Silver Lining

They say behind every successful man, lies a woman. It could be a mother, a wife or even a sister. What is manifested by this notion is that no matter how high a rank, no matter how big a title, no matter how large his bank account is, a man requires a balance that only a woman could fill(unless you're gay).

Some things just go hand in hand and cannot be left to stand up alone. Like pestle and mortar, like forks and spoons, like Peter and Jane; they cannot be separated. When a person becomes the core of another being, this person will always search for the center of his being to sustain himself be it during joy or sorrow. Thus when you lose your pillar of strength, a void forms where your core used to be.

It explains why men don't grief as long as women upon a loss and seem to be able to ultimately pick up and move on for the search of another 'core' while women are able to manage on their own. At the risk of being slammed by some male chauvinists lurking out there, of course I'm not referring to all men but through observations and real life encounters, it certainly rings true.

Quite a number of men seem to achieve phenomenal growth in whatever field it is they venture with their wives being their strongest supporter. But when a man loses his highly resilient supporter and confidante, what is he to do?

During my dad's off day once upon a time, my mother and I shopped while my dad offered to baby-sit my brothers. All he really did was make sure they arrived home from school, eat their lunch (which he bought) and get them ready for religion school where their clothes had been ironed before hand. Yet when we arrived home, he seemed thoroughly exhausted upon such minimal task and uttered his disbelief over what my mom goes through every single day.

Ironically, women are known as the weaker gender but the truth is, they carry a whole lot of weight on their shoulders which some may fail to appreciate. Ever since my father left for south in the course of work, it's funny how my parents had become like old lovers again. How my dad still relies on her to wake him up for work and the fact that they're constantly calling each other every now and then. I guess Ramadhan has been a testing one for him this year without my mother. Come Raya, a whole new chapter begins...

I don't know how far you believe in 'behind a successful man, lies a woman' but I know the cheekier ones have added 'behind an unsuccessful man, lies two'. With that, I shall leave it at that and you men with a choice.

"The best property a man can have is a remembering tongue (about Allah), a grateful heart and a believing wife who helps him in his faith." (Prophet Muhammad S.A.W)

Sekian, terima kasih.

7 Things I Plan To Do Before I Die(in no particular order):

1) Try pottery. There's something incredibly sexy about it. I can't really say. It could be how the hands move steadily and gracefully at moulding a piece of clay into art or it could also be the posture one carries while at it. I don't know but I'm deeply fascinated!

2) Finish off karate I left off in primary to which I ditched for gymnastics. Hopefully I get to black belt this time.

3) Grow old with the love of my life, whoever he might be. Have beautiful, intelligent and well brought up children and give them the best they can get, just like how my parents have provided for me. InsyaAllah, live long enough to see my children prosper and bestowed the same if not better.

4) Perform hajj--and umrah again.

5) Travel around the world with my partner and make a scrapbook of all the places I went and things I did.

6) I've done parasailing (awsome!) and very keen on bungee jumping but considering how my parents would freak at the very thought, I'll settle for white water rafting.

7) Design my own house and die rich. Hahahahaha!!!

7 Things I Can Do:

1) Cartwheels. Hooyeaaa, make me and I'll show you!

2) Cook decent meals; rendang, asam pedas(hidup orang Melaka!), sambal(my all-time fav), masak merah, etc. Nobody has flopped down and died so far so I'm assuming my cooking is edible. Heheh.

3) Text while I drive (it's not right, I know).

4) Lie with a straight face (I don't usually lie so it happens on extremely rare occasions).

5) My friends say I have this 'look'. Or rather 'looks'. I don't know what they mean by it. *bats eyelash*

6) Drive more than 150km/h (okay it's 160, don't tell my dad).

7) Put thoughts into words; write. Stories, poetries, love letters. Ahaaa.

7 Things I Cannot Do:

1) Play chess. Because I get irritated by how slow the game is.

2) Swim. I have tried and tried yet have not succeeded. I'm still trying.

3) Study while listening to music. It irks me when people blare out music when I am.

4) Lie to my mother (not that I lie to my dad).

5) Live/stay with someone who doesn't have a sense of humour.

6) Wear heels. Enough said.

7) Run in heels.

7 Celebrity Crushes:

1) Dermot Mulroney (actor of My Best Friend's Wedding).

2) Freddie Prinze Jr.

3) Richard Gere (sue me!).

4) Matt Dillon.

5) Matthew McConaughey when he's not blond.

6) Angelina Jolie (yes, even we women).

7) Jason Priestly (as a kid, I did).

7 Often Repeated Words:

1) Dammmittt!!!

2) Yehhh?

3) Ohooo!

4) Bugger.

5) Ffffffff!

6) Apa dia?

7) Heyy.

7 Things That Attract Me to the Opposite Sex:

1) Intelligence.

2) Eyes.

3) Piousness.

4) Ability to speak and write fluent English.

5) Sense of humour.

6) Modesty and humbleness.

7) Honesty.

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." --Erma Bombeck

I was driving alone on my way for terawih prayers today. Just as I was making a right turn toward the street heading to the mosque, a motorbike out of nowhere emerged on my side and hit the side of my car. I was soo shocked! The guy fell off his bike right near me. Terrified, I pulled over and got out. Luckily the guy didn't suffer any injuries.

He justified the situation but obviously claimed that I was in the wrong. I on the other hand swore that I never saw him coming. Determined not to make chaos, I apologized profusely claiming guilty. The azan had ended and I was already late for prayers. Not to mention the incident happened near a mamak's place and a whole bunch of 'em came over. I decided to better just apologize than kena pukul or something. However they were nice, they asked if my car suffered any damages but there was clearly none.

The guy whom I just knocked down then came over and said something about accidents happen all the time and was surprisingly trying to ease me. Whatever he said then didn't really register in me coz my mind was all over. But I remember this,

Guy : Saya pun takde apa-apa so tak apala kak(I'm pretty sure I'm younger than him). Kakak pun baik, takde marah-marah pandang rendah dekat saya. Kalau tak, saya pun marah. Kakak bayar saya RM15 sudahla.

Me : Sorryla, saya betul-betul tak nampak awak. (I blabbed on something else then quickly handed him the money.)

Thinking I must've been terrified being all alone and all... he smiled and extended his hand. (Batal air sembahyang aku!)

Guy : Takpela kak saya pun takde apa-apa. Sikit-sikit saje.

Me : I'm very sorry aaa.

Guy : Tak apalah kak. (He was all smiles and extended his hand yet again for another handshake.)

... And I quickly drove off for prayers.

I used to wonder how I'd face something like this all alone and it really happened tonight. Sembahyang pun jadi tak khusyuk. My mind kept reverting to the incident. Thank God it was a very minor one and no one was hurt. I'd hate to imagine the guilt if something worse had happened.

Everything that occurred after that was all a daze to me...