Salaam Bombay!

Sebelum "Slumdog Millionaire," sudah ada filem "Salaam Bombay" yang diarahkan oleh Mira Nair. Salaam Bombay bukanlah suatu filem yang sedap ditonton berulang2 macam saya tonton Moonsoon Wedding, juga arahan Mira Nair. Salaam Bombay spt Slumdog Millionaire adalah kisah pahit anak-anak jalanan di kota Mumbai yang mempunyai kepadatan penduduk 20 juta org.

Di bawah ini foto pemandangan Mumbai Selatan, suatu kawasan mewah dan.....

......ini pula adalah sebuah perkampungan setinggan yang sempat saya lawati di pinggir Mumbai.

kisah selanjutnya akan datang sebab penat berjalan belum hilang dan kerja di pejabat dah menunggu...

api dalam sekam

awal2 tahun seperti biasa saya banyak dapat ucapan2 selamat, kebanyakannya dari pelajar2. sbg seorang luddite, saya sendiri tak pandai hantar mass sms untuk hantar ucapan2.

satu ucapan manis yg saya terima:

carry a heart that never hates
carry a smile that never fades
carry a touch that never hurts
& always carry a relation that never breaks

hm, kebencian, suatu perasaan yg kompleks. kalau kebencian itu timbul dari akibat perbuatan buruk seseorang itu boleh juga difahami. tapi kalau kebencian tanpa apa sebab, itu mungkin sejenis bias.

saya sendiri nak menjauhkan diri dari kebencian. ianya bagai api dalam sekam, makan dalam, makan diri sendiri.

maka tahun ini ucapan manis ini saya akan cuba semaikan dalam kehidupan seharian. dengan azam ini, saya berasa sangat kuat untuk menghadapi apa pun yg bakal datang.

as ppl say, you cant please everybody. and at my age, i better please myself dulu, being kind to myself!!

opah charlie's angels

my family opened a branch in kuala terengganu when my anak buah married a sweet guy from there. he's big quite like a giant but so very gentle. he's the one who coined the term "opah charlie's angels" to describe my mak and her 2 sisters, her kakak and her adik. living quite close to each other, they would do most things together, like the best of friends

any events happening would be discussed via phone calls and a plan would be drawn up and info disseminated so that EVERYbody in the family would know whats happening. i suppose all this discussions and plannings made their day, being pensioned and having so much time on their hands (unlike me). i just go along with them, whatever make themn happy.

take the trip from the north to ipoh, over 3 years ago. the opah charlie's angels were so worried about my driving hundreds of kms on my own. me, i didnt say a word, though i heard the phone calls they made to each other, discussing the date, the time of my journey, the no of days i needed to be there, the activities that i need to go thru. not a word from me, i understand they just need to fuss.

after they had come to a final decision, it was informed to me. the plan: the 3 opah charlie's angels would accompany me on the drive. "satgi kut jadi apa-apa" they reasoned. and i was thinking (not aloud, of course...kalau jadi apa2, with them in tow lagi susah. no 1, handling their panic, sheeesh. no 2, handling them, not to mention myself and my bump at that time)

out loud is said to my sis and her hubby, "tak pa kalau kereta rosak, mak, long dgn chu boleh tolong tolak". and we laughed mengekek2 together...just the image of the 3 old ladies pushing a car...too funny

so we set off that morning, me driving, mak sat beside me, tolong tunjukkan jalan (kunun) well a mom will always be a mom. her sisters, long and chu on the back seat. the atmosphere in the car was thick with their anxiety...i could almost sense their feelings...anticipating someting to go wrong a-n-y-m-o-m-e-n-t-n-o-w. well, what else would happen, you know? a car full of females, not even 1 male around. and the female driving was 6 months pregnant.

so there i was driving, laju sangat pun tak boleh, depa saspen. and trying to make the atmosphere lighter by telling stories, jokes etc. and when all else failed, i would talk about my research, not that they would understand much. the reason why i had to drive to ipoh, to collect data. and this made them feel stronger...like "oooh, we HAVE to help her, she needs to collect data, its for her research, very important, or else how would she finish her studies. and she's pregnant too and has to drive hundreds of kms, how frightful for her. well, we'll just grit our teeth and get through this."

i found it very touching, still find it so. here are 3 ladies who are/was not highly educated. but they valued education so much. and they love/d me so much that they would endure a scary journey (for them) just for me, typical mothers, sacrifice for their kids above else.

the journey to and fro was uneventful. opah charlie's angels enjoyed themselves as in between my data collection, i took them visiting relatives around ipoh, their no 1most enjoyable activity. and i got my 700 over data, Alhamdulillah.

opah charlie's angels is now down to 2 since my mother passing away last june. now, when i see long and chu, i hug them tight, praying that Allah will keep them healthy and strong, strong for us the younger generation in the family.

last 3rd of syawal, my bro, sis and i tanam batu nisan on my mother's grave. we were joined by yong, my cousing, the mother-in-law of our gentle giant of kuala terengganu. the 3 of us ladies had tears trickling down our cheeks. my bro remained macho.

and as the 3 of us stood there by my mak's grave, it struck me, we will be the Opah Charlie's Angels version II: my sis, my cousin and I. and this realisation gave me so much comfort...this bond of sisterhood, just like what my mak had with her 2 sis. sticking to each other, no matter what comes our way. and the phone calls or rather smsses have started...whose kids doing what, siapa sakit, siapa luka, exam results, job interviews etc among the generation after us.

the best is: knowing that there will be these 2 sisters, who love me unconditionally, never ever judge me, always supporting me, and they are fun to hang out with. on top of the cik kiahs that i have, i consider myself very lucky. Alhamdulillah.

joys of our days

i really enjoy FB, as I really love friends. And with FB, I could get back in touch with old friends. one not so old friend, I found out thru FB has just survived cancer. her entries in FB are all about the Joy of the Day. in one entry she rejoiced having hair (she must have lost her hair during chemo). in 1 sweet entry, she savours the sweet moment of her 11 yr old girl rocking an infant to sleep.

i am having a tough episode in my life right now. and i try to put it in a different light eg its just another bump in life, my male frens would most probably shrug it off with "Tarak hal lah!" and me, every problem is magnified.

so taking a leaf from my friend in FB, i am going savour my joys (hey, plural lah) of the day and let the bump stay a bump.

we have been having a string of IEP meetings with the parents in our autism class. (IEP= individual education plan) we review the kids' current performance and we plan the course of action for the next 6 months.

all the kids so far, the ones we have had IEP mtgs, how many let me count, 6 out of 15, have shown tremendous progress. all parents we have met so far said that their kids have improved. they were very thankful (part ni akak segan sikit) so cepat2 akak kata be thankful to the teachers, they were the ones who have worked hard.

1 mother is grateful that her 6 yr old is finally toilet trained. "mmg jimat la duit beli pampers sebab sebelum ni dia pakai 5 xl pampers sehari" (suaminya pemandu teksi, financially it is a relief for them) "keluarga saya pun tak percaya Q boleh di toilet trained"

on average our teachers take 4 months to toilet train a child. (beberapa kali tu bila saya ke kelas autisma, ternampak cikgu memcuci najis di lantai tandas, sebab kanak2 ni pada awalnya banyak ragam, tak nak ber*k kat lubang, tak nak duduk kat seat. cuba bayangkan komitmen cikgu kami, ada degree tapi sanggup buat kerja2 macam ni simply because they want to see improvements in their students. dear cikgus, i pray success for your masters studies)

one 5 yr old kid of ours have started reading and writing, and he will go to a mainstream (non special education) tadika come this january. just to be sure i asked his mom whether she has been teaching him at home, or gotten a personal tutor during the nights or weekends. no, she said. at her answer, i felt so proud of our teachers.

we have been collecting data on the kids' progress, we have been taking loads of video. one of the teachers, who is IT savvy have produced a few sets of before/after videos of the kids. before taken in january, after taken in august or september. and the progress simply has astounded some people, especially those who understand how tough it is to teach kids with autism.

i wish i could share the videos with you all but it will be unethical due to confidentiality issues. we do use the videos for teaching purposes and when we present at conferences.

now, we have to write papers on these data. SIGH! i have to remind myself of rad's tagline: a page a day.....

hmmm, 9 more IEP meetings to go, am not complaining, because talking abt the kids' progress is such a joy, to see the relief in the parents' eyes that their kids have a place that they can learn is such a joy, Thank you Allah for the joys in our days!

writing: no joy!

a symtom

hey, i dont know how to spell symptom and am too lazy to spell check.

anyway i cant sleep again. bak kata Anggerik Merah, ini simtom stress lah ni. sudah marrrreeeeyy...

letih tp tak boleh tidor so saya pun menghabiskan masa meluncur internet. wal hal kan lebih baik buat kerja yg menimbun2 yg menimbulkan stress itu in the first place.

stress ni menjadikan saya macam a deer caught in a headlight. dan stress membuatkan saya membuat kesilapan yang saya tak patut buat dan memburukkan keadaan.

i am taking steps to overcome it. tadi saya pergi urut badan, sedapnya. dan esok pagi2 saya nak jalan keliling kawasan perumahan ni, 3 rounds.

life is not perfect.

but i am thankful for having a wonderful sister whom i spent the night before the dawn of the new Islamic year by reciting a dua. doa memohon yang baik2 untuk kami dan keluarga.

here's my wishlist for the new year:

1. funding so that we can continue our autism class not for another year and a half but forEVER.

2. taking better care of my self, eating more fruits, exercise everyday (i want to be the biggest loser yeah!)

3. more productive so that i can help the kids more

4. less contact with negative people

5. more ibadah

6. a peaceful garden that i can come home to

7. ideas for my living and dining room (money would help too :)

8. safe & fun triple cik kiah trips (a smile on my face already)

9. for my research assistants to be successful in their studies

10. not last and definitely not least, for my bro in law to walk again, and be his sunny self again.

and i am thankful for this blog too, its a great stress therapy
(am thinking of going to sg buluh in between the meetings esok. how crazy is that? crazier is having meetings on both the friday and saturday of a long weekend huh?)

life is great, there are hiccups, i'll just hold my breath for 10 seconds noo. avoiding negative people helps bunches too. hey i feel much better

9.

garis mati

its 2 minutes to midnite, i cant sleep, i cant work dan kerja menimbun2

teman saya di jogja, seorang akademik dalam bidang seni aksesori menulis dalam FB nya "garis mati, garis mati lagi" sedetik saya perlu berfikir, amende garis mati ni, oh rupanya deadline. dia sedang cuba menyiapkan aksesori2 untuk satu exhibition.

saya pun banyak garis mati yang saya rasa saya tak tercapai. ha ha habis, buat tak tau saja? tak boleh nanti mula la dapat fon call, fon call sinis, mana itu, mana ini.

jadi spt biasa bila saya libang libu, saya berblog.

apa yg menarik nak diceritakan ya? saya rajin exercise sekarang, entah kenapa malas berenang skrg. saya buat brisk walking. moga Allah beri kesihatan yang baik supaya saya dapat bekerja dgn baik.

ooh, sem baru dah nak mula dan saya akan offer subject baru. meniayakan diri sendiri nih, jenuh lah nak buat lecture notes baru, for sure jenuh.

em, nak masuk tahun baru, azam saya banyak... entah kenapa saya rasa 2010 is going to be a fun year. cik kiahs are back with a vengeance. selepas 2009 tak berfoya2 ke mana2 disebabkan oleh h1n1, 2010 ni, kami akan ke 3 destinasi. hmph itulah padahnya bila teman baik tiba2 berenti kerja, dan terlebih masa utk surf website air asia cari tambang murah2. she would just sms us and ask us for our ic, passport nos. hujung bulan credit card bill dia sampai, dia minta bayar. she is our self-appointed travel agent.

dan fellowship yg saya mohon tu, gagal. kuciwa? tak jugak. mula sedih gak sbb depa kata interview 7 org, nak ambik 6. oh tidak, adakah saya ini the sole loser? stafnya citer tak tahun ni interview 7 org, depa ambik sorang saja. maka saya tak lah rasa saya ni the biggest loser sangat, he he.

i take it that God wants me to focus on the center and not spend a big chunk of the time out of the country. maka saya berdoa apa yg kami rancangkan utk center pd tahun ini dapat pertolongan dari Allah.

we now have a nice collection of video clips showing the kids progress but i cant post it here due to confidentiality issues. we are happy with the progress as a whole. 2010, we should be changing gear.

i better go n finish my lecture ppt. pasang you tube kris dayanti nyanyi dangdut ok gak, kasi celik mata sikit

not going so good

what else is new.

am driving 1 hr south. pray to Allah that this trip is fruitful.

malam bni tido pkl 4 lagi.