August 22, 2007

Carrots & Zikr

I dare say I can look at a carrot the same again. I had sent a bundle of my kids' clothes that no longer fit them to a friend's house , ie the Afghan family with 6 girls. The mom was peeling and slicing carrots at that time. She invited me in. I said I had to run errands at the post office and also had to make it in time to attend my son's special hat event that afternoon. However, I went in just the same after she insisted a couple of time. Besides, drinking tea without sugar and munching almonds wasn't going do much harm.
After she brought out some tea, raisins, almonds and sweets for me on a tray, she continued to peel carrots and slice them up julienne style, sometimes chewing raw carrots in her own mouth, sometimes handing them out to her youngest, a one year baby and my toddler, while her second youngest , a 2 year old toddler was sound asleep under a blanket. She said she was going to cook the carrots with some rice for her family. I think she was preparing a bag of them , about 10 or more carrots for dinner that day. I've never seen anyone peel that much carrots for an entire hour with such zest. In fact I've never seen anyone peel carrots before except myself . But I will only chop up one carrot (or two) in under a minute to cook them for my toddler who seems to be the only member in my household who likes to eat them. While this family in front of me took to carrot like fish to water. I watched her concentrating on the carrots , shifting through the sliced up carrots in the colander to see if everything is sliced up and slicing any remainder left that hasn't been, while we conversed in rudimentary English about daily matters on the floor of her living room. Her patience undertaking this kitchen chore on the sprawling Persian carpet, amazes me. I could only liken it to seeing the serenity of one making zikr with his/her tasbih/prayer beads on a sejadah, completely oblivious of his/her surroundings.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sister..dear sister! I am trying to get through my long list of people I need to email and you are next! I will be putting the kids to bed tonight inshaAllah and will get to it straight away. I pray all is well with you and the family.
I am so sorry it has taken me so long to get back into contact with you. Please forgive me.

Earthmom said...

No worries sister. Tis hectic being a SAHM and a WMOW (working mom on weekends) simultaneously. I just got back from KL last night. Eid Mubarak to you and your family!

Earthmom said...

What I meant was Ramadan Mubarak. Sorry it was a long flight and transit at Sydney too.

Blabarella said...

That's a bizarre analogy, but a wonderful one. I can actually visualise the scene, and the almost religious act of chopping the carrots. :)

Earthmom said...

I'm glad you like the analogy, blabarella. And hope e'thing's well with your pregnancy.
On a diff. note, I haven't been able to upload pics of my new rented hse ( dh prefers to take moving pics than photos). It is just an ordinary looking 2 storey rectangular brick house with a small manicure garden and a little pool in the backyard .