(Incomplete caricature)
Lord, how do we live in this world? We may have the most innocent of intentions; and they will convert it into something else
The Boccaccio’s the Salmon Khan’s.
I often wonder why god created the world at all. He had some evil design behind it. The design is entirely against me. I have no doubt about it, going by what is happening in my life.
You can live anywhere else in the world. But not in this country and not in this state. No, not ever!
Friend can you imagine it. I had the most honorable of all intentions. I don’t know why, I am an incorrigible workaholic. I can’t sit still for a moment. A certain very low character says it is nervous tension. Darn him.
Work is god to me. Why do we live in the world- to work? What for are we working? Now wait a sec. Fair is fair. You can’t jab below the belt.
I know what is in your mind. You can’t do that to me.
I am not a sitting duck. You can’t take pot shots at me.
I work, and I have a philosophy of work too. Work it self is the reward of work. For if we do not work, what in the bloody hell do we do?
It is not important the sort of work you do you see, what is important is the work itself.
Why?
Hell, man, do we have all the answers in the world. If we did would we go on living?
Yet you see, people won’t allow us to live otherwise too. As I said I had only the good intentions on my side. She has some fair skin, all right, what of it, my wife is fair too. Now my wife is not very fair in certain other things. Doesn’t always allow me…. You know what and how it is.
It gets rowdy at home sometimes. I want it and she has the pains. The thing is if I didn’t do it where does the pain come from. Is it divine pain?
The strangest thing is the pain is flowering as the time is passing. You see what I mean. I am a man of great self control. I often wonder at it myself. My father, he was like a goat, would eat any thing in the world. Pretty conscientious guy too.
He would have his encounters while we were returning from the market. The dusk would be silently approaching; there are lonely places within the busy ones in our country side. I was very young at that time.
He used to smell of thick sweat and coconut husk. It was oppressive. He also had calloused hands and feet. I never liked the combination. But he was my father and that was all there to it.
At certain points in our journey back he would meet with certain women , I always thought that he was off to have some country brewed spirit, he had always the same smell, so I could never tell whether he had some or not.
He would say to me:
Now run along, me, I have some business.
I never had the guts to ask whether it was on the same business my mom took him to task everyday. But he was kind; he brought me sweets every time.
They would disappear into an alley. Some times I waited, afraid to go alone in the dark. Then I would usually hear sort of a scuffle and noises made by branches and the bushes. Faint laughter and murmur of voices.
When others came that way I hid for shame. I did not know why I was ashamed for a long time afterwards.
I wonder now, did he take all those women; some of them were the same and them I knew by sight. Some were quite unknown to me. Were did all that women come from. How could they like a man who smelt that way? It always hurt whenever he touched me. He hands and feet were so calloused from climbing up and down coconut palms that you could chip away at them like they are wooden pieces.
He used them against my mother too, but was careful not to hurt her too much. But every small slap sent her flying away to the corners. The perplexing thing was that she seemed to like it to boot. It seemed to me that she quarreled against him for the very purpose of getting hit.
There would be tears and gasps from her and kind words from him. Kind in his own way that is.
Shut your trap, you wooden ass.
Strange are the ways of women. She mellows at those words. And there would be a reunion and a peaceful night.
As you may have guessed by now, I do not have the same talent for charming women. Not my own woman too. Otherwise I would have had a better life.
But I never expected this. I am an upstanding member of the society. Think of the damage it would cause my budding career.
Oh the people are cruel.
Okay. I invited her. But it was purely on official purpose, you see. I had this data to present at the head quarters and as the person who collected the data, she had to accompany me. I need not persuade her even.
There was the office car and there were only the two of us. She should have known the importance of the mission. Yet I was nice.
I told her that she has only to be ready at 2 O Clock in the morning and we would pick her up. She was ready too. But at the last moment something got into her head and she withdrew. It was a totally unacceptable situation. I had expectations about the trip. Well that is that.
On top my disappointment I had to suffer this too. There are murmurs whispers and leers and what not. ………..
The losers.
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