more about Mok

Nowadays the tepak sireh can only be seen when someone is getting engaged or nikah, as an important part of the hantaran.  More a decorative item than a functional set of small tools.  Mok's tepak sireh was very important in our household since Mok takes her fixes of sireh a few times a day.  There is the 'gobek,' a brass cylinder with a removeable stopper at the bottom,  with the pestal, a short iron rod with a knob on top. There is the 'cekati', a kind of manual slicer that looks like a nut cracker with a blade and  small brass  goblets to put the condiments.  The sireh concoction is made out of sireh, lime (kapur)  sliced thinly beettle-nut, gambir and clove. Then push it all down the gobek and pound. When all is pounded into a thick mush, push up the stopper and pop the mixture into the mouth. In a few minutes, your mouth turns orange and it does not even taste nice.

I would be the one to do the pounding. And I would do it while  listening to the radio, or watching tv or talking to friends on the phone or dreaming.

I remember one day, Mok advised me, 'Mek, nati mung  nikoh ore kayo neh, mung toksoh nikoh ore sesok, baghu la muko mung minyok molek' (You must marry a rich man, not a poor man, only than your face would have a healthy glow). She wanted good things for me. Probably I was pretty to her eyes that she thought  I can easily catch a big fish.

If she had been alive, I would have dissapointed her for not marrying a rich man and failing alot in my personal life. She would think all her nagging was in vain. Come to think of it, things does not really change from how they were before. Those who were with her are the ones who are with me now. Its only me who hoped that some things would change.

When Mok passed away, the first light bulb of my life went out.  And the rest is history.