I'm not sure how my earlier Ramadhans were but let me recap my memories on the Ramadhans that I remember..
At one age, Ramadhan was the most dreaded month of the year. It's because I have to physically refrain from eating and drinking, acts which I cannot understand yet at that age. It was like a forced ritual and I had to go through that ritual simply because my religion is Islam. Of course, parents and teachers at the Sekolah Agama explained the who, why, what, where, when and how but what meaning does it make in this simple mind of mine then? Nak kena bangun pagi pulak tu just to eat, at the time of day when I would rather sleep, and by then time I get home from Sekolah Agama, had to wait for a couple of hours before I can taste the first sip of cold something. It didn't make sense.
There were lots of moments when I turn to the hose in the toilet for temporal relief, to burp (and be heard burping! :P) right after that and emerge refreshed after a supposedly evening shower. There was also an incident (that I made as an excuse) when I was 10, to break fast because I couldn't stand seeing someone drinking. Oh yes, I did get to taste the sirap selasih earlier than others but I also had to stay outside when it was iftar (dah minum air, boleh la gi padang main basikal! :P). Daddy locked me out of the house for that 'mistake'. Did I mention that it was a baby drinking milk from his bottle? Yeah.. excuses.. :P
Secondary school years were also a bane. There were the seniors who would ask not to be seen eating (to put it in mild words), the afternoon fatigue boys roll call and there was once while in form 2 that I had a bad stomach issue, I was forced (and I accepted gleefully :P) to take bread dipped in air sirap. And had lunch brought to me by a roommate (by the instruction of the DSM, no less). Alhamdulillah, that was my only authentic stomach related problem so far. Others were more of *ehem* reduced will power :D
I don't really remember what went on during uni years except that in 1998, for almost a month, I had one constant company for iftar.
Ramadhan in 2000, '01 and '02 were the beginning of our venture into business. It started off with my dad making a suggestion to open our gates and make ayam percik sales. It quickly included akok, cream puff and nasi kerabu. In the first year, we also had occasional nasi dagang, courtesy of my brother's MIL although the years after, it didn't work out that well. We opened sales again last year (for the record, last year was the year 2007) with the assistance of some of my former students and dubbed ourselves the Percik KING. They received certificates for their participation and we took photos to remember the event. We even had our private convocation dinner!
This year's Ramadhan is the best for me, so far. There's nothing superior about this year's activities and I've spent most of my iftars at home (although this week's nights are booked until Sunday) but I don't have to go to work too early and I don't have to move much in the office so I guess that makes it more appealing as compared to previous years.
I've still not completely understood the meaning behind it all but I think I'm beginning to appreciate it more.
Ramadhan kareem :)
At one age, Ramadhan was the most dreaded month of the year. It's because I have to physically refrain from eating and drinking, acts which I cannot understand yet at that age. It was like a forced ritual and I had to go through that ritual simply because my religion is Islam. Of course, parents and teachers at the Sekolah Agama explained the who, why, what, where, when and how but what meaning does it make in this simple mind of mine then? Nak kena bangun pagi pulak tu just to eat, at the time of day when I would rather sleep, and by then time I get home from Sekolah Agama, had to wait for a couple of hours before I can taste the first sip of cold something. It didn't make sense.
There were lots of moments when I turn to the hose in the toilet for temporal relief, to burp (and be heard burping! :P) right after that and emerge refreshed after a supposedly evening shower. There was also an incident (that I made as an excuse) when I was 10, to break fast because I couldn't stand seeing someone drinking. Oh yes, I did get to taste the sirap selasih earlier than others but I also had to stay outside when it was iftar (dah minum air, boleh la gi padang main basikal! :P). Daddy locked me out of the house for that 'mistake'. Did I mention that it was a baby drinking milk from his bottle? Yeah.. excuses.. :P
Secondary school years were also a bane. There were the seniors who would ask not to be seen eating (to put it in mild words), the afternoon fatigue boys roll call and there was once while in form 2 that I had a bad stomach issue, I was forced (and I accepted gleefully :P) to take bread dipped in air sirap. And had lunch brought to me by a roommate (by the instruction of the DSM, no less). Alhamdulillah, that was my only authentic stomach related problem so far. Others were more of *ehem* reduced will power :D
I don't really remember what went on during uni years except that in 1998, for almost a month, I had one constant company for iftar.
Ramadhan in 2000, '01 and '02 were the beginning of our venture into business. It started off with my dad making a suggestion to open our gates and make ayam percik sales. It quickly included akok, cream puff and nasi kerabu. In the first year, we also had occasional nasi dagang, courtesy of my brother's MIL although the years after, it didn't work out that well. We opened sales again last year (for the record, last year was the year 2007) with the assistance of some of my former students and dubbed ourselves the Percik KING. They received certificates for their participation and we took photos to remember the event. We even had our private convocation dinner!
This year's Ramadhan is the best for me, so far. There's nothing superior about this year's activities and I've spent most of my iftars at home (although this week's nights are booked until Sunday) but I don't have to go to work too early and I don't have to move much in the office so I guess that makes it more appealing as compared to previous years.
I've still not completely understood the meaning behind it all but I think I'm beginning to appreciate it more.
Ramadhan kareem :)
3 comments:
hello there, thanks for visiting my page.may u hav a wonderful Ramadhan ya. Psst: i used to curi my uncle's chewing gum during Ramadhan. and even pronounced Ramadhan as RODAN. :-) we both were naughty! but yet, that brings colours to our life!
haha,lots of memories during ramadhan
p/s: thanks for visiting my blog =)
hye hello..hello...
the warning is just to remind the anonymous that intend to curse the bloggers..hate that...they are rude.... anonymous are anonymous but still have their own identity..tq for the advise also...our relationship is getting better..laaaa..pehal lak aku cakap bi kat sini
Post a Comment