
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The Real Weight of the Word
That moment was when I truly felt the pain behind the word “refugee.”
Until then, I had only read or heard the word in newspapers and on TV. If moving from one part of the same city to another could feel so painful, how much greater must the suffering be for those who leave their homeland entirely and are forced to live as refugees in another country?
From that day onwards, whenever I come across the word “refugee,” a strange, indescribable sadness takes hold of me.
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Misuse in Society
Today, in our society, the word “refugee” is often used carelessly—even as a derogatory term. At times, because of the mistakes of a few, entire communities are unfairly branded with it. That misuse only deepens the pain.
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A Small Word, A Great Pain
“Refugee” – it may be a small word, but the weight of suffering it carries is immeasurable.
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