Raya Posting : Raya Day 1

This is the first posting of mine on Raya. I didn’t have the urge to write about it earlier because...you don’t write about Raya I guess...you just Raya and will end up having no time to write. Hehe. At least that’s what happened to me.

The magic of Raya, to me, only happens during Malam Raya and the morning of First Raya. Come late afternoon, the magic wears off, hence encouraging us to glue our butts in front of the TV for hours on end and pile up on the kilos by munching them kuih rayas while watching the tv.

My first raya was in Ampang, thanks to my bro who arrived back in Malaysia malam raya, at 2am to be exact, unenabling us to travel to anywhere. We woke up to the sight of him slumped on the couch, his luggages scattered on the floor, his socks still on. That was a sign for us not being able to go anywhere that day-he will be sleeping the whole day..sigh...

I woke up at 5 that day, showered and went straight to the kitchen to cook. I already told my sister many days before that I will cook the rending, not her, not bibik, but me. She can cook everything else, I won’t kacau, but leave them rending to me. So I cheerily walked down to the kitchen that morning and found my sister and bibik already up, preparing the needed ingredients. The smile I had on my face was wiped off when my sister said ‘Kite kene masak 2 kuali rending ok?’. Shit. ‘Why so much la? Only 4 adults and 2 children what..’ She simply replied ‘To bring to kampung’. Darn. I stared at the ayam in this big basin and I can already feel the pain my feet’s gonna have standing up cooking them. The rending was successfully cooked by 7:30 and I was so happy that it turned out well.

Since my bro was still sleeping, this time in his room, my sister and I decided to go back to our hometown in Kajang to visit ‘home’. We went to the kubur, said our prayers and then went to the old house. Entering the house, I just sobbed. Ok, that’s a lie. I cried. Like a baby. I can remember how that house looked like when Papa and Mama were around. I can see the table set, the curtains hung, I can see us eating together that morning. There’s Mama’s signature dish-roti jala and tapai pulut, rending ayam, lemang and of course, I can see Papa and Mama smiling. I swear I can still hear their voices too. I swear. I can see Papa on his favourite seat, and Mama fussing over everything. I see all of us taking photos in our baju raya, the ones Mama used to sew herself.

But that morning, the house was empty. It was quiet. So quiet that we can hear the clock ticking. There was no movement at all. We kept the door open to let fresh air slip in. That’s the closest to life the house can get now. One of the rooms were already occupied with stuff belonging to our future tenant. I saw pillows, cushions, kitchen utensils and everything else in between stacked neatly in the room-a sign that they’re moving in soon. The tenants will be having their first baby soon and I am pleased that the baby can call our house her first home, just as it was mine.
I took the photos of Mama and Papa and all other photos in that house, to bring back to Ampang.

After a while in the house, we decided to visit our neighbours. The first house that came to mind was the house of our family friend, our parents’ friend, Mak Nya. Mak Nya is no younger than 90, so is her husband Uncle Gani. Mak Nya was on wheelchairs the last time I visited her and Uncle Gani was in diapers. We were greeted by their daughters, the ones we knew all our lives, they’re just like our sisters. We came in and saw Mak Nya on the wheelchair, looking out. I came to her and she asked ‘Siapa ni?’, to which I replied, ‘Ayu, anak Mahmud’. Her eyes got teary when I said that and I hugged her. ‘Where’s uncle?’, she said ‘He passed away in February’. I was shocked. ‘Innalillah..I’m sorry Aunty, I didn’t know’.

We sat and talked, about Mama, how she had a beautiful garden, how she was a good cook. I didn’t know Mama had admirers. It was heart-warming to know that Mama’s friends remember her as a very pleasant person. ‘It was nice for all of you to come. Feels just like the old days’, the daughters told us, as we were leaving.
We went to other of our parents’ friend’s house. And their reaction was the same. ‘Terima kasih la datang. Nanti bila senang datang la jenguk lagi Aunty kat sini’.

Driving back to Ampang, I remembered and Ustaz saying that one of the responsibilities of children to their parents after they’ve passed away is to maintain and foster relationships which the parents have built with other people-friends, colleagues, acquaintances. So besides being a pleasant time for us visiting these family friends, we also get lotsa pahala doing it! Cool!
We went back and received visitors at the house and the day ended with me going to bed with a tired body and stuffed tummy. :)