Follow The Leader

The leader in this trip was definitely Sheela. She organized the whole plan even if it was on short notice. She sent me on that trip to Malacca. I would say she is the historian and archivist of the family. Of all the family members, I know her more due to her stay in Atlanta for undergrad and graduate studies. She has done well for herself. Now that her mom has passed on, she has to run the ship at her family home. I have to say, she is still in the rough when it comes to the human touch but the house is clean.

She is very politically active and astute in Malaysia as well as here in Atlanta. She kept up with the mayor's race in Atlanta and the current state government of Georgia . When she was in Atlanta, she learned and loved baseball better than Americans who lived here. As mentioned in my previous blog, she knew the history of Pudukkottai better than the folks who lived there. Likewise, she loves English literature and American lit. Finally, pop music from the 60's and 70's. I remember her talking about the feminist movement of Gloria Steinem and others. She cares about the environment and social injustices of immigrants in Malaysia. In short, she is a renaissance person, making a real difference.

She took me to that six story mall and to those twin towers. As for me, I made sure that I got up early and made sure the room was clean as well as the bathroom. I tried not to get on her bad side too much. Likewise, she didn't like people standing and mulling around. I tried to tell her that I can tour the city myself but she said no way. I think she mentioned about getting lost and being a victim of crime. She mentioned about carrying this little swinging object that could break a glass to prevent thievery in traffic. According to her, thieves are bold there and will try to rob someone on the driver side. She dropped me off at this tour guide station with buses and tourists. On my own, now.

Well, this trip to Malacca or Melaka (depending what the brochure or wikipedia says) is state and a town in southern Malaysia about ninety miles from Kuala Lumpur. It was founded by this Hindu prince who ran away from his kingdom in Singapore after getting his butt kicked (I don't know by who). Before him, local Malays occupied the place as a fishing village. Later on, this Hindu prince converted to Islam and Malacca became a Sultan kingdom. Eventually, the Portuguese took over the place from 1511-1641, then the Dutch 1641-1798, and finally the British from 1824 until 1946 where they became part of the Malayan union which later became Malaysia. Tough to process but little did I know that more was to come.