Alien

The airport seemed like a morgue in the Dark Ages through my toddler eyes. Everyone looked ill with excess travel, sick from impatience. Menacing towers, which looked to be in fact, men, glared at me as if I were someone to suspect. As if I didn’t belong. The expansive line of Immigrations painfully edged forward, but my mind scampered away to curiosity. What was India like? Was I going to enjoy it? What was I going to do there? We finally reached the stern officer in sky blue, equipped with a stately handlebar moustache. He and my dad exchanged sympathetic glances and polite greetings, as if they were old friends, seeing each other for the first time in years. He did the same for my mother and sister, but stopped at me. â€Å"Born in the USA? What is this boy doing in an airport in India?† Everyone laughed, but I didn’t. Regardless of what he meant, it hurt my toddler mind deeply. For the first time in my life, I felt different. I felt guilty of my presence, guilty to be who I was. As I walked into the streets of India, the kids stared at me for quite some time, and chattered accusingly amongst themselves. I did not dress like them. I did not act like them. I did not talk like them. I felt like the aliens I had read about so avidly from the comics back home. I tried fervently to make myself the epitome of a native Indian boy, but my relatives constantly hindered my progress. Cricket is like baseball. Flats are apartments. Auto-rickshaws are like taxies. I constantly reminded myself these things, but no matter how hard I tried, these concepts would not stick. Language became a ruthless and unforgiving adversary. My parents had prepped me well prior to the trip, yet still I was hit with unfamiliar phrases. While my accent was consistent, constructing the words proved to be a grueling task. I realized any slight mistake could question the quality of my parents’ teaching, and slowly I stopped talking. I was limited to a stubborn shake of the head for no, and an eager nod for yes. I was always the quiet one, the one who said very little, but they didn’t know why. I wouldn’t let them know, for my alien nature would be exposed. Years come and go with new perspectives. The toddler state of mind was black and white, frank and simplistic. I was so driven by stubborn anger and frustration that I never really tried or wanted to search for the answers I needed. Questions of doubt and difference gradually became answered by my friends, schoolmates, and teachers. We all realized our experiences were not so seclusive, and countless stories met laughs of recognition and understanding. Time allowed for me to accumulate the points that define who I am, whether it is by a distressing day at Immigrations, or the inability to master a language. By birth and by residency, I am an American. But, by the principals I abide to and the traditions I willfully obey, I am an Indian. I don’t feel different anymore. Rather, I feel honored to have the opportunity to share and experience two cultures simultaneously. The polarity of the two nations sometimes proves to be troublesome, but also adds a contrast that intrigues me t o the point of enlightenment. It now seems amusing to imagine a confused little boy, paranoid of his imminent transformation into an unknown being. Paranoid of becoming an unfamiliar creature in unfamiliar territory; not able to identify with his environment. I was once an alien.

Justice System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Justice System - Essay Example In other words treating victims with the dignity they deserve while letting them continue to enjoy their fundamental human rights. The same applies to victims who are very vulnerable to vindication and are constantly in the risk of being treated harshly and with rejection due to the damages their crimes inflict on victims and to the society at large. There is a need for a balance between offenders' rights and victims' rights. The justice system has in some cases been accused of leaning too much on the side of the victims therefore denying the victim the right to be treated as not guilty until proven guilty before a fair and public trial in a court of law. Any justice system must be structured to meet the needs of both offenders and victims (Fowles, T 2006 P. 72). A right is a duty or responsibility entitled to an individual (Roberts, 2006 P. 115). Rights of victims enable them to get necessary support from the justice system. Usually the justice system is comprised of agencies such as the police, courts, probation officers, lawyers, prosecutors, and the government ministry concerned. Rights can be defined as responsibilities or duties of an offender or a victim (Fowles, 2006. P.57). It can be argued that victim's and offender's rights are related but in an inverse manner. According to (Samuel Walker 1980. P. 36,) the following are some of the theories put forward in relation to criminal justice and victim's/offender's rights. Restorative justice theory. Proponents of restorative theory argue that a victim can be restored to his/her former condition. It therefore suggests that the fact that victims have undergone crime experience does not mean that they will forever remain haunted by their experiences. This theory advocates for a justice system whereby victims can undergo restoration and therefore help them cope with the effects of the crime. It advocates for punishment of offenders though it opposes imprisonment. Restitution and community services are the commonest types of penalties advocated for by restorative theorists. It is aimed at re-socialising offenders. In view of striking a balance between offender's rights and victim's rights, restorative justice can be of much help for it seeks to up hold both the victim's and offender's rights while benefiting the society but there are those opposed to it terming it as too lenient. Retributive justice theory. Popularly known as the 'eye for an eye' method, it assumes that a victim has a right to 'hit back'. This justice system calls for punishments such as capital punishment, and in some parts of the world, amputation. In view of human rights advocates, a retributive justice system is considered unfair to the offender in that it does not accord a second chance for reforming. It can also cause emotional trauma to victims or their heirs and family especially in cases where they feel guilty and feel they caused the death of the offender. Transformative justice theory. A justice system founded on this theory will try to discourage animosity between the victim or the heirs and the

Analyse the concepts of 'culture shock' and 'cultural adjustment' and Essay

Analyse the concepts of 'culture shock' and 'cultural adjustment' and critically assess some possible consequences of th - Essay Example It involves the difficulties in trying to assimilate into the new culture or the new environment which leads to difficulty in understanding what is proper and what is considered as not being correct. Mostly it is combined with a lot of disgust about some aspects of the different or new culture. In most cases, culture shock may not occur suddenly. It may take some time to begin affecting the moods of the person involved. The duration of time an individual may experience culture shock is based on the period they have to stay in that environment, their self awareness level and the period they take to adjust and blend into the new surrounding. If the person is able to adjust at a faster rate, the better for him or her since the shock may not be as severe as when they did not know anything about the new culture or environment. One may note that he or she is experiencing culture shock when they experience some symptoms such as self doubts and being hostile more than usual (Taylor, 1990). A n example of culture shock is in the case of a university student from a different culture attending school in a totally different environment, for example, an African student attending university in the United States. Such a student will meet a totally different type of culture from the one he or she is used to. He may get hard timed trying to adjust and blend in. These hardships are part of culture shock. Culture adjustment is trying to change according to the shock associated with the change of environment. Living in a different culture that is dissimilar from the one someone is used to may be an adventure that is exiting as well as a challenging one. No matter what country one comes from, once they move from their country to another, they will have to go through cultural adjustment due to the difference in cultures (Vivian, 1999). Understanding the process of adjustment may involve getting some support from other people who are familiar with the culture and may be an exiting exp erience, both professionally and personally. Culture may be defined in a number of ways that may bring out different meanings. In some cases, it may be used to refer to the act of appreciating good literature, food, art and music. For biologists, it may be used to refer to a colony of different types of bacteria or some other organisms. However, for the behavioral science, it is a range of patterns of human behavior. It may be otherwise defined as a complex whole that includes belief, knowledge, art, customs, law and any habits and capabilities that is acquired by people as a part of a given society. Culture is a very powerful tool for the survival of human, but it is also a fragile phenomenon. Culture is consistently changing and may be lost easily since it usually exists in the human mind (Rogers, 1996). Culture is comprised of different layers. The national level deals with the awareness of the dynamics of culture and their patterns by nationality. The national level is relevant for certain areas such as getting into new markets, cross border division and relationships based on international outsourcing. Another level is the organizational level which focuses on culture dynamics experiences in different organizations (Rogers, 1996). The other levels include the regional or ethnic level that involves the difference in culture between different ethnical groups, generation level that is