Mixed Day.

I'm in a strange mood today, have been for the whole day long since I received an email from a friend. I really do not know if this strange feeling I'm going through is because of the email, but I do know it began since reading it. Then I read the text from Doc TA, and alhamdulillah, things seem to be getting rosier by the moment.

Having finished my round of appointments for the day, I decided to get a haircut. Somehow while driving, I felt my hair getting fluffy. And when I looked at the rear view mirror, I had a small shock - for a moment I thought I saw one of those aliens in the TV Series, Babylon 5. No, honestly. Both sides of my hair was pointing up and it really did reminded me of those aliens. Or perhaps, had I worn lipstick and powdered my face, I could have been the vampire in 'The Monsters'! Anyway, soon there I was in the barbers shop near my house.

The barber, not the regular guy I know, seem kind of strange to me. When I was walking in, he was on the phone talking in some language which I am not familiar with. I mean, hey, most barbers I know either speak Tamil or Malay. But not this guy. In fact, he does not even look like an Indian or Malay to me. But hang on, my mind went, there's over 100 languages and 350 dialects in that subcontinent, here's a chance to find out.

Soon as I sat, I asked and found out he's from Nepal. Great, I thought! I have a Gurkha cutting my hair; should be fun, and asked for No.1 haircut - short and neat. It took him no more than 5 minutes to bzzzt bzzzt my head with his machine. When done, he asked whether I wanted a shave. Initially I thought its a good idea since its been a long while I had one done for me. But remembering this guy is from Nepal, there's the possibility he might just want to shave me with his Kukri. Uh uh, no thank you! I wanted a haircut, not a head cut off! So I walk out the door to the grocery shop a few doors away.

At the shop, a sweet young girl in tudung greeted me with a captivating smile "Selamat Datang, abang!". Hmm...my mind was trying to figure out the smile "Does she find the short hair amusing, or is she attracted to me?". Then she asked "Abang nak apa?". While my lips uttered "Mintak saya panadol 2 papan", my heart went "Awak!". But off course, the latter was never mentioned. She took the 2 straps of panadol and put it on the counter and said "2 ringgit 60 sen, bang". Then, perhaps due to the strange feeling I was going through, I shot back "Eh, saya mintak! Mintak pun kena bayar ke?", with a straight face, off course. And her expression changed from the happy smiling face to a serious look. I mean, her eyes were like spitting venom already! Good thing a man came from out of nowhere and laughed at my joke. Otherwise, you might get a headline like "Venom spitting eyes kills man!" in tomorrow's papers. Honestly, men and women should seriously sit down and understand each other's language correctly!

Like the other day when I was about to enter a tolled highway, I pulled a joke on the girl manning the booth. But she took it seriously and said "Encik! Tak boleh encik!". Sheesh, all I said was "Saya tumpang lalu, ye". Neber mind.

Anyway, I brought lunch back and found out my emak is having a stomach disorder, but would not go to a doctor. Then Razak, a friend, called and asked for the way to the Muslim Cemetery in Kota Damansara; it seem, the father of his friend had passed away, and soon I found myself at the cemetery. A funeral, any funeral, is a sad time as one bade farewell to a loved one, and this was no exception.

After the funeral, I, a total stranger, stood beside my car watching the family and well-wishers leave one by one. As I stood there in the drizzle - it was raining during the funeral itself - someone threw a cigarette butt onto a growing pool of water, and my eyes followed the butt as it moved according to the gentle breeze blowing till the tyres of a car rolled over it. I looked around and saw many luxury cars and then thought to myself "All the luxuries in the world, cannot replace the life of a dearly departed." And "when we leave this world, we will have 3 things accompanying us: Our prayers, our deeds, and the prayers of our family". Though I have never met him, I believe, Allahyarham will have these 3; I was told he was a good man. Al-Fatehah.

Though I do feel for the family, I still cannot shake off the earlier emotion I was going through. In all, this has been a day of mixed emotion. In fact, I think I could say it was almost like being in love.