Bok and Deka and Unuih have always joked about Udin Jahat attending kenduris he's not invited to. He'd drive by and see a kenduri by the roadside, and simply pull over, saunter to the khemah, sit down and eat and drink, and then casually take leave.
Something similiar happened to me and my group yesterday, and it was not a joke.
Mat Cah had invited us for his youngest daughter's wedding, Saturday 21st December. Idah was also invited for the aqad nikah, Friday, but we had no transport and couldn't go.
Saturday, we all packed into Dekna's Carnival at about half-past ten. As expected, the Seremban-Kuala Pilah road was heavy with traffic, and we crawled to Kuala Pilah. When we reached the Ampang Tinggi junction to Melang and Parit, I was relieved, and told Hanif, driving, to turn left to Parit, and then to Jalan Bukit and the town hall there.
I was sure that the town hall in Jalan Bukit was the venue, because that was where his other kenduris were held. It's newer, had air-conditioning, and plenty of parking. I know the card says "Dewan Majlis Daerah".
Hanif even confidently turned into the front entrance, and I confidently alighted and lifted the 3 grandchildren down from the MPV. I looked around for familiar faces, saw none, and just walked up to the people waiting to welcome the guests. I shook hands with all the friendly, smiling strangers, and walked into the hall, and headed towards an empty table close to the food. Still seeing no Mat Cah, nor anyone I recognize, I just went for the cakes and drinks, and they were nice cakes, too, and the cekodoks were still warm ! I asked a woman guest helping herself to the cakes "Is this Mat Cah's kenduri?" "I don't know. I only know the woman in the family."
Idah asked the caterer's staff "is this Mat Cah's kenduri?" Again "I don't know" was the answer.
Then I spottted a familiar face, though the name escaped me. "This is so-and-so's kenduri. Mat Cah is the other hall near the Hindu temple" he explained.
There was still food on my plate, and a bottle of mineral water on the table, but I quickly got up and motioned to the others to leave by the side door close to our table. Idah was nowhere near, but Dekna said she had said loudly "salah tompek" and then apologised to the receptionists, who said "takpe,takpe." We heard later that several others also made the same error.
So we made it to the correct venue, and of course we immediately saw familiar faces.
I made it straight to the meehoon goring and took a big helping, plus a piece of kueh. I asked Iman to take a bottle of mineral water. In the end, except for some more cakes and mineral water, that was all I had.
I had a good time, though. The relatives and old friends always make your day, kenduri or no kenduri. Adang, Jiman, Deka and the Tg. Jati boys were there. I sat down with Alang Ipin and even introduced Dekna and Hanif to him. We were close in our school days, Alang Ipin and I, before he went to MCKK and then to Germany. Then he got married, and I got married, and we went our separate ways. Only once we went to his quarters in Kertih, when he was with Petronas. That was it. But his son's wedding, family members' wedding, these were meeting points. But we've never lingered like our schoolboy days. Too bad.
I may have mentioned this elsewhere, but I'll mention it again here. Mat Cah has had quite an adventure. After graduating from vocational school he had a short stint with a MARA workshop in Shah Alam before hitchhiking to Germany. When he left he only spoke Malay. When he came back after several years, he spoke English and German! There was this German volunteer teacher in Kuala Pilah, something like the "Peace Corps", who came to a relative's kenduri. Mat Cah was there and they met, and chatted away in German !
When I was in Angkut I gave Mat Cah a construction contract somewhere in Palong, I think. The ground boys penalized him for some delays or something, but upon completion I released the money. Instead of putting it back into business, which was my intent, he went for his umrah. He has since dabbled into catering, and even operated a restaurant. But without proper staffing, there's no way he can handle the workload. But his wife is a retired Deputy School Principal and a university graduate. And this daughter, just married, is an engineer. So I think they're ok.
............................................................................................................
No comments:
Post a Comment