{"id":1975,"date":"2026-05-07T10:27:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T15:27:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/?p=1975"},"modified":"2026-05-07T10:27:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T15:27:32","slug":"the-american-gate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/2026\/05\/the-american-gate\/","title":{"rendered":"The American Gate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0My English teacher, Mr. Jamir Ahmed said, \u201cSo you want to go to America! Is that right? You don\u2019t even know how to spell English! Go to the board and write English, in English.\u201d I walked to the blackboard. Picked up the chalk. I turned towards the class. My fourth grade classmates were laughing, not loudly, but confidently. Then I turned back to the board. I raised my hand. I didn\u2019t write anything. I waited. I put the chalk on the board. I waited. I wanted to write it, but I did not.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWrite!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0I did not write. I did not know how to spell English.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u201cWhy are you not writing?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0I still did not write.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cYou do not know how to write English, in English?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0I put the chalk back on the board. I wrote, \u201canglis.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0My classmates began to laugh. \u201cOh look what he wrote on the board!\u201d They laughed and laughed and laughed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Mr. Jamir came over to me, and said, \u201cEnglish for you is as far as America is from this classroom. Go back to your seat.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cIs this not right?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhat is the right answer then?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cYou are asking me for the answer?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cYes. Because I do not know.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cGo back to your seat.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0I went back to my seat. My friends were still laughing and teasing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Then Mr. Jamir asked the class to be quiet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWho knows the correct spelling?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0We stayed silent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cAnyone?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0No one said anything.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Then Mr. Jamir asked another student to write it on the board.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0He went up and wrote: English.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cIs this the correct spelling?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Some of us said, yes. Others said, no.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Mr. Jamir said, \u201cThis is correct! Remember to always spell it with the capital letter E. That\u2019s important.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0That was exactly what my life had been like since the news about my future emigration to America broke.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Being naive is happiness. Being naive is tranquil.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0People looked at me suspiciously whenever they found out that I would emigrate to America soon. First, they would squint their eyes, then ask me all sorts of questions, and then laugh. They listened. They heard. They pondered. Ultimately, no one believed it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0My eldest aunt, my mother\u2019s eldest sister, Zanu, applied for us to go to America the year before. The news of that application put us in a different category of social status. People looked at us differently. They could not believe it. They could not completely deny it. They certainly thought about it more than we did.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhere is America! It\u2019s not easy to go there.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cBut the sister is there. If the sister is there, then the sister can bring them over.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWe will see. One cannot wish to go there and then be there just like that.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cI think they will go.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cDreaming is free. Let them dream and keep the nightmares away.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 I committed a crime. My teachers caught me. They needed to talk to my parents. I sat at the headmaster\u2019s office waiting for my Manoni to come over.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0They could not find me after lunch. My backpack was on my desk, but I was not there. Some of my friends knew where I was and they told the teachers about my whereabouts. I was on the roof of the building, sitting in the shade under the giant mahogany tree branches that grew next to the building. When they found me, I had a few pages of printouts, a notebook, and a Bengali-English dictionary in front of me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhat is all this?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m reading a story.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cLunchtime is over. We were worried about your whereabouts.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cI am sorry.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cYou haven’t been paying attention to your studies these days.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>That\u2019s nothing new, I thought.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cI lost track of time.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cDo you have a watch?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cThen how were you keeping track of time?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cI did not hear the bell ringing.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cBecauase you are not interested in school anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cI never miss school, sir!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhat are you reading anyway?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cA story by Ernest Hemingway. <\/span>B<\/span><\/i>ig Two-Hearted River<\/span><\/i>.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhy are you reading it?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cI like Hemingway.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWho is that?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cAn American writer sir!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cYou should pay more attention to your textbooks.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cYes, sir!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0A few other teachers and students showed up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhat is he doing here?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cReading some story.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u201cWe need to lock the access to the roof. It is not good. It is dangerous for children.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWe should.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cIs that in English?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cYes, sir!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cHow are you reading it? Do you understand it?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cSir, I am translating every word. I have this dictionary here.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cYou are?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cYes, sir!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhat is the story about?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t know yet. I don\u2019t completely understand it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cBut you are reading it!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cI am. But I do not understand it yet. I only read a page and a half so far.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWho asked you to read this story?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cNo one. I wanted to.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cHow did you come about this story?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cI asked my Abbu to find me Hemingway\u2019s works and one of his friends made this photocopy for us.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhy Hemingway?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cHe is a good writer. He wrote <\/span>The Old Man and The Sea<\/span><\/i>. I have watched the film on TV. It was great.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cHave you read it?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cNo. I want to.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Mr. Jamir kicked up the copy of the story and read the first page, skimmed through the rest of the pages, and then read the last page.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cNothing good here. Not age appropriate.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cYou mean?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cNo. Not that! Just rubbish.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWe need to talk to his parents.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWe must.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0My Abbu found a black and white photo of Hemingway in an old magazine in a used<\/span> b<\/span>ookstore. He brought me a photocopy of that image. Hemingway smiling and holding onto the<\/span> antlers of some kind of deer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cThis is in Africa. He enjoyed hunting.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhat kind of deer are these?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cKudu.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cKudu! I never heard of it.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWe don\u2019t know so many things. We can never know everything.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cSomeday I will go to Africa and see a Kudu.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cAnything is possible. One of your great grandfathers walked all the way to Mecca for<\/span> the pilgrimage. He was on the road for three to four years. Anything is possible.\u201d<\/span> \u201cI know.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cYou can do it too.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u201cHemingway looks very happy here.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cHe was like my age at that time, maybe a little older.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cHe looks a lot older than you.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cPeople were like that back then. Looked older than their age. He was maybe like<\/span> thirty-five.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cThat young?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cMust be. I have something else for you.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhat is it?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cA friend of mine found a story by Hemingway.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cReally! Where is it?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Abbu took the photocopied story out of a plastic bag and handed it to me. The pages were<\/span> stapled together and crisp. I never read any photocopied stories before. I was excited anyway.<\/span> \u201cBut this is in English!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cYou can use the dictionary to read it.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cI can?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cOf course you can.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0My Mamoni walked into the headmaster\u2019s office. I sat on the chair next to the<\/span> headmaster. The headmaster stood up to welcome Mamoni. There were a few other teachers in<\/span> that office room, including, Mr. Jamir.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cPlease come in. Have a seat.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cNothing very serious. But we need to discuss the matter.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cDoes he read a lot at home?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cHe reads all the time.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhat does he read?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cAll kinds of stuff. We have a big library at home. I don\u2019t exactly know what he reads.\u201d<\/span> \u201cThat\u2019s good. Reading is good. He skipped his classes today and was reading this on the<\/span> roof of the school.\u201d He handed the copy of the <\/span>Big Two-Hearted River<\/span><\/i> to Mamoni. \u201cWhat is this?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cYou tell us.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t know what this is. Maybe his Abbu gave it to him.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhere is his Abbu?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cHe was not at home so I came alone.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cPerhaps we need to talk to him. This material is beyond his age. While reading is good, perhaps he should be focusing on his textbooks more.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Mr. Jamir said, \u201cHis academic performance is very poor.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cI know. I try my best to make him study every evening.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cHow about his Abbu?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cHe doesn\u2019t spend time with him regarding his school stuff.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s a problem. He needs to encourage the boy to study textbooks first. Would you please kindly request your husband to come and see us?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cYes. Certainly.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The headmaster said, \u201cIf the boy is spending time and energy trying to read something, that is good. What we need to do is shift his focus to textbooks. He is failing most of his classes.\u201d \u201cWe will do our best.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The headmaster looked at me, and said, \u201cFirst the textbooks, then everything else. Understood?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cUnderstood.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Mamoni said to me, \u201cDid you hear him? That\u2019s what I have been telling you too. Do you really understand it?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cYes.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The headmaster said to Mamoni, \u201cThank you for coming over urgently. Please don\u2019t forget to let your husband know.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cI will.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cThank you.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Abbu never went to see the headmaster. He said, \u201cDon\u2019t worry about it. Read what you want. Just pass your classes. When we go to America none of it would matter. The only thing that will matter are the things that are not in your textbooks.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cYou think so?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cAmerica is an advanced country. Once we pass through the American gate, we will enter the kind of world you and I like.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cAre you sure?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cYes.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWe need to be in America as soon as possible.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cOn this side of that America gate – fear, persecution, and darkness. On the other side of that gate – logic, science, and freedom.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cI hope you are right.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0My English teacher, Mr. Jamir Ahmed said, \u201cSo you want to go to America! Is that right? You don\u2019t even know how to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1975"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1977,"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975\/revisions\/1977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sagebrushreview.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}