BY THE RIVERSIDE 4

I used to go to this village when I was small, accompanying my parents whenever my cousin had a 'kenduri jijak tanah' for her children. My cousin is married into a Rao family that still practises this age-old tradition and for those those who don't know, let me explain briefly what 'jijak tanah' is all about. It is actually a ritual when a baby (usually when the baby is one year old or has started walking) can finally walk and step on 'real soil'. There will be certain 'accessories' that have to be prepared before this ritual takes place such as flowers of different types and colours (yellow is a must), bertih, beras kunyit, ibu kunyit, soil and a few others that I have forgotten. The house that belongs to my cousin's mother-in-law is located behind a small river that goes under the main road to Cameron Highlands. My cousin was back a few days ago and as usual, she would call my Mum. My Mum was the one who took care of my cousin and her older sister when they were small after their mother passed away. Actually, my cousin had been asking me and my siblings many times to take a look at a piece of land that belongs to my Mum and to do something about it since my Mum's property is adjacent to hers. Without much planning, I called my friend, FooArt and asked him if he would like to accompany us to my cousin's mother-in-law's place. FooArt who had earlier decided not to go to work on that day excitedly agreed to come with us. I tried to call my cousin a few times to inform her about our visit but could not reach her at all. I assumed that she was at her 'kebun' where there was no reception so I decided to go on with my plan. I was pretty sure that her mother-in-law would be at home. We arrived around 1.00 p.m. and luckily, she had just gotten back from her 'kebun' (just like I thought). Leaving my Mum to chat with my cousin, FooArt and I went to look around. The scenery really took my breath away. The village is still beautiful as ever and there is a certain air of peace and tranquility surrounding it. The river bank has also been fortified with big rocks (I think the whole thing is called revetment but I can be wrong) to prevent soil erosion. We crossed the small river which was really cool and refreshing to get to the other side. I really wish I had brought my shorts with me so I could really get in the water without worrying whether my clothes would get wet or not. Too bad I had forgotten them. Otherwise, I would have been splashing in the water! The visit was short but memorable and I'm going to make sure there is going to be another visit (a longer one of course) in the near future.