The spirit of giving and sharing during Ramadan reflects beautifully in this incident shared by Sameera. I was just talking about a coincidence in my last post, and here comes along another such unexplainable and heartwarming coincidence.
Her name is NoorJehan. And she is going to wear a glittery yellow suit this Eid.
NoorJehan has light brown eyes and a spine of steel. Her husband left her when she was carrying her second child. Her first born, a son, suffers from polio. She wore a burkha in the heat of summer and worked as a day laborer. When that wasn’t enough she worked as a household help in my classmate’s home for good amount of years. Until the day that the brat of the house decided that she didn’t like her face. The doting father fired NoorJehan. The whims of the rich. The fate of the poor. She then took on washing dishes in weddings. Bought a one room house. Married her daughter off. Someone suggested we hire her during the wedding of my sister. She helped us. By washing dishes, and smiling and laughing and enjoying the music and dances. Smiling, always smiling. And talking. Soft innocent chatter. We all love her secretly. Slip money in her hesitant fists separately.
But Ma dotes on her like a child. And she tells Ma in whispers what she is in need of. “Broken slippers.” “I dont have a raincoat.” “My granddaughter needs a schoolbag.”
During Ramadan, she drops in more often. Last weekend, she came in and told Ma what she wants for Eid. “A yellow suit. Glittery. I like yellow. I like glitter. I once dreamt of wearing a yellow suit on Eid.”
I was smiling indulgently when I saw Ma’s perplexed expressions. I asked silently and she shook her head in disbelief. “I bought a ridiculously yellow and glittery suit yesterday,” Ma said. “You know, right? I hate yellow and glitter. But something made me buy it. I was thinking who would I give it to? No one will like it, and I still bought it.”
When Ma gave it to NoorJehan, her face, her face was like Diwali ki raat. Lit up. Lit up brilliantly. Eyes sparkling.
A ridiculously yellow glittery dream.
(Ma called to tell me NoorJehan came back to ask for Rs 100 to pay the tailor. We laughed and laughed.)