HOW I SPENT MY EID

Eidulfitri has not always been 'deeply meaningful' for me, with all due respects.

See, the traditional practice is to get up early, dress up, go to special Eid solat at the mosque, come home to a hearty breakfast. Then the customs of salam-salam "mohon ampun dan maaf, mohon halalkan etc etc", usually beginning with the wife (tearfully? usually) asking forgiveness from the man of the house, followed by her children (tearfully? sometimes) asking forgiveness from their father & mother, then younger siblings (tearfully? takdo yo) asking forgiveness from older siblings etc etc. And then kids get packets of duit raya, yay!

Well, my mom doesn't make that ritual a habit. I recall her doing that a few times when I was little, but that was a long time ago. So by now it's kinda awkward for all the rest of us to start doing it, kepimpinan melalui teladan y'all. Nuff said. The only ritual that I do every Eid is (together with my aunts & cousins) to always visit my grandparents at their final resting place, sedekah bacaan yassin & tidy the place up.

This year was nothing different. Pagi siapkan makanan sementara the guys pegi solat sunat, guests arrive, makan, pegi kubur, balik cuci pinggan sampai nak pengsan as more guests arrive, eat and happily pile up the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink.

Finally after maghrib, I met up with 2 old friends - figuratively and factually old, haha! These guys I've known for more than 15 years and being KLites, memang usually come to my house on first day Raya. But this year I was so not in the mood for festivities, that I suggested we met elsewhere. So that's how I came to spending my malam first Raya at an Old Town White Coffee outlet, drinking hazelnut white coffee and munching on roti bakar, talking crap and catching up with the latest... well, crap. Haha!

And just like that, my so-not-deeply-meaningful first day Raya, was gone.

Second day Raya morning - reheat the previous day's cooking, and wait for the next batch of guests... and the tsunami of dirty dishes that follows *sigh*.

I miss those days when he's sitting in a chair and I sit at his feet, I kiss his hands and asks for his forgiveness, and he strokes my hair and says to please forgive his mistakes too. To do all this dengan ikhlas, is so deeply touching, that you can feel old bad feelings just melt away, and you become the happy family again, heart full of love and and forgiveness. Now, Those were really meaningful Eids that I've ever had...

So if you are not really into all those salam-salam custom, it would be nice to start now with your own spouse and kids. Spend time reconnecting with relatives, instead of going shopping at One Utama or sitting & talking crap for a few hours in an Old Town White Coffee outlet on first Raya Aidilfitri.