Saturday, October 04, 2008

RS3: The Art of Fixing Curtain

Someone once said 'Learning, is lifetime journey'. Perhaps its true, as each new day brings a new experience and new subjects to be learned. Sometimes though, the subject or matter maybe too minor or perhaps insignificant to one's life, that they are shrugged off without further thought, only to be remembered years later as one's pace of life grow slower. But by then, one may no longer have the ability to learn. Alhamdulillah, I don't think I have reached that stage and pray hard I will not.

Someone also mentioned to me that the best time to learn is by doing it with a subconscious mind. Initially I found that hard to believe. I mean, come on, the only period of subconscious mind I know is when I am asleep. Pray tell then, how can any knowledge worthy of learning be learned when one snore noisier than the actual sound of a log being sawn? I just could not buy it then. However, many many years later I found that my view on the matter have been proven wrong.

Sometime back, a story was circulated in the Internet about the Wonder Boy from Iran who, at the age of 6, became a Hafiz who memorise the entire 114 chapters of the Noble Quran (read here), where many children of that age can barely read or memorise a simple nursery rhyme. When the Iranian Government learned of the boy's story, they purportedly subjected the boy to a series of test. And when the boy passed all the test given, the boy, Mahya Hussein Pur, was announced as a National Treasure of the Republic. The story of how Mahya became a Hafiz at the age of 6 is quite fascinating and I would like share it with my friends here. I have tried googling for the story but could not find it, thus will be writing solely from memory and in hope that it will be corrected by anyone who knows it better.

Before his parents were married, they each made a vow to the the other to become a Hafiz, agreeing to marry each other only after they become one. The story did not give any time frame, but the couple did become a Hafiz and were later married. And about a year later, Mahya was born.

Without a maid to look after her son, Mahya's mother would often bring him to her class where she taught the Quran to University student. Otherwise, she would just leave Mahya at a friends place. When Mayha is in the classroom, the mother would place him in his basket and at the back of the class. This went on for quite sometime till one day, the whole class keep hearing the mother's words being echoed from the back of the class. Upon closer inspection, they found Mahya to be repeating Quranic verses which he must have picked up in earlier classes*. The mother went home and told her husband the story and they both agreed that from that day onwards, she must bring Mahya to her classes everyday. At the same time, they keep reading Quranic verses to him, singing it just as a parent would with a nursery rhyme. And when Mahya was old enough, they sent him to proper reading classes, where upon learning to read and write Arabic text, his memory and understanding of the verses improved further.

*(Children, have been found to have the capacity to learn multiple language during their subconscious years. In many villages in Malaysia, one may find Indians speaking fluently in Tamil, Malay, and at least 1 Chinese dialect. Similarly with some Chinese, and in places like Tanjung Karang, they can even talk in Javanese, something which that half blooded Javanese writer of this blog can't!)


Back home, I've come to learn that when one do something out of sheer love, it develops into an art by itself. And when someone else study one's method of doing things, it becomes a science. Does sound somewhat complicated, I admit. But I guess if there is an example I can give, then it is the art of fixing curtains. But before that, there's this something I have just learned.

It seems, the Sarkas religion is introducing newer and newer things by the day. I picked up the picture below at a cousin's place and was initially shocked looking at it. The shock soon turned to a big laugh when I showed it to those present.
If one were to look closely at the coloured printed material shown on the left of the picture, one might just notice the words "100% Halal". My, my...are there any such thing as 90% or below Halal then? I mean once something is Halal, should it not be plain Halal? After all, does not a 1% lesser Halal automatically demotes a product to non-Halal? But perhaps not to that Ali guy from Melaka. Truly, the Sarkas religion amazes me.

Now, to the curtains...

It has become almost a tradition for most people to decorate their home for an approaching celebration. And one of the most important thing to put up or change, would be the curtains covering the windows of one's house. I have to admit though, changing the curtains is definitely not one of my favourite chores, if you can call it that. Simply, it is something you do only once a year. Off course, the fact that I am not steeplejack to be climbing ladders is a different matter. But anyway...

The process of fixing new curtains would begin with Emak hunting the right fabric and colours to match. Once fully satisfied, she will bring it home and sew the lace or whatever that needs to be sown onto the curtain. Before putting it up, she'll inspect from afar the condition of the curtain railings. After all, some fabrics can be more than a trifle heavy for the railings to hold. If needed, the Wak Kromo of the house would then be asked to put up new railings. That, was exactly what he did some Raya back.

While that Wak Kromo was about to start, Emak went out with Wak's elder brother. Left alone at home, the Wak went about doing the chore he was entrusted with. After having measured the length and drilled the spots to fix the railing, he took the new curtains which Emak had lovingly ironed earlier. Then, he counted the number of rings need for the curtain hooks, making sure there would be more rings needed. When he put up the curtains, he would skip every other ring so that should a ring be broken at a later date due to wear and tear, the sagging hook and curtain can easily be hooked onto the spare. Soon as everything's done, he was feeling proud of himself for having done a good job and went out to have a look from the outside. But something was terribly amiss!

Standing at the garden, he felt something was not right; could he have used the wrong curtain set? Instead of the green colour he should be looking at, he saw nothing but the inside of the house and can see each and every little thing which one ought not see had the curtain been hung. In other words, there were no curtains at all covering the windows! But he definitely remember fixing the railings and hanging the curtain hooks onto the rings. Hmm...definitely a mystery in the making, he thought to himself. Thus, he went back in to investigate and found the curtains was indeed hanging from the railing. The fact that is was flowing long to the floor is not his fault. Perhaps, Emak measured it wrong. So he went out again to the garden to have another look, and still saw no curtains. "Alamak!" Wak thought and feeling the creeps already, "could I have stepped into a Twilligh Zone?"

He went in again and still found the curtain where he thought it should be. Thinking like a Not SureLooks Holmes - that's the opposite of Sherlock Holmes - he soon solved the mystery. "The curtain railings," Wak deduced "ought to be fixed above the top of the window and not below it!".


ps. The subconcious learning method does not apply to sleeping or sleepy politicians.

27 comments:

ZABS said...

Salam Shah,
Tahun ni kita tak tukar curtain. pakai yang lama je. Di rumah saya kalau pasang memasang tu memang kerja asayalah. Tapi kalau nak pilih memilih pattern, fabric dan warna bukan kemahiran saya.

Unknown said...

First about subconscious learning. I beg to differ here. There is a fellow, who upon waking up each day would here the cry 'resign, resign, resign' and yet resign he did not. Er on second thought, make that quite a number of blokes rather than one.

As for the curtains, not exactly my cup of tea. Usually my job would be more of coughing up the dough to get the things done and maybe some consultancy as far as the fabric design is concerned. Fix railing? What are you guys trying to kill me by making me do hard labour?

cakapaje said...

Wa'alaikumusalam Pak Zabs,

Nampaknya, samalah nasib kita dalam hal memasang curtain. Bak kata Wak Kromo tu lah, "Bagaikan Buruh Paksaan Perang Dunia Kedua", :)

cakapaje said...

Salam Cikgu,

Lol! Somehow, I knew you would comment as such :)

And true, fixing the curtains is not only dangerous due to the heights, but is indeed back breaking! lol!

Ydiana said...

Salam Shah

I totally don't get it. Curtain railing below trhe window?

Re the subconscious learning, I've come across the idea but have not implemented. Theres a website online selling CDs you're supposed to listen to while you sleep in order to slim down. No diet, no drugs, no nothing..!

cakapaje said...

Wa'alaikumusalam ydiana,

Hehe...yelah, kalau below the window, camna curtain tu nak berfungsi menutup window kan? Tempatnya yang sebenar adalah di atas :)

Er...berjaga jaga sikit tang program subconscious learning dari orang yang kita tak tahu. Dalam satu teori, ianya boleh digunakan sebagai pemukau - hypnotism - di mana minda pendengar akan terpesong mengikut ajaran mereka.

Anonymous said...

wah. cuti cuti nih produktif eh tulis blog?

salam shah. ekceli ada kajian yang menunjukkan penerimaan minda dalam keadaan unconscious dan subconscious lebih bagus. sebab itu kalau ada masalah dalam penghafalan, pasang tape, kemudian kita dengar ulang kali sambil tidur. hence, juga pada orang yang dengar lagu sebelum tidur. doa-doa untuk isteri, suami atau anak, kalau nak lebih berkesan, bacalah ketika mereka sedang tidur. dan juga kalau berkehendakkan sesuatu, ulang berkalikali seperti doa sebeblum kita tidur. begitu juga dengan zikir.

tapi seperti kata pak zabs, mungkin benda nih tak apply untuk 'sesetengah orang'. :)

cakapaje said...

Wa'alaikumusalam Alina,

Produktif? Hehe...tak kut. Mungkin boring je :)

Selalin dari bertujuan baik, subconscious learning juga boleh disalahgunakan oleh pihak tertentu kerana ianya merupakan sejenis hypnotisma. Kerana itu kita harus juga berjaga jaga dengan sumber atau subjek yang hendak kita pelajari dengan cara ini.

Unknown said...

salam sir,

nak crita raya! nak crita raya!

selamat hari raya, maaf zahir batin :)

rerama salju said...

Salam Cakap Je,
Terharu dan terkesima (betul ke?) baca cerita Mahya tu..Subhanallah...

Curtain kaler apa tahun ni?hehehe

cakapaje said...

Wa'alaikumusalam kema,

Nak crita raya? Lor...ni kan crita raya dah. Semua entri yang title bermula ngan RS, bermakna Raya Stories le. Dan taklah semeriah raya kema tu (camna nak gi rumah kalau tak tahu alamat kema? ke...ajak ajak itek je kut!)

Selamat Hari Raya, maaf zahir dan batin juga dari saya :)

cakapaje said...

Wa'alaikumusalam RS,

Terkesima juga diri saya (entah betul tidak perkataan tu, kenalah kita tanya guru BM ye).

Tahun ni, curtain 2 tahun dulu recycle da :)

mutiarabp said...

salam eidul fitri,

dh lama tak "singgah" sini.
jemputla dtg rumah beraya.

-johorean8974-

cakapaje said...

Salam Eidul Fitri mutiarabp,

Akak ek? Ahlan wahsahlan.

Er...bukan je dah lama tak menyinggah kat sini, ni kali pertama akak berkomen juga! :)

InsyAllah. Tapi den ni, kaki cam harimau berantai ;)

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

yea, i watched news of mahya with full of amazement. definitely a national treasure.

i'm like ydiana, didnt get it initially, until i read your explanation to her. lembab sikit la hari...still very much in festive gear.

Anonymous said...

ahhh. bercakap tentang hipnotize ni, saya ada satu cerita menarek tentang topik ini. nanti saya masukkan dalam entri. tunggguuuuu.

cakapaje said...

Salam kerpie,

Hehe...better lembab raya than lembab pm :)

cakapaje said...

Alina,

Ooorite! Den dok tunggu ni ha...tapi cepat sikit ye. Nanti, omak den pening kepala tengok den melangut kek depan pc ni ;)

Apa Kau Nak said...

Yo Bro, your curtain story kelakar giler. I hate hooking up curtains.

Subcon-mind learning works for me :) ala2 laws of attraction gak. put yourself surrounded by things you want.

cakapaje said...

Salam Intan,

Hmm...put oneself with the things one wants eh? That's a beautiful thought ;) <--devilish grin :) <--angelic smile

Saya... said...

Bloody hell...I was toying with the idea of biodegradable styro and the buggers beat me to it.

cakapaje said...

Salam MT,

Biodegradable styro is not new and has been either in the market or development stage, for several years now. In fact, my brother and I were looking into one with technology from China, some 3 years back. He, my bro, is still holding the pattern for that, I think.

Saya... said...

wsalam..

yup, not new, but was just toying with idea of introducing its use to reduce pollution...USM has intro it in its cafes fully...

China? jangan bang...probably kill you faster than you can blink..kah kah...

Pattern ke patent...hehehe

I know you don't drink alcohol...saje je merepek malam2 buto nih.

Mane nyer sultana cookies mak??

Jangan kodokut....

cakapaje said...

MT, that was quick!

Oops! Mistake spelling and grammar tu biasa le for me as I hate editing and correcting...it is patent :)

Sultana Cookies? Meh le kek rumoh den kek Kota Damansara ni ha! Rasonyo, ando lagi tu ha! Tapikan, kalau dah habeh, habok dio pun sodap :)

Thanks for dropping by and insyAllah, I'll link you ya/

Saya... said...

Tiger must be quick laaa...

cakapaje said...

MT,

True, true. In fact, a story I have in mind is still in the cooking stage, and its entitled 'The Old Tiger'. Don't know though, when I'm going to even start it :(

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