Saturday 20 October 2012

my eldest brother..

..my eldest brother is 72 years old, infirmed, widowed and as from two months ago emplaced in an old folks home in Pengkalan Chepa...and pakmat tries to visit him  at least once a week...some kind souls, cousins and relatives would credit into my account monies, token sums, mostly, and pakmat controls the flow to him...ensuring him that he is sufficient and not left wanting...he once told me that it is humbling when you are broke...and watched with downcast eyes as others buy 'nasi berlauk' and 'kerabu' for breakfast...and  I said, yes, I know the feeling...


...sometimes as we banter and joke around that concrete table under a wizened tree, I could not help but see in him me...life has not been too good for him..now frail and aging he is very much alone...he is homeless and penniless...oft times when we met, I rebuked him his past mistakes and foolishness...and oft times we just laughed together....not much can be salvaged from a receding past...but there were tears in his eyes as he guffawed showing a single tooth from shining gums...but the Lord knows best...and may his end be with iman...

...

Thursday 11 October 2012

..the journey in pictures, part 2...Arafat, Muzdalifah, Mina, Medinah, Jeddah and home..

..wukuf in Arafat..

..jabal rahmah in the background..


pak pa from Bachok..

..muzdalifah..reading the koran..

..muasim tunnel..2.6 km long..

..cropping of hair in mina after the stoning of jamrah kubra..
..tahlul awal..

..mina..mourning the death of the wife,
..pakmat chided him for smoking..and was told later that he had
just lost his wife...

..queueing the loo.. sense of humour helps..

..the journey to madinah.. with second driver taking a nap..

..masjid nabawi..

..azan, the call to prayer..














..boarding the bus for Jeddah..last leg for home..

..madinattul hujjaj, jeddah..final stop before home..
..haji abdul rahim and family..

..king abdul aziz hajj airport..following the flag..

...the plane that took us home...