Coming of Age

They say you come of age when you stop being a teenager. That isn't the case in Nepalese society. In our society we come of age after a ritual. I will explain about the ritual by relating my own experience with it.

The ritual usually involves a slew of middle aged couples, that including your relatives, and/or any family friends your parents have had. Your parents aren't involved in any manner whatsoever. In fact, when the year of your coming-of-age is announced, your parents become excited and begin planning a trip for themselves. As the day came nearer, my parents were growing more and more restless. I had never seen my parents this excited in my life yet.  All the preparations were made.

Finally the day would come in two days. I went to see my girlfriend before the ritual. Her date was planned for next year, and she told me her parents were getting pretty hyped about it too. It was a common thing I guess. She studied in a different college than mine so we never ran out of things to talk about. We had lunch at my favorite burger place, walked around the Mall and went off to see the sunset. As I looked at the orange sky and the night crept slowly upon us, I wondered what the ritual was about. I shared how I felt about it with her, and she looked at me for some time before asking if I expected to be a changed person after it. I told her I hadn't really thought about that, and we both remained silent for a long time. It was almost time so we drove back and I dropped her off and returned to my place. My parents had left for their trip this morning after making sure everything was right. And as I entered my house still eager about the ritual, I realized it had already begun.

The house was dimly lit as I saw from the garage. The lights were strangely low, as if intentional. I took off my shoes and made my way inside. I could hear murmurs coming from the living room, so I went there instead of my own room. As I entered the room the room went dead silence. At least forty pairs of eyes were on me. I realized the rooms were dimly lit because of candle lights glowing in the dark. I couldn't make out any specific faces unless someone really came close to me. I wasn't sure what to do so I just stood at the doorway awkwardly. I hadn't seen so many people in my living room at once, and the ambiance wasn't very friendly. Suddenly two of the figures sitting near the doorway got up and came to me. Then I saw they were the next door neighbors who I greeted everyday with 'uncle' and 'aunty'. As they came really close aunty grabbed my left hand and uncle whispered into my right ear something like 'coming-of-age... arrival ... big day..' that I didn't fully grasp, but I was beginning to realize something profound was going to happen. Sweat beads appeared on my forehead. Everyone was dead silent and looking at me since the moment I entered, never flinching. Aunty wiped the sweat off my forehead with her hand and then she smiled at me, without saying a word. Then she handed me a piece of cloth neatly folded. Uncle whispered me to tie it around my eyes so I couldn't see. I felt like I had to do this for some reason. I closed my eyes and tied the cloth in front of it so I couldn't see anymore, just hear the sound of forty people breathing as if humming a melancholy tune. And then, aunty unbuttoned my shirt off, while uncle unzipped my pants. I was too much in shock to protest or move, so I just froze there. The humming was growing louder with every cloth that was stripped away from my body. Finally there I was, standing stark naked in my living room doorway with a piece of cloth over my eyes. I could hear people rising from their seats and coming towards me. Several hands ran through my exposed skin all over my body. With each new hand I felt a sort of chill running down my spine. As the hands touched every portion of me I realized that they were humming a tune after all. At this point I was so much away from my mind that I too begun humming with everyone. The hands moved through my body in rhythm with the tune I was humming. And as I synced my voice to the echo of their voices I felt I was a part of this now, and there was no looking back.
Up until now, I had no idea how long the ritual lasted that night, because when I woke up in my own bed the next morning it all felt like sort of a dream, except for the hand marks all over my body. It was all real. The ritual was complete and the house was empty. My parents would return from the trip pretty soon. I had promised to meet my girlfriend that day for lunch. She is going to want to hear about the ritual. It was, after all, her coming-of-age next year. Maybe, its best to let her experience it first-hand.

Dear Clara

Dear Clara,
I will just go ahead and say this to you. I miss you. Yes.
It was kind of unexpected for me when you left. I knew things weren't going smooth but you leaving left a bleeding hole in my heart that I will never be able to fill.
I remember the first time I saw you in Asylum of the Daleks. The moment I laid eyes on you I knew it was meant to be. I kind of wanted you to stick around, forever. We both knew that was idealistic of me, what what would you expect? Neither of us is flawless. Consider it my first flaw, that I wanted you to forever with me. Running through stars, galaxies, space and time.
I miss you. I miss your voice, Clara.I miss your eyes. I miss your smile. I miss your hair. I miss your face. I miss you everyday. You are my impossible girl. Some days I remember just looking at you and nothing else, everything fades to background. Oh Clara, you have no idea how obsessed I was for you. I remember waiting for you every week, same time, same place. Some days when I felt blue, I remembered all the times we shared together, all the adventures we had together. If I could be anywhere in the universe, I would choose to be with you. You Clara, you are my life. My everything. My hope. My redemption. My world.
And now, you are gone. Nothing can bring you back. I devoted everything in my will and power to bring you back to me. But it just wasn't enough. Nothing ever was enough. You know, sometimes I wonder, if I could have done something. Something more. Something different. Something. Anything, to have you back. But I have failed Clara. I have failed miserably. Here I am, all the time and space in my grasp and yet I could not make you come back to me. I am sorry, Clara. I am. I wish you were here with me. Even for just a little bit of time. Nothing is going to be the same without you. They say I have to move on, but I can't. I just can't. It will never be the same again.
Goodbye,
My dear Clara.

Yours,

......

At last Part ONE

Oh look she is alone,
tells me Igloo
Now is the time friend,
Do not hesitate
Do not look away
Do not run
And make it happen.
I stand up from my chair
Take a deep breath of air
ANd start walking
Across the library hall
She is alone and focused
and writing, lots of writing
Assignment maybe?
Deadlines are important
You are almost there
Feel your heart beating
Teeth clamoring
Perspiration
Dammit did you forget to shower this morning?
Too late. man, too late
You are almost there.
Oh my god what are you even going to say to her?
Do you even know what she wants?
WHat if she rejects you?
What if she thinks you are joking?
What if she gives you a pity look?
You can't handle the pity look
Nobody can
Ohh man, you are there.
She looks up
Your eyes meet
And then you give a quick smirk and continue walking
You wuss
You walked away
Igloo judges you man
Igloo judges you real nice
Now he steps up and has to do your shit for you
He walks up to her as you hide behind the wall and peek
He says a few things to her, she nods and talks back
WHat the hell is happening?
She tears a small sheet of paper from her assignment page and writes something
She gives it to Igloo
and back to writing, lots of writing
Igloo comes up to you and smacks you
Hands you the piece of paper
Written were the words,
"Hostel at 7"
Whoa you did it
You made it happen.
Actually he did it
He made it happen
Igloo is a real bro I tell you.
He does your shit
Cleans up your mess
Gives good advice
and eats food from your plate sometimes
Evens things out I guess.
What's the time again?
Oh yeah, its 2:07 PM
How long before its 7:00 then?

Part TWO comes out real soon

November Nomenclature

I was wondering how were all the twelve months named? So I did some research on the topic and discovered the origin of all months. The one that really intrigued me, was this : November.

So, there has been this trend of not cutting your beard for the entire month of November, which is a symbolic support for the cause: "awareness for men- health related issues". This is not a very new topic. Being a gender advocate, I have to admit that our world, right from the dawn of human civilisation has been under male dominance. It is only now that women have been allowed equal significance in major issues. Now, looking back at our history, we find that our male ancestors were very much concerned about their health, whilst trying to improve their manhood as well. Moustaches, and beards, were proud possessions of men worldwide. Amongst them were some of the ones who named our months. One of these fellows felt the need to spread an awareness about health issues and manhood. He made a proposal in the committee, that at least 30 days per year we stop shaving our face, to keep the world informed about men and their problems. The board members liked this idea, and passed it into the law right away. However, following the execution of this plan, men started to look hairy wild. It seemed as if the entire civilisation had reverted back to the stone age, saved only by beautiful women, and deliciously cooked food items. Women criticized the International Law Committee, and even held a massive protest. The "No-Shave" policy was eliminated from the Book of Law.

However, most of the men missed the policy, so they thought of making it an annual tradition. Every year, men would stop shaving for a month ; some did it for the cause, some did it for fun, and some did it just because they ran out of shaving cream. Now, whenever anyone asked a man why hadn't they shaved their face, the men would smilingly reply," Its No Shave, Remember?". Interestingly, these phrase became so catchy that the committee reluctantly decided to use it on one of the month's name. Thus, a new month was born, and it was called, NOVEMBER(NO-shaVE-remeMBER).

Lord Henry

Too many characters wheeled around in my unproductive head. Yet, I found Lord Henry to be one of the eccentric, yet largely interesting person.

Lord Henry was not very social. He rarely allowed people to enter his mansion. He used to yell loudly at the visitors. Even his own servants did not favor him, but they had no choice. They had to tolerate him there. He hardly left his mansion. But he was seen to wander needlessly from one room to another. Sometimes, he would even reach his maid's room and invite a loud shriek. Still, they had to be accustomed to his ways and habits. He did not even like his own relatives. Whenever someone came into the house, he would torture them repeatedly until they were obliged to leave as soon as possible. He was a loner, a creepy misanthropist who preferred solitude in his mansion. Even 80 years after his death, he didn't let anyone inhabit the place, nor did he let the agents sell it to anybody else.