Thursday, October 2, 2008

Selamat Hari Raya!

My Hari Raya preparations started yesterday... after buka, takbir and solat Maghrib, I drove off to my old haunt Shell to play football with the Clanners. Yes, play football on malam Raya. After a hard day's worth of cleaning, I deserve a bit of fun don't I? And it's at Shell! I haven't played there for a year I think, when it used to be every Saturday night... And besides,wait till you read what I did on pagi Raya. Heh.

I drove to Mak Long's and Bik Neng's houses to collect the lauks they generously wanted to give. Great, now my fridge is stock full of lauks orang kasi that it's enough to eat for 2 weeks, never mind 2 people! Heh. Alhamdulillah rezeki murah. Then I drove my car off to the petrol station to fill 'er up and get her a carwash despite the fact that it was raining so heavily that washing a car is pointless. Yes, I can be slenger like that. I pledged to stay awake the whole night to wash the dishes and besides, there's that Manchester United-Aalborg game at 0245h. Heh. But woe is me, I fell asleep at 0200h and only woke up at 0345h when Beg Mal came back from Geylang. And I still have yet to do them dishes! I slept at 5+am only to overshot and be woken up by Beg Mal at 0730h, and off to Masjid Istighfar we went.

And this was where I got my big surprise of the day. As soon as we finished our Aidilfitri prayers, I felt a tap from behind and someone sat next to me. I saw a man dressed in white jubah and turban, and yet I couldn't recognise him. Alangkah anjat boboi when I saw that it was my ex-classmate from Victoria School, DS! Now here's the thing. DS is half-Austrian and half-Chinese, and he was a freethinker. Last I communicated with him it was via Facebook, and he told me that he had embraced Islam. However, I don't think it sank in, because I was genuinely surprised at the change that I saw in him. Somehow there seemed to be a glow about his already pale Caucasian skin.

As we talked, the conversation naturally turned to how and what caused his conversion to Islam. To my utter surprise, he said (in excerpt)

"I have to thank you for what I am now. Remember our conversations over IRC (that was like when I was 14 uh!) and during our free periods? We used to talk about religion. And of all the people over the years that I've had talks with about Islam, the ones I had with you stuck with me most. It accumulated, and with other factors added in contributed greatly to me choosing Islam. Your talks about the punishments in the grave in the afterlife made me more curious about Islam."

SUBHANALLAH. We used to talk about religions alot in the past, but never did it cross my mind that 7 years down the line, our paths would cross again with DS now a Muslim, and thanking me for whatever small role I played in him discovering Islam. ALHAMDULILLAHHH.

Now this is where the part about what I did on Raya morning comes in. We went off after prayers to hang around abit with 2 of Beg Mal's friends... at McDonald's. Aderker pagi² raya makan breakfast pat McDonald's. Haha. Malam Raya main bola pat Shell, pagi Raya makan McDonald's.

After visiting my Nenek at Tampines, we made our way to Teban Gardens to visit Yayi. My nephew Fikri, Beg Mal and I took my dad's car and I volunteered to drive, since Beg Mal was sleepy. Everything went well, and Beg Mal and Fikri had both fallen asleep at the back. I too, was getting drowsy, my stomach was full of food and the radio was belting out an old English song instead of lagu raya. I felt my eyes drooping, and that was insanely dangerous for I was on the extreme right lane on the highway doing 100km/h, and I really should be more alert. Eventually, I did fall asleep while driving, only to open my eyes just in time to prevent the car crashing into the railings dividing the highway. I was really shaken by that experience, and deep in me my heart was racing, because I was responsible for the lives of both Fikri and Beg Mal behind me. Alhamdulillah, God woke me up before anything serious happened.

Question: Do I look like I'm ripe for marriage? Do I exude an aura of 'Marrying soon?' Has my face somehow changed or maybe I look more mature now, and of marriageable age?

In the 5 houses I visited today, for some reason, in every house someone or other somehow asked me 'Biler nak kahwin?'. I mean, there's my 29 year old Beg Mal beside me and I'M the one they ask when I'm gonna get married? And it's pretty unnerving considering that the past raya just one year ago people were asking me if I'd finished my O-levels! From O-levels to marriage within a year... That's freaky. And these coming from relatives who are well... relatively close to me, and not some distant relation or something. ZOMG.

Anyway, to all those who've SMS-ed, called, or tried to contact me in one way or another today, I'm sorry for not being able to reply. And it's not because I action Fizah, it's my phone. As you all know it's all menstrual lately, but today it's WELL menstrual. I switch on the phone, I receive the SMSes, but I can't read them because as soon as I receive the SMS, my phone resets itself and I have to switch it on again. From early morning till now I haven't been able to crack this vicious cycle. Any help/tips anyone?

Last, but not least, saya, Zulhikam Bin Zullkefle ingin menyusun 10 strings... eh salah, ingin menyusun 10 picks... eh I mean ingin to arrange 10 fingers untuk humbly meminta maaf zahir dan batin kepada semua seandainya... andaikata... jikalau... misalannya... saya telah menyakat, menyakiti hati, menyinggung perasaan, membuat anda menstrual dan sebagainya. Harap terimalah mohon maaf dan keampunan dari saya, saya tidak berniat aper² perkara buruk. Salam muhibah dari patik ini, sekarang kita sama 0-0.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI MAAF ZAHIR DAN BATIN! =)

No comments: