Friendly birds

Friendly birds or maybe I am friendly to the birds. 'Gembala kerbau' is the name of a species of a bird in the malay language. My apologies for not knowing the name of that bird in the english language. These birds are mostly found near rice paddy fields. The buffalo is their favourite hound. 'Gembala kerbau' literally means buffalo shepherd. Their size is between that of a sparrow and a pigeon. Dark greyish feathers with a small black strip on their head.....During my college days, every morning the birds would come to feed on my room window ledge. I would keep leftovers for them. After sometime I noticed from the group of birds, one particular bird would stay behind. To my surprise it too would the first to emerge on the ledge every morning chirping as if it was greeting me. This went on for quite sometime and we soon became friends. I fed the bird any leftovers but if I have none I would give it biscuits or cornflakes or oats, my cereals. As I prepared to go to class the bird, hopping on the ledge would chirp merrily, and I talked to it. One morning my next room neighbour came to my room. She was curious and asked me who was I talking to in the mornings. I told her to look outside and I introduced her to my little bird friend. She was so amused.......After graduating I went back to stay with my parents. There I made friends with 'Togel' a name I gave to a bird. Togel means hairless, this bird had no feathers on its head. Togel would not join the other birds maybe because it is the odd one and felt different. Togel never went far from the window ledge of my kitchen. Togel was tame that it ate from my hand. I told Togel, 'you can stay on the ledge provided you do not dirty it with your shit.'.Believe me if I say that cute little bird understood. Togel slept on the ledge. For Togel's comfort I placed a small basket with  cloth remnants. .....Now I still feed the birds. Bread, rice, biscuits leftovers from the kitchen. In the morning, from the balcony scattering the leftovers onto the rooftop, I would call out to the birds, 'breakfast, breakfast, breakfast, come on breakfast breakfast.' Pigeons, sparrows, very few crows, a couple of small yellow birds and the 'gembala kerbau' nesting in the trees in the vicinity flies down to feed. I told them what I told Togel, 'I feed all of you birds, do not dirty my place.' My balcony is clean of their shit!.........I still talk to the birds.

Kuliah Di Masjid TAR, Ampang..21 hb September 2012.

Kuliah di sampaikan olih uztaz Syed Salleh Al Jefri dari Solo, Indonesia. Seperti biasa kuliah di mulakan dengan doa. Saya agak lewat sepuluh minit dari waktu yang ditetapkan kuliah bermula. Alhamdulillah di masjid ini ramai jemaah yang hadir untuk pengajian yang di sampaikan olih beberapa uztaz yang berwibawa dan amat amat dalam ilmu agamanya. Uztaz membuka tajuk hari itu dengan kata kata, 'Allah amat amat menyayangi kita, hambaNya. Bukti Dia menyayangi hambaNya adalah Dia memberi segala nikmat di dunia. NIkmat yang banyak tiada terhitung. Contohnya mata. Di mata sahaja tidak dapat kita membayangkan nikmat yang dapat kita perolehi. Dengan mata kita dapat melihat wajah ibu ayah yang menyayangi kita. Dengan mata juga dapat kita mengenal keindahan alam dengan segala warna , bentuk berbagai rupa. Makanan dan minuman yang memberi kita tenaga untuk menjalani seharian kita. Dari situ Allah jadikan susu agar ibu dapat menyusu bayi bayi mereka. Susu yang lengkap dengan gizi, antibodi yang membantu tumbesaran sihat setiap bayi. Dengan penyusuan itu juga membuah ikatan kasih antara ibu dan anak yang lebih kukuh. Setiap ibu akan mengatakan menyusu bayi mereka itu juga adalah satu nikmat...Tapi ada kala perkara yang sangat kita inginkan tidak di beri Allah kepada kita atas sifat kasihNya. Sebab Dia maha mengetahui perkara itu bahaya buat kita. Mari kita teliti akan hal berikut. Seorang anak kecil terlihat sebilah pisau dimana anak kecil itu pernah melihat ibunya memotong sayur. Di dalam minda anak kecil itu dia ingin meniru perbuatan ibunya. Lalu diambil pisau itu dan segenggam pucuk pucuk daun yang di petik di laman. Anak tadi memotong motong daun daun dengan gembira. Anak kecil itu tidak tahu yang perbuatannya itu akan membawa padah . Ibu pada anak kecil itu telah nampak. Lumrah Ibu akan menjaga anaknya dari bahaya. Dengan perlahan ibu itu menghampiri anaknya dari belakang agar anaknya tidak terkejut. Dengan teliti ibu itu mengambil pisau tadi dari tangan anaknya. Anak terus menangis minta dipulangkan pisau itu. Tapi adakah ibu itu memberi walaupun anaknya menangis? Ya, tidak, ibu itu tidak memberi pisau kembali pada anaknya sebab dia tahu pisau ditangan anaknya akan membawa bencana pada anaknya. Ibu  bertindak demikian atas dasar kasihnya pada anaknya. Begitu juga Allah. Dia tidak menunaikan sebahagian keinginan dan kemahuaan hambaNya sebab Dia sayang pada hamba hambaNya. Allah tidak mahu hambaNya kelak mendapat bahaya Kalau pisau itu mainan anak kecil itu, permainan hamba yang dewasa adalah pekerjaan, harta benda, wang ringgit, pangkat,anak, isteri, suami, kebun, ladang, emas permata, kenderaan, binatang tunggangan.............Pada zaman Rasulullah s.a.w. berlaku peperangan. Terdapat beberapa buah khemah di kawasan berlakunya perang. Di dalam satu antara khemah itu seorang ibu dan bayinya. Dalam gopoh ibu hendak melarikan diri dia mencapai selimut di sebelah dirinya terus lari semahu mahu kakinya dapat berlari. Setiba di sebuah kawasan yang selamat alangkah terkejut ibu bila mendapati bungkusan selimut itu tiada bayinya. Ibu itu meraung menangis sekuat kuat hatinya sebab dia percaya bayinya pasti mati di henyak kaki kaki kuda yang ditunggangi. Selesai perang Rasulullah s.a.w. telah memeriksa setiap khemah dan baginda menjumpai bayi itu. Baginda telah mengambil bayi itu. Dengan bayi itu dalam pelukan, Rasulullah s.a.w.telah bertanya adakah sesiapa yang kehilangan bayi. Sahabat sahabat Nabi  memandang antara satu sama lain mengelengkan kepala. Ibu tadi yang jauh di belakang telah dengar laungan suara Nabi. Ibu itu terus berlari kehadapan sambil berteriak, mungkin bayi itu bayi dia. Setiba dia di kelompok sahabat sahabat Nabi ditolaknya mereka ketepi supaya dia dapat melihat bayi yang dalam pelukan Rasulullah.s.a.w. Didapati bayi itu adalah anaknya yang disangka sudah mati. Ibu itu mendapatkan bayinya, terisak isak ibu itu mendakap mencium bayinya sepuas hati. Semua yang ada di situ amat terharu dan hiba. Ada yang menitiskan airmata. Rasulullah s.a.w. berkata, fahamilah wahai sahabat sahabatKu bahawa kasih Allah pada hambaNya 700kali lipat ganda dari kasih ibu itu pada bayinya............Bersangka baik pada Allah dan jangan sekali bersangka buruk pada Allah.

We need a toys-box

After the picture book Nadiah and I did together, we embarked on another project. I believed getting my daughter involved in these crafts projects would enhance her intelligence. The step by step process of finishing the craft is an excellent learning stage for her. This time we did a box to accommodate her growing collection of toys. I made certain her toys were educational toys, those of 'playschool', 'fisher price', lego, lasy and many other building blocks and so forth. I also made 'batu serenban' for her to play, a traditional game which trains one's coordination skills. One needs to be fast with one's eyes, fingers and hands. 'Batu serenban', can be played with small pebbles but often it is made from pieces of cloth sewn into a pyramid shape. The small pyramid pouches are filled with tiny beans. The game comes in a set of five or seven small pyramid pouches. When Nadiah attended primary school she had me made the 'batu serenban' for her friends. I am off track. I am suppose to be writing about the toys-box. This time I used a washing machine box. A rectangular box about two feet in width and three feet in length. I cut it to the height of two feet. The box was wrapped with multilayers of thick brown papers. The reason for doing so is to give the box additional strength making it strong and sturdy. My daughter had the task of pasting cut pictures round the outer side of the box. She was happy to have a big box of her own to keep her toys. I am much happier because there is less mess around the house. Sometimes Nadiah would empty the box,climbed into it making it her castle. Children and their imagination never fail to amaze oneself. We placed the box in the living room and it became a conversation piece.

My First Picture Book

I collected a few used cardboard boxes. I would take those boxes from a sundry shop near my house. I had a project in mind. I wanted to make a picture book for Nadiah, my first born. Nadiah was about two years then. I thought a self made picture book would be an interesting craft to do. Besides that Nadiah would learn objects from the picture book. Together both Nadiah and me browsed through magazines cutting pictures for our craft. We picked pictures that are simple which Nadiah can easily identify. The boxes were cut into pieces of approximately nine inches on each side, making almost perfect squares. The cut pieces were then wrapped with brown papers. Once wrapped they were ready to have the cut pictures pasted onto. Nadiah helped with her deft fingers. Of course I did most of the job with her making all the mess. We managed to paste the pictures on both sides of ten pieces of squares. The almost done self made picture book were bound together. Using a thick needle and embroidery thread I sewed the pieces together. My daughter watched attentively. She shrieked with delight once she realized that her picture book was completed. Well almost completed, holding a red crayon in her hands I guided her to write on the front page 'My first Picture Book'. When Nadiah could write she wrote her name on the cover. Later, much later, when Nasihah, my third daughter learned to write, she canceled her older sister's name and wrote her name. The picture book is still with us and holds its place proudly among the many books that we have collected along the years.

I remember those eyes.

I was cradling my new born baby, not yet a day old, my third daughter when I heard  from a distance, chattering of a child. It was visiting hours in the hospital. They were voices I recognize very well. She was holding her grandma's, my mother's hand. My eldest was walking next to them, herself only a week away to turning six. In my second child's hand was her rag doll which  I named Ofi. The rag doll was mine. A dear friend gave it to me when I was in college. Ofi is older than her and she still has Ofi. Now Ofi keeps her warm in college. Yes, she is now in university pursuing a Law degree.
Nafisah had just turned two years old when I presented her with a little sister. Months before that we pondered on the names for the unborn baby. Nadiah my first born decided on the name Nasihah. Eager as she was to see her little sister, Nafisah was quite hesitant not knowing what to expect. As she approached I saw those eyes, huge, round, black, inquisitive. The image so vivid until now. Nafisah was wearing a pink plain and checked three tier dress. Same color as Ofi's. Bubblegummers shoes with lace white socks. Her  straight hair was kept in the china doll style. The fringes was just above her eyes covering her eyebrows. She looked like a doll herself. Her round black eyes eyed the moving bundle in my arms. Her curious eyes locked on Nasihah. She slowly moved forward and touched her little sister. It was a sight to behold. Then all the questions flowed from her, why is the baby this, why is the baby that, why does the baby do that, why does the baby do this, why does the baby cry???????..she had so many questions and insisted on the answers. There I was, still tired after childbirth entertaining her with the answers. Nafisah's growing years are full with questions, a very inquisitive child. A very intelligent child.
Those eyes, lovely eyes. God bestowed her a pair of beautiful eyes. There are moments in your childrens' life that stays with you. Mine are many. With Nafisah, when I see her, her eyes, I remember that evening when she came to visit her baby sister and me at the hospital. The rag doll in her hand, the other holding her grandma....

September

September. What does the month September brings to you? Good memories? Bad memories? I had my share of good memories. The best that has had happened was when I started my restaurant. I would say that day the 1st of September 2001 was when I made the 'Hijrah'. Stepping into a better opportunity, a new  experience. I considered it a brave bold decision. I wanted to do it, not trying one will never know if one is capable or not. I am glad I did what I did. I was a homemaker, I never had any experience in either running a  business nor an office job. I made the 'Hijrah' because I believed I will have the strongest support from The Almighty. I still have HIS support.

I was restless as the day approached and I had sleepless nights. The anxiety was at its optimum. The day came and I managed. I actually managed to operate a restaurant, I did it! There were problems along the way but gradually everything settled and fell into place. Although to others this may seem like a small feat but I deserve a standing ovation...Clap Clap Clap

Not forgetting my daughters who patiently wait for me to come home to give me their big bear hugs, the restaurant is for you.