Donkey Route Chronicles: Hopping Across Borders for the Elusive American Dream
A Hop, Skip, and a Jump Away
Donkey Route- In the ever-evolving saga of global migration, enter the bizarre world of the ‘Donkey Travelers’—Indians from Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh.
Why ‘donkey’? Well, it’s not about luxurious flights; it’s about hopping like donkeys from one place to another.
Driven by the illusion of the American dream, individuals sell their farms, pay hefty sums to dubious agents (cue the donkers), and munch on biscuits for a week straight.
Thugs, Snakes, and Barefoot Trekking :
Crossing jungles with venomous creatures, thugs robbing you of everything, and trekking barefoot in the snow.
The donkey route is no nature hike. It’s a perilous journey where survival is an achievement.
Sleepless nights aren’t just from hunger; there’s fear of nocturnal venomous attacks.
Donkey Route: Behind the Scenes of ‘Donkeying’
Meet the elusive ‘donker’ agents, the puppet masters of this absurd journey.
They operate in secrecy, training hopeful migrants in a crash course of a few foreign words, local currencies, and survival tactics.
Risk, Hotels, and Silence:
The ‘donkers’ plan meticulously, with special hotels strategically placed along the route. These hotels, shrouded in secrecy, accommodate migrants in hushed dormitories with strict rules.
Payments, Risks, and Gambles:
Payment installments are made as the journey progresses, and the risks are colossal.
From running through jungles to braving the sea, it’s a game of chance where the dream
The Absurd Reality of the ‘Donkey Route’:
As we unravel the ‘donkey route,’ the absurdity of this journey is undeniable. The allure of the American dream pulls individuals into a web of risks, deception, and shattered hopes. Behind the bizarre adventures lie lives forever changed, families torn, and dreams chased against all odds.
In short, this gives us a conclusion that Indian migrants who wants to get better job opportunities and a better life, get desperate enough to choose ‘The Road Not Taken’.
Well, this is what everyone will tell you as the reality as I mentioned above. But the roots of the reality goes way deeper inside rules and regulations followed by the countries all over the world.
The migrants who has to end up becoming the donkey traveller are the poor people – with very little fluency in English or without any proper educational certification.
They are the ones who usually fails to get passport or visa. That’s what brings us again back to square one.
How? Think properly – poor and less educated people are trying to move to developed countries in search of better income and better life.
Whereas, people who are already well literate and fluent in English don’t need to visit US or UK in search of low paying labour jobs. They usually go either for study purpose or work purpose or business purpose while they are already privileged.
You see, ultimately poor people are the ones who are having least options for a better standard of living.Also, the irony is- only people from underdeveloped countries has to clear all these exams in order to get passport and visa, just to do low-grade jobs, whereas people from developed countries with English as their language doesn’t need to learn any foreign language while visiting under developed countries.
Because obviously their passports hold more power.
But is that the fault of common , helpless and poor citizens who are desperate to do anything to get a better life and earn enough just to sustain their family?!
This is not a fault of any perticular country or their people.
Maybe it’s just the resultant of ignorance towards needs and rites of poor people – all across the world.
It’s really time now for us to ask these questions and support the less fortunate ones and make them count
I would like to give special thanks to the Bollywood movie ‘Dunki‘ played by Shahrukh Khan as the lead actor, for provoking these thoughts in me which we might not otherwise had paid attention to.
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