I am not
sure how many people have noticed that, of recently, the Yoga Studio has gone
under some face lift. Obvious change is
the mirrors in the pillars. Other than
that…? Not sure of what?
Yes…not many
have noticed the changes, except two persons.
The first was ML, who has notice the studio somehow brighter, but couldn’t
tell exactly of what (the dead celling lights were replaced). The second was Mr. Siau, who has immediately
noticed the studio walls that were repainted, despite of the same color as
before. Other people…were too busy to
rush in and rush out of the yoga classes, to notice or catch any changes in the
surroundings…
The daily
heavy downpours for the last few months brought the yoga studio some serious damages. The cracks on the rooftop and window panels
were inviting rain waters to the walls and wooden floors. So the walls and pillars were showing ugly
water stains with molds, and the floors were getting lifted off.
Being
Malaysia as you all would agree…the rooftop and wall leaking in buildings are
quite common problem. So I didn’t want
to bother the landlord in every rainwater drips that was there whenever it
rains heavily over the years. But this
time, it was getting too much. So I
called the landlord who is living in another state. He knew of the leaking problem and he was
planning to do major job to repair the roof once the rain stops. However the sky didn’t seem to dry up with so much rains. Seeing the studio
walls and floor from prolonged rain…he apologized profusely.
He
immediately put himself in action with his contractor brother-in-law and very expensive
waterproof painting from Singapore. They
couldn’t wait till the rain stop any longer, so they were working
in-between-dry-sky over the last few weeks.
After that, they repainted almost whole walls and ceilings inside the
studio, from landlord’s pocket, which is not small sum. I am grateful for the landlord’s kindness
generosity, though I am not quite sure whether it was his normal responsibility as
the building owner. Even if it is, it
doesn’t matter. I am still immensely grateful
to him to make the studio so clean and nice.
The lights fix and mirrors are from my own pockets.
So that is
why, the studio got fresh look like a new, though many might have felt the
lighter moods even if they didn’t express it.
It’s so
encouraging, to know there are still good people in the world like my landlord,
unlike some other ugly rich ones, who genuinely care for the tenant’s agony
like their own affairs. People say, it’s
a dog-eat-dog world. But, I find it
otherwise. There are still so many good
people are out there. The four instructor-trainee
gals are another ones, who all are looking to do some good in caring for others
despite their full spectrum careers. And the many yoga students and friends from the past years till present, who were
so supportive, kind, loyal and trusty, to this foreign origin…
I do not know what kind of a person I would
have ended up, if I haven’t met all these wonderful people through the yoga
center. I will be as bitter as the dried
water tap like the Ampang people experiencing it right now. When I first came in
Malaysia in 1997, I lived with a dried tap for 6 months because of the
Commonwealth Game then. The government
was reserving water in our area for the Games.
It was a living hell then, for entire the first year. I had gone through some serious depression
and soul searching. What pulled me out
of the dark tunnel was Yoga…
So I feel
particularly grateful for my landlord this year in making my yoga studio
afresh, to remind me of those beginning years in Malaysia that I felt so touched
by many kind gestures of friends who helped me to feel belong here.
What are you grateful
for today, this year? Of lately I am
seeing increasing number of cancer patients around me… to remind me stay ever
grateful for life and good health and good company. Maybe you could also start to feel grateful if you aren’t sure of what the New Year is holding it in front of
you…
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of
life. It turns what we have into enough,
and more. It turns denial into
acceptance, chaos to order, and confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a
feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings
peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” ----Melody Beattie
