Let Us Sit Down and Believe For A While: Sr. Anam - Poem

This is one of the most beautiful poems I've seen. Take your time to read it.
Re-reading brings in more meanings than the first time reading.

Let Us Sit Down and Believe For A While: Sr. Anam

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Small Step, Big Leap

"Umma, look at this photo, its the corn field in the farm." I was browsing through the photos we took from a farm in Khorfukkan, and I called my mom when I reached this photo. The farm belonged to our neighbors when we were in Fujairah. They are also from Kerala, India. "Its their own farm, taken on contract for 5 years. Its around Dirhams ( currency of UAE) 2,00,000 for five years." I explained.
"How much land is it?" Umma asked.
"Oh! I forgot to ask that!"
I really have forgotten about the area of land. It wasn't much, not as much as we had around our home. But there was corn, tomatoes, cabbages, cucumber, mint, mangoes, mulberries, datepalms and many other grasses which are given as food for animals. and there was also goats, hens and a cat... pussy cat :).
"Do you know how Jaleel-ka got this farm?" Umma asked me.
Well, I haven't tried to get into details of the history of Jaleel. Jaleel was our neighbor in Fujairah, now the owner of that farm. Well, the -ka means brother in Malayalam, usually we add it when we address males elder than us, and a -tha when we address females elder than us. The -tha means sister. Jaleel's wife was Husna, and we called her Husna-tha. Plus four boys, and their family became a big happy family!
Jaleel and Husna have been our neighbors for about 10+ years, and they are still there in Fujairah. Umma and Baba( my dad) settled in our homecountry, India, when Baba got retired from his job. That was around 4 or 5 years ago. I came here after my marriage two years ago,
"He was a poor fellow when he came to Fujairah some 20 years back," said Umma, "and a very careless fellow. Never went for any job, and if he got some money from anybody, just went to play cards."
"Then how did he become the owner of the farm?" asked Nawaz, my brother, who was also with us, listening to the story. To own a farm for 5 years he needed Dirhams 2,00,000!
"One night, he was playing cards with his friends, when suddenly, the police appeared," Umma paused, "there were 29 of them, playing cards."
"Then?"
"Police saw all of them and caught them, except Jaleel-ka. He acted as he was sleeping. The police kicked him two or three times, left him there when there was no response from him and went to station with the rest of the 28 fellows."
Playing cards is not an offense in most places, but it is against the laws in middle-east. Especially when cash is included in the game. You can be sure of a few months or years in prison.
Umma continued with the story.
"When he was sure the police have gone, he got up. The next day, he went to the station and inquired how to free his friends. The head of the station demanded Dirhams 28,000, thousand for each of them. Jaleel-ka came out of the station, and started begging. He asked for money from everyone he saw on his way, regardless of their nationality, religion or anything. He got Dirhams 38,000."
Hmm.... Cool guy, I thought.
"He went to the station, freed his friends and started business with the rest of his money - the 10,000."
"Well, do you know his qualification?" I asked.
"Not more than 2nd grade. And Husna-tha is a fifth grade pass out." Umma replied. "But she is a woman with strong will power. She took license and now she does major of the household activities, while Jaleel-ka runs his business." Umma continued. "He started a vegetable shop and then, with his hard work and determination, it grew into a big vegetable business. Now, to get fresh vegetables into the market, he started this farm also."
Isn't that a great work? A small step from the ditch to a big leap into the business world.
Here comes the snaps from his farm:
The mango tree with lots of flowers on it.
and Husna has been calling me to their home ever since. I kept nagging my hubby asking him to take me to Fujairah, until he agreed and we all - me, hubby, hubby's brother, hubby's sis, her hubby, their daughter and hubby's cousin went for the Fujairah trip. Our plan was to go to Khorfukkan beach, but when we reached our neighbors home, we changed the plan and decided to go to their farm so that Neha(one year old hubby's niece) could see some animals. That was how we got the photos of the farm.The tiny mangoes on a branch.
Hubby's niece in the cucumber section.
Notice the cucumber on the plant.
Neha near the grass farm.
The cabbage farm.
The water for the farm is pumped from a well into this pond.It is then made to flow into the canal which takes the water to different parts of the farm.

Tagged!!!

Thanks a lot sis, for your comment, American Muslima Writer

The Rules
1. On your blog, post the Rules & Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post
4. Post 10 things you have HOPE for in your life.
5. Tag six more blogs with links

6. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to tag others!

Memoir:


Silent Princess with Thoughts Clearly Loud.

I hope:

1. World become a better place to live in

2. People have less problems when it comes to food, shelter, religion and education.

3. Women be more respected.

4. I become a better muslim girl.

5. My family, friends and relatives have a happy life.

6. I have a good family with lots of kids.

7. I educate and upbring the kids and make them good Muslims who strive for the betterment of the world.

8. I get a good job where I can put my capabilities for the well being of the society.

9. I get a low rent apartment in Dubai, Deira, AED 25,000 PA for a 2 bedroom hall (impossible??!!). ;)

10.Last but not the least, I die as a good Muslim with Shahada as the last words on my tongue.


TAGGED:
Stranger in this Dunya
Myriad of Ideas
...the insights...
Passionate Burning
Climbing Walls
Shahrazad

Mirror and friends

Mirror and friend - what do they have in common? There is a proverb in malayalam - If you got a friend indeed, then you won't get a mirror, in need. Well, I sometimes wonders why those old people put it with mirror and friend, they could have put something better than mirror for a friend - like eyes, hands, legs, tongue, etc. These thoughts come into my mind usually on the saturdays or sundays that comes after an exam, during my college life, when you sit simply and have nothing to do. Those days are really boring, you have got know exams, assignments, homeworks - nothing to do, until the next semester commences. Then you wish if you had those nothing-to-do weekends back! Thats what I said in my second post - you wish everything were here if there is nothing, and when you get it, you wish it was gone! Human mind!
It was on one of those nothing-to-do days when one of us wanted to have a mirror in our apartment. There were nine of us - all girls, doing our graduation and staying together in an apartment. Most of us had small mirrors with us, but that was not enough, especially while dressing, to get a full view. So we thought about it and decided to buy a big mirror, if and only if our budget allowed it. We started spending less on our mobiles, snacks, cool drinks - and everything we thought unnecessary. We wanted to have an elegant looking mirror in our room. We went to different furniture shops to find out the best in quality and cost. At last we found one, and bought it home.
I am a person who doesn't care much about my looks. I don't use the mirror except for combing my hair, and while combing I concentrate only on the hair. The hair done, I turn away from the mirror. I don't usually use creams on my face, or kajal in my eyes or any other cosmetics, except some Vaselineor a lotion of rose water and glycerine on dry and windy days. I find some of my friends standing hours infront of the mirror, applying creams on their face, combing their hair, giving the final touches to their scarf or hijab, pinning their shalls, and what not! But I never thought a mirror necessary for these activities. I do most of it without a mirror.

Well, there I was living peacefully and happily, when they ( including me) bought the mirror and found the place near my bed to keep it. It was at the foot of my bed, and so while lying in my bed, I was able to see myself in full view. Whack! What a boring scene, to look at your face all day! At first I found it difficult, to see myself laughing, giggling, crying and shouting all the day. But then I got used to it, and started looking more into the mirror to see myself more. And thats how the problem started.
One fine morning, when I was looking at myself into the mirror, I noticed a dark spot on my face. I went closer to the mirror, and there it was - a dark color under my eyes, on my cheeks. I called Sumi, my roommate and showed her the spot. But she didn't notice anything new in it at all!
"Oh, that was there all time. And its not that dark to be noticed!" she said.
I was angry with her for not giving me any proper explanation or advice.
"Sumi, tell me the name of something to apply on my face to make that spot disappear." I begged her.
"Ok, if you insist, I'll give you a cream. Apply it at night, before going to bed." She said." But I assure you, there is nothing to worry about it."
I wasn't assured with her words, and so I started using the cream. I didn't notice any changes for the first one week. I decided to change the cream if it didn't show any effect after applying for one more week. After two weeks, on one morning, when I looked myself in the mirror, I was shocked. The dark spot has widened and become darker! I called Sumi, and asked her what to do. She sat by my side.
"Hey, Najee, I have told you already that there is nothing to worry about those dark spots. But you didn't listen to me. Now, after applying the cream, you have become fairer, and so the dark spot darker and wider. Please understand that. There was no dark spot on your skin. But when you keep looking into the mirror, you keep looking expecting to see some thing on your face, and then you imagine that there is something. That's all."
I didnot think she was right, but I had to promise her not to look too much into the mirror, and not to use any creams on my face. I turned my bed away from the mirror. Now that I couldnot look into the mirror for a long time, I forgot about the spot. I stood infront of the mirror only for doing my hair.
Now, I have got no time to watch myself in the mirror, with the duties of a housewife. And so the dark spot has never become a problem. But I learned that friendship is better than a mirror at hand - may be better than our hand, legs, eyes etc. I don't know about that :) !

My Wonderland

I don't think many of you have heard the place Kerala, the farthest tip of India, floating above the Arabian Sea. The majority of Keralites (or Malayalees, as their mother tongue is Malayalam) follow the Hindu religion and hmmm... I don't know if muslims or christians come second. I live in a small village in Kerala, by the side of (my) river, Thutha.

Now in dubai, I sometimes feel running away from this traffic, ambulance sirens and lots of people, to that quite kingdom of mine. There are about 300 houses belonging to our same family - so anyone you meet on the street gets to be your cousin, uncle or aunt! There are no houses without farms, where they grow bananas, coconut palms, mango trees and so many others of which I don't know the English names.Hmmm.....did u see my brothers and cousins? Evening brings all of them to our compound, along with a cricket bat or football and a lot of noise! Its the time for Umma(my mom) to shout at them for messing with her plants, for Baba(my dad) to shout at them for breaking the glasses of his car, for sis-in-law to shout at her kid for not obeying her! Plus the shout of the playing team!
And here is my nephew(now in Ohio) - a small man with big aims!!
Coming back to my village, its in a remote place of Kerala. I wouldn't have been blogging here, if my Baba never got his job in UAE. There were only three of us in our village who has passed the high school exam the year I passed the exam! One of the other two is now a teacher in a local school in my village. Don't know about the third. But now, the conditions has changed a lot, and there are so many students doing graduation and post graduation. What I love most about Moorkanad is the river that flows through it. During the rainy season, I just like to sit and watch the overflowing river, with trunks of trees, coconuts, banana trees and bamboo floating on it. 

And when rain stops, kids get out of their homes with fishing rods - and our dining tables will be filled with freshwater fishes! I too have gone fishing when I was a kid, but without much success. I and my brothers were looked upon as some sort of expatriates in our village - as we didn't know fishing, swimming and many games they played. My family returned back from UAE when my younger brother was some 10 years old, and has lived in Moorkanad since then. As he lived near the river for some years, my younger brother has his "masters" in fishing and swimming! He can catch a fish without a fishing rod - he keeps his hand motionless in water, and catches a fish when it comes close to his hand. Wow!! Marvelous that was!
Its June now, and as I said in my earlier post, After School Days, school and rain starts with June. In the local TV channels, you can see the ads of umbrellas along with that of school bags, books, pencils, pens and other school items. Its a beautiful scene to see kids around 4 or 5 years old go to school with multi-colored umbrellas and new uniforms.

I was one of them some 20 years back. But not with new umbrella! I went to UKG in Fujaira, UAE. On a sunny April morning. So umbrella was one of the things I missed when I lived in UAE. There are many things I missed with my life in UAE - the lullabies of my grandparents, the long night secret chat with cousins and many more. There are also so many things I gained - good education, understanding of multi-culture and yeah, the curiosity to know how people from other countries lives, thinks, acts, ...

Ok...back to the rains now. I love the view of mother earth just after the rain. With tiny droplets of water on the leaves and flowers, shining with the new sun that comes after the dark, cloudy monsoon days.
You can see small tips of grasses popping out from the ground. Birds in search of food after the hungry, cold, rainy days. The insects that come out of the mud after their pupa life. Forgs and lizards waiting their turn to catch these insects for dinner. There are many post-rain sights.


In this lonely apartments in Dubai, what I miss most is my village. We don't have much visitors here, and we don't visit others much. Its same in Dubai, as well we my in-laws home. But in our home, we always have visitors. One reason for so much visitors is that Baba has difficulty in walking, and so he cannot go out to visit others. He has also got so many friends. Friends and relatives always come to visit him. So in Dubai, I feel very lonely, when hubby go to work. He leaves at 8, and comes around 5:30. I tried for a job , but I think Allah hasn't kept one for me, at least not till today. I sometimes feel very depressed, 'coz I am not able to put my knowledge or abilities into some use outside my home. Thats when the thought of Moorkanad brings a smile in me, as Wordsworth says:

 

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

 

They were not me.

I heard them shout,
To kill the Muslims.
And I heard the cries for help.
As I was not a muslim,
I slipped into the comforts my home.

Again I heard them next street,
This time to kill the Hindus.
I was glad that I was not a Hindu,
And so I increased the volume,
Of Britney Spears songs.

I then heard them in my street,
With shouts to kill Jews.
I turned on my shower,
And the cries for help
Dissolved in the sound of water.

They now came to my neighbor,
Now asking to kill Christians.
I was not a Christian,
And so I sat in my deewan,
To complete my Mario Puzo novel.

I heard them on my door,
Shouting to kill me now.
I cried aloud for help,
But no one came, this time,
For they were not me,
And every had their own comforts.

The Dog at Aunt's Home

“Hey, you have got a dog in your house!”

It was my brother Nawaz. I turned around to see a dog in the kitchen garden, looking at Nawaz, with its innocent eyes. There is nothing special in having a dog in our house for many of us, but it is not the case in an orthodox Muslim family in many parts of Kerala, who considered dogs as untouchables, and have to bath 7 times if we touch one! We were at our uncle’s house, who was a Muslim scholar and the Principal of an Islamic University. So, it was unusual to find a dog in his house.

“Where did you buy it?”

“From Perinthalmanna” Aunty replied, but I understood she was just joking and they haven’t bought the dog. Uncle was not a person who spends money on anything like that, not at all on dogs!

“Is it your neighbors’?” asked Nawaz.

“No, ours. I told you” replied my cousin.

But it was difficult for us to believe it. A dog in their house? As usual, we were also taught that touching dogs was Haram, and we should bath seven times, once with mud, if we touch one. So noway people just bringing a dog home and bathing 7 times daily – suppose the dog touch you more than once? Multiples of 7 began revolving around my head.

“Ok, aunt, be serious” Nasweef, also my brother, who was quite until now, started losing his patience. “Where did you get that dog?”

“Okay, I’ll tell you.” She showed us a basin half filled with water in her kitchen garden.

“I pour a little of water in it everyday, for my hens to drink from it. But now, there are many animals that drink from it. The cats come, squirrels come, my hens, birds and sometimes some small insects. One day there was this dog drinking from that basin.”

I looked at the dog carefully. It was cream in color with some brown patches, and I don’t know to which breed it belonged to, as the only dog breeds I know is the Pomeranian (cute ones) and the Pug (the one in Vodafone advertisements!). It had a belt around it’s neck!

“Seems he is a pet dog coming from some family. What do you give him to eat?”

I inquired.

“Nothing” replied aunt, “It gets enough to eat from that butcher shop down street. All it needs is the water in the basin. One day I forgot to keep the water in the basin. It came to the kitchen door and looked at all of us for sometime, went away, came back again, put it’s tongue outside and stood there sometime. It repeated this for sometime and it was only then I remembered to pour water in the basin.”

Wow! What a good dog!

“Looks smart” said Nasweef, gazing the dog.

“It is”, my cousin approved. “When one of our chickens died, it did not allow us to bury the chicken. It carried the chicken wherever it went, kept it on the ground and barked two or three times as if to wake the chicken from a long sleep. When it slept, it kept the chick near it’s head. It sat beside the chicken for a long time, until the ants came and made it impossible for the dog to touch the chicken.”

“Well, a dog of noble birth” commented Nawaz.

“But her puppies doesn’t have her qualities” continued my cousin, “Our neighbors took her puppies as pets. But none shows her decency and nobleness.”

“Well, may be the puppies inherited from their father.”

The three of us gathered around the dog to have a closer look. Beautiful ears, commented Nawaz. Cute tail was what Nasweef noted. Well, altogether she was really beautiful. Good to keep it as a pet.

“She is very fond of Uncle. Whenever he goes out, sometimes to mosque for prayer, she follows him. He tries to get rid of her, but she follows him, waits until he finishes his prayer, and follows him back.”

Such a big gratitude for the drops of water she drinks from the basin! I think animals have more “humanity” than humans!

“But what do you do if she touches you? You have to bath 7 times!” It was Nawaz who put the matter into discussion.

“You don’t have to bath 7 times if a dog touches you” Aunty explained, “only wash the part of anything where its saliva has come into contact.”

“You mean you don’t have to bath? But that was not what we were taught.”

“Yeah, even I was taught like that. But we never try to learn what the Hadith or scholars really says. We just follow what our local Imams say. And many of them don’t know much about Islam – or they haven’t learned any. That is why Islam is always the misunderstood religion.”

That was a new knowledge to me. I liked dogs very much, especially the Pomeranian - I badly wanted one. But I didn’t want to bath 7*x times daily.

“She looks after our hens when they go out of our compound,” aunt continued, referring the dog. “At first I tried to get rid of her thinking that she will kill my hens. But she was very caring. She never eats anything from here, not even our waste, until we give it to her.”

“And she never fights with the cats or kittens here, as you see in the Tom and Jerry movies” said my cousin. “And the funniest part is he never barks at well dressed strangers, but barks when he sees people like beggars!”

Hmmm….. What to say about such a good dog?

Well, we returned from their house talking about the dog. All of us wanted to have a dog like that! I wanted a cute Pomeranian, with all the said qualities of this dog. But when we reached our home, and into the busy life of it, we forgot all about the dog, until one day when aunty called.

It was Nawaz who answered the phone.

“Hows your dog doing”, was his first question, even before the usual greetings. My mom started to scold him, asking him if that is the way to answer a phone.

“Brilliant” said aunty.

“Yesterday, it saved Neda.”

Neda was her one year old grandchild, who taking her first steps towards walking.

“Saved Neda? How?” saked Nawaz.

“In the afternoon, the dog started barking from our kitchen garden. I opened the door, and it ran inside.”

Dogs are not allowed inside our homes.

“Uncle became very angry for allowing it inside, and started scolding me. But the dog ran straight to the bathroom, while I followed. In the bathroom, I saw Neda drowning in the bathtub, which was filled with water. I took her out immediately, and went to the clinic opposite the road. Thanks to God, it seemed she has only just fallen into the tub when we saw her.”

“But how did the dog in the kitchen garden knew Neda had fallen into the tub in the bathroom? The garden and bathroom are far away!”

“Well, that is what surprises us all. No explanation for that!”