Tiga perkara

Mak dan Ayah dia [Bahagian I]

Dia dikurniakan Mak dan Ayah yang sangat sangat baik, alhamdulillah.

Perkara 1:

Di rumah, beberapa minggu lepas. Dia minta ayah dia untuk pinjamkan apa-apa buku yang boleh dijadikan rujukan untuk kerja Sciences of Hadith. Ayah pun dengan gembiranya memberikan dia buku-buku yang relevan.

Ayah: Topik apa?

Dia: Imam Bukhari & Muslim. Life; and their collections.

[Ayah cari-cari buku. Bagi.]

Ayah: Ada buku yang kat rumah KL. Kejap lagi kita singgahlah.

[Mak: Awak nak ikut? (Hairan, sebab asalnya Ayah tak nak ikut hantar kami ke UIA.) Awak nak singgah apartment dulu ke?]

Ayah: Ha ah, ada buku yang kat sana.

Sambil bagi buku dan terangkan tentang isinya satu persatu, sempat lagi Ayah cakap tiba-tiba:

Ayah: Nabeelah boleh tukar course* lagi kan?

Dia: [Defenses went up immediately, knew where this was heading] Nak buat apa?

The indignance must've shown very obviously in my voice and expression, 'cos Ayah terus ketawa lalu berkata:

Ayah: Kalau dah minat (Sejarah) takpelah.

And then we went to Desa Pandan to get some more books. There, Ayah discovered that actually there were several books that were in the Bangi house, but he'd overlooked those.

The next day, he drove all the way from Bangi to UIA to just to give me the forgotten books. He stopped the car at the bus-stand in front of CELPAD, we talked for about two minutes, he handed me the books, and then he drove away.

* * *

*Tukar apa Ayah? To Shariah? Or Tafsir or Hadith? Muahahaaa let me finish this first OK. And then French, and at least one more language after that, and even then, I don't guarantee that I'll consider taking up Shariah or Laws or Quran/Sunnah. We'll just see where this leads me, shall we.

Perkara 2:

Di rumah, pada suatu malam di pertengahan tahun 2004:

Pagi esoknya, dia akan memulakan hari pertama sebagai pelajar di Sekolah Menengah Islam Al-Amin Bangi. Dia sedang menjahit baju seragam sekolah [baju kurung: custard-coloured; kain: khaki green] dengan penuh tumpuan. Mak dan Ayah dia duduk-duduk di ruang tamu. Ayah tengah baca buku (mungkin Mak pun tengah baca buku, dia tak berapa ingat).

Tiba-tiba:

Mak [to her husband]: Tengok anak awak tu. Kesian.

The husband: Kenapa?

Mak: Esok nak sekolah, malam ni siapkan baju. [Ketawa sedikit.]

[Tak ingat apa kata Ayah pada Mak selepas itu.]

Did she take one dress and help me finish them?

Of course not.

The man and wife went on with their work and left their daughter to her own devices.

Pagi esoknya, dia ke sekolah baharu dengan memakai baju baharu yang baru siap itu.

Mak tahu dia boleh siapkan, sebab itulah Mak tak tolong.

Minggu lalu:

Kakak dia mengirim SMS:

“Jumpa esok 1.45 kat hs square.mak ada kirim benda.bwk thumbdrive skali”

Hujung minggu sebelum itu, dia tidak pulang ke rumah. Apabila mendapat SMS tersebut, fikirnya, mesti Mak kirimkan sebotol multivitamin atau apa-apa yang seumpamanya.

Esok, belum pun sempat jumpa di HS Square, dia terserempak dengan kakaknya di masjid. Kakak dia pun menghulurkan barang yang Mak kirimkan.

"Nah, Mak bagi mug." Dan mengeluarkan mug tersebut dari kotaknya, sambil tunjuk-tunjuk rupa mug pada dia.

The mug is white, thick and squat (rather like a cross between a teacup and a mug), sits comfortably in my hands, has a lid, and is printed with scores and scores of cats on an orange background. On the inside near the rim is one orange-and-yellow striped cat, about one inch high. The cats look like they were hand-drawn, outlined in black ink and then coloured in using solid, bright, folk-art style colours.

Dia pun SMS Mak:

“Thanks for the mug! Best.”

Mak dia balas:

“When I saw the cats, you came to mind!”

No one but my mother does that.

Perkara 3:

What more can I ask for?