“To tell you the truth， when I first came to Beijing， I most wantedto study theater and acting at the Central Academy of Drama，” saidRizwan smiling. “After half a year of study at Beijing Language andCulture University， the Indian Embassy asked me， ‘Would you like tohave your scholarship extended and continue studying?’ I said yes. Iwanted to study theatre and acting at the Central Academy of Drama，but the scholarship didn’t include studying drama. I tried several timeswith them， but it was useless. Disappointed， Rizwan decided to return home after finishing ayear of study at Beijing Language and Cultural University. He thoughthis “five-plus-one years” of study had made him an expert in Chinese，and it was unnecessary to waste the precious scholarship. They shouldkeep the money for those who needed more to come to study in China.
As he was getting ready to go home， a chance opportunity befell him.
Once， an Indian cultural fair was going to be held in China. The Indianembassy asked Rizwan to give a performance. It was a chance to showoff his talents， and so he made full use of the performing skills he hadlearned and practiced at the Drama Club of Jawaharlal Nehru Universityand performed part of a play in cooperation with a painter friendwho had no performing background. His performance was highlypraised by the Indian Ambassador Mr. Vijay Nambiar， who is now thefirst assistant to Mr. Ban Ki-Moon， the Secretary of the United Nations.
The Ambassador’s wife also liked his performance. The smartRizwan didn’t let the opportunity slip through his fingers， and expressedhis desire to study at the Central Academy of Drama， and explainedthe practical difficulties he had encountered. Hearing this， theambassador said， “But it is such a little thing. Why can’t it be solved?
Judging from your performance skills and interests， I think you deserveto study at the Central Academy of Drama.” Furthermore， hepersonally wrote a recommendation letter to the relevant departmentsof the Indian government. With the help of the ambassador， Rizwanreceived the special permission of the Indian government. This is theonly oversea study item which has ever received special approval.
“Ambassador Nambia was great. A nice person like him is very hardto find. I’ll pray for him forever，” said Rizwan with deep admiration.
He eventually entered the Central Academy of Drama and studiedperforming arts with 26 Chinese students in a class in the Departmentof Acting. “I’m like their elder brother. I still keep in touch with themnow，” said Rizwan proudly.
Rizwan is a talented and unusually bright lad. He may be young，but he has many smart ideas. One year later， he came up with a newplan. He wanted to learn more at the Academy. He turned his eyes to22 0 the directing department. So he jumped to a third year directing classto study directing. Half year later， he again transferred to a newly establishedtelevision art department to study for another half a year. Intwo years’ time， he hopped three departments and studied three majorwith two years’ tuition. Even his classmates and teachers said withadmiration， “Almost no one is able to study three majors， let alone toaccomplish three majors in two years. You are the first one to do this atthe Central Academy of Drama. In 2002， Rizwan went back to India with his new bounty ofknowledge， planning to study for a PhD at Jawaharlal Nehru Universityin New Delhi， the capital of India. But five years of living in Chinahad left him a little unaccustomed to life in Delhi. Since he first lefthis country town at the age of 16 to attend senior high， university， andthen to study abroad in China， his eyes have obviously been openedwide. He is the only one in his family clan who has left home — letalone gone abroad — for school and not returned. As he grew older，his heart soared higher and higher. In his eyes， Delhi seems too smallfor him. Although he’s got many friends there， his heart seems to beheld by an invisible thread， pulled back to Beijing by a strong power.
According to regulations， all returned overseas students must stay inthe country at least for six months before going out again. Rizwanwaited patiently for his next trip.
Wandering Days in BeijingIn March 2003， Rizwan came to China， again to Beijing， hoping tofind a job here. Unfortunately， not long after his arrival， he encounteredan unprecedented disaster — SARS. Schools were closed. Office workersworked from home and became SOHO （Small office， Home office）
people. At this time， no company or enterprise hired new workers.
The SARS hit Rizwan as a terrible blow. For more than three months，he could find no job. The money he brought with him was nearly exhausted.
But the question of a job was still unsettled.
“Where were you living at the time? Did you rent a house?” I asked.
“Luckily， I had somewhere to live， at a friend’s place，” hegrinned， “at the foreign students’ dorms in Beijing Language and CulturalUniversity. “How clever you are！ There are plenty of empty beds and conditionsare good，” I praised him. I am familiar with the situation therebecause I used to study there.
Just when he was on the verge of being broke， someone provideda timely help and introduced a job to him. Through a friend’
s recommendation， he went to see a Canadian who was looking for aHindi speaker to help his company with Hindi mobile software testing.
At first he told Rizwan that it was only a two- or three-day joband the pay was 2，000 yuan， but in the end it took Rizwan more thantwo months. He not only had to translate， but also had to type Hindi.
He never typed Hindi before （even a good Hindi typist would need amonth to finish）。 Poor Rizwan had to study typing from the very beginning.