Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Thank You
- Today's World
- Glossary
- The Mayoress
- The Pioneer
- Dadi Ma the Motivator
- From Sylhet to Ilkley
- Music ‘n’ Motherhood
- Identity
- No Mercy!
- Journey to the House of Allah
- I have a Dream!
- From Roots to Routes
- Jihad
- The Preacher’s Voice
- Salaam Namaste
- The Visionary
- Turning Pennies into Pounds
- Busing in the Immigrants
- White Abbey Road
- The Spiritual Tourist
- Burning Ambitions
- Rags to Riches
- Final Thoughts
Dadi Ma the Motivator
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 July 2022
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Thank You
- Today's World
- Glossary
- The Mayoress
- The Pioneer
- Dadi Ma the Motivator
- From Sylhet to Ilkley
- Music ‘n’ Motherhood
- Identity
- No Mercy!
- Journey to the House of Allah
- I have a Dream!
- From Roots to Routes
- Jihad
- The Preacher’s Voice
- Salaam Namaste
- The Visionary
- Turning Pennies into Pounds
- Busing in the Immigrants
- White Abbey Road
- The Spiritual Tourist
- Burning Ambitions
- Rags to Riches
- Final Thoughts
Summary
I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free so that other people would also be free and I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear. (Rosa Parks)
I don't know what year I was born because in those days we didn't have ways of documenting people's dates of birth. But I must be in my 80s now according to the date on my passport – probably even more! And I guess because I’ve lived in this country for such a long time I have become walaythee (British) myself! I live on my own in a big old house near Lister Park and Oak Lane, it has central heating so it's nice and warm and I’ve got a stair lift that I hardly ever use because it scares me.
I was born in Pakistan. We were only small when our father passed away. I’ve never even seen a picture of him. I don't know what he looked like. It's not like we had cameras or anything in the villages then. There was nothing in the grahn (village) – no cameras, no TV, no microwaves, no cassette players, nothing at all. We grew up at a time of war and food like flour and sugar were rationed, entire families had to share; sometimes you had to go without and sleep on empty stomachs. You had to patiently endure the hardships. Pakistan was our beloved country, a source of our pride and our joy: a young country trying to find its feet and a lot of blood and sweat was shed to create it. In those days life was so different from the life I have now and the life my children and grandchildren have.
People trusted the decisions that their parents made for them. My elders used to tell me that when I was born my grandma tied a piece of string to my wrist, and she told my father, “Son, I’ve promised your daughter to your brother's son.” Can you imagine! A piece of string! A piece of black string! That was my fate – so I’d been promised! My father agreed to the marriage.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Our stories, our LivesInspiring Muslim Women's Voices, pp. 26 - 30Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2009