Akad Nikah

Today my nephew performed the Akad Nikah. This nephew is the second son of the brother of mine who is in late stage of cancer. My brother has changed a lot. No he has not deteriorated physically, on the contrary, he has actually put on a liitle bit of weight. He is quite jovial and still as sharp as ever.

I got to his house at around noon today after getting some chores done at home. The first thing I saw when I reached his house was my brother sitting in his wheelchair and he looked happy when he saw us. I spent about half an hour with him in the porch, talking before going inside. As usual, all the 'hantarans' were ready on the floor waiting to be taken to the bride's house.

We took some family photos and then I saw my brother crying. He was never like that during his healthy times. My sis in law had to wipe the tears from his eyes a few times. I was sure that he cried because he couldn't follow. The trip wasn't far but he was not in the condition to go. The Akad Nikah ceremony was to take place in a kampung mosque.

Just an interesting point to highlight here. This nephew of mine is a very active UMNO youth member and his bride's brothers are very staunch PAS supporters. In fact they hail from a PAS stronghold but everything was very cordial and friendly.

On the way to the mosque, I received a phone call from my SIL. She said that my brother was crying like a baby, he wanted to follow us. Since my car was full, I told her that I would call her back once I reached the mosque. Once there, I discussed with the others and we decided for his sake, not to meet his request.

While waiting I suddenly saw a familiar car, and true indeed it was my other nephew with, of all people, my brother inside. I just shook my head. He's one stubborn bloke, my brother. The ceremony went on well, and again my brother was crying. He just couldn't control his emotions. A little about him and what kind of a person he is.

He started as a technician in a factory. He is known for his strict discipline as far as work is concerned. For a person with only MCE qualifications he worked his way up to GM in Matsushita in Sungai Petani. That is not an easy feat considering that he is a bumiputera. He did not get the post because of his race but because of his ability to get things done. Now this giant of a man is crying like a baby.

When everything was over, we got home and still there were visitors streaming in to visit him. I overheard, him telling one of his ex-worker, "Aku nak mati dah". What struck me as strange was that he said that without any trace of emotion, and yet a while earlier he was crying like a baby. I guessed he has resigned himself to the fact that he does not have time on his side.

The reception will be held on the 27th of this month and I got this feeling that he would fight to live till at least that day.

Here in this post I have two different pictures during two different weddings. The first is taken in December 2004 when his eldest son got married. The second one is taken today when his second son got married.

The picture above was taken while we were preparing to go for his eldest son's Akad Nikah in December 2004.

This was taken at about half past one today. Just see the difference. As I mentioned earlier, he is a bit meatier now. With him are his wife and grandaughter Marsha Nerina. He is sitting on his wheelchair. I don't know what was going through in his head. What was he thinking of?

And one more picture for the road. The picture at the bottom is that of my nephew during the Akad Nikah.