These few posts terasa keinginan mengimbau kembali jalan jalan dan liku liku kehidupan yang hampir 6 dekad.Sebelum otak jadi beku .Well.who knows .Year by year I could feel that my brain capacity is dwindling.Susah rasanya nak mengilhamkan coretan coretan yang bernas.
Why not I begin with tokton’s side….my mum’s relatives.
I had the chance to reminisce the days gone by with my ma when she was here to stay during ramadhan.I asked her about my grandparents on her side.My fleeting memory was when we travelled down the river in a boat. I think it was from somewhere to Sg Limau,Yan,Kedah…mum’s birthplace.Then it was when grandpa was laid to rest.As for my grandmothers I never had a chance to know them. They were gone before I could see them.I could still remember the day when we visited the kampung to say our final farewell to tokwan.Was I in primary or in secondary school…I couldnt remember well. At that time a distance of 100 km seems like the other side of the world.
Tokwan was a businessman starting with setting a provison shop in the sleepy hollow of Sg Limau.He soon became a wholesaler for watermelons .His business went through the pace of ups and downs.At his height before the invasion of the Japs his shop was what a supermarket was today.All those were ruined when the WW2 came.
The wanderer in my wan could be seen in my brother.Having the business blood in him made him gave up his job as a teacher.His quest for a job on his own made him an insurance agent,a property broker,a restaurant owner etc etc…..Also not forgetting tukang urut.All these came and go.
Mum has a sister whose family was fondly loved .But they were gone too soon.My uncle and aunt were always ready to welcome us into their house.When we went visiting,not once were we not invited to stay the night.My aunt would jump to the kitchen to prepare us lunch,dinner any time we reached the front door.Coming back the boot would be full with whatever she could give to us.Be it the rambutans,the coconuts ….all those were things of the past. My uncle ,aunt,cousins were gone.Leaving only 2 cousins alive….
With my children,they were lucky to have and see both tokwans and toks .They know their cousins ,aunties and uncles on both side of the family.
When you go visiting ,how do you feel…welcomed? Or the opposite.How do you gauge the thermometer of “welcomeness.”
There are houses that I feel free and some where there are inhibitions.Do you?Even between siblings.
Ehhh ehh mamason buat karangan tak ada mind map la sbb tu isi menerewang merata alam.Maaf ye.
cikgu...
ReplyDeletebaca kisah cikgu membuatkan saya juga teringatkan kisah lama dulu. Ada rumah saudara yang kita memang senang nak lepak baring, ada yang kita takut nak bergerak walau seinci pun sebaik kita datang, salam dan duduk. Di kerusi itulah kita duduk hingga waktu harus pulang.....
Pengajaran cerita... jangan kita mengharapkan orang melayan kita sebaik-baiknya melainkan kita sendiri telah berusaha menjadi 'host' yang disenangi....
begitu juga dgn buka periuk tuan rumah.Tak semua rumah saudara kita selesa .
ReplyDeleteHos yang baik...buat pelawat rasa dihormati.dihargai.
Rasanya saya ni so so saja kot.
Salam,
ReplyDeleteBegitulah cerita hidup. Semua orang ada kenangan sedemikian.Ada saudara kita rasa ibarat stranger dan ada pula stranger yang buat kita rasa tak ubah kawan lama....
Yati,Yes.I have relatives that are relatively strangers and friends that I love all my might.My pegangan is its all right not to have many friends but not alright to have even one enemy.
ReplyDelete