In memory of

I had a tiring weekend.
Though I didnt do much.

Baby's childhood friend passed away at the age of 25 due to a motorbike accident.
He was on his way back from work at 3am on Friday morning(technically).
He was a pillion rider.
The rain was heavy. That was what I remembered. But what I didnt know was that there was a loud thunder at 3am.
My sister ran up, my mom came out from the toilet.
At the same time, the rider saw a lightning right in front of him.
Shocked.
Skidded.
And both were thrown off the bike.
The rider suffered broken leg and spine.
Pillion died couple of mins after the accident.

I never knew this guy.
But from what baby told me, I feel so much for him.

Masters' Graduate from University of Munich.
Just got married a month back and was due for a honeymoon this week.
Worked as an aircraft engineer with SIA and was going to get his first pay.
He was about to start enjoying the seeds that he has planted over the years.
He had everything in front of him.
A family.
A wife.
A career.

Shah ever once told me the story of his childhood friends living in the same block playing Police and Thief couple of years back. Once they had the game planned, they went home. Started the game at 11am, they rushed to their respective cars and went round the whole island looking for the thief. The thief would leave a clue by placing ribbon tags containing the clue of his whereabouts. Shah saw the tags hung on his friend's wall in the study room. He sat down tearing.

And the thing that touched me the most, many loving friends who attended his funeral for the past 3 days, taking turns to be with the body.
The group of his childhood friends, came day and night to ensure that the funeral went smoothly.
One guy got hysterical. From what I heard, he couldn't book out from camp and came only on Sunday. He was crying out in front of the door. Unable to accept reality. Shah told him to head home, shower and get changed and said that they would wait for him to go for the burial. And for that Shah had to give the driver another $20, so that he wouldnt grumble to wait his friend for another 20 mins.

At the cemetery baby went inside the hole digged to put the body in.
When the rest left, 4 stayed behind.
They cried, read the Yassin and only left the cemetery after 12pm.
Tears fell from each and everyone of them.
Went back to his friend's place. Continued with the Talkin and Yassin throughout the entire night.

Till I talked to baby at 2am this morning, tears was still rolling down his eyes. I knew. His voice keep breaking. I wish I could do something.
But I couldn't.
All I did every night for the past 3 nights was to wait for him to come back and ensure that everything was ok.
He would talk about the funeral and I would talk about the little things in my life.
I wouldn't know how to console.
I never did.

I don't think baby would recover that soon. But he puts aside all the sadness in front of me cos I only have 5 more days to spend with him. He made an effort to spend half of the Saturday with me and Ef going breakfast and cleaning up my table in the office.

A tribute to Mohammad Ali.
A man who is loved by many.
Never held back his knowledge about anything in life.
He was never a role-model but someone who would hold your hand and walk through life together.
Vibrant, flambuoyant and full of energy.
And though I never knew him, he striked to me as a kind soul.

Let's raise our hands and pray for the soul of Shah's friend.
Childhood friend.
Al-Fateha