Rich Guys Poor Girls

“Sumit, I am sorry. It is not going to work between us. My family will never accept someone dark, someone non-Christian. You are a nice guy, but it’s time we must go our own separate ways,” said Julie.

“Julie, I completely understand your position. I should not have been involved with you in the first place. But if we love each other, those superficial attributes like race, religion and color of skin should really not matter. As you grow older and become more emotionally mature, you will see that those attributes become less important in life; love and mutual respect will only last. The marriages that fail are based more on those superficial attributes than the basic love and respect for each other. I know we are not superficially compatible, but I would have truly loved and adored you for the rest of my life. Anyway, learn to treat your body like a temple and don’t let those rich guys destroy this wonderful God-given temple,” Sumit replied tearfully as he walked down the college stairs.

“Julie, you look awful. What happened? Did you catch the bad bug that is going around?”

“No mom. I have been feeling terrible since I broke up with Sumit a few days ago. I keep thinking of him all the time. I haven’t eaten a real meal since then. I cannot study. I cannot sleep. All I do is think of him and cry and as a result I started getting this horrible rash all over my face. I didn’t tell you about him. He is a senior in my college. He is from India on some kind of private scholarship. He is from a very poor family, but he is very smart, simple and down to earth. I have been seeing him for at least six months now. I know you and dad would never approve of someone like him, so I never mentioned to you about him. Mom, he is such a decent person. He never touched me. He actually adored me. I miss him so badly. I wish I could describe how I really feel inside.”

“Julie, it is your life. You have to decide what makes you happy and who you want to spend your life with. I have no problem accepting an Indian boy as long as you think he will be the right partner for you. Your dad is here. Why don’t you ask him how he feels about it?”

“Dad, how would you feel if I tell you I am in love with an Asian Indian young man and perhaps someday I want to marry him?”

“Julie, I will welcome anyone in our family as long as you think he is the right person for you. You are our only child and I will never do anything that displeases you. I have friends from all races and religions and, honestly, I never thought they are any different than we are. I don’t believe your mother will have any problem either. I have lived with her long enough to know how open she is towards others, irrespective of who they all are.”

“Mom and Dad, I don’t know what you all are saying now. While growing up in this household, I heard all kinds of racial and religious jokes which gave me the impression that you disliked others.”

“Honey, they were just silly jokes. Human beings enjoy jokes about other human beings, not of cows and donkeys. I thought we raised you with a set of good moral values. I don’t understand how you ever got that low impression about us,” Julie’s mother remarked sadly, as her father looked on and concurred with her mother.

As Julie was rushing back to her apartment, she remembered how simple and honest Sumit was.

“Sumit, how come you are so different from the other Indian guys on campus?”

“Julie, you have to understand where I am coming from. I am from a very poor family. My parents are local school teachers. These guys, on the other hand, are from very rich families, educated in posh western-style private schools that cost a fortune, and are raised with a domesticated western culture. They are ashamed of my English. They all grew up speaking English even at home, whereas in our school we all spoke our native languages. My parents and teachers were caring people and they did the best they could. I just came from the same country, but from a totally different economic class. I am here because of a private scholarship, while they are simply digging into their deep pockets to finance their education. You have seen, I eat very basic Indian foods that I cook once a week; whereas, they primarily eat out at expensive restaurants. In fact, I have never been to one of those fancy restaurants.”

“Sumit, we have been together for a while now. But you never try to take advantage of me. The other rich guys I have dated so far were all after my body only. All they cared about was how to take me to bed. Once they took advantage of my body, they would move on, as though they were tired of me. Those bustards had no respect for my body or mind. They all treated me like trash. I was stupid to run around with them too. Given my past, how would you feel to be with me?”

“Julie, your past is of no consequence to me. I really enjoy being with you. I love to go around with you. I wish I had some disposable money to spend on you. Deep down, you are such a simple and compassionate person. Previously, I used to feel very lonely in weekends; now I look forward to the weekends, as I get to spend a lot of time with you. When you leave at night, I cannot wait for the night to be over.”

“Sumit, you still didn’t answer my question. If we ever get into a verbal fight, will you use my past against me?”

“Julie, it is a shame that those monsters took advantage of you, without having to pay dearly for it. If someone does the same to my younger sister back home, I don’t know how I would feel; I will contact the local police and try to turn that monster over to them, to at least save other girls. Since these monsters grow up in very rich environments, they tend to think they can easily buy their way out of any trouble. You have not committed any crime or sin; you are just another innocent victim. You expected these guys to be equally decent human beings, instead they turned out to be monsters. Unfortunately, this happens all over the world and as long as the rich and powerful control the system, it will continue. If we continue to sacrifice our own, we will slowly slip back into the dinosaur age. What we need is to educate the young girls, followed by a grassroots movement to isolate those predators who use their wealth and repeatedly play the love game to take advantage of the young girls, physically. Anyway, getting back to your question, I promise I will never even mention anything about your past. In fact, if we ever get married and decide to have only one child, I will always pray that we have a beautiful girl – just like you. Again, all I want is to spend my life with you. I made my terms clear and now it’s your choice.”

“Sumit, you hardly have any money. You don’t need to pay for my movie ticket.”

“Julie, I know I have no money, but I feel good when I can do something for you. When we get married, I hope we have lot of money, so you can have the lifestyle of a queen.”

“Sumit, if you need some help with your airfare, please feel free to talk to me. I have a few hundred dollars left in my savings account which you can use.”

“Julie, that is so kind of you. This gesture shows how much you already believe in me. You are an angel in my life. By the way, I have already borrowed the money for my airfare from my cousin in South Carolina. Again, thank you very much for thinking of me.”

“Sumit, I know how much I will miss you when you are away during the summer vacation. Do you really need to spend six weeks in India? Why not just three weeks? I already miss you.”

“Julie, I am visiting India after three years. My parents are eagerly waiting for my visit. They will be upset if I don’t spend some time with them. I know I will be miserable without you too, but this is something I really need to do for my parents. In fact, I will be spending the final week of my visit in New Delhi attending an international seminar in science and technology.”

“Sumit, if we decide to get married someday, don’t you think that our inter-racial marriage will hurt your parents’ feelings?”

“Julie, this is one point you and I have been differing. I know you are extremely concerned about your parents’ acceptance of our inter-racial marriage and I totally respect that. But I must say I do not feel that way at all. My parents have done a great job in bringing me up and for that I will be grateful to them to my grave. But who I decide to spend my life with should strictly be my choice and thus my decision. If they are unhappy about it, it is my bad luck. Then again, I don’t want to think negatively about it before I even approach them. I think they will not fuss, rather they will be happy with my choice.”

As Julie came back to her apartment, she was happy to see her room-mate, “Becky, you are supposed to be my best friend. Please help me find him.”

“Julie, I hope you learned your lesson. You must learn to respect people the way they are. Do you know how you hurt his feelings? He just made one simple mistake – he behaved like a decent human being. You didn’t have the guts to do the same to the rich guys who shared your race and religion. The monsters who abused you will, using their wealth and in the name of love game, find other innocent girls to terrorize, again. This terrorism must stop.”

“Becky, I am only twenty-one and I already feel so old and exhausted. You are right, I should not have fallen for their wealth trap and played into their fake love game. In return, they simply ripped my body apart. They had no respect for my body. They did not even realize that I have a human body. Sometimes I have so severe pain all over that I don’t feel like even getting up from the bed. Sumit was so different; he always comforted me. I still remember how his face used to lit up to see me and how it used to go down when I would leave him at night. He really loved me, Becky. He had no lust in his eyes. He just wanted to be with me. To break up, when I was saying all those horrible things to him, his eyes were tearful but he was still smiling. He asked me not to let those monsters abuse my body anymore; instead, he reminded me to treat my body like a temple. Becky, I am so miserable without him. Please help me find him. I promise I will be nice to him.”

“Julie, did you speak to his room-mate?”

“Yes, I did. The room-mate thinks Sumit is transferring to another university. He didn’t leave any forwarding details with his room-mate. Sumit’s cell was disconnected. I even contacted Sumit’s cousin in South Carolina, but he was clueless too. Becky, do you think I will ever find him? I don’t know why I did this. I should have at least spoken to my parents before I broke off. I was just trying not to hurt my parents’ feelings. If I knew they wouldn’t object to our being together, I would never do it. Becky, I am not able to eat. My stomach is so empty that I started vomiting blood. Do you think I will be okay? Since he is gone, I cannot think straight. I don’t care to find a rich guy anymore. I want him back. I just want him back. I really do. Becky, suddenly I am feeling very sick. Can you come and hold me, please?”

“Julie, somebody is knocking. Can you get the door? Julie, I cannot come out. Please get the door. Julie, are you there? Please get the door.”