Saturday, July 10, 2010

A story of an extraordinary lady: Part I

Initially July was planned for me to pen-down a few stories about a lady named Aisyah. So, here is the first story; in which I believe, worth sharing with others. It is a story about a simple journey to becoming a lady.

She was born sometime in the mid 1930’s in a small family. The place was a town up north – Alor Setar. Back in those days, life was simple. Aisyah’s life, however, was not only simple but also blessed. She could still remember of being in an Aston Martin where her father used to drive her around the small town. Being the first daughter after two brothers perhaps was the reason for her being treated special.

Courtesy to Madle
After her mother gave birth to another daughter, things started to change. A young girl at a very tender age was about to bid goodbye to her father – and to the simple life. The sudden death of Aisyah’s father quickly impacted her family – her mother; widowed, had to re-marry.  Just after reaching the age of 5 (or could be 6), Aisyah and her siblings officially became orphans. Her mother follow suit the father, succumbed to an unknown illness.

As if life could ever be more tragic after losing both parents, the siblings were split and given over to others by her step father. At the age of 6, she was a ‘adopted’ to become a helper at a stranger’s home. Since then, every day this young girl had to rise before the sun, for an early walk to the sacred well – not for her daily bath, but to get water for the house she was working. After a year, the routine seemed very straight forward; get water, do laundry, cook meals and clean the house. On top of these, the young girl was also expected to help with rubber tapping and collecting rubber milk at her ‘master’ property.

While she was enslaved, the elder brothers could do nothing. Both had to leave, the eldest started working and the second had traveled down south, also to start earning his own leaving. Both had also quickly settled down by marrying their choice. There was no room for the little sisters in the brothers’ family.

Growing up was harsh for Aisyah. After five years, it was not getting easier or any better. She opted to run away. Despite being treated ‘unfairly’ by people surrounding her, she had never developed bad feelings or thoughts. God must have listened to every single prayer this young lady had. She soon found herself in a better proposition – a quiet fine looking gentleman named, MUSA.

At the age of 13, Aisyah married Musa. Another chapter of life began. (To be continued in Part II)

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Note: Children should be treated as children, with equal rights to live and learn; even when situation are seen to be extremely tough. That is the case of our present days. Most of us were still playing with dolls and toys at the age of 5-6. Even until the age of 15 to 16, one may not even know how to operate a kitchen stove.

The story above is a true reflection of only 2 generations before. In less than a century, it is not only the environment that changed significantly; also the culture and values of the people, which makes the story above beyond imagination and comprehension to many of us.

3 comments:

God, this is an excellent story. Good story telling. Nice structure. I love this. Link you.

TQ..Hope to see you when next part is out.

who is aisyah, dear? i want to know...

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