Memories – Page 2

Oct 16, 2017

Traditions and festivities

AgalVilakku_DuaSenkuStamp — Source: *Duasenku.com*

Last week, I took a drive downtown into Masjid India, in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. In what has now become an annual ritual around the weeks before Deepavali, I brought my parents out to do some shopping. Yes, the annual Deepavali shopping. The shopping trip that almost all in the family looks forward toward, except, perhaps the one who is funding the trip. The trip with my parents, brought back old memories of similar trips with my mother and myself and later on, with my brother, to outlets such as Globe Silk Store and Tangs located just outside of Masjid India, along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.

Back then, my mum, brother and I, would board the bus in the morning heading to Globe Silk Store. We would first go into Globe Silk Store and then Tangs, located a shop or two away, sifting through shirts and pants, finding one set that we liked and more importantly of the right size and within the budget. After spending a significant amount of time, we would finally make our choice. During that time, mum would pick a set for our father.

Once we were done, it was time to follow mum to the various textile shops that sold materials as well as sarees. Mum would painstakingly go through the material over a few shops. After spending considerable amount of time at each of them and looking into what is left of the shopping budget, she would make her purchase. Then, depending on how much was left, we would get some savouries, to mark the conclusion of the shopping trip, before heading home by bus.

Aside from shopping, the other major preparation was the making of traditional savouries. My mother, in cooperation with some ladies in the neighbourhood would get together after lunch, to make different types of savouries and complete them by dinner time. Different savouries would be made on different days.

My brother and I contributed to these activities too when we were not away at school. Our official role, was to assist with bringing over the raw materials when the ladies were comfortably seated by the stove, washing of the utensils and later on, arranging the savouries into the designated containers as well as the post-cooking cleaning.

Then, there was our unofficial role as the food taster. Unofficial, because none of the elders were aware of such a role. Food tasting would be done stealthily by first removing the said artifact to a secret location and then savouring it before being caught red-handed. One of my fondest memory of this part of the preparation was that try as hard as I may, I never could locate the savoury filled container, once it is hidden away, until the day of Deepavali. I never quite figured out how my mother managed to hide it, in a little house, even till today.

The final days before Deepavali, would then be filled with the annual spring cleaning. Curtains would be brought down and washed, while a fresh set would be hung up. Cushion covers and bedding would be removed and washed, while fresh sets would be put in place. Fan and lights would be dusted and wiped. Cobwebs would be cleared. The floor would be swept, scrubbed and then mopped. Every single surface and corner that we can lay our hands on would be cleaned. Late nights were the norm. With lack of sleep and sheer exhaustion, tempers tend to flare before cool heads prevailed.

The eve of Deepavali was typically spent with all of us glued to the t.v. screen after a hearty dinner. The few available t.v. stations would play the latest Tamil movies for our viewing pleasure, helping us usher in Deepavali. As typical Tamil movies goes and adding on the numerous advertisements consisting mainly of Deepavali wishes as well as the late night news, we would end up sleeping way past 1 or 2 in the morning.

The morning of Deepavali would be spent with baths, excitedly getting dressed up in new clothes, seeking blessings from parents and more importantly, receiving our annual bonus, in the form of Deepavali “ang-pow”. After that, it was off to the temple by bus while our father would follow on his ever reliable “Rolls Royce”, his ever dependable Raleigh bicycle. Once we were done with prayers and quick visit to our relative’s house, it was time to head home, rummage through the containers of savouries that have magically appeared and most importantly doing justice to them by consuming them, while watching, again, the various Tamil movies being aired on t.v.

These traditions or rituals, pretty much remained the same with some differences, as my brother and I grew up through our teenage years, before going away to the university and then becoming tax-paying citizens of our beloved country. The differences were in how involved we were in the preparations prior to and even up to the eve of Deepavali. Mum would still do her annual pilgrimage to Masjid India to buy new clothes for us, with the difference being, without us most of the time. Mum would still prepare savouries for Deepavali, with us being absent through most of it. Mum and dad would clean-up the house, with us making occasional appearances to help out.

During the transition between the teenage years, young adult and then adulthood, the significance of the festivities changed. It was no longer as exciting as it used to be as a child. It was just another annual affair like the many other festivals scattered throughout the year. For a time, it became an event that we arranged annual leaves around, get together and spend time with ones that we love.

Over the years, as my parents aged, I matured as an adult, started my own family and then my brother got married and started his own family, I have begun to appreciate these age-old traditions and festivities. More so, as my wife and I embarked on our own journey as parents with our little boy. I realise that I have gone a full circle in regards to how I viewed these traditions.

I was again involved in Deepavali shopping with a slight change in the role, in that I am now the worried financier of the shopping trip. This year, there was also the added shopping, for our little boy. I was again involved in making Muruku at home with my wife. I was again involved in cleaning up the house as comprehensively as I could, with my wife. I will most likely spend time watching whatever movie is being aired on the t.v., on the eve of Deepavali.

Going back to last week in Masjid India, after almost being done with our shopping I took my exhausted-internally-yet-putting-up-a-strong-face-externally parents for much-needed lunch. Over a hearty vegetarian meal, I realised how grateful I was to God for giving me the opportunity of a happy conversation with my parents. We spoke about the old days and the mischief that my brother and I would get into. We spoke about how my little son is working hard to live up to those standards. We reminisced a little on some events of Deepavalis past. Thanks to traditions and festivities, I realise that I am able to create more wonderful memories and opportunities with my loved ones. Memories and moments created with the help of traditions and festivities, that remains with us for as long as we live. Something that I hope our son will cherish when he is older. That is indeed something to look forward to.

Jul 12, 2017Jul 12, 2017

To moon and beyond

full-moon-moon-bright-sky-47367 — **Source:** Pexels

About a month or two ago, while surfing the many channels that I seem to have subscribed to via Astro, I ended up watching a small part of a documentary entitled Moon Machines^[1][2]. Luckily, as most shows aired on Astro are repeated at a later time, I managed to watch all six episodes of the Moon Machines series of documentary over a six-week period. The documentaries brought back a warm feeling and some fond memories of my childhood. It reminded me of my deep fascination about the moon in particular and the cosmos in general.

As a little boy, I have always been fascinated by the moon. I can’t really remember when this fascination started or what exactly brought it about. However, I am pretty certain that I wasn’t fascinated with the moon because I happen to be a werewolf, just in case you were wondering. What I do know, is that as a child I gazed up longingly into the star littered sky on clear nights. I enjoyed looking up at the beautiful cream coloured moon, imagining what it would be like to be on it and how earth would look like from up there. I used to wonder how the moon changed shape as it waxed from a new moon into a full moon and then waned from a full moon back into a new moon. I also wondered how the moon stayed up in the sky with all the stars at night, just as I wondered what kept the sun up there too.

At some point in my childhood, I had this weird believe that the moon was made of cheese. I am certain that this must have been the result of a cartoon that I watched as a little child. At that time, it made silly young me fret as to what would happen to the moon if mice managed to get up there and build a colony. Perhaps that is what caused the moon to wax and wane, I thought. Thankfully, a combination of clarifications from my parents, a book about the moon and a section of an encyclopedia on the moon, helped set the record straight on what the moon actually is. Otherwise, I may have well gone to school, thinking that the moon is made of cheese and it is hung on the sky, just like the stars and sun.

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” – Neil Armstrong ^[3]

Growing up being inspired by the images of lunar landings from my encyclopedia, I wanted to travel to the moon. I wanted to walk on the moon, just like the astronauts from the Apollo missions had done^[4]. Back then, what Neil Armstrong, followed by “Buzz” Aldrin, did, on 20th of July, 1969, encouraged me to read up all that I could find from the limited books that I had access to, about space programmes and missions to the moon. On hindsight, I think my ambition to become an engineer had some roots in my desire to go to the moon, as much as my incorrect childhood believe that it is an engineer who drives the locomotive engine at the head of the train.

moon-landing-apollo-11-nasa-buzz-aldrin-41162 — **Source:** Pexels

Watching the documentary gave me some fresh insights into what happened in the background, from the conception of the idea to the actual landing on the moon and beyond. To start with, it took the vision and inspiration of great leaders to set the tone for the trip to the moon. Then American President, John F. Kennedy (JFK) made a speech in Congress, on the 25th of May 1961, stating his vision of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth^[5]. JFK’s speech in Congress, got the Americans started on their mission to land a man on the moon.

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” – John F. Kennedy^[6]

Other than JFK, there was also the leadership of various people within the space programme, from NASA to the various vendors working with them, who led teams of thousands of people to work on the complex and challenging programme. There is no doubt that the space race with their Cold War adversary, the Soviet Union, was a big motivation in America’s thrust to go to the moon. Afterall, until Apollo 11 landed successfully on the moon, the Soviets had always been one step ahead of the Americans in the space race, from having launched the first man-made satellite into Earth’s orbit to the first man-made satelite to orbit the moon^[7].

space-station-moon-landing-apollo-15-james-irwin-39896 — **Source:** Pexels

Besides leadership, the amount of technological advancement and progress that came about from the mission to the moon is mind-boggling to say the least. There was the question of how to get man to the moon in the first place, which resulted in perfecting the already available rocket technology, from the fuel to the various stages of the rocket during its flight up to Earth’s orbit. It also brought about the design of the various modules in which the astronauts will travel in and return to earth. The final design, resulted in the command and lunar modules as well as the cone-like landing capsule.

Then there were the other questions, like what the astronauts were going to eat and drink, how they would go about with their regular bodily functions, how they would walk on the moon, how they would maneuver their space vehicle and so much more. Other than the rocket technology, most if not none of the questions had ready answers when JFK made his speech in front of the Congress and set the timeline to land man on the moon. Interestingly, each question resulted in new discoveries and huge leaps in technology. Integrated circuits, spacesuits, freeze-dried food, insulation, improvement in computer programming as well as the reduction in the size of a computer, were among some of the results of the advancement in technology, just to name a few^[8]^[9].

There is no doubt that the mission to the moon back in the 1960s and early 1970s, had inspired an entire generation of people, not just in America and the Soviet Union but all over the world. Today, at a time when many countries around the world seem to face a lack of visionary leadership and people trying to destroy each other while attempting to send us back centuries into the Dark Ages, perhaps what we need is another mission to the moon or an equivalent to that. Such a mission might just be the catalyst that we need to get humanity focused on a common deed centering on something constructive and productive rather than trying to bring about Armageddon. A mission beyond the moon, perhaps to Mars, might just be the answer that we need to inspire yet another generation of humanity and bring us forward.

May 15, 2017May 20, 2017

The ones that teach

“மாதா பிதா குரு தெய்வம்“, is an old phrase in Tamil, which means “Mother, Father, Guru and God”, when translated to English. This saying gives a glimpse as to the importance placed on a Guru or teacher, in the lives of ancient Tamils and to an extent, ancient India as the same saying exists in Sanskrit. That is how highly a teacher is looked upon, in ancient societies. This is still true even today in, at least in most parts of the world.

I started my life as a student, in a tiny school known as La Salle Sentul, located in a quaint part of Sentul. Then again, most parts of Sentul was quaint back then. La Salle Sentul was a place that I spent eleven years of my life, under the watchful eyes of colourful and wonderful teachers. My alma mater, is a little school, when measured by the standards of schools in Kuala Lumpur. It housed both the primary and secondary schools within the same compound. Yes, in case you were wondering, the shrill of the whistle as mentioned in one of my earlier posts, from the nearby Sentul railways workshop was very much audible^[1]at school.

pexels-photo-127564 — Image sourced from *Pexels*

As I recall it, on my first day at school, there was this gentle motherly looking lady, who greeted me and almost fourty others. She encouraged us to leave the comfort of our parents and to remain in class during school hours. She spoke gently and softly, gaining our trust, until we became comfortable with her. I can’t really remember now, what subjects she taught us. However, between her and the other two friendly and motherly ladies who also taught my class, we were under very good eyes and hands in our first year at school. They were strict and punished us when necessary but kept it to a minimum. As far as I can remember, they did their very best to build the foundation that was necessary for us to continue learning and achieve our true potential. They pretty much set the tone for the rest of my school life.

Throughout my years in school, I realised and understood that teachers did not just teach. A number of them went beyond that. As a young child and all the way through part of my teens, I went through bouts of asthma attacks. As a result of this, my parents did their very best to keep me away from games and sports, worried that an elevated breathing level would lead me to another asthma attack. It was one of my teachers who spoke to my parents, convincing them that I would be just fine being active. She encouraged me to participate in sports and games. Thanks to her, I enjoyed running and represented my “house” during sports days all through my school life.

boys-1782427 — Image sourced from *Pixabay*

When I had to stay away from school due to my asthma attacks, some of my teachers offered to help me catch-up with lessons once I returned to school. They came to see me at hospital when I had to undergo a minor sinus operation. Upon returning to school, they ensured that I obtained copies of notes and lessons that I had missed and completed all the exercises that were given out to the rest of class, during my absence.

One fine day, when I injured myself after an incident with a glass door, it was one of my teachers who came to help me up and calm me down. I had panicked and was howling by then, having seen blood gushing out and the insides of my knee and shin. She wrapped a bandage temporarily around the wound while another teacher rushed me off to the hospital, in his white Nissan. While I was at the hospital, he stayed by my side until my father arrived. Later on, another teacher dropped by to see if I was doing fine. Again, my teachers impressed upon me to get copies of notes and to complete all the exercises that I had missed out on, upon returning to school after a lengthy medical leave.

study-pen-school-notebook-80378 — Image sourced from *Pexels*

There were the teachers who gave me the opportunity and then continued to encourage me to participate in dramas and to be part of the school choir. I would have never known it at that time but being part of the choir remained an important feature of my academic year from school through my time at the university. Being part of these activities, helped me build up my confidence and gave me an opportunity to just have fun, other than studying.

Then there were the teachers who felt that making me a school prefect, when the time came, would mould me into being a more disciplined person and perhaps learn other skills along the way. I was a very talkative person, much to the chagrin of my teachers. Again, that move helped and I learned slowly to be a slightly more disciplined person. I believe this also helped me to become a matured person and planted seeds of basic of leadership skills in me. Being a school prefect, made me explore and figure out what values I would hold dear for the rest of my life. Having said that, my wife would most likely disagree that the move helped with the talkative aspect of my character.

pexels-photo-221485 — Image sourced from *Pexels*

Some of the teachers took it upon themselves to play the part of a counsellor, even when it wasn’t their task to be one. Besides teaching, they would encourage us to speak with them or any other teacher that we were comfortable to speak with. They kept a close eye out for signals of us being upset or distressed about something. Each of them would have their own methods of getting us to relax, especially during the exam years. Although they may not have been able to help all of us, their efforts definitely helped some of us stay strong as we navigated through our adolescence.

There are a lot more tales from my days in school, where one or more teachers have made a significant impact in my life. One single post will be too long to cover them all. Suffice to say, the passionate, brilliant, hardworking, dedicated and wonderful teachers that I was lucky enough to have studied under, have strongly influenced how I matured and eventually turned out in life. I owe part of my success to their presence in my life.

I may have lost touch with most of my teachers today, seeing some of them occasionally at functions or at the restaurants. However, I have not forgotten and will not forget what I have learned from my them, from those at school and those at the tuition centres that I attended. Part of what I am today, is pretty much due to their effort in teaching me and going over and beyond their usual call of duty when needed. After all, what is a student, if not for the teacher that the student studied from?

P.S.: The featured image is sourced from Pixabay.

Category: Memories

Traditions and festivities

Like this:

To moon and beyond

Like this:

The ones that teach

Like this:

Like this post? Share it, via:

Like this:

Like this post? Share it, via:

Like this:

Like this post? Share it, via:

Like this: