After the job was finished he went to the Canadian and asked222 him to raise the payment， but was told that “we had a deal， and it isimpossible for the company to pay more”。 This taught Rizwan a goodlesson — why didn’t I sign a contract with him at the beginning? Fromthen on， whenever anyone asks him to do something， he insists onsigning a contract first. That is “first stupid， then smart”。
Rizwan’s life in Beijing was less than smooth at first， but his luckcame around. SARS soon passed. In July everything in Beijing wasback on track. He found a job in a joint venture set up by the BeidaJade Bird and Indian APTECH companies， engaged in IT training. Becausehe can speak very good Chinese， he was assigned to be in chargeof enrolling new students.
“How was the salary? It could at least cover your basic expenses，right?” I joked.
“At the beginning， the salary was not high，” Rizwan said. “I didn’
t care much. I wanted to show them my ability. Actually， neither ofus knew each other’s strength. After working a period of time， theythought I was pretty good， and doubled my salary. Pretty good. He looked very confident. He worked there for more than threeand a half years. During this period， he also did part-time jobs. Hehelped to give more than 150 senior employees of CISCO China com puter training. “The pay there was high， and they paid in dollars， sentfrom abroad. “Do you still work there?” I asked.
“No， in September 2006， we planned to have a child， so I wantedto switch to a job related to children. “A child?” I said surprised. “Hold on… Oh， your wife gave abirth to a child in May，” I suddenly remembered. I once made an appointmentto interview him in May， but his wife was in hospital fordelivery， and then he was busy taking care of his wife and child， so ourdate of interview kept being postponed.
Love in China
“When did you meet your wife? “I met her when I was studying at the Central Academy of Drama.
Her home is just near the school. When I saw her in KentuckyFried Chicken， I felt she was the woman I wanted for the rest of mylife，” said Rizwan， looking somewhat embarrassed. “I’m not a casualperson. I never had any love affairs while I was studying either atJawaharlal Nehru University or at Beijing Language and Culture University. He looked at me. His eyes were crystal clear， as if I could seehis heart in them. “I’m a sensitive person. I can feel how others treatme， who is watching me， what people mean by what they say. I couldsense the moment I laid eyes on her that she was the one I was goingto marry. She had the same feeling for me. We fell in love at first sight.
So I began to invite her out for dinner and we dated. Oh， so that’s the real reason why， when he meant to return hometo study for his PhD in 2002， he went back to Beijing after only sixmonths?！ He missed her， his lovely Beijing girl.
“You wanted to marry her， but what did her parents think? “Her parents are not the stubborn kind. She is the only child ofthe family， but her parents never spoil her. However， this was theirdaughter’s marriage， an event of lifelong significance， so her fatherwas of course a little worried. Then she asked me to see her parents224 and talk with them，” Rizwan said softly.
“I’m bold and brave， and fear nothing on earth. When I met herparents， they told me that they’d never expected their daughter wouldmarry a foreigner， and they thought a foreigner was unsuitable for her.
Never mind her parents’ hesistations — even my parents in India hadsuch worries. You might not know this， but Indian parents care muchmore for their children than Chinese parents. I’m the only one who lefthome. They also had doubts about the one I wanted to marry， not onlybecause of cultural differences. In their opinion， foreigners are foreigners.
They were mostly worried that one day my wife would divorceme and leave me. I explained to her parents， ‘You want her to marrya Chinese， but can you guarantee she will be happy?’ Of course， theycan’t guarantee. I went on， ‘You care about your daughter’s happiness，don’t you? Now your daughter and I have the same attitude towardthis — I won’t marry anyone except her， and she won’t marry anyonebut me.’ I poured all my thoughts out without hesitation， and had nofear. After listening to Rizwan’s frank， sincere confession of faithfullove， the girl’s parents finally agreed to the marriage. The twoyoung lovers registered for marriage in Beijing on August 17 ， 200and received their marriage certificates. Two months later， they held awedding ceremony in India. Rizwan meant to fulfill the wishes of hisentire clan in India， and at the same time get the approval of his familymembers and society.
Two years later， in preparation for bringing up his own child，Rizwan switched jobs to work as a teacher at KindyROO， an Australiancompany specializing in child training in Beijing. “Don’t think thiskind of training is only a job for women，” Rizwan reminded me， “It’
s a physical work， too. You have to act and dance. I end up each daytotally exhausted.
Owing to his excellent work and his advantage in languages，Rizwan was quickly promoted to be teaching supervisor. His abilityin Chinese and English， dancing and performing have brought himopportunities and popularity. He is also the supporter of the family， a good husband. He often goes to the kitchen to cook some deliciousfood for his wife. At those times the special fragrance of theingredients and food will drift over from his kitchen window， makingmy mouth water. Poor me， I have to smell it， but can never taste it. Icouldn’t help praising his outstanding cooking skills， and he smiledguilelessly and said， “My wife loves to eat Indian food， but she can’tcook. Nobody in my family can do it except me. What can I do！ A Volunteer “Ambassador His years in China have taught Rizwan a pure and authentic Chinese.
