Inspiring Stories

Inspiring stories ini ditulis oleh my BFF, Jimmy , kisah hidup nenek kesayangannya yang ingin dikongsi bersama ......

susah payah perjalanan hidup, membesarkan anak-anak hingga menjadi insan berguna..semoga menjadi pedoman untuk kiter semua....


First off, let me set this straight. I am not easily impressed by anyone. Its not that I am perfect or anything but if I want to make a person my idol, I will really look into their values. Even the Al-Mighty says so:

"...Lo! The noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is the Knower, the Most Aware."

[The Chambers, 49:13)

So it happens that one of the person that I am impressed the most is my own grandmother. It is her way she conducts herself in her life. And how she teaches others to be person with good values. The other day, my parents invited over some old close friends to have a dinner at home. It was at that moment that i learned something valuable from her. She insisted that she wanted to cut the papaya! Yes, it is rather funny, but some significant history in the world are all coincidences! (Remember apple falling on the head of Sir Isaac Newton and then he got the idea of Gravity?)

It is not that there were not enough hands to do those work, but rather, she just wants to help. And in the same time, point out something. I was in front of her the whole time. She nearly slipped the glass plate on to the floor but managed to catch it. She took more time to wash and then peel off the papaya. Her hands were shaking because of the weight of the fruit and the knife. Yet, she did it at her own pace. Calls from my mother and my wife asking her to put it down and have a rest were ignored.

You see, my grandmother is rather unique. She was born in Malaya in 1939. Her father (my great grandfather) had two wives. One in Malaya and another in India as he travels to both places frequently. It happens that his wife in India had no children but had about 7 children through her wife in Malaya. So, they decided to send 2 to India. And the chosen one were my grandmother. So, she were brought up in India having very little memory about her birth mother.

She married at the age of 13 and got her first child at the age of 14. What separates my grandmother from the other women in our village in Panaikulam, India is that she has 7 girls! To the Indians, having a girl is already a big headache as they have to pay dowry when their daughter marries. To think that she managed to raise 7 girls and marry each of them is a feat no one can pull off. Despite this, she went to perform Hajj. She instilled discipline to her daughters and got the respect of her fellow neighbours. People wanted her children as bride because they respected her family. My grandmother had a hard time to match her children with 7 men. She made sure that her daughters are in the right hands. Even until now, she keeps notice on whats happening to her daughters.

And it doesnt stop there. she had this wonderful mindset of wanting her children to have a great life. She didnt mind when my father, after wedding my mother, straight away brought her back to Malaysia in 1974. She understood that life is hard and wants the best for her children. One by one of her children went to Malaysia. I don't think parents nowadays have this tremendous ability of letting go of their children. (My parents included..haha) Not just letting go to a new man, but to a totally new country!

She was there when her husband passed away in the 90s. And then decided to 'wear white'. It is a very ancient Hindu belief named 'vidava-vrata', a vow taken by a widow. The whole white sari will show that she is a widow and she will be pious and always remember God. She will never again wear diamonds, gold and pearl. Its the vow traditionally made by women after the death of their husbands. (Indian Muslims follow this tradition too)

To this day, nearly 15 years after the death of my grandfather, she still holds on to that. She reads Quran and kitabs. She try as much as she can to be at all functions which invites her. And take special attention to all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.She gives support and advice. Yes, at times she might over advice us. But that is her nature. She had gone through a lot and she just wants the best for us. She has experience.

When she speaks, its loaded with call to always remember God and never to skip prayers. Sometimes, she could not perform the prayers by standing, so she sits. She has back pains at times, and I advised her to not sujud, but she insist that we only sujud to Allah in prayers and that a Muslim must sujud no matter what, because that is the only difference between human and syaitan.

When I opened an investment account for me and my wife, she applauded it and asked me to spent money carefully and keep saving. She specifically said that whatever money I am getting now is not for myself but for the future generation. That I must always help the others, especially other family members who are not fortunate enough as us.

I can keep on going on and on. It just shows how much respect i have for her and how much she had influenced my life. It is in the small things that she teaches me about values.

She finished cutting the papayas and she said, 'Look at these hands, the amount of work it has done before was tremendous, but it shakes when i want to cut a fruit?'. No one replied. Yes, it was not perfect. My mother complained that the pieces were too big and my wife had to improvise her cutting. But she still triumphed in her own way to show to us that at whatever age and experience we have, we shall never stop working hard. Sometimes, we know we will fail, but hard work will get us somewhere.

Grandma, I am truly impressed.

I tought you will teach us to live, but you lived to teach us.



For that, I love you.

My grandma.
Me and my wife.
And our nephew and nieces.