Remembering Ramadhan

When I was a little girl, Ramadhan was a fascinating event. All of a sudden, the normal routine of eating became a celebrated occasion. Suddenly my mother would start cooking 'special' things, things that she didn't cook everyday (laksa johor, roti canai, cendol, pizza etc.) for berbuka (iftar). We kids would be glimmery-eyed, waiting at the kitchen door or standing right next to the stove or squatting right next to her as she whipped up all these mouth-watering morsels that we were forbidden to taste (as we usually would) until the azan can be heard wafting through the air. It was an extremely painful pleasure.

One of my most memorable Ramadhan moments from yesteryear is that one time my mother decided to play a trick on my little brothers. I think they couldn't have been more than 8 at the time, still with their puasa training wheels on. She was making cookies for Raya in the kitchen and my brothers, as usual, were messing up the flour and touching things they weren't supposed to, and my mother, at her wits end, popped a cookie freshly taken from the oven right into her mouth at 3pm on a day of Ramadhan. Obviously she was not able to fast on the day, but my dummy brothers, not knowing the wonderful secret mysteries of womanhood, just completely stopped in their tracks, hands in the air and  mouths on the floor. "Mak makan???" ('you ate something, Mother???'). I remember how hilariously round their eyes were and how their disbelief could be felt throbbing in the room. And my mother, just for good measure, put another cookie in her mouth. I had yet to experience that particular process she was going through, but I knew what the perks were, so I was not as astonished as the two boys. Zubair and Abbas, their eyes getting rounder and opened mouths getting bigger with each cookie disappearing into my mother's mouth, asked her, "Mak buat magic ke?" (Are you doing magic, Mother?"). And my mother just smiled a secret smile. However, a trick that she thought would save her cookies from complete destruction at the hand of two bored and hungry boys backfired. Once they got over the initial shock of seeing her take the forbidden fruit, they started telling everyone that "Mak kita buat magic, boleh makan masa bulan puasa" (Our Mother can do magic because she can eat during the fasting month"). She had to go through the embarrassment for a few hours, but I'm sure it was all worth it for almost 3 minutes of of pure astonished silence from her two rambunctious sons. And I'm so glad I was there as a witness. Can you imagine the potential of this story when told to their future nephews, nieces and children?

That story was written probably 16 years ago (!). Today is my first Ramadhan as a wife. I am celebrating Ramadhan by making sure my husband and I eat healthy, performing tarawih prayers at the mosque together and trying very hard to wake up at 5am everyday. I hope this Ramadhan will give me extra motivation to change what I should and to do what I need to do.

Salam Ramadhan to all.

Fea