Stories and News No. 738
In a gypsy camp, in a trailer, somewhere.
A man looks out the window and watches the life in the camp.
Because, despite the more or less astute delusions by vile guys.
There is life in a camp.
Of human substance.
A six years old girl child is with him.
And she is curious.
“Uncle Nicolae?”
“Yes?”
“Can you speak well?”
“Yes for sure. We live in a camp, but the camp is in a larger one, you can call it Rome, which is in another camp that is Italy, in another camp that should be Europe, which is in another one...”
“I understand, uncle. But you know all the words? “
“You can be sure about that.”
“What does gypsy mean?”
The man leaves behind the window and observes the child's eyes.
There is life in the camp, but in her any infinitely more.
However, he notices the apprehension in her face.
He must do something about it and uses the better human weapon, whereas the larger camps are always too many for you.
“Dear Nadya, Gypsy is a beautiful word. If people who live outside the camp will call you so, you must be happy. “
“Why?”
“Because it is a word that gives good luck. Is that clear? “
“Clear, good luck.”
“Fine.”
Nicolae turns to admire the heart of the camp when the one who dances in his chest trembles, hearing the new question.
“What does to be Nomads mean?”
The man understands to be now in a dance guided by the music of a little girl hungry of meanings and which uncle could never escape such task?
“Nomads is a word even more beautiful than gypsy. You and I are Nomads. “
“Me too?”
“Certainly we are and, despite our camp seems small and the people who live here negligible lives, a long history follow us. We have countless stories to tell. Because, like stories, we ever flow, as nomads. Understood?“
“Yes, Gypsy and Nomads.”
Nicolae relaxes, moving the eyes again on the camp beyond the glass and focuses on the latter, discovering for the first time to appreciate the importance of the windows in this world.
And all the other ways which we see things in.
Nevertheless, the questioning is not finished yet.
“Uncle, and what Roma means?”
Nicolae takes a further effort to search in the precious childhood imagination that fortunately he protected by time cynicism and gives the child the last answer.
“Roma is the most beautiful word of all and you should not ever believe otherwise, promise.”
“I promise.”
“Our camp is located within a large and famous town, rich in history and culture.”
“Rome?”
“Exactly, and as the camp, even our name inside it. Just change a letter and we are all in the same house.“
The girl child finally decides to release his uncle and leaves the trailer.
She gets to the center of the camp, where Nicolae sees her.
Then Nadya’s eyes looks towards the outside world.
The city of Rome, but not satisfied, she watches beyond.
Indeed, we can say that she puts no limits to her horizon.
“Only a letter divides us,” she thinks.
Her words are mixed with hope and courage, tenacity and wonder.
And who can be so naive as to not agree with her?
Read other stories about racism.
Storytelling with subtitles
Also on Stories and News:
In a gypsy camp, in a trailer, somewhere.
A man looks out the window and watches the life in the camp.
Because, despite the more or less astute delusions by vile guys.
There is life in a camp.
Of human substance.
A six years old girl child is with him.
And she is curious.
“Uncle Nicolae?”
“Yes?”
“Can you speak well?”
“Yes for sure. We live in a camp, but the camp is in a larger one, you can call it Rome, which is in another camp that is Italy, in another camp that should be Europe, which is in another one...”
“I understand, uncle. But you know all the words? “
“You can be sure about that.”
“What does gypsy mean?”
The man leaves behind the window and observes the child's eyes.
There is life in the camp, but in her any infinitely more.
However, he notices the apprehension in her face.
He must do something about it and uses the better human weapon, whereas the larger camps are always too many for you.
“Dear Nadya, Gypsy is a beautiful word. If people who live outside the camp will call you so, you must be happy. “
“Why?”
“Because it is a word that gives good luck. Is that clear? “
“Clear, good luck.”
“Fine.”
Nicolae turns to admire the heart of the camp when the one who dances in his chest trembles, hearing the new question.
“What does to be Nomads mean?”
The man understands to be now in a dance guided by the music of a little girl hungry of meanings and which uncle could never escape such task?
“Nomads is a word even more beautiful than gypsy. You and I are Nomads. “
“Me too?”
“Certainly we are and, despite our camp seems small and the people who live here negligible lives, a long history follow us. We have countless stories to tell. Because, like stories, we ever flow, as nomads. Understood?“
“Yes, Gypsy and Nomads.”
Nicolae relaxes, moving the eyes again on the camp beyond the glass and focuses on the latter, discovering for the first time to appreciate the importance of the windows in this world.
And all the other ways which we see things in.
Nevertheless, the questioning is not finished yet.
“Uncle, and what Roma means?”
Nicolae takes a further effort to search in the precious childhood imagination that fortunately he protected by time cynicism and gives the child the last answer.
“Roma is the most beautiful word of all and you should not ever believe otherwise, promise.”
“I promise.”
“Our camp is located within a large and famous town, rich in history and culture.”
“Rome?”
“Exactly, and as the camp, even our name inside it. Just change a letter and we are all in the same house.“
The girl child finally decides to release his uncle and leaves the trailer.
She gets to the center of the camp, where Nicolae sees her.
Then Nadya’s eyes looks towards the outside world.
The city of Rome, but not satisfied, she watches beyond.
Indeed, we can say that she puts no limits to her horizon.
“Only a letter divides us,” she thinks.
Her words are mixed with hope and courage, tenacity and wonder.
And who can be so naive as to not agree with her?
Read other stories about racism.
Storytelling with subtitles
Watch the video:
Also on Stories and News: