COMING EVENTS FORECAST THEIR SHADOWS

There is a familiar saying ,"Coming events forecast their shadows." Most of the times the adage is pronounced in context with historical, political events of importance. Turning to less serious but nevertheless interesting field of our personal lives we often observe that the above saying demonstrates its effectiveness in some startling, curious ways. The somewhat comical or ironical part of it is that generally we recognize the presence of the shadows long after they depart having entered stealthily and innocuously.

I would like to write about a couple of humorous and quaint anecdotes from my own life. They are so funny that that I would like to share them with my readers.

This was a shadow from a long way back, during my childhood. Could be 1950 or thereabouts. In those days, in a small town (South India) like ours there was no vehicular traffic and the streets were our playgrounds. A guy who owned a bicycle was considered rich and important! An occasional passing lorry (may be once in a month) was an exciting sight for us kids. Since our town was the district headquarter a government lorry would pass along once in a while, with the strange letters PWD boldly painted on it. Our knowledge of English was almost nonexistent. So the older boys used to explain the meaning of those letters to us as , "Pakoda, Waday,Dowsay", which in the local language were the words for familiar dishes. It sounded so funny to me that whenever a PWD owned lorry passed by, I used to shout Pakoda, Waday, Dowsay with glee and clap my hands. I was fascinated and obsessed with those three letters. Well, twenty years passed and you know what? After my graduation I got a job in the central government . That department was PWD!! I remained faithful to that blessed PWD for thirty six years, till my retirement. The shadow was a shadow of no mean substance!

The other incident which made a great impression on me happened, too, when I was a small boy of about seven or eight years. There was a small shop near our school. It had a metallic sheet awning in the front. Two iron rods jutting from the wall supported the sheet at its outer edges. One rainy day, while I was passing by I saw two of my schoolmates sheltered beneath it from the drizzle.. They called me in and I joined them. They were playing a prank on me and I did not know it. They pointed to the iron rod and said in a most convincing manner , "You see that rod? A beautiful spirit has entered it. You touch it and it will not let go of you. We promise you will like it . We promise you will like it for ever." My curiosity was roused and I gripped the rod lovingly. Immediately I received the first and severest electrical shock of my life ! I was thrown down and my hand went numb for two minutes. Their words "You will like it for ever, it will not le go of you" were ringing in my ears for a long time.

Years later I studied engineering and became an ELECTRICAL engineer! "You will like it, it will not let go.", the boys had promised, you see.

The third anecdote is a somber one and I druthers not tell it. But it illustrates my point well and I will relate it rather reluctantly.

The three of us were intimate friends and were living n a "students' hostel" in the city of Bangalore. We were passing through the initial stage of adulthood. It so happens that it is a very difficult and trying phase for a few individuals. One of our group, friend S became gloomy and depressed to such an extant he could not carry on a normal life. We three shared a single room in the hostel. One day friend S was so overcome with depression that he lay down on the mat and covered himself with a sheet of cloth , refusing to speak with the two of us. The other friend H and I were, on the contrary jovial and we liked to make fun of everything and everyone.

Friend H had a brainwave. He went and stood in a corner of the room, folded his hands and put on a most sad expression. He pretended as if he were reading out an obituary of the man lying on the mat. In mock-sad tones he delivered a mournful elegy on the dear departed. The extempore elegy was brilliant and very funny and we both laughed heartily (and, I confess to-day, heartlessly), though S, lying on the mat was silent all the while.

This particular shadow – which we did not recognize at that time- was darker than we knew. Friend S died six months later.

Fate, it seems has a strange sense of humour which we mortals cannot unfathom. We are allowed to appreciate it on hindsight only.

V.S.SURY

Tags & Keywords : events, shadows