WOMEN’S POSITION

5. Muslim women ~ 111 ~ did not accept any money for this, her neighbors would send her grain and other comestibles in return for her good offices. This work was by no means easy for her, because it was done in the days before sewing machines had become popular, i.e. she did it entirely by hand. She also managed to keep a buffalo, and in our broad, open courtyard, she grew vegetables and planted fruit trees, like papaya and banana, which gave us a good yield. In those early days of penury, a woman passerby once remarked, “I see you have kittens to look after.” We did indeed look like scraggy little kittens in those days, and if my mother had not made such extraordinary sacrifices in order to look after us, our fate might well have been no better than the little, stray, motherless kittens one sees wasting away in the streets. My eyes are witness to my mother’s total commitment over a prolonged period to our proper upbringing. But it would ‘ really take a whole book to do justice to her, and I have at my disposal just these last few pages. 100. One acre is equivalent to 4840 square yards, or 4047 square meters.