Enjoying Hariraya in the Traffic Jam...

We now have traffic jams in all the major cities and towns - an indication that urbanization/modernization is going on well, like it or not. If the jam in KL is maddening, small towns like Kuala Pilah and even Tanjung Ipoh ( on the way to Kuala Pilah from S'ban for those who're weak in geography, hehe), the crawl can be excrutiating. ( Yes, it screws you).

I was going to S'Ban yesterday ( Fri. 2 Oct.) leaving Taman Melawati at about 5.45pm for a relative's open house function starting at 8 pm. Right off at Jalan Ampang the crawl began.It went on and on and on, on both sides of the track ( the roads seem so narrow now). At the wheel my wife was fuming. Why must everybody be on the road at this hour? Why are we otr (on the road), I asked. We've a function to attend. What about them? Silence.

Since we moved so slowly and she was in no mood to talk I found some ways of keepimg myself amused. Admiring the cars that passed us on the other lanes or we passed them, was no fun. What about the driver and pax? I immediately noticed that there were so many ladies driving alone. Out of 10, I counted some seven or eight ladies. God, what happened to the population? Are they going home after work or 'balik kampung' for the weekend? Then my wife noticed a red MyV speeding behind her chasing all the cars in the innermost lane away. "Wow, what an aggressive driver!". Man or woman? I asked. Woman, of course. I asked my wife to give way and she did. A lady for sure - a young one.She just whizzed by. Than I saw how aggressive and fierce she really was. Big and small cars were swinging away to the left ( to the middle lane) like people stung by hornets. "Fast car," my wife commented. "Fast and brave driver!" I replied. "Scared the men away." Served them right, my wife replied. If you're slow why don't you go to the middle or left lane. Just ego. The smaller the car the bigger the ego. They don't want to move even when you needle them, horn or flash your light. (Me)Perhaps they hate to be overtaken by a lady. (She) So what?If you're a slow po don't drive on the right lane lah! The car in front flashed its redlight and my wife jammed on the brake. (Me) Why follow so close? (She) Why brake for no reason? Sure, the best way to answer a question is to fire a question in return. Stalemate. ( Which one is stale? hehe)

We arrived at the Senawang Toolgate at 7.10. Since the place was jampacked, I decided to take a leak, an ablution and do my Maghrib while my wife bought some dukong on sale at the roadside. What do you know. That toll station has no Surau, So we drove on quickly to search for a mosque and ultimately found the Bandar Baru Senawang Mosque, near the new Police Station.
I prayed alone ( the Jemaah was over)and even had time to take a photo with the Secretary of the Mosque's Committee Members, Hj. Jazmin, if I'm not mistaken.(See pic- sorry my wife took the pic with her cam and hasn't downloaded it). The jam was a blessing after all. We reached the relative's home in Levender Height in good time, that of Hj. Mohd Nor and family, Nubhan's ( the Akademi Fantasia star) brother-in-law.

What a Hariraya reception! I don't mean just the food and delicacies. There was a group of Nasyid ladies in attendance all dressed in purple baju kurung reciting praises to Allah and the Prophet and a group of orphans , all participating in the Reading of the Yassin and Tahlil ( see pic). I felt a little akward snapping away my phonecam at them during the reading (result - blurred shots). The feasting was hectic as usual, just too much and too many dishes to sample without feeling as full as a sack of rice.

While attacking the plate of everything in my hand with relish, just standing by the foodstall since all the seats were taken
away, the buzzling noise of people eating, drinking, talking, laughing and burping was shattered by a deafening and prolonged volley of explosion. Fire crackers certainly, lighted up at the gate of the unoccupied adjacent house. If course the police station was far away. But where did the boys get all the prohibited stuff. I've mentioned elsewhere that in my kampung even the full blown fireworks used for Merdeka celebration were lighted up the night after hariraya and two or three nights after. Where could people get all the illegal stuff? I wonder.

Just when everything was quiet again with only the sound of people eating and drinking away still audible. there was a big boom, a swishing noise and.....the night sky just behind the house burst into multicoloured flames, spouting out stars, glitters and trailing lights in all directions. It was a beautiful super firework as if mounted to beat the noise of the firecrackers. Since there was no more firecrackers lighted up, the big boom was not repeated. Perhaps its initiator knew that he had won the competition with a bigger blast.Huh....what a thrill. Like in my kampung, no police appeared. I wonder what would have happened if they did with all the guests crowding the place. They would be the only unwelcomed party.

We left the party with the feasting still going on. Was there a jam on the way back to KL? Don't know. I slept most of the way
for it's more tiring to be a passenger than a driver, on a full stomach.