My wife has molded the spiritual side of Marziya Shakir my 7 year old granddaughter , she began reciting her namaz when she was 5 .. now she is teaching Nerjis her sister the same ,, Nerjis is 4 year old..And though after school Marziya goes for her Arabic and Koran classes at the Bandra Shia Mosque ,.. where all this is strictly taught by ladies unlike the Sunni madrsas where men teach 10 year old girl..there are somethings only a woman can teach a girl..but parents grandparents must take up the initiative the girl child can learn all this at home and luckily Marziyas best friend Zehra is as spiritual as her , they are totally seeped into all this ,, and for Shia kids the greatest lessons in spirituality piety dedicated is during Moharam and Ramzan.
Nerjis follows what her sister does , they know the main scriptures , the famous matams thanks to their mom dad and my wife ,,my wife leaves no stone unturned grooming Marziya since she was a tiny kid taught both of them to make parathas , domestic chores and Adab Tehzeeb...it is i their blood as their mother is a Lucknow born from a old traditional Shia family .
Besides this spiritual side both are creatively inclined , painting drawing recitation both are on their Ipads coloring and listening to poems ..they hardly touch my camera now ,, but both can shoot almost the way I shoot ,,
I forced the camera when they were growing not anymore ,,,camera was just a moment to show them a world beyond their world ..both are strong its been a few days since their mother left for Lucknow to take care of her mother who is ill leaving the children behind with my wife and Zinnias mother .. and though they miss their mother terribly they understand ,,
I pamper them a lot I never come empty handed I always bring them their favorite cold drinks and biscuits and cookies .
I am always stumped for words by Nerjis she is witty , intelligent and with very sharp memory.. the prettiest and the toughest is Zinnia,,all 3 fight and become friends in no time ,,
