On Cheeniya's Legs -- The Long and the Short of the Matter

Dear Kamla,

I suppose you are right. I find it hard to change myself. And that probably is the rubber stamp I use to introduce myself. Endlessly fluctuating, with a method in madness. But let me reveal one secret to you. I don't think I can disappear from this site. This is the only site where friendship thrives, it grows into massive trees under which thirsty travelers can rest and probably quench their thirst in the river flowing nearby, listening to its rippling song. You have understood everything so clearly good friend.

Love.

oj-da

 

Thank you Satchi. That was very kind of you. I really mean it.

Love.

oj-da

 

Dear Viswa,

Sorry that I missed your fb in my responses. Please do forgive me.

I think pulling and pushing are two sides of the same coin. Good friends often push each other don't they? Especially when they are laughing together. And then one doesn't know when pushing turns into pulling. I really hope people pull and push each other, by their legs or by their ears I don't care, but in friendship. I hope humanity realized this ultimate truth. Pulling and pushing in love and friendship is the only thing that carries any value. Everything else is quite meaningless.

Best wishes.

oj-da

 

Bravo Sri, I don't know anyone else who could have come up with this. Or, as Kamal might have observed, "as only you can do it" or something pretty close.

Ustinov was one of my favourites too, though I haven't seen some of the movies you have mentioned. Some I have enjoyed. I remember reading an article where famous actors were asked about their dream roles. Ustinov said his dream role was King Lear. (Incidentally, I recall Utpal Dutt telling us that Ustinov didn't quite make it as Nero. He gave his reasons, but I was impressed by his Nero anyway.)

I had once pined for intellectual accomplishments, but failed miserably. And now, surprise of surprise, you bring me pretty close to the great one, at least insofar as my "shorts versus longs" ramblings go. Alas, few will probably give me credit for my independent finding. As I said, life's tragedies can be quite bottomless. On the other hand, by making me stand next to the Paramhans, you may have just turned the tables on me. I am scared, to say the least. Am I the stretched leg or the shrunken shorts?

I remember you telling me once about Rajendranath. Isn't he the guy whose shorts kept on answering the call of gravity whenever Directors were wanting in ideas? If so, Rajendranath is not the guy I want to compare you with. Film buff though you are, how could you forget Kishore Kumar's "Half Ticket"? That's the chap I have in mind now. And recall, he was so convincing as a school boy in shorts that he ended up winning the heart of the ever bewithching Madhubala! Come to think of it, Cheeniya vs. IL is a real life version of Kishore Kumar's Half Ticket!!

Ah ha!! But then what about The Curious Case of Benjamin Button? I don't know about PAN cards, but "geriatric status" may not be "irrefutable" I think.

I am one of his most ardent fans. I do hope he will accommodate me in his island, even if it is in the sun.

This is not my fault. Russel alone has to answer for his stupid ideas. I suppose Russel readily came to my mind because only a few weeks ago you had mentioned Copernicus in some connection or the other. I have to search to find out where you pontificated on Copernicus. By the way, your first example reminds me of Robert Louis Stevenson's "From a Railway Carriage":

"Faster than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
And charging along like troops in a battle
All through the meadows the horses and cattle:
All of the sights of the hill and the plain
Fly as thick as driving rain;
And ever again, in the wink of an eye,
Painted stations whistle by.
Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,
All by himself and gathering brambles;
Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;
And here is the green for stringing the daisies!
Here is a cart runaway in the road
Lumping along with man and load;
And here is a mill, and there is a river:
Each a glimpse and gone forever!"

I have always liked this poem and it comes so close to your point about relativity, doesn't it?

This one is truly pregnant with meaning. Physicists will look at it their way. But Hindu philosophers will surely interpret this their own unique way too. I am reminded of a Tagore four liner. This is a hurried translation. So, please don't sit on judgment on the quality of the translation.

"Chariot fest, crowds of people, pageantry intense
On the street devotees prostrate -- paying obeisance
Its godly virtue the chariot detects now, and so does the street
In divinity sinks the idol too, smiles God in silence discreet."

That's more relativity for you!!

All the best Sri for this wonderful fb. I feel proud. I will find out from Guinness if I deserve an award as the only person in IL who attracted 2 fb's from Cheeniya for a single post. I mean 2 astounding FB's, not just run of the mill fb's.

oj

 

Look at it this way Satchi. You've spent the whole day at home, feeling miserable that you missed that one mile morning walk you are used to. But the earth did move at hurtling speed in its orbit. Every second during the day it traveled 18.59 miles. And when it traveled, you traveled with it!!

Here's a musical version of my half-digested knowledge!!

<http://dingo.care-mail.com/cards/flash/5409/galaxy.swf>

oj-da

 

I agree with you Kerman. This is Cheeniya at his best!!

Kaku