“Mom traveling with you was stressful, do you remember the suitcases on the German train platform?”
Do I remember it? Like it was yesterday, the only thing distorted in my mind from that time is that I thought of her as much older than her actual age. Being the eldest and because she was a very responsible child, I always expected more of her.
Here is the German train episode………
Many years ago,………. I am invited to Germany to give a medical paper. My cousin has had triplets and they live in Switzerland. I look at the map. Switzerland looks quite close to Munich. I think we can just hop on the train and go there for 24 hours before we commence our travels to Pakistan and Taiwan. Easier said then done.
Having grown up in Pakistan I expect every train station to have coolies (picture). We arrive at the station in this German town and it is deserted. There is not a soul around leave alone coolies or porters; The signs are in German with no translation to English. We manage to figure out which train we should be on and wait.
The train arrives and the sign says it has a four-minute stopover. My Pakistani genes kick in. There is no way a train can stop only for four minutes. Well it does. The train arrives and I hop on the train and Shireen tries to push our two suitcases up a step as I try to pull them into the compartment (European trains unlike the trains in the far east are always a step up from the platform, at least they were a few years ago). Meanwhile the whistle blows and the train begins to move, with Shireen on the platform and me with half a suitcase in the train. I jump off just in time and start to look for the next train.
I never thought how stressful it must have been for Shireen, partly because she does not show her stress. For me it was a learning experience. Baggage (of all forms) I realized is a bane of our existence.
We then through the universal language of signs, broken English and German come to know that the next train is a platform over, which means we have to lug the suitcases up the stairs and down the other side. Suitcases did not come with wheels in those days and with stairs, it did not matter.
I was dressed to the hilt in what I call my conference uniform, heels included, as I lugged my suitcases up, and then down onto the other platform, I promised myself that I would never buy souvenirs and gifts for anyone and would bring fewer items for myself even if I look unfashionable, if I ever traveled again.
The next train came and the experience was not as traumatic and my big strong cousin in Zurich met us. Thus, baggage was not a problem at least not for me.
I now travel with three sets of clothes with six sets of undergarments whether I am traveling overseas or locally for a week or more. Thank God, for cleaners and or a small box of detergent that does the job for the interim. Abayas make it even easier to travel in.
I often think how differently children view things compared to parents. For me it was an adventure to laugh at when I thought about it. However, for her it was a stressful experience. I would like to think that perhaps these travel experiences with me has turned her into a suave traveler who always travels very very light, but still elegantly.
I am truly thankful to Allah SWT how he protected my child and me during travel. Nothing seriously bad ever happened to us. At that time, I did not know the travel prayers. I just prayed without formality, never realizing that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has left us with a prayer for every action and experience in life.
I have come to love the Sunnah of our Prophet that when you enter a new town you pray two rakah in the masjid of the new town. I sort of did that in Syria, praying as we came to the prayer time in each new town, leaving the marks of my sajdah all over Syria.
I truly wish I had done that with my daughter.
Do you know how your children feel about the experiences shared with you?
5 responses so far ↓
S // May 2, 2008 at 5:43 am |
Ahhhhhhhhh. Please write more stories with Shireen. She has a musical laughter and a smile that lights up a room. May Allah bless her in this world and hereafter. Ameen!
Duas
hbsaleem // May 2, 2008 at 2:08 pm |
OMG, that was laugh out loud funny to read. For some reason, I was thinking of some Bollywood movie scene. On the flip side, I can only imagine Shireen’s horror as the train began to move with her on the platform and you on the train.
You ask a dangerous question … one that I kind of shudder to answer. However, one must maintain humility in all that we do … I think my children would proabbly feel that their mother is highly impatient. I am highly regimented and need to learn flexibility so I can laugh rather than get angry. May Allah help me on my goal for sabr.
Love & duas.
asqfish // May 2, 2008 at 2:34 pm |
Asalaamoalaikum and Thanks S and HB, I can see you guys laughing, so did I but not Shireen. Wait till your kids are old enough or brave enough to tell your stories.:) I would love to be a fly on the wall.
Here is a privately sent comment from a dear friend from school:
Assalamoalaikum wa rahmatullah
the German train station event you wrote about
took me back to my younger days
During summer holidays we often traveled by train
in Pakistan. There were the usual train stops and my dad.
a dashing young man, would get off the train at pretty much every station.
What a buzz of activity on the train stops
vendors hawking away : garam garam unday, chai, rus,kayla, fruit
even salan roti……………..we of course took home cooked stuff with us etc.
I would sit glued to the window trying to see where my dad was
and them the train whistle…getting ready to start
no sign of abbijan. It created anxiety and fear, I could not see him;
he will miss the train, what will we do? around and around these thoughts circled.
Ammijan was always calm.
He would run along the train after it started moving, jump up the step and join us.
I would breathe an inward sigh of relief.
Then again, I often could not see him get on the train, the train was gathering speed and my heart would stop.
He would join us in a few moments
having boarded the train some distance behind our bogey !
And I never told him of the panic and anxiety this behavior/habit/adventure
of his created in me; he was with us and all concern evaporated till the next time !
FQ
Orange Ninja // May 3, 2008 at 2:21 am |
You in high heels, that’s funny.
I’ve learnt from experience to travel light, many cities that I have been to, have no coolies. Thus my brother had to help carry the stuff and I take take his whining all the time.
MAY READINGS 2009 « Siraat-e-Mustaqeem // June 2, 2009 at 9:11 am |
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