“Ang cute ng apo ninyo doctor” (Your grandchild is cute) was
the most common comment when her picture first appeared on the web. Friends and
relatives thought she was our grandchild. My wife was 46 years old when she
gave birth to Nishreen, 16 years after she last gave birth to our son; a
miracle. I returned to KSA when she was 9 months old, and when I came back for a
leave from work, she was not yet 3.
In 2011 (she was 7); she and I were walking along the
seaside of MOA (Mall of Asia). It was late; some stores in the mall were
already closing shop. She wanted to play at one of the children’s playgrounds dotting the seaside, so I said okay while I leaned against a lamp post, watching people
pay to play at a bungee platform by the bay. After about 20 minutes, I said, 'It’s late.' Let’s go home. She paused from running with the other children she had befriended and replied while catching her breath, “I’m not tired,” and then said
something that made me laugh. “Dad, you should not be watching that bungee. You
came here to walk, so walk. You walk from here to there,” pointing to the
distance, “and do it again and again till I am finished playing, but don’t go
too far. Go only as far as I can see you.” “Alright…” I replied with a hearty
laugh and started walking exactly as she had said I should. It was almost
midnight by the time we walked to the mall terminal. There was a long queue for
jeeps bound for FTI, but we had a really good time; it was priceless, with moments that are forever to be cherished.
PS
I narrated it precisely as it happened. Her elder
siblings trained her from a very early age to speak in English and with YouTube
(Internet) and cartoons on cable television; English has come naturally to her. When Nancy and her friends came to stay with us for a few days, she was
very conversant with American slang in so short a time :-)
I was amazed at how fast she can read, only to realize that if you sing along on YouTube and with a minus-one that she likes doing since she was 5-6, you have to be a fast reader, or you will not catch the lyrics. Try
it…
NLK
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