I'm starting to get Selamat Hari Raya wishes especially from high school friends in Malaysia. Wah tak sabar-sabar dah mereka nak raya kan. It's OK, raya is for us, privided we've done enough to celebrate it. If not, what's there to celebrate aite?
Just chatted to my high-school best buddy who recently became a 'puan' and now is 7-months preggie with her first child. First raya as a wife, she's going back to MIL's kampung this year and mengadu-ed to me. I told her that that's okay, Ive experienced 3 rayas away from family and they were all allright. In fact, theyre so much fun than raya at my home!
I went back for EidulAdha in Dec last year. Thought it was going to be meaningful after years of not having raya at home. Ayah was so semangat and made an effort to bakar lemang all by himself (accompanied by the late Si Bola yang bersidai tepi api). But everything else was still the same. Mom still get angry at pagi raya, coz she cant help it but to be angry at everything every pagi raya, which spoilt my mood. I wanted so much to contemplate and retrospect and menghayati the takbir. But it's so different in Malaysia, I came to realise.
Si Bola bersidai perut sebelah api lemang
If I were in Melbourne, the moment you wake up in the morning people around you would always always remind you to give thanks and syukur to God, all the time without fail. With every step to the masjid, what fills the air around you is remembrance of God, and thankfulness; all perfectly said in the takbir...
I made a conclusion that I like it better to have raya in perantauan. Who doesnt love all the lemang, ketupat pulut with kari daging (yummeh) , nasi minyak tok (huhu), but what matters more about hari raya is what the perayaan is about and how everything goes back to Him, the Creator. I'm glad 3 years of raya di perantauan has shifted my paradigm about the celebration =) Alhamdulillah
~~*posted on*~~ Thursday, September 25, 2008