Charms

Exposure to foggy morning made me indisposed for a couple of days. During this short interlude one day I heard a remix of old Hindi songs with some amazing metallic instruments. I was very curious to find out the musical instrument that accompanied the songs. My curiosity led me to the source of its origin and to my utter surprise I discovered that most of the cutlery and utensils were lying scattered in the kitchen. Immediately I understood the mystery behind the strange instrument.

My wife is very fond of music and listens to the FM station or CD whenever she works in the kitchen. That particular day she had prohibited my daily errands as I was not well and it was a foggy morning but the daredevilry in me refused to listen to her resulting fresh supply of vegetables from the market. That annoyed her so much so that she used cutlery and kitchen wares as missiles to unleash her anger. The rhythmic music created by the missiles in kissing the floor or the wall produced the mirage of a remix. I congratulated her for this rare symphony which she dismissed with disdain but I escaped unhurt because the armory was exhausted. These ladies are really charming in their annoyance.

Recently I have been brooding over Beckettian('Waiting for Godot' by Samuel Beckett) waiting. Is waiting has been our eternal situation? Do we always wait for someone or something which would change our life? I am not sure. Perhaps a person loves to dream because, expectations, remaining un-fulfilled can safely be dreamy of. That probably is the cause of our waiting for the unexpected- so alluring and attractive. Such waiting has a charm of its own.

All charms are attractive and enjoyable.  

I remember an incidence some eight years back. While moving towards the office, I saw a young and fully grown robust cobra near our office at Jeypore at 9.45 am. The driver quickly parked the vehicle and said, “Sir, I can catch this cobra for you to see,” but the reptile was so quick that by the time he alighted it was 100 meters away and quite safe. I heard later that the driver was capable of catching snakes by some magic charms. It reminded me another incident that occurred many years back. One night, during my school days, a cousin of my father had a cobra bite. He was immediately rushed to our family physician. Incidentally he was our relation and had retired as a Government doctor and settled in our village too. The Doctor plucked some Tulsi leaves, forced those leaves to the patient’s mouth while chanting some ‘mantras’. Thereafter he cleaned the wound and applied antiseptic. Within minutes my uncle was cured. It was a known fact that he had cured many such snake bite cases and none of his snake-bite patients expired during treatment. I do not know how it is possible.

Apart from magic and magical charms, many other activities become attractive in young age. During my college days one of my aunts, three years senior to me, gathered us all during a summer vacation to have a ‘spirit call’ session. As per the procedure, a cup has to be kept upside down in the centre of a circle. All the twenty-six English alphabets are to be written round the circle. Minimum four participants should keep their finger tips on the cup and concentrate remembering a deceased person they all know. After a few minutes the cup would appear to be moving and the questions asked by the participants would be answered. I always had a hearty laugh when the session ends because I knew all along that it could never be true but could be enjoyed as a good fun and relaxation.

Oration has a wonderful charm to keep the audience spell bound. I have seen many professors taking classes in such absorbing manner that we wished prolongation of the classes. A professor of physics, during my post-graduation, was participating in a seminar organized by the English department. He spoke about Gorge Orwell and ‘Nineteen eighty-four’ for about an hour in such a magical spell that none could move an inch. How a professor of physics could find time to be critically involved in literature is still a mystery but in our college days, most of the teachers were brilliant.

What the stars foretell is an amusing experience. I heard that one day a Lecturer of a college at the end of the session had suddenly picked up the right hand of a student sitting in the first row. He deeply studied the hand and uttered in a low tone, “Yes it clearly shows you are in love but you are to prove yourself in the studies as well to win her”. “But sir,” he protested, but the Lecturer left the class without answering. When the Lecturer was asked about the incident he confided that he did not know anything about palmistry or fortune telling. He had been noticing for about a month that the student was absent minded most of the time. He wanted to bring back his confidence. The story goes on to tell that the student did well in the examination and won his lady-love too. Probably we love to hear sweet lies and interestingly some lies become true. 

What we call the beginning is often the end

And to make an end is to make a beginning.

While ending this piece I am still apprehensive of the beginning of further assault basically because I have been consistently dismissive of feminine advice and the weather continues to remain foggy.