Minority #2

Yesterday I was approached by a little girl when I was in the elevator heading downstairs. She's so cute I may say, with a dark brown curly hair and wore a white robe, I think she was going to swim. The second she entered the elevator, her eyes stucked on my head like everybody when I passed by. After she press the button, she said, "Hi!" with a smile. Dang, she's cute. I "Hi" back to her.

And the next one was something I never expected before. She touched my hijab and asked, "Why do you wear that?". I lost all the alphabet I know for a blink second. "Mampus lah gue, gue harus jawab apaan?" I said to myself. Then gathered myself, searching for a simple words to answer her question. "It's what my religion told all women to wear."

I thought that would be simple enough not to bring a train of question, I guess I was wrong, because she asked me again, "Religion?". I answered, "Yes, have you heard of Islam?". And guess what? She said, "Islam? No." with those curious eyes demanding more answer. Again, I lost all the alphabet I know for twice now. "Ya Allah, harus jawab apa nihhhh?" I said to myself began to frustrate a little bit because I was struggling to find a delicate answer for the little girl.

"Yes, in Islam women are told to wear this to protect themselves." I answered her. I guess she's just a curious little girl who find something that she never saw before. "Can you take it off?", she asked me again. I said, "When I'm outside? No. But when I'm at home, I can take it off.". And as she got the answer, the evelator reached the ground level and the door was open, ended our brief encounter and so did her question.

I realize that in the future I will get lots of similar question asking about hijab and I should prepare for a better answer so they can understand why I chose to wear hijab instead of just letting my hair down flown by the wind. That's also the thing living as a minority.

Apartment,

21st February 2016 | 11.17 am