.: gems & jewels :.

had iftar on saturday at fmsa, followed by taraweeh, led by bro bakri. couldnt resist asking him to give a tazkirah (short reminders) after taraweeh.

I know some of you may have already been bored by the numerous allegory/metaphors/ parallelisms (why do i feel that my former literature teacher would be flabber-ghasted that i have since mixed all these terms up? oh well =D) on ramadhan but well, just another one to share - boleh buat modal during sharing sessions lah kan.

here's an excerpt (note: definitely not word for word - closest to what i can remember):

" a brother used to remind us during his tazkirah about ramadhan. He said, Ramadhan is like a ship filled with gems & jewels. it docks itself in our shipyards for a month once a year, and we are free to take all the gems & jewels. But only for one month. The ship will sail and will return to us the next year. But we will never know whether we will be there to welcome the ship."

" today, i attended a funeral prayer for a wife of an ustaz. Today somebody else will die, and tomorrow, somebody else, and then somebody else. somebody else will die every other day. you notice i am using the word somebody else? It is human nature to think that it is not going to be us who may die. We think we are immortal, lest we are not...We pray for Allah's forgiveness and His Mercy on us, especially in this blessed month. Lets make the best of what is left of it."

within such a short tazkirah, i was reminded of ramadhan, life & death. And I definitely didnt regret to tebalkan muka (thicken the face - usually used when someone plucks up enough courage to just do something which is potentially embarrassing) and ask for that tazkirah.

.: conversations on the go - cont'd :.

as we shared about differences in cultures etc. my colleague highlighted:

S: you know, there is an interesting observation i made about the malays, which i think could be unique to singapore

me: what?

S: that you can have tudung-clad makciks (my colleague has spent 15 years here & thus am capable of malay, & singlish) and walking next to them would be their teenage daughters who are scantily clad, with tattoos etc. i mean in india, you wont have that. the girl would probably be bashed up by the family.

me: really?

S: just the other day, i was at MOS (Ministry of Sound - I know coz i read the papers) & u have these malay girls drinking, smoking & dancing, and their dressed so provocatively. i mean, u can still look nice & be decently clad.

me: yeah...i guess, it depends on the upbringing (nothing much to say mah)

S: You know, in India, messing up with Muslim girls is a NO-NO. I mean, even at the varsities muslim girls are respected. And they are the most gorgeous girls. You know the afghan girls, have the most perfect features- everything! But we wont even dare mess around with them. I mean, asking her out for a cup of coffee is something you'd think twice about, lest the family comes after you.

me: dalam hati (in my heart) BESTNYA!!!!!

.: soon :.

i have been blessed to have a friend, blossom, who in turn has been blessed with a car of her own (yes, she does not share it with her husband)...so kind is she to chauffeur us around should we want to go to the same place or happened to be in the same area (you get the drift)...and of course, i enjoy my time with her for do we not only share laughter, but tears and thoughts as well...obviously, i was excited that we were finally gonna meet after what seems like ages (ok, it was roughly two weeks)...anyways, an email asking her what time she would be coming to fetch me, turned into a simple poem which she thought i should share...so, here's the 2 mins or so worth of word play...

* * * * *
soon...
i will see you...

soon...
i will talk to you...

soon...
i will laugh with you...

yet

soon...
may never come...

soon...
is not guaranteed...

soon...
is not our right...

unless God wills it...
insya allah

* * * * *

yup, in my haste to meet her, i suddenly remembered that i may not live the next second if God wills it so. we all have our own appointed times. we just dont know when. death, though, is guaranteed.