Hometown

The lush greenish paddy field on both sides of the highway indicated that we are nearing our destination. I just love this scene with stock birds lazing around fishing for small fish. The Kedah's 'islands', as my dad often called it, are small raised up lands in the middle of the paddy fields that placed a few houses with lots of tress. You don't need fans in the middle of the afternoon for the moving breeze from the vast paddy fields had no barrier on its way. If there is flood, the whole area will look like sea. 

Coming back to my hometown rekindled old memories. Staying in the hut in the middle of the durian plantation, it was so much fun for a small kid like me. My uncle, cousins and I would wander around the plantation at the first peak of the morning sun to search for fallen durians. Our midnight dreams sometimes will be disturbed by the sound of the falling durians. I would smile for I wanted to be the first to pick it up tomorrow morning. Hawkers would come around 10 a.m. to buy the durians from us. 

We equipped ourselves with a pack of rice and some dried fish. Instead of frying the dried fish, we would sometimes grilled it on top of the flame. I just love playing around the fire. The mosquitoes didn't really bothered me. 

Sometimes I would quietly take grandma's container from the kitchen to catch small prawn in the big ditch behind Tok Tam's house. I could get a kilogram of it easily. Or I would follow Abang Mi in his quest to catch fish from the river using a special net that he would spread into the water and trapped the fish below. During harvesting season, the irrigated river would be drained from water. That's when the whole village would go down and treaded the muddy shallow water and try to catch fish, snails and the such. 

Things have changed so much now. Thank you Allah for all the good times. Alhamdulillah.

May Allah bless us all. Amin.