“DARI RUMAH KE TANAH” …

Have you heard of this term before? I can bet you have not.

It’s my mother’s favourite line on her squabbling grandchildren.

Well, they don’t squabble all the time.

You know how teenage siblings are; they can be best buddies one minute and get on each others’ nerves the next.

One word, one sentence or an action can trigger an outburst. And it can happen anywhere; hence, “dari rumah” (from home) and “ke tanah” (to mean outside the house).

And it can be irritating to the grandmother because she’s with them in Putrajaya.

Whenever they start quarrelling, the nenek will go, “dari rumah ke tanah …” and starts her rant. Mysara and Danial will start blaming each other on who started the quarrel first.  

And because the nenek uses it often enough, they will, in the midst of their squabbling, say “dari rumah ke tanah” before she can say it herself. And they will burst out laughing. And nenek will be annoyed. “Tengok tu, dia main-mainkan kita,” she would say.

I don’t know where my mother got this saying from. It is not some simpulan bahasa or peribahasa used by the Malays. Yes, I google-d. I can’t trace its source.

In fact, she used it when we were growing up. Yes, we had our fair share of quarrels among siblings. I’ve also heard my aunties (never by my uncles), both maternal and paternal, using them when describing their own children and grandchildren. “Budak-budak ni dari rumah ke tanah sama saja.”  

Generally, what it means is to reflect the same behaviour at home and where ever you are.

And when the grandchildren are on their best behaviour, trading stories and share laughter over jokes, nenek will be wary of what is to come next.

#Throwback ... nenek and her two grandchildren,
Hari Raya Aidilfitri August 2013/Syawal 1434H