Raya Ramblings
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As usual, we alternate every year between Emak and Mama’s house on which house do we spend Hari Raya eve and the first day of Hari Raya. We are lucky, their houses are fourteen minutes apart. If I drive a little faster, it’ll be like eleven minutes. If I drive like a madman, eight minutes. This year it was at Mama’s house. Being a menantu lelaki is easy, we only have to lift heavy things around if any at all. But I do try to make myself useful but then they do have two maids so I guess it wasn’t that much for me to do. Besides, no one wants to eat my cooking. About the only other significant errand most of us guys do is go to the shop to buy things required for the lauk pauk or endless errands of sending cakes, kuih and lauk or someting else to some relatives’ house. Lina wasn’t so lucky. At Mama’s house she have to lead at cooking and at Emak’s house also, a menantu perempuan could not duduk aje, if you know what I mean, kena tolong tolong. Teruk kan? Tak fair kan? But then that is the reality. But then weeeii......, I pun ada tolong tolong wherever we’re at tau? Nak jadi menantu kan? Kalau tak, jadi hantu..... That applies to both guys and gals, by the way.
I have reached a stage where I only dish out money during Hari Raya. Even my niece, Aina, who has started working got duit Raya from me.
"I’ll stop giving you duit Raya when you start giving me duit Raya."
Uh, somehow that was a very very one-sided deal, brokered my me but I guess I’ll have to live with it. Nazzim and Sofia are busy collecting money and thinking, out loud, what are they going to do with the money.
"In a cat’s eye.", said Lina. "Hand over the money to Mama and Papa."
But we’ll give them a decent amount to spend on things they want but do not need. Both wants watches and Nazzim has got his eye on a watch like mine but I think it’s a bit out of his league. I promised him that I’ll get him one when he graduates from college. I can be sure that he’ll remind me of that when the time comes, even though it might be a decade or so away. They already have watches but they want new ones. Sabar aje lah..... Shoot, I even borrowed fifty from Sofia and ten from Nazzim and I have yet to pay them................
"Papa tak dapat duit Raya ke?", Sofia asked.
"Dapat, sayang, every month Papa dapat dari employer Papa."
"Every month? That’s not fair!!!"
Not much in life is fair, dear. Our next Hari Raya will be another year away but that year will go so fast that we’ll be wondering what hit us when the next fasting month is only a week or two away.
.
As usual, we alternate every year between Emak and Mama’s house on which house do we spend Hari Raya eve and the first day of Hari Raya. We are lucky, their houses are fourteen minutes apart. If I drive a little faster, it’ll be like eleven minutes. If I drive like a madman, eight minutes. This year it was at Mama’s house. Being a menantu lelaki is easy, we only have to lift heavy things around if any at all. But I do try to make myself useful but then they do have two maids so I guess it wasn’t that much for me to do. Besides, no one wants to eat my cooking. About the only other significant errand most of us guys do is go to the shop to buy things required for the lauk pauk or endless errands of sending cakes, kuih and lauk or someting else to some relatives’ house. Lina wasn’t so lucky. At Mama’s house she have to lead at cooking and at Emak’s house also, a menantu perempuan could not duduk aje, if you know what I mean, kena tolong tolong. Teruk kan? Tak fair kan? But then that is the reality. But then weeeii......, I pun ada tolong tolong wherever we’re at tau? Nak jadi menantu kan? Kalau tak, jadi hantu..... That applies to both guys and gals, by the way.
I have reached a stage where I only dish out money during Hari Raya. Even my niece, Aina, who has started working got duit Raya from me.
"I’ll stop giving you duit Raya when you start giving me duit Raya."
Uh, somehow that was a very very one-sided deal, brokered my me but I guess I’ll have to live with it. Nazzim and Sofia are busy collecting money and thinking, out loud, what are they going to do with the money.
"In a cat’s eye.", said Lina. "Hand over the money to Mama and Papa."
But we’ll give them a decent amount to spend on things they want but do not need. Both wants watches and Nazzim has got his eye on a watch like mine but I think it’s a bit out of his league. I promised him that I’ll get him one when he graduates from college. I can be sure that he’ll remind me of that when the time comes, even though it might be a decade or so away. They already have watches but they want new ones. Sabar aje lah..... Shoot, I even borrowed fifty from Sofia and ten from Nazzim and I have yet to pay them................
"Papa tak dapat duit Raya ke?", Sofia asked.
"Dapat, sayang, every month Papa dapat dari employer Papa."
"Every month? That’s not fair!!!"
Not much in life is fair, dear. Our next Hari Raya will be another year away but that year will go so fast that we’ll be wondering what hit us when the next fasting month is only a week or two away.
.
posted by dudae_simboyo at 08:22
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