The "Akad Nikah" day proceeded smoothly. The weather was cloudy but there was no rain making it very comfortable for all of us. By the end of the day we had to get ready for the next day when all the guests will be coming.
The preparations started with the arrival of the women folk to help prepare the ingredients for tomorrow's cooking. I'm happy to note that the kampong folks still maintain their tradition of helping in in this chore. It was a rather big crowd though most of them are already quite elderly. A lot of them recognized me but I cannot say the same about them. On a few occasions I had to act as though I know them when they enquired but in reality I did not really remember them. Most of them knew me from the days when I was staying with my late grandfather.
The day seemed to be moving very fast. It seems that despite all our early preparations some things can only be done at the last minute. Before the day is over things started coming in, one full cow, people doing the bbq chicken and everything else. As usual our big group of brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces were a big help. Even if a few decided to take a break, the others are more than able to cover the slack. By the time I managed to get to bed it was well after midnight.
Saturday, 19th December - The Big Day
The day started very early, immediately after our Subuh prayers. As we were preparing ourselves for the full day ahead, the men folk started arriving to help out with preparing the meat. It was a good crowd. People must still remember my late father despite him leaving us almost 3 years ago. The work was completed quickly given the many helpful hands. I also managed to put my expensive knife to good use. I bought it a few years back but only used it once before at the last korban at my mosque. After the work, it was breakfast time for everyone. Lontong and boiled tapioca. It has been quite a while I tasted good tapioca.
As the men folk left, the women folk started arriving. We were then busy setting up the tables and chairs. The dishes and rice are also being prepared. By 10:30 we are almost ready. I asked my younger brother Hamzah to recite the doa as we approach our time to receive our guests (11:00am as stated in the invitation card). The timing was good as we were ready by 11:00am. By then I had changed into my baju Melayu, ready to act as man of the house.
Once the guest started coming they never seemed to stop. The weather was always threatening a downpour at anytime since morning. We were all hoping for yesterday's fine weather to continue. But it was not meant to be. Around 1:00pm it started to rain. Though not heavy it was enough to make us wet. We had to get umbrellas for the guests. In the process we were the ones getting wet. At around 2:00pm the rain stopped, just in time for the groom to arrive without being drenched. Immediately after the newly weds and the entourage from the groom's finished their lunch, the sky just poured. There was nothing that we can do except revel in the rain.
Lucky for us ny then most of our guests have arrived and left.
Among the many guests that graced our event, I had a surprise visit by two school mates from my High School days in the 70s. Ismail Hamzan and Fawzy Wahid, thanks for taking time off to drop by. Actually, Shafie Ibrahim also came but he is already considered my kampong folk. I had my lunch at around 4:00pm and by then I'm totally spent. It has been a full day.
There are just too many people to thank for the successful staging of the event. My siblings, their children, my cousins, my uncles, aunties, neighbours, kampong folks, the Imam etc. etc. Thank you all. But I must put on record my sincere appreciation to my uncle, Pak Ali. He has been like a father since my own passed away on 7 February 2007. But all the efforts would have meant nothing had the guests not come in full force despite the fact there were many other weddings on the same day. And of course all these would have have not been possible without the Will of Allah Almighty.
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