LOL! Those were the words that came out from my auntie's mouth...
My Hari Raya this year started off quite slow. I didn't get any sleep last night, so everything felt sluggish from the beginning. After a hot cup of coffee, in an attempt to keep myself awake, I took off to my grandma's grave carrying a copy of Yasin and a bottle of water. I managed to find a parking spot and went straight in. That was at 7.20 a.m. Halfway in, my father called saying he was also there. Finding my grandma's lot was a nightmare, since the numberings were all over the place. At about 8.00 a.m. we finally found it, and yes, it was that long. After a half hour spent, we went off seperately.
I decided to drop by my Atok's house to change into my Baju Melayu and headed straight to the surau. Guess what! I was late! The surau was already crammed with fellow muslims. The prayer started without me being able to join. It was saddening but I stayed there until everything was over. It felt better when I contributed what little I have to the charity of the surau.
Realizing that one of my tires was out of air, I made a visit to the Petronas nearby to get it fixed. Berpeluh-peluh la jugak orang cakap! Then it was straight back to my Atok's house. Every year we never failed to perform our tradition of beraya - the act of begging for forgiveness. And so it started out with my auntie to my Atok, followed by my dad and so on... It ends with the youngest.
The events that took place after that were somewhat similar every year. Friends of the family came and visited, kids came for duit raya, and so on... But somehow to me something felt missing, I wasn't at ease since the day started. I thought I was just not getting enough sleep, so I went back home late in the afternoon and dozed off. After waking up, I took a bath before going downstairs. My ibu was on the couch watching TV. I haven't seen her the whole day since she and my younger siblings had to go visit the other side of the family's houses. After the first glance of her, it suddenly hit me! I didn't even get the chance to beraya with her! And so I got down on my knees and begged her to forgive me for all my wrongdoings. She gave a kiss on my forehead. Only then, I was at ease...
I went back to my Atok's house, this time with ibu. My siblings joined in later with a troop of uncles and aunties. We spent most of the raya evening there as was done in the previous years. Ate laksa at my uncle's house across, then ate soto back at my Atok's - a ritual accustomed to the family.
This has been the story of my Hari Raya 2008. Surprisingly, I still had enough charm left to collect duit raya! ;-P
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