Monthly Archive for November, 2007

Bartley, my son

Published
by
Rinchen
on November 29, 2007
in REC Calicut
. 14 Comments

I once took part in a play in college. I was the mother with the powdered white hair. Although looking back, it seems I was always chosen to play the mother, dunno why. So anyways, this play was put together at the last minute which meant that nobody actually had any time to practice their lines or remember a long list of never-ending dialogues.

A classmate graciously offered to stand in the shadows, holding the script and prompt whenever the characters on stage forgot anything. With that infallible concept in hand, we headed towards enacting a most unforgettable and thoroughly laughable play in the history of that particular stage at least.

The scene was supposed to be a dramatically sad one; the dead body of the son is brought home and the family weeps at the loss of a life so young. When it was time for the mother’s speech of lament, luck had it that I remembered only two sentences which I stupidly repeated like about 10 times. I dont remember now exactly what misfortune befell the prompter but either she took just that time to take a break or she spoke so low that I couldnt hear any of my other lines.

So the white haired mother lamented thus - “Bartley, my son Bartley… now that you are gone, who will feed us and look after us?” That was the first line that I remembered. The second one went something like this - “Bartley, now that you are gone, who will fish for us and bring bread on the table“.

Later on, a friend in the audience told me that the mother came across as being only concerned about where her food is going to come from and for her, that was a tragedy even greater than a son dead.

Bartley, on his part also did his best to have the audience in splits. Although he was supposed to be dead, his eyes wouldnt stop blinking and his feet kept twitching for a dead body. We, the cast ourselves had a hearty laugh when we heard of the shenanigans that happened onstage later on.

And to think we got third place for this play. Maybe the judges gave points for all the laughter. And for the semi-dead Bartley perhaps. I’ve not had the courage to participate in any other play after that.

Given that life is strange

Published
by
Rinchen
on November 29, 2007
in Life as it happens
. 2 Comments

Since sucking at originality comes naturally to me, I have borrowed this title from Shaliya’s poem in her blog (like I said I would) This statement is also to avoid all forms of legal entanglement and the possibility of a law suit (like she said she would)

With that being said, life is strange. Given a scenario or two. People are such complex things and so damn unpredictable. I’m pretty much unpredictable myself so this post makes as much sense to me as it does to you, I’m sure.

Relationships are strange. Dissecting and scrutinizing one under a microscope comes naturally to me. So I dont think I can stand the suspense any longer when I finally see two people who told me they had broken up pretty much 2 months back for a myriad of complicated reasons - walking around and calling me up to say hi together. Given that life indeed is strange.

The scary dog

Published
by
Rinchen
on November 28, 2007
in Life as it happens and Winkie
. 11 Comments

winkie.JPG

Continuing in the spirit of the early morning walk where the terrible cold almost freezes one’s tail off (Winkie’s, not mine) I find it funny when people suddenly stop walking when they see my dog and anxiously begin to ask me if ‘it bites’. What am I supposed to say in return? Yes, it DOES bite. Run for your life?

My labrador is now one year and a month old. She’s this huge dog who can look very scary especially from up close when you’re passing by, hoping also not to get run down by mad, speeding vehicles zooming on the highway. She succeeds in scaring not only the small school children - god bless their easily scared hearts - but also fully grown men & women who seem hell bent on changing paths when they see her.

Although Winkie is a scaredy cat at heart. She’s the quietest dog I have ever known. You know how these dogs are, they go to sleep early and wake up at the crack of dawn to bark at some random sound from outside. Winkie dare not bark and disturb me while I’m sleeping. And she knows this. I find it hilarious to sometimes hear an uncertain attempt to bark which instantly gets cut off in mid-bark if I so much as yell - shaddup!

The scarey dog is tagged with a wrong reputation. And nothing I say or do seems to change people’s minds. If only Winkie knew. I bet she would have done nothing short than behave insufferably.

Upstart indeed

Published
by
Rinchen
on November 26, 2007
in From here & there
. 4 Comments

One of the thousands of quizzes I have taken so far till date. I dont take it all too seriously. And this has got nothing to do with scoring -1 in the experience catogory btw.

  • Greed: 0

You’re not in this for the money, for you blogging is all about the passion! Sure you might make a little pocket change now and again, but you know that it’s the content, the audience and the people that are what makes blogging great!

  • Experience: -1

You represent one of the thousands of newcomers that take up blogging every year and while others will fall away over time, you are in it for the long haul. It’s only a matter of time before your greatness is apparent to all and sundry!

  • Sociability: 1

You love web 2.0 stuff like Digg and Delicious and you’re involved in more blogging groups, networks and activities than anyone else you know. With all your connections, you make Neil Patel look positively anti-social!

Umm… I have no idea who Neil Patel is though. The scores are all wrong, I think. And look at that beard - you would think they would have a more gender specific quiz. Also, ‘upstart’ reminds me of a rage filled Professor Calculus Cuthbert knocking off this other guy’s hat in Tintin - Flight 714.

Winter woes

Published
by
Rinchen
on November 26, 2007
in Life as it happens and No good
. 2 Comments

I was wondering for quite sometime what was it about these days that just didnt quit bothering me. I could hardly bring myself to part from a warm cozy bed early in the morning and the prospect of taking Winkie out for a walk seemed less pragmatic, more chilly and semi-freezing to death.

As the cold struck me clean and sliced up my internals at the same time, I realized that I hate winters. Could never stand the cold and dont think at this age, I can come up with an anti-freeze immune system.

I remember once travelling through a really chilly night; the stupid train shutters just wouldnt close beyond a point and I didnt have any warm blankets to tuck in with. To put it mildly, I couldnt sleep throughout the night and despite wearing all the sweaters crammed in my luggage, I had no luck with the cold. I counted every hour after 11 pm and could have kicked myself for not foreseeing the situation.

Much as I hate the cold now, I shudder to think whats going to happen in the months of December and January. At this point, I envy the likes of the migratory birds even. This cold is freezing my brain and nothing other than severe hypothermia is probably in the cards. Good luck to me and other cold blooded creatures this winter.

Blah

Published
by
Rinchen
on November 24, 2007
in Musings et all
. 2 Comments

Who’s suffering from Writer’s Block? ….

Lazy humour

Published
by
Rinchen
on November 23, 2007
in Life as it happens
. 0 Comments

I have a hundred things to do on my desk and as the deadline approaches nearer, I find it amusing myself that time hath no brother or sisters or even a decent blogger friend. As I see people working themselves crazy, I am struck by the memory of a funny Malayalam quote - Madiyan mala chumakkum (pardon the spelling)

It translates to - The Lazy will lift the mountain. And thats just about whats literally happening in and around here. In the meantime, nothing like a little humour to soften the blow when the axe finally falls.