Kau ilhamku | My Ilham | My inspiration

Bismillah.

My mother had this to say as we were watching a heartwarming documentary of Caliph Buskers: "They are on TV, yet they can't watch themselves..." And silence filled the space between me and her, for a minute.

Caliph Buskers skyrocketed to fame when a renowned musician let them perform his composition at a prestigious song competition in Malaysia. On that fateful night, I was probably one of millions of viewers who was mesmerized by their voice and wondered who on earth they were. Wasn't really paying attention on the TV screen as I was occupied with some work but when they belted out the first few lines, it was a "wow" delivery. They first captured the viewers' hearing with their truthful-sounding vocals and then many began to notice they were blind! MashaAllah.

Caliph Buskers

Tonight, my mother and I were glued to the screen again as we watched a documentary on how this group live their lives. It's inspiring and humbling to see how they move about their daily routine. That they were able to give specific instructions to the cab driver and knew it when the driver missed the intended stop. MashaAllah. The main vocalist is completely blind. He cannot even see a speck of light. One of them has slightly better "vision" than the rest. Everyone else is practically blind.

To state the obvious, as did my mother, they can't see themselves on TV. They can't see a playback of their remarkable performance at the competition. Imagine if you were to appear on television? You would be excited to watch yourself.

But I suppose it's enough for Caliph Buskers to experience and feel the defining moments, when things turned around for the better for them - moments when they went from zero to hero. Allah is All-Knowing, Most-Powerful and Most-Generous, isn't He? The Almighty lets us see something magical in Caliph Buskers. Many were inspired and humbled at the same time.

Ilham is the name chosen for my new "companion", with the hope that it would inspire me to capture beautiful and meaningful moments of this temporary life. If Allah had not given me the ability to see, Ilham would be of no meaning to me. It would be useless to place my eyes behind it because there will be nothing to see.

Still, Allah in His unfathomable wisdom, inspires us all in unique ways. He gives something to each one of us. He lets us see things anyway, be it with the physical eyes or with the eyes of the heart. Still, there is something to see. There is always something to see for Caliph Buskers, you and me.

***

My heart hums a beautiful Malay song called:

Kau Ilhamku  [You are my inspiration].

Kau ilhamku.
You are my inspiration.

Ilham

These cute boys too, have inspired me.

Click on pic to enlarge and see better.
I see sheer joy and innocence.