i never got myself to do it and finally, when there were no more ideas to write, i remembered that i still owe this blog these pieces.
the first person i shall write about is my maternal grandmother. she is the most favourite of all. i call her ummamma. there is so much to say about her...where do i start? my ummama's name is seithoon beevi, born in panaikulam village, ramanathapuram district, tamil nadu, india in the year between 1923 to 1925...so, they think. her parents, my great grandparents are sayed mohamed and muthuwau. she is the 10th of 12 siblings... she went to school in the village and after her mother passed away when she was 10, she stopped schooling. her dad is a merchant who has business dealings in Ceylon (which part, i am not sure) and after his wife passed away, he sold off his business in Ceylon and started business in the village. he had 7 shops selling different mechandise. the current madura bank in the village used to be his.
she got married in 1940 when she was about 15 or 17 years old to my grandfather, mohamed sultan who was about 30 years old. after they got married, my grandfather, who had already migrated to malaya in search of business opportunities, returned to Penang. i remember seeing in an old passport of my grandfather that his occupation was fish dealer.
the second world war broke out in 1941 and halted my grandfather's travelling back to india. he only went back in 1947 after the war ended.
in the meanwhile, my grandmother stayed with her in laws i.e. mother in law and 2 sister in laws. and in 1948, my mum was born and she happened to be the only child. while raising my mum, my ummamma co-raised her sister, raviathu ummamma's 6 sons. so much so that her nephews call her amma.
ummamma at the mosque on my nikah day
ummama blessing me on my inai night
ummamma and her nephew with the couple
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