The best grandfather in the world.

My grandfather (Hussain Naseer), My little sister (Aminath Shifa) and Beebi (Ibrahim Kashif Naseer) 

When I think about my childhood now, I have a lot of memories of happy, unforgettable incidents. Some very fond memories of my grandfather Hussain Naseer would be among the best of all.

We use to live with my mothers extended family. I was an only child at home for many years before my little sister (Aminath Shifa) and Beebi arrived. We had a beautiful garden in our house. Yes, I'm talking about Male'! I use to play all by myself most of the time. My cousins would visit during the weekend and my mom would take me to visit grandma every now and then. During my childhood, besides my parents, the next person with whom I used to hangout most was my grandfather.

He use to tell me stories all the time and I believed every single word until later when I grew old enough to understand that most of them were fabricated and was the work of great story teller. Anyway, I was enchanted and perhaps its because of him that I actually got interested in story writing. There was no internet or cable TV, but I can assure you all that time spent with my grandfather was more educational and I learned so much from him.

Every evening my mom would bath me and dress me up. I would look like a princess in my best clothes and shoes. I would run around in the garden and play. I also wait quite eagerly for grandfather to come out of his room too. You see, every day I miss Mr Moll and the Barbapapa passing our house. My grandfather would shout when I reach the other side of the garden that they are coming. I would run with all my might and as I reach the door, panting like anything, he would just say...they just turned the corner and are not visible anymore! And I believed him every day! I was preschool back then!

We also had a secret that I never told anyone. Well until last year anyway! My mom would not allow me to eat custard or sweets after 5 in the afternoon because it would spoil my dinner. Custard was one of my favourites and my grandpa used to smuggle treats into his room and I would enjoy custard (most of the time) while we watched cartoon. I told my mother only this year and she sure was surprised!

My grandfather was a very famous singer in his day. Even now some of the radio stations would play his songs and it's really nice to hear his voice every now and then. Most of the time I stop whatever I'm doing and its like I'm travelling back in time...I'm a little girl and my grandfather is standing in front of me.

This is my favourite song by my grandfather:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Kv65s09N6U&noredirect=1

I worked as a temporary teacher for one year and when I gave a present to grandfather from what I earned. The happiness that radiated from his face something I would always cherish in heart. Later he told my mum that I was the first grandchild to give him a present from what I have earned.

As we grew up he grew old and he was very sick for a long time. The memories of him in ICU and hospital still saddens me. When he was admitted in ICU, we use to visit him and sit outside taking turn one by one going in to see him. When we went in, he would hold out hand and talk. One night, a nurse came out looking rather worried. I quickly went towards the door thinking something must have gone wrong. She asked me to follow her and she led me to his bed. I was relieved to see that he was alright and wondered why the nurse looked so worried. Well, I soon found out! He had been asking for a mango juice and the nurse didn't understand. He was quite exasperated!

He loved mangoes and he ate cornflakes out straight out of the box like we eat thelli banbukeyo! When he was ill, one day I gave him a box of cornflakes and he finished it on the spot. During the few days with us, he use to eat a lot of oranges too. My mum made sure that we had oranges at home all the time. He loved perfume and he was always nicely groomed and dressed. 

I still miss my Kaafa (grandfather in Dhivehi) and will miss him as long as I live. I wish that he lived long enough to see me graduate, get married and have children. He would have been so proud. When I received my Diploma, he watched me on TV. H would have adored my children and spoiled them rotten and Maly and Mummu would definitely wait for their favourite cartoon characters to walk by our house too! He was the best grandpa in the whole world.