My Angel in Disguise
A chance encounter with a kindly woman made a world of difference so far from home
Mahwish Nabeel lives with her husband and two daughters, Abrish and Eeshal, in Pakistan. She studied electrical engineering but is taking time off to care for her family. She loves sports, travelling, learning new things and being surrounded by her friends.
IT WAS 2PM on a hot, humid August afternoon in 2009. I was sitting in a post office in Machida, Japan, where my husband and I had recently moved. I noticed a woman leaving; she was smiling at me. She asked me in English if I needed help, obviously noticing that I was a foreigner. I graciously declined but later, to my surprise, I realised she was waiting outside the building. I was six months pregnant with my first child, homesick, desperate for company and feeling the absence of my mother terribly. I shared this with her, the first person to approach me so openly after 14 months in Japan. We started chatting, ending up in a café. She was fluent in English due to her many visits abroad and we chatted about our mutual countries, the problems I was facing during my stay in Japan and our respective cuisines.
Three days later, my doorbell rang; it was a deliveryman with a package. Utterly perplexed, I was unsure what to do. Then my phone rang. It was my new friend, confirming that she had sent me some drinks to make sure I was staying well hydrated during my second trimester. Teary eyed, I thanked her while her words blossomed in my mind, “From now on I am your grandmother. If you need any help please do not hesitate to call me.”
I had found hope in a country where I thought I would have to go through this major, life-changing event alone. In short, we became best friends and I started calling her ‘Granny’. She kept me busy, taking me to tango dances as a way to cheer me up and teaching me about Japanese cuisine. Leading up to the birth of my baby, we spent at least eight hours a day together, and she was often still at my place when my husband would return from work. He was grateful that I was in such pleasant company.
On November 31 at 1.15am I started experiencing labour pains. In a panic, I called Granny. Within minutes she was at our door, accompanying us to hospital. Once there, she refused to leave and gave me constant strength. When my daughter Eeshal was born, Granny’s presence and support meant a lot to me as, back home in Pakistan,
it is customary to be surrounded by your whole family at this memorable time.
Granny spent five days in hospital with me and later would visit my home every day. She did everything for us, from bathing, dressing and feeding the baby to cooking our meals and providing immense emotional support. She was always fussing over Eeshal, cuddling and hugging her. Granny’s love for my daughter was obvious. She was immediately attached to her. In fact, after Eeshal’s birth, Granny began distributing Japanese sweets among the hospital staff.
At 72, despite having a 95-year-old mother at home to take care of, Granny never stopped helping us. One day I asked her, “Granny, are you an angel?” She laughed and replied, “Definitely not!” She was truly the most modest and humble person I have ever met.
When my mother phoned from Pakistan, she said she had been hoping that I would be provided with an alternative to her. My Granny was the answer, my angel in disguise. Her name is Nishi-San and although I no longer live in Japan, we still visit each other and share a strong, loving bond.