Self-Epitaph 2
Thanks for driving my coffin so carefully to this place, dear!
If you were that careful last time would I be here?
May 31, 2009
May 20, 2009
May 19, 2009
Mother
There was once a woman who taught me how to be loved
So when someone meets me they know what to follow.
There was once this woman who guided me to be a man
So when someone greets me they know who to follow.
There was once this woman who made me a human
So when someone knows me they know why to follow.
I am yet to be there...
There was once a woman who taught me how to be loved
So when someone meets me they know what to follow.
There was once this woman who guided me to be a man
So when someone greets me they know who to follow.
There was once this woman who made me a human
So when someone knows me they know why to follow.
I am yet to be there...
Self-Epitaph
I would like to thank you for coming this far to see me
However I am not sure if you will find anything new in me that you have not found all these years
I have always said and meant sincerely "Please welcome to my place"
You will notice I haven't changed much
Please don't forget to take your shoes off before you enter.
May 18, 2009
I am not like like my neighbors
It is scary growing up diffident when you hear your neighboring kids speak fluently the language that's well spoken by adults. The language of the learned, the medium of the newspapers and the tongue that flows in the schools and the offices. How could people master the intricate structure of the English language and remember to deliver it as needed without any hesitation - especially when their native speak is not English like in my case and in their case as well. It is not only
scary but also difficult to conceive such an impressive display of linguistic talent especially when you are only eight summers old like I am.
My parents carried a conservative background implying they would insist on learning more and displaying less unlike the new neighbors who have just moved in right across our street. I have been feeling quite puny as I have been secretly watching them from my window almost everyday after my school. Three giant kids a teenage boy and his two older sisters, all must have been in late teens. It is both exhilarting and intimidating to see them walking, running and howling in English. If ever the characters I read about in the comic books came alive I knew it they were my brand new neighbors now. Their great white Alsatian dog fit in with them and even it seemed to be barking in English. It was even hardly eight.
Getting to know your neighbors when you just moved in takes extra effort. That explains why these (big!) kids were trying to get to know me.
"Hi There! I am Kiran. What's your name like?".
"Bunnykins"
"Which school you go to? Like what grade are you in?"
"Stephens Elementary."
It was confusing to me how to answer two questions either at the same time or one after the other even if it meant one or two word answers each. My language skills never constituted complete sentences. They were hardly even incomplete. They were mere answers - words that conveyed all if you had asked me then. Besides being scared of speaking acceptable English in full
sentences what is it that the answers did not convey that unadulterated sentences would have. It wasn't until then that I have realized it meant confidence and higher public image - at least in the neighborhood I grew up.
"So, what do your parents do for a living like? Where do they work like?"
I replied in my native language which was different from English but not in English - in complete and correct sentences of course. I sensed a flash of mocking smile cross my neighbors' faces followed by beams of sympathy for me in their eyes. They were talking away to a 'backward' neighboring kid who hardly spoke 'like' in English and was a bundle of nervous bones wrapped in native speak. That must have boosted their confidence of not only fitting into the neighborhood but also feeling undeclared leaders.
It was obvious they were farily aggressive and entreprenual in nature. Within a month or two of their arrival into the neighborhood they had purchased a buffalo that is a common source of plenty of fresh milk every morning. Cattle raisers typically owned a big herd that gave several dozens of litres of milk every morning which they would sell for a living in the neighborhood
they live. The new neighbors opposite door seemed to have acquired a brand new buffalo with an intent to sell its milk to the neighbors. One of the sisters got so excited to promote their new acquisition she went knocking on the doors to do a campaign of her own. One evening she typically knocked ours and my dad opened up wondering who it was. Clinging to my dad's shirt there
I saw a bubbly teenager who was all excited to sell their new venture.
"Uncle !" she said, "We recently BUYED a buffalo. We would love to milk it and give it. Would you like it?"
I don't recall what exactly my dad responded but after he bid bye to the teen and closed the doors it was quite entertaining to see him replay the episode with my mom who ended up enjoying the experience as well. It wasn't very clear to my undeveloped mind then what was enjoyable about that but my first reaction was to laugh in ignorance until later I found out that if you have bought something you haven't 'buyed' it but you bought it. Perhaps someday I thought, I'd see the humor behind it like my parents did.
It is scary growing up diffident when you hear your neighboring kids speak fluently the language that's well spoken by adults. The language of the learned, the medium of the newspapers and the tongue that flows in the schools and the offices. How could people master the intricate structure of the English language and remember to deliver it as needed without any hesitation - especially when their native speak is not English like in my case and in their case as well. It is not only
scary but also difficult to conceive such an impressive display of linguistic talent especially when you are only eight summers old like I am.
My parents carried a conservative background implying they would insist on learning more and displaying less unlike the new neighbors who have just moved in right across our street. I have been feeling quite puny as I have been secretly watching them from my window almost everyday after my school. Three giant kids a teenage boy and his two older sisters, all must have been in late teens. It is both exhilarting and intimidating to see them walking, running and howling in English. If ever the characters I read about in the comic books came alive I knew it they were my brand new neighbors now. Their great white Alsatian dog fit in with them and even it seemed to be barking in English. It was even hardly eight.
Getting to know your neighbors when you just moved in takes extra effort. That explains why these (big!) kids were trying to get to know me.
"Hi There! I am Kiran. What's your name like?".
"Bunnykins"
"Which school you go to? Like what grade are you in?"
"Stephens Elementary."
It was confusing to me how to answer two questions either at the same time or one after the other even if it meant one or two word answers each. My language skills never constituted complete sentences. They were hardly even incomplete. They were mere answers - words that conveyed all if you had asked me then. Besides being scared of speaking acceptable English in full
sentences what is it that the answers did not convey that unadulterated sentences would have. It wasn't until then that I have realized it meant confidence and higher public image - at least in the neighborhood I grew up.
"So, what do your parents do for a living like? Where do they work like?"
I replied in my native language which was different from English but not in English - in complete and correct sentences of course. I sensed a flash of mocking smile cross my neighbors' faces followed by beams of sympathy for me in their eyes. They were talking away to a 'backward' neighboring kid who hardly spoke 'like' in English and was a bundle of nervous bones wrapped in native speak. That must have boosted their confidence of not only fitting into the neighborhood but also feeling undeclared leaders.
It was obvious they were farily aggressive and entreprenual in nature. Within a month or two of their arrival into the neighborhood they had purchased a buffalo that is a common source of plenty of fresh milk every morning. Cattle raisers typically owned a big herd that gave several dozens of litres of milk every morning which they would sell for a living in the neighborhood
they live. The new neighbors opposite door seemed to have acquired a brand new buffalo with an intent to sell its milk to the neighbors. One of the sisters got so excited to promote their new acquisition she went knocking on the doors to do a campaign of her own. One evening she typically knocked ours and my dad opened up wondering who it was. Clinging to my dad's shirt there
I saw a bubbly teenager who was all excited to sell their new venture.
"Uncle !" she said, "We recently BUYED a buffalo. We would love to milk it and give it. Would you like it?"
I don't recall what exactly my dad responded but after he bid bye to the teen and closed the doors it was quite entertaining to see him replay the episode with my mom who ended up enjoying the experience as well. It wasn't very clear to my undeveloped mind then what was enjoyable about that but my first reaction was to laugh in ignorance until later I found out that if you have bought something you haven't 'buyed' it but you bought it. Perhaps someday I thought, I'd see the humor behind it like my parents did.
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