I didn’t know what RCA was. I didn’t know there were male and female cables or jacks. Yes, what rock was I living under? The electronic, electrical and technology boulder-rock. Yes, that same boulder-rock that initiates shut down of all brain function the minute anything electronic, electrical and technology is mentioned.

I was in the blur zone when nephew number 2 had a conversation with a sales staff at an electronics shop in KLCC. He asked questions peppered with jargons that bemused and beguiled me. From the exchange, the only part that was clear to me was that it was clear to the two of them what was needed to transmit the audio/ volume from my mum’s non-smart Bluetooth-less TV to a wireless headset. The electronics shop didn’t have the Logitech transmitter required. With nephew number 2’s guidance, we found something online that could work just as well – KUULAA M8 Home Bluetooth Transmitter. We hoped it would.

Why? Because my mum watches her Tamil soaps at the highest volume – between 90 to 96. Why? Because she’s quite deaf, and can barely hear the dialogue. Not helped by the fact that she has long abandoned her hearing aid. For two hours, every evening except Sunday, when there are no soaps, no conversation can be had. Amidst the loud tears/sobs that make up a major portion of every Tamil soap opera. People in soapland must have really sad lives. Blood curdling dialogue. People in soapland are generally evil and ruthless. And, bad music. People in soapland produce a lot of sad high pitched background music. The TV can be heard a good 30 meters outside the condominium unit.

Nephew number 2 lives in Sydney with his wife and son. He was in Malaysia for 10 days in December. Visiting my mum, his Pati (grandmother) and brother number 1, his Banima (uncle).  He had originally planned to visit his ailing Pati in early 2023 but moved forward his trip.

The transmitter only arrived after nephew number 2 had returned home. Via WhatsApp, he walked me through the steps and ‘viola’ it worked first time. I plugged one end of the auxiliary (AUX) 3.5mm audio cable into the audio output port, located at the back of the flatscreen TV. It was a little fiddly but I found it with the help of a torchlight. The other end went into the AUX of the transmitter. I held it down for 3 counts, and it switched on. The headset, borrowed from my husband, had a switch that needed to be pressed down for a count of 5. A blue light came on, and a voice said it was paired. The transmitter and headset were connected to the TV. Happy, I was. My mum… well, she used it on two evenings. And, despite the clarity, she found it cumbersome. It’s a work-in-progress for an easier to use headset/headphone. 

Briefly, RCA stands for Radio Corporation of America. The RCA connector is a type of electrical connector used to carry audio and video signals. The female connector or jack is generally a receptacle that receives and holds the male connector or plug. 

It was nice teaming up with nephew number 2 to find a solution/means to help my mum/his Pati to hear the dialogue/tears/wails etc. Particularly as her Tamil soaps give her so much pleasure and focus. While providing some quiet time for the rest of us. We also bought a home security camera. A simple device to monitor goings-on in my mum’s home.  Viewed via an app on my mobile.

It was also nice having nephew number 2 stay with us. We go back a long way – more than 3 decades – involving a lot of love, emotions, and experiences. When he was little, he lived with my mum, brother number 1 and me in Alor Setar, and then in Kuala Lumpur. He was born in Alor Setar. I still remember the nurse holding him, as a new-born and saying to my parents (my dad was alive then) that their ‘cucu’ or grandchild drank 10ml of water, and that he must have been thirsty. At six months, he left with his mum, sister number 2, to India to live with his dad’s family. He returned to Kuala Lumpur when he was 2ish. At 3 plus, he migrated to Australia. 

My mum, brother number 1 and I, reminisce about him when events, word/s or things related to and/or associated with him crop up from time to time. We laugh at the antics he got up to, said and did, as a toddler. He has visited us, over the years, when he was a boy, a teenager, a young adult, a married man, and now a father.

We evolve – birth, school, career, social life, family, health, old age, and death. We hold on to old memories. We continue to create new ones.