the joy of giving

in the olden days when i was a little girl (god, i feel so ancient) ramadhan bazaars or pasar ramadhan (or now popularly known as param) never existed. for my late mother who had to feed a lot of children, cooking from scratch and eating at home was a normal occurence. to deviate from this code was a big no-no. and so i grew up with lots of homemade food, and because there was always an excess of food, my mother would send me to the neighbours' houses, bearing tiffin filled with the delicious desserts.

and usually, the neighbours would reciprocate by giving some dishes, and so the tiffin was never empty. this practice went on until the first day of Eid Mubarrak, when everybody cooked delicious but very very fattening meals.

little did i know that this was exactly what Islam wants in every Muslim during Ramadhan - to share and to give.

and since i'm my mother's daughter, i love the idea of cooking, i love eating what i cook, knowing that my food isn't cooked in some second rate oil, i trim off the fat from the meat, i don't use sugar excessively and there're no preservatives in the food i cook.

today, i felt very ambitious, after an absence of serious cooking on the kitchen stove. i made chinese style chicken pau, pecal, my favourite kuih cara and my usual drink, homemade soya bean milk. there's a small problem though.they're not world famously delicious, and i've nothing to rave about them, but what is most important is that i enjoyed making them, and they're fresh and i know what goes into making them.

anyway, i had a lot of kuih cara and thought of sending some to my next door neighbour who are a young couple in their 20s.i packed some into some container and called them. unfortunately they're out but i did tell the hubby to call me so that i could give them the dessert.

during iftar, i realised that my kuih cara was a tad hard because the batter was thick. i had second thoughts then about giving the dessert, because in Islam, you're supposed to give the best to the guest. anyway, just as i was about to start my terawih prayers, the husband called and told me they're back.so i dashed downstairs in my telekung, and was pleasantly surprised when they reciprocated and gave me some sort of a frozen rolled sandwich. and they also extended an invitation for iftar at their house next weekend.

i went back inside the house with a smile. despite the stories that disappointed and devastated us, there is still kindness when you give it a chance.

the joys of sharing and giving.