SABERA’S POINT OF VIEW

“Babooo!!!! Where is this man when I need him?”, Sabera shouted, annoyed.

“He’s never around when I need him and always around when he needs to annoy me,” she continued.

Looking at the kitchen walls, Sabera mumbles, “I need to get these walls washed. This house looks like it is falling apart. Joyce needs to make a plan to sort it out. And Baboo, the useless man, must have already gone to work. Just perfect! When I need him the most, he leaves.”

Still muttering, Sabera laments the state of her home and notes what she needs to buy to spruce it up. Feeling depressed, she adds to her list of things to purchase for Eid and sees Taskeen approaching—her irritation level increases. She contemplates pretending she is not home but realises Joyce will give her away.

“As salaamu alaikum, Aunty Sabera, I just popped by to check if you need help today or want to go somewhere,” Taskeen asked timidly.

Sabera rolled her eyes in annoyance and muttered that she would prefer to see Hell freeze over rather than have her daughter-in-law clean her home. But she seemed to have disappeared before responding to Taskeen’s greeting. She breathed a sigh of relief.

But as she readied herself to call Aunty Fati, Taskeen appeared with a new bucket and mop. Sabera was livid as she realised that a well-planned afternoon of gossip was ruined.

As Taskeen busied herself cleaning the kitchen floors, Sabera watched with beady eyes, and when Taskeen began reciting dhikr, she couldn’t keep quiet any longer and yelled out harshly, “Did your mother not teach you to clean? You don’t need a degree to clean a house!”

Joyce then enters and rushes to Taskeen, “Makoti, what are you doing? I heard about the baby coming. Please let me do my job.”

Sabera sneers at Joyce and says, “But Joyce, you and I cleaned the house while we were expecting. Housework hasn’t killed anyone. Makoti needs to work, or she’ll get fat on my son’s hard-earned money.” She shoos Joyce out of the kitchen, and Taskeen continues to mop the floor.

Joyce finds Sabera in her room and begins to scold her, “Mama, why are you being nasty to Makoti? How can you treat her like this in your holy month? Shame, Mama, you need to be kind.” But Sabera sits sullenly, trying to ignore her advice.

Joyce then reminds her that the adhaan for Dhuhr salaah had been called, and she had missed Fajr, only to bring Sabera’s wrath upon herself.

Sabera laughed as she thought about Joyce correcting her about her prayers. “That one thinks because she knows all the nazams played on Radio Islam, she is a Muslim now. Ha!” She climbs onto her bed and goes to sleep.

RAMADAN TIP:

Small insignificant things we do steal time away from us. We need to find out if it is stealing time from us or leading us astray. Your answer will grant you more time in your day, and you will be able to identify your time stealers.