This year is my second time celebrating Raya away from my kampung. Last year was the worst, as my Raya was spent in the classroom on my induction day. The bad part was that I didn't even know it was already Raya :p. Luckily there was that Saudi friend of mine who had to 'convinced' me that it was already Raya. That was our salam perkenalan heheh.
This year was a low key event with just us families, an almost complete "ecosystem" with the exception of my brother & co back home. Last time it was all of us in Malaysia, and him in UK. Now terbalik pulak hehehe. I initially looked forward to having just us for Raya. Maybe as I get older, I tend to be more anti-social. I dread going to crowded social events. And Raya can get really crowded. Most of the times, you only get to greet the host with few pleasantaries, eat and then it's hi hi, bye bye and on to the next house. So it has a nice feel to be able to spend Raya just with your immediate families, the ones that love you unconditionally. But upon hearing my brother's voice on pagi Raya, I found myself missing the Raya atmosphere back home. The sound of my dad hurrying everyone early in the morning to for the Eid prayer, the family breakfast before making our Raya rounds, the visits to the most important and closest relatives and of course the variety of foods.
However, there are a few things that I don't miss. I don't miss the hassle of securing my 'balik kampung' ticket and leave. I don't miss the hassle of having to prepare for Raya i.e. Raya clothes, tudung, shoes, handbag, etc. I don't miss having to give duit raya heheh (but my nieces & nephew here dapat la. In pound lagi :p). And most of all, I don't miss the fending off/deflecting of THE question.
It really amazed me how many people seem to really care about my marital status. I don't get how being married will serve anyone else except for my immediate families. Ok, some cousins just wanted an excuse to get together; though isn't Raya was meant to do that already? What sometimes bother me is the insensitivity of some people that pose the question in quite a condensceding way. I say insensitive because I would like to think they don't really meant it that way. But seriously, it's the same as asking a person who has worked 10 years "why aren't you a manager?". It's all about rezeki. Some people have it easy. Some people may get the managerial post within 8 years without doing any credible work at all. Some may work like crazy but it was just not 'written' for them. Similarly about marriage. And about having kids. You have them. Great. Your life is complete. I am happy for you. But don't go and preen over others on it. Though I know my friends who have not been given rezeki anak have it worst.
Heh, a Raya post just gone awry here :p. This part of life in Malaysia is something that I don't look forward to, and I am already bracing myself for the onslaught.
Anyway, today we had some special guests over - The TEKAD family. My friend and her family are off to Durham to start her own Masters journey now. So it's like a selisih di jalanan for us. After a year away from KL, it is nice to see some familiar faces here for Raya. My regret is that I won't get to meet her and hang out with her when I get back nanti. For another year . Wishing you all the best my dear. Enjoy your one year break :)
Hope it is still not too late to wish everyone Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Maaf Zahir dan Batin.
