And then we forget what we see

Tea kadai Ramu cursed back at that belly-bloated customer who broke two glasses, “Do you have senses? You’re just a man whose belly speaks more than his brain.” “Ei…I broke only glasses, why are you trying to hurt me otherwise? Stay away! Who doesn’t have sense? I have two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, two hands, and a pretty strong tongue. I can walk on fours. I can dance on twos. I can sing aloud and bellow too…” the customer kept talking as four men dragged him away from the conflict spot. One of them was a journalist who was drinking china tea and reading an English newspaper. He did not want to hold on too strongly to the customer’s biceps. The belly bloated customer pulled up his lungi and spat at Ramu, “Ada thu…leave all that…at least I know to forget.”

Segmented

That ratty man was crawling towards the kitchen counter. He was tip-toeing successfully, but was being watched. His sharp snout, severe ears, and dry grey fur were followed by a segmented, fleshy long tail. Yuck! I’ve always hated to watch him. This instance made it no different. It just affirmed my belief that rats are male, and mice are female. I had no choice, but to boil in disgust and fear. I stood on my bed watching his ugly tail swish about. I could not stop him, for I would I have had to get close enough to smell him for that. So, I decided to watch him, devour him, and let him walk to death. Then, I can ask my maid to throw him in to the street dust bin.

Window Seat

The rainy afternoon was just coming to an end. I was still in the yellow colour bus, which was jumping up and down in the road. I could hear frogs, or toads, I do not know. But, I heard a voice in the squeaky wheels of the bus. Just then, my friend, Ego called me. My phone vibrated and churned in my bag, and I desperately fished it out of the mess. Ego is a he. He has always been a he. I keep changing choices, wanting to be a she and then a he and then a spider, but nothing changes. He spoke some gibberish about a debate on Wednesday afternoon. We were always pitted against each other in debate and speech classes. However, we often won both ways by playing our favourite game: Parasite and Host. Ego has always been my first love, because I was born with him. No, he is not a sibling. This would make us extremely incestuous. He is my lover. A lover who sits on tree tops and heckles at me, when I sit on the porch with a ligament torn in my right ankle. I’d quietly watch his blue eyes, burning with victorious laughter. Once, he noticed me. His eyes blinded with tears and he cuddled into my palm. He slept there for hours, cherishing dusk, clouds, stars, and night. I slept with him. We all own a kind of him. His species is peculiar, unique and mine. Soon, he squiggled awake and started his morning run. Faster than ever, it hurt my thighs and arms. I tried to hold him back, and then all of a sudden he sprouted wings. He attempted to fly out of my hand. These ferocious wings have only hit me when he has needed, wanted, and yearned love: the kind he got from Pride. The phone started to hurt my neck. Only if he knew that I loved him. I was hoping too much. His gibberish continued and joined the squeaky wheel-voice, the pitter-patter, the croaking and that queer swiveling spring in my head, which was spacing out.

Theo Jansen

click on picture to access Youtube BMW Ad featuring Theo Jansen

He is a person who crafts beyond engineering, movement, and sculpture. The work is innovative and mind-blowing. A friend sent me a BMW advertisement, where Theo Jansen talks about the art of motion and the way he likes to play around with it. He says, "The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds."

I believe everything exists in what the mind creates. Art seems to prove this over and over again. The movements here created by sheer skill of engineering and art opens a new world in the mind. His creations have their own life and essence. Innovation is the biggest art. Thinking out of the box has the biggest power in leading a holistic life.