New life

Hello everyone :) 

I hope everything is fine during RMO. :) Spend your time wisely by doing things you like and be with your beloved family :). It's a tough week isn't it? I believe we can fight COVID19 together :). #stay at home #besafe.

This entry won't be about food or recipes. I would like to share a short story written by me :  )

Enjoy your reading! Feel free to comment below :)

            NEW LIFE

            By: Afiqah

              ‘ I’m going to miss you when you leave. You were the best sister, a sibling could ask for. Please don’t forget about me and come and visit often”

               Tina read the line with a sad heart. She knew this day would come where she had to be far away from her ultimate best friend, Sophia. She tried to hold back tears when her mind started to flashback all the memories with Sophia. For a passive 10 years old girl like Tina, it is hard for her to socialize and get friends. Tina is very grateful to have Sophia as her mate. Their personalities are completely opposite. Sophia is an extrovert person. She easily catches along with her peers but Sophia chose Tina. For Tina, Sophia is an angel sent from God. Losing her best friend is the toughest part to go through her childhood. 

             “Tina, come downstairs. Bring your bags. We are ready to go in 10 minutes” 

               His father's voice breaking the silence in her bedroom. Tina took a deep breath and tried to calm down herself. She had to move to Kuala Lumpur because her father was transferred to work in the city. Tina grabs her bags slowly and walked downstairs with an emotionless face. She looked at every corner, remembering all the memories created in the house. She spent her childhood in that small house with her father. Tears started to burst from her eyes. She bowed her head, looking at the floor, walking to the front door. She wanted to hide her face from her father. 

             After 7 hours of driving, finally, they arrived at the city. Tina was amazed of the skyscrapers' tall. Her small eyes widen when she saw KLCC for the first time. Tina was disturbed by the noises made by the cars through the traffic-jammed. She also felt very weird to see so many people walking everywhere in the city. She used to live in the kampung, so this is a new breakthrough for her.

               They arrived at their new apartment at 4.00 pm. Tina helped her father to bring all the bags upstairs. Their house was at level 6. She was very weird to see her mixed-race neighborhood along the way to her house. They were Chinese and Indian. An Indian family who lived next to their house welcomed them with a bright smile. An Indian girl with rounded eyes, ponytail in a blue blouse greeted Tina. She introduced herself as Sharmeen. Tina awkwardly smiles and replied to Sharmeen.

               ‘Hai. My name is Tina. Nice to meet you”

               ‘Please come to my house tomorrow. We will celebrate Diwali. We can celebrate together”.

               Tina can see her front door was fancy with all the decorations. They were busy cleaning in front of their house. Tina just nodded her head and smile. Sharmeen looked very happy to see Tina’s response.  Tina was very confused. She thought she cannot attend a celebration like that since she was a Muslim. Tina felt very excited to celebrate Diwali together with Sharmeen. She cannot wait for tomorrow! They ate dinner at 10.00 pm and slept soundly that night. It was a very tiring day for both of them.

               Tina and her father woke up early in the morning. They strolled around Taman Tasik Cyberjaya.  Many families were there spending on school holidays. Tina and her father felt joyful to see the environment there different from kampong. They went back and dressed up for the celebration. Tina wore red kurung while her father in red baju Melayu. They brought some fruits as souvenirs for Sharmeen’s family.   

               Sharmeen’s family invited most of all the neighborhood around. Their house was crowded with people from many races. Indian, Malay and Chinese. There are much delicious food on the table such as tosei, muruku, chicken curry, laddu, fresh orange and many more. Tina was very curious to taste each of the dishes. While Tina was eating, Sharmeen poked her hand and smile. She had a plate of laddu in her hand.

               They had a chit chat about each other. Sharmeen was very nice and reminded her of Sophia. Tina felt very comfortable sitting next to Sharmeen even they were from different races and religions. Then, Sharmeen asked Tina to join her making kolam in front of the house. She sincerely offered to teach Tina.

              ‘Kolam designs can be made with dyed rice, flower petals, or coloured sand. They seem complex, but really simple and a fun craft to make! Let me teach you.  All you need is coloured rice. I use food colouring to add the colour. Next, colour chalk, gloves and two pieces of paper. Choose your design Tina. We will make kolam based on your favorite design”

               Sharmeen passed her phone to Tina. Tina scrolled through the kolam designs and picked a flower design. Sharmeen praised her for having a good pair of eyes. Tina was very excited to make the kolam with Tina. Tina taught her the steps one by one.

               ‘You need this chalk to draw the design first.”

               Tina and Sharmeen drew the design together. Tina enjoyed the process of making kolam. Sharmeen felt very happy to see Tina enjoying her drawing.

               ‘We did a great job Tina! Next, form a cone with a piece of paper. This acts as a funnel to deliver the rice more precisely within your pattern. Add rice to your paper cone away from your pattern. Work from the interior to the exterior of the pattern. As you complete adding rice to each section, use your finger to correct or spread the rice. If you run out of a rice colour, simply mix more. Newly mixed rice may be a little sticky. Make a new paper cone if the old one becomes stained with the food colouring.”

               Tina nodded with smile meaning she understood Sharmeen’s explanation. Tina and Sharmeen enjoyed the process and had a great time together. They were so closed and looked like best friend. They finally made a beautiful kolam after 20 minutes. They hugged each other after succeed making colourful kolam together. They pat each other shoulder for creating a wonderful creative handcraft. Tina’s father watched her daughter from inside. He felt relieved to see her daughter went well with Sharmeen. This is a new culture to Tina. She was raised at kampung since born and never exposed to the other races and culture.

              Since that day, they became good friends. They went to school together and visited each other celebrations. Tina learned about cultures and respect each other. Tina was very grateful to have Tina as her new best friend. All her worries about finding a new friend gone since she met Sharmeen.  Moving to a new environment and culture was not that bad. She realised that she has to be friendly and also acceptance of the differences whether in culture, races or religions.

               Malaysia is a beautiful country with multicultural people. Despite the differences, Malaysian live in a harmonious country. Love our country as we love ourselves. Embrace the uniqueness and be good to each other. I love Malaysia!