Sometimes we bury our prejudices so deeply that it comes as a surprise when some event exposes them in all their stark absurdity. If you had asked me, I would have said that I believed one’s gender was not a prerequisite for the professions. I am equally comfortable with male and female doctors, with men [...]
Entries from February 2007
February 24, 2007
But then again, I am drunk
It is the holidays again and, home from my studies, I am sitting on my parents’ front veranda in my hometown. The sea breeze is in but gently and the purple bougainvillea is waving in the spring sunshine. Bandy arrives and walks towards me up the front path. We are both 19; we have grown [...]
February 19, 2007
At the Drive In
I have to admit that it wasn’t that hard to be the resident intellectual in my little town. We lived on the edge of the Indian Ocean; each day it crept timidly up the usually dry riverbed around whose mouth the town had grown. Then it would shyly retreat leaving large tidal expanses in which [...]
February 16, 2007
Zen and the art of not finishing stuff
Satori is the spiritual goal of Zen Buddhism. (in Chinese: wu.) Satori roughly translates into individual Enlightenment, or a flash of sudden awareness. Satori is as well an intuitive experience. A brief experience of Enlightenment is sometimes called Kensho.
I hate Zen, you know? Like, all that satori stuff, those little anecdotes and riddles that lead [...]
February 13, 2007
The sitters at the table of plenty
Today, one of the local radio stations asked people to call in with their ideal dinner party guest list. I mean, it’s academic for me since I had kids. Once I would spend an entire afternoon buying and grinding 100 spices to make a chicken curry. Once I made my own spaghetti – took me hours [...]
February 7, 2007
So you won’t be eaten
The kids and I went to the beach on Saturday. Apart from the fact that there is a chance that you could be eaten there, most people would say our beach is beautiful. As summer arrives, the Indian Ocean wraps around your pale ankles like an old friend welcoming you back to its embrace. Gentle waves [...]
February 3, 2007
12 lessons from a failed marriage
“One should always be in love; that is why one should never marry.”Oscar Wilde
Never confuse the terms wedding and marriage. Think about the wedding as a pre-op injection – the creation of an artificial mood of bravado before you slip into oblivion.
The words “I do” will never be repeated in your marriage. They are replaced [...]
