L A R A

Salam semua

LARA tu maksudnya Laporan Raya. Bukan lara sedih. Maaf, LARAnya tak interesting, Ringkas. Pasal tahun ni, untuk setakat ni (sbb Syawal kita sebulan), tak aktif.

Hari pertama lepas sembahyang raya, raikan raya di rumah dengan keluarga anak sulung (lelaki). Dah 4 anak dia! Juga dengan anak perempuan & suaminya (baru lebihkurang 4 bulan berkahwin).

Hari kedua banyak melengung kat rumah. Didatangi keluarga bisan dari Batu Pahat Johor. Dengan cucu-cucunya. Ramai juga. Juga rakan isteri, Dr. Siva dan keluarganya. Dan Pn. Hiroko dengan anak perempuannya (dia & suaminya yang juga warga Jepun memeluk Islam & bernikah di Surau An-Nur/Surau Harun Din di Bandar Baru Bangi).

Punya bingung, tak langsung kuambil gambar tetamu-tetamuku itu untuk kenang-kenangan! Itu bahana keletihan puasa kot.

Hari ketiga, ke rumah 2 orang kakak dan 2 orang ibu saudara di Perak. Ramai jumpa saudara mara lain di sana. Nak kirakan memang ada berpuluh-puluh adik beradik saudara kat Perak tu, tapi memang tak bertempah nak ziarah. Kot ziarah, kena semua! Lagi pun, sebab kena balik hari. Kakak ipar yang mobilitinya terhad tinggal seorang di rumah.

Kagum lihat peri banyaknya "kereta masuk kampung"! Juga bertambahnya "kampung-kampung berjalan batu". Malah makin melebar jalan batunya. Juga seronok dengan "rumah-rumah dah berapi letrik" belaka, "rumah-rumah berair paip", dan juga "tv radio bergumandang di udara". Perubahan! Pembangunan! Para politikus gemar benarlah istilah-istilah tu.

Teringat aku zaman tinggal di kampung lebih 4 dekad dahulu -- zaman jalan tanah liat muat-muat roda basikal, berbasikal pun dah kira mewah sangat, zaman bertelaga & berkolam -- sebab air paip orang pekan punya, zaman pelita minyak penerang pondok, zaman istilah tv entah di mana, zaman radio hanya sebiji dua di kampung! Dan kita tumpang dengar "Sendiwara di Radio" di rumah 'orang kaya'. Aku bersyukur merasai kesemua "himpitan" itu, hingga insya Allah, dapat pula kurasakan peri bernilainya sedikit-sedikit 'kemewahan' yang Tuhan izinkan untukku hari ini.

Sedihnya, dalam perjalanan beraya di kampung, ada beberapa bekas kemalangan yang mengecutkan hati. Kelihatan antaranya, kereta 4WD terbalik bersalut rumput & lecah (kereta berat pun boleh terlentang!), motorsikal tercampak sampai ke tepi parit, kereta remuk tak menentu rupa .... Entah apalah terjadi kepada pemandu atau yang bersama pemandu. Mengapalah setiap musim perayaan kita begitu?

Tapi, melihat gelagat sesetengah orang di jalan raya, agak pasti juga kita akan punca besarnya. Kita sendiri tak sudi berhati-hati. Kita sendiri tak berhati. Kita sendiri beraja di hati. Maka kemalangan terjadi.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI

السلام عليکم ورحمة الله وبرکاته

کڤد سموا يڠ دملياکن


داوچڤکن سلامت هاري راي عيدالفطري

معاف ظاهير دان باطين



سموݢ کاليان سموا صيحت سجهترا
دان برݢمبيرا برهاري راي برسام کلوارݢ، سودرا مارا دان صحابة هندي


Ingatan mesra berpanjangan daripada TEMUK
1 Syawal 1430H.

PANTUN 1: R A M A D H A N

Salam semua

Beberapa kerat pantun Ramadhan. Sambil menjemput tanaman di sekeliling rumah. Jadi pembayangnya! Andai ada yang sudi memberi reaksi, silalah .... pantun juga, tak?

Bunga betik si anak bemban

Kembang siantan kuning wajahnya

Kemunting Cina berbintik merah

Pejam celik dah hujung Ramadhan

Sedikit amalan melempah doa

Semoga semua diterima Allah

Pandan hiasan sirih merumpun

Semanggar pinang masaknya mengkal

Kuntum senduduk putih menyerlah

Sepanjang Ramadhan memohon ampun

Arah disasar syurga yang kekal

Semoga hajat dikabulkan Allah

Sehingga ketemu lagi. Selamat menjalani ibadah puasa fasa penamat. Insya Allah.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

My daughter's wedding kenduri (reception) last May was finally done at home, although I was quite persistent to have it somewhere else. "I want the kenduri to be like Iz's and Pyang's kenduris, kenduri kat rumah!", my daughter insisted. I had to relent to her wish. Of course, you would definitely have to yield to such a hajat (wish) of your only daughter, right?

But this posting is not about the wedding reception. May be, later. For now, I'll tell you about one of those things that I actually dreaded, by having the wedding reception at home. Frankly I didn't want my garden to be "adversely" affected by the event! I knew, the tents pitched for the guests around the house compound, the chairs and tables that were to be laid out, and the hectic movement of people over my green, green grass, would certainly, following the ecologist way of saying it, disturb the equilibrium of my garden! What a selfish man, ha?

In preparing for the big day, sadly, some treasured plants had to be temporarily moved somewhere; some had (sorry!) to go; some were given permission to stay put, but had to have their branches chopped off, in order to make way for the tents. I was particularly sad that I had to cut down the beautiful branches of my only mango tree (I named it Belalai Gajah - Elephant Trunk, because of its very long leaves), that was just beginning to flower. But, of course, making my daughter happy was uppermost on my mind.

Can you see the green, healthy and bushy mango tree days before I, the "barber", sadly groomed its branches, as instructed and specified by the canopy man?

And now, look at how "naked" poor
Belalai Gajah appeared after its
branches were removed!

But I must admit that
the plant looked quite stunning
after a few weeks, donning young
leaves, with vibrant colours.


Three months or so after the wedding, my Belalai Gajah , I would say, had finally recovered from the shock. Little did it know that I had plans to "engineer" its young and tender branches, in such a way that they don't grow upward. I wanted these new branches to "spread out" sideways. Branches that are parallel to the ground, I was told, would produce flowers that could yield more fruits. Without doubt, reshaping the tree by making it grow sideways, would also facilitate easier harvesting of fruits later on.

Just look at the pictures of Belalai Gajah below and see how it has been affected by human intervention. What do you think, should I stop disturbing and mutilating the tree? Or should I not worry too much about it because such intervention has been scientifically proven to be beneficial?

By the way, would anyone know what is the best fertilizer for Belalai Gajah?

The memorable wedding feast, beloved Belalai Gajah ..... and all the trees that I cherish around the house, you have given my life colours and hopes to move on ......