Wednesday, September 30, 2009

.: Tales of innocence :.


Lesson 2.

It was drizzling. I turned to one of the corner shops, hoping to buy an umbrella. There were 2 little girls, aged about 6 and 9 manning the counter.

I scrutinized the shop, found the umbrella and went to pay. The 9-year old called for her grandmother, whilst the 6-year old played with the rainwater that was dripping down the gutters.

I smiled at her and said, “Xiao meimei, bu yao wanr.” [Little sister, don’t play.]. She just smiled at me, laughed and continued playing.

Few moments later, the grandmother came, smiled and gave my change. Her expression changed instantly when she saw the 6-year old. The little girl was already skipping from puddle to puddle, twirling around in the rain.

Grandmother :: “Xiayu le! Bu yao wanr!” [It’s raining. Don’t play with the rain!]

The 9-year old appeared from the back with a towel, and gently dried her little sister’s hair and partially drenched dress. She had an anxious look on her face. On the other hand, her little sister continued giggling and tried dragging her older sister to the rain.

... ~ ...

Over here, I recall seeing parents losing their patience over their kids by scolding, screaming even spanking them, or they will just allow their kids to do whatever. Those incidents happened there too.

In spite of this, at this little shop, I saw a 9-year old and a 60+ year old, both sharing the equal amount of patience, calmly advising the little one again and again; not even once raising their voice or lifting a single finger.

It is another rainy day.
9.45am Malaysian Time

6 comments:

Ms.Unique said...

Awwww such a sweet story this one :) .... Children learn from there elders right?

Unknown said...

Assalamualaikum Hajar.
Nice story to reflect oneself in parenting skills.

Irving said...

A very sweet story :) And I just received your card, thank you so much :)

Ya Haqq!

Anonymous said...

Slm.THANK YOU so much,i recievd ur card.your english is so good,do al malaysians speak english?wat language do u speak at home,work and school? Lots of love,and duas-from:sister in south africa.

Jeanne-ming Brantingham said...

Hajar,
This is a beautiful observation. Your describe it well. I can even smell the rain.

Hajar Alwi said...

Ms.Unique :: They do. And we 'adults', should learn from them too. :)

Kakchik :: Wa'alaikum'as'salam. Yes. Sometimes I wonder, if parents are able to hurt their kids ... why do they bother having kids in the first place? ...

Irving :: Thanks. ^^ Alhamdulillah! You are most welcome brother Irving.

Anonymous :: Wa'salam. I assume this is Mrs. Abdussamad? I'm glad it reached you. I never sent anything to South Africa before.

You're too kind sis. Most Malaysians are able to speak decent English. I actually speak a mixture of English, Malay, Chinese and Japanese.

Hugs and du'as from me too. :)

Jeanne-ming :: Thank you. I guess, this is one way of 'preserving' the memories. :)