It was the last Sunday in the month of Syaaban,1422. I promised myself
to go jogging at KLCC garden before the arrival of Ramadhan al-Mubarak
when muslims all over the world will be fasting most likely next Saturday.
As I was about to leave my
house, it started to rain. And it really rained cats and dogs. I was
really disappointed that I could not go jogging because the next time will
be in mid-December,2001 after our Aidil Fitr( Hari Raya Puasa).My worry
is actually small compared to the anxieties of the people who live in the
flood prone areas of Kuala Lumpur(KL). When it rains in KL, some roads
and neighbourhoods will be flooded and sometimes the traffic lights will
not work. In Afghanistan, their worry is worst because instead of
water coming from the sky,they have bombs dropping on them every night.For
me,the best thing to do is just stay at home.
That is what I did-stayed at home, and continued reading the book that I promised to finish a week ago and enjoy my breakfast. It is moment like this that I failed to realise how nice is to be alone with a book and sipped my morning coffee.The temperature was cool (about 26 C) and the air was fresh. The only sound is the droplets of rain on the roof of my house. What a bliss!
Suddenly my morning peace was broken by my neighbours' barking dogs! When one of them started to bark,the rest follows. It is really a nuisance but what can I do? As I was reading Harry Potter's book at that time, it gave me the idea to borrow his magic wand and put my magic curse on all the dogs to shut-up , if possible forever. Then my neighbourhood will be known all over the world for its dogs that never bark and also hopefully never bite;-)
Some people believe in magic. Personally , I don't know any magic but I do believe in miracles. IMHO, it is better to leave magic to magicians as well as to avoid the 'bomoh' so that we don't get ourselves come under their magic spells . A friend of mine died in a ceremony called ' mandi bunga'( flower bath) to get money to drop from the sky. Considering his qualification and his career as a senior man at a local bank, it was really hard to believe a man of his stature to associate himself with 'bomoh'( and believed in such a trash) and got himself murdered a few years ago. What had happened has happened. At last, justice was done to him and his family . A few weeks ago,the murderer and his accomplices were executed by hanging at Kajang Prison. (May Allah swt bless my friend's soul). I did not see the execution literally, but I personally know where and how it happened because some years back I visited Kajang Prison when it was under construction. One of the places that I visited and remember until to-day is where the hanging took place. Honestly, I prefer to forget about the place.
Reading takes me places- real or virtual.One does not need money, just a little imagination and the power of visualisation to explore the world. All one has to do is just read the book and interact with the author inside one's own mind. I think this is the cheapest mode of travels. However, the minitry of tourism may not like it because the travellers don't spend any money!
Coming back to magic, I wish I have Harry Potter's centaur like Firenze from the Forbidden Forest that could take me to Afghanistan in a few seconds and Harry Potter's magic wand to cast a rain spell so that everyone there has enough water to drink in the coming month of Ramadhan. The real magic would be to get all the Afghans to get together and form a united Islamic Republic and the kick out all the US and British forces before the coming Adil Fitr!
And that is no more magic; it would be a miracle!