THERE are two very special people in my life. One is 92 years old and the other just turned two a couple of months ago. One walks at a slow pace and has a hearing problem, while the other loves dancing and has all the energy in the world. One speaks Hakka and a few other dialects, plus a fair bit of Bahasa and a smattering of EnglisH; the other one has only begun to speak. One lives here in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, while the other is in Sydney, Australia.
One is my grandmother and the other, my niece Kristen. You can't deny the existence of a biggeneration gap with these two, who were born in different times and places, into different financial situations. What could they possibly have in common? Espe- cially when they hadn't met since Kristen was nine months old?
Kristen was back in Malaysia for two months recently, and during the occasional stay at my grandmother's place I got to see how these two special girls bonded. Although she was taught to call her great-grandma “Tai-Tai”, Kristen would only whisper it and grandmother hardly heard it. Tai-Tai could never really play with Kristen or carry her, but there was a special bond between them.
You see, my grandmother sits on this big, comfortable La-Z-Boy chair for most of the day reading the papers, napping or watching TV. Often, Kristen would clamber up beside her and sit on the wide armrest with her colouring book and pencils, or toys and storybooks. attention.
She gave pencils to Tai-Tai so she could join in her scribbling. One morning when I put on her favourite Wiggles DVD, Kristen hopped onto her favourite seat and danced along to the music with Tai-Tai beside her.
My grandmother takes good care of herself: she goes for her morning walk and exercises every day without fail. After dinner, she does a few more exercise routines under the porch.
I caught Kristen tearing out of the house after Tai-Tai, struggling to walk in her mummy's sandals, lugging an umbrella. She was imitating Tai-Tai, who uses a walking stick. When she saw grandma swaying her arms, she dropped the umbrella and followed suit, giggling all the way.
Tai-Tai adjusted her normal routine and did some simple moves so Kristen could keep up with her. In the fading light of the evening sun, watching them laughing and imitating each other, I realised that they had bridged their 90-year age gap. What's more, without words.
But was there ever a generation gap in the first place? Or is that something we make up as an excuse not to allow ourselves the pleasure of having a simple yet profound relationship with someone else?
Well, Kirsten and her Tai-Tai certainly showed us otherwise. She has returned to Sydney but they continue their exercises, via the webcam. These days, she shouts out “Tai-Tai” as loud as she can into the microphone. And with the volume on the speakers turned up a notch, grandma can hear her calling.
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