My grandmother was a hardworking lady with a strong soul. She also had her own peculiar ways of doing things. One thing she kept on doing till the end of her days was to give a small amount of money to charity whenever one of her children and, later, grandchildren passed an exam. She, herself, was not literate and could not read or write. I think she could count though. I say this because she always gave Rupees 1.25 to charity after every successful examination by her progeny.
One day I asked her as to why she gave such a small amount when she could give more. She told me that back in the 1950s or so, she had promised our peer sahab (spiritual leader) to give this exact amount to charity for this purpose. It was her way of thanking Allah and, according to her, she never missed a payment and God also kept His end of the bargain by blessing her children with success. It used to be a significant amount of money at that time but it devalued over the decades. She simply kept on giving this exact amount as she never felt any need to change it. However, in the early 2000s it became harder and harder to find fractional change so she would give Rs. 2 instead of her usual Rs. 1.25 to the donation box installed at the tomb of our peer sahab.
Whenever she would hear that I had passed an exam, she would come to our home, confirm that I had passed by asking "putra, pass ho gya ayen?" ("Son, did you pass?"), congratulate me and give me some sweets and the Rs. 2 and tell me to go and put it in the donation box as she couldn't walk much at the time. It was like a ritual.
I was in my undergraduate in computer science at the time and I scored two gold medals in the final exam. I came home and showed them to her. She took both of them, raised her hands in prayer and said: "Allah shuker hai tera, eh tere tamghe!" (God! Thank you, these medals are yours!). She then asked me what were these for and I told her that I had completed my degree so they were awarded to me. She got a little puzzled and asked "putra, pass hoya ayen?" (Son, did you pass?) and I, instead of giving her a yes or no answer, told her that I had scored a CGPA of this much out of this much. I guess she never understood the concept of GPA and got even more confused. She even had a frightened look on her face. She asked me: "putra ee chorh, meinoo ee dass ke pass hoya ain ya fail?". (Son, leave these numbers aside, just tell me if you have passed or failed!"). I told her that I had passed and then she raised both her hands into the air and thanked God for it. Then she took out Rs. 2 from her scarf and gave them to me to go and put in the donation box.
She passed away a year after that. I still have those Rs. 2 with me and they are more precious than those two gold medals.
One day I asked her as to why she gave such a small amount when she could give more. She told me that back in the 1950s or so, she had promised our peer sahab (spiritual leader) to give this exact amount to charity for this purpose. It was her way of thanking Allah and, according to her, she never missed a payment and God also kept His end of the bargain by blessing her children with success. It used to be a significant amount of money at that time but it devalued over the decades. She simply kept on giving this exact amount as she never felt any need to change it. However, in the early 2000s it became harder and harder to find fractional change so she would give Rs. 2 instead of her usual Rs. 1.25 to the donation box installed at the tomb of our peer sahab.
Whenever she would hear that I had passed an exam, she would come to our home, confirm that I had passed by asking "putra, pass ho gya ayen?" ("Son, did you pass?"), congratulate me and give me some sweets and the Rs. 2 and tell me to go and put it in the donation box as she couldn't walk much at the time. It was like a ritual.
I was in my undergraduate in computer science at the time and I scored two gold medals in the final exam. I came home and showed them to her. She took both of them, raised her hands in prayer and said: "Allah shuker hai tera, eh tere tamghe!" (God! Thank you, these medals are yours!). She then asked me what were these for and I told her that I had completed my degree so they were awarded to me. She got a little puzzled and asked "putra, pass hoya ayen?" (Son, did you pass?) and I, instead of giving her a yes or no answer, told her that I had scored a CGPA of this much out of this much. I guess she never understood the concept of GPA and got even more confused. She even had a frightened look on her face. She asked me: "putra ee chorh, meinoo ee dass ke pass hoya ain ya fail?". (Son, leave these numbers aside, just tell me if you have passed or failed!"). I told her that I had passed and then she raised both her hands into the air and thanked God for it. Then she took out Rs. 2 from her scarf and gave them to me to go and put in the donation box.
She passed away a year after that. I still have those Rs. 2 with me and they are more precious than those two gold medals.
May Allah have mercy on her soul and bless her with paradise.
