Short stories have the value of providing us with insight into life, into things that we might go through or have gone through. It can rationalize things that may seem irrational. It can put things in perspectives. Hence Nakamora wishes to share the following story which he came across in a daily tabloid quite some time ago.
There was an old lady, staying alone in a village, supporting herself by selling vegetables and other produce at the local farmers' market. One of her best selling product is tempe. Tempe is a traditional soy product produced by fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form. Tempes can be eaten fried or cooked in a curry to be taken during regular meals with rice.
The lady is very pious, God-fearing, always do good deeds and never ever cause problems to others or do any bad or evil things.
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| Tempe - done and sold at a night market near Nakamora's house |
Every time, before packing her produce to leave for the market she would check to see if her tempe were done and ready to sell. One day she found that her tempe were only half done. She wondered why as to her best memory she didn't change the recipe and followed exactly the way she always make tempe.
She prayed for her tempe to be done so that she can sell them that morning at the farmers' market. She believed Allah can do anything. She always depended on Him and have great faith in Him. In the meantime she prepared her other products, and when done she checked the tempe again. No change, the tempe were still as before.
She was a bit shaken but not losing confidence. She prayed again asking Allah for miracles. She needed to sell the tempe to support herself. Besides, it is the end of the month; there will be a lot of shoppers in the market. A large part of her monthly revenue comes from sales at the end of the month. She said, “Oh Allah, I know you can make miracle, I know you can make anything at your will. Help me, please make the tempe done. I am asking you for a miracle.”
She packed the tempe together with other products and made the trip to the farmers' market hoping that during the trip her payer would be answered; a miracle would happen; and the tempe would be done.
On arrival she set up to display her products. She peeked into the tempe covering to see if they are done since she wanted to display the tempe too. She was taken aback when she saw that the tempe were still as before, half done. She started wondering why her wish was not granted. She is pious, never forget or intentionally forget to pray, never did anything bad. She felt sad and her faith was somewhat weakened when she almost got angry with her predicament.
She left the tempe in the package in despair, but still harboring the hope that somehow the tempe will be done. Hours went by, occasionally she peeked into the tempe covering to see if they can be sold. No change. The market is about to close and sellers all prepared to go home. So as she.
As she was about to leave, a middle aged lady stopped her and asked if she have tempe, half-cooked; as the lady did not want them fully done. She was surprised, and this time she prayed to Allah not to grant what she has been asking for all along. Please, let the tempe stayed as they were. She responded to the lady that yes, she has plenty of half done tempe. The lady glowed and smiled happily as she has been asking here, there, and everywhere for half-cooked tempe. The lady asked to buy all of her tempe.
Slowly and trembling, she opened her package and took out the tempe. Yes, the tempe remained half-cooked. And the lady bought all of them. Before the lady left she asked why she wanted half-cooked tempe. The lady replied that her son is studying in the USA and craved for tempe, so she wanted to mail him the tempe. Fully cooked tempe would have gone bad while in postage.
Now, the she understood why her prayers were not granted for Allah knows best, and has a better plan for her. It touched her deep in her heart and thank Allah continuously as she made her way back home while regretting to almost show her anger when her wish for the tempe to be done were not granted.
Sometimes, what we asked was not what we actually wanted, Nakamora thought. He philosophized that it's better to ask for the tempe to be sold than for them to be fully done. Focus on the goal - after all, what matters is the tempe are sold, not for them to be fully done. Thus, Nakamora concludes, beware of what you asked for...
