The CHOLAs Chorus – free & random thoughts!!!

Shakyamuni may be long gone. We may be in a degenerate era. But his voluminous teachings are alive if not kicking. A Buddhist myself, I cannot fathom the depth and pith of all his teachings. But every so often I am reminded of his warning because it’s omnipresent. He warned that no one person can fully understand another person. It’s not rocket science; anybody can grasp the potent warning.

Shakyamuni may be long gone. We may be in a degenerate era. But his voluminous teachings are alive if not kicking. A Buddhist myself, I cannot fathom the depth and pith of all his teachings. But every so often I am reminded of his warning because it’s omnipresent. He warned that no one person can fully understand another person. It’s not rocket science; anybody can grasp the potent warning. Until a decade or two ago, it was only difficult for one to understand another. Earlier only natural body or heart or mind inside was the yardstick. One had to be able to discern anything untoward from one of those. There was little that would conceal a dishonest portrayal.

Everything has changed today. Unless someone is an infamous habitual liar, thief or sly, it’s a herculean task to certify with certainty that someone or something is genuine. We speak with a forked tongue, and no wonder our tongue is boneless, and proverbial. Our behaviors depend on situation. I reproduce this – there are no permanent allies, no permanent enemies, only permanent interests – as befits something of this meaning. This is façade.

This façade is aplenty nowadays. It thrives amidst all. It comes in many different guise, of which I have two here. One is an amiable, sweet and seductive façade – armour for personal gain. The other is quite the opposite – a handful of thorns draped in rose petals to inflict pain on somebody. It’s Agay Hap’s gift for Chakpa Sangay. Refresh your memory, and you will agree Agay Hap and Chakpa Sangay aren’t out of place here. We studied them as much as we did Hitler and Mussolini. Now remove your façade, they aren’t as popular as Obama and Osama even in our own locality; but then again, it’s Bhutan History. If Chakpa Sangay was happy with the gift, so are you because you are under delusion. You are headlong on your way to hell, but you think you are climbing up the stairs to heaven.

In passing, let me tell about a graffiti I saw as an innocent kid. By the way, it was very long time ago that I was innocent. A bare, slender and luscious thigh juts out invitingly on a sleazy street corner. A man sees and rushes towards it without a second thought. Ready and waiting behind is a thug with a machete that decapitates him in one fell swoop  – a fatal bolt out of the blue. But it does not surprise him, for that’s the dead end of his lifespan.

Much as both have equal relevancy today, a discussion of the latter is of more personal interest as it involves looking at it from the point of view of someone who is at the receiving end of the latent message beneath a shroud of façade. One façade is casual, other is humorous but both carry the same message. Packaging takes precedence over product, and the product is raw and indigestible. Emotional unpleasantness and not gastritis is the produce. In a crowd, a toddler sits beside his mother. An acquaintance chances upon, and says: “Hi, what are you doing here.” She looks around and spots the toddler beside, and she adds, “You have a good company, a child with a broad forehead, perhaps as big as bamin’s?” “How dare you say so! He is my child.” “Oh, you have a cute baby,” is her immediate response – sort of a two-edged remark. “How old is he?” She gives him a candy and walks away.

The internet has its lavish abbreviation. It’s everywhere. Two friends meet after one year. “You look bald,” comes hot on the heels of ‘hi’. “Only kidding,” follows soon after. It’s not that he looks bald; he is for sure bald. In an online chat, a boy writes to a girl whom he met before. “You are hot and sexy.” He adds “LOL”.  He knows as much as she does what he is saying: both double-edged. This is sweet. Here is a sample of something bitter: “You are a snub.” “Ha ha.” They say many a true word is spoken in jest. A winger passes the ball to a striker. The striker misses it, looks at the winger and claps his hands, thumbs up for his strategic pass. Somebody asks you a 64,000 dollar question. “That’s a very good question,” is your answer, the only answer. This is how you fielded the question. The questioner takes it as a compliment, and the desired answer is now only secondary to it. Sometimes façade loosely encroaches upon sarcasm, and this is even worse.

The bereaved are mourning at a crematorium. All of a sudden the dead jumps off the pyre just before the fire burns and shouts: “Ha! ha! Only Kidding. I’m alive.” I’m optimistic this happens in the not-too-distant future. Loss of mishe lams’ livelihood may be more desirable than loss of relations. Then we will surely need a family-planning clinic in each locality.

Until a decade or two ago, it was only difficult for one to understand another. Earlier only natural body or heart or mind inside was the yardstick. One had to be able to discern anything untoward from one of those. There was little that would conceal a dishonest portrayal.

Everything has changed today. Unless someone is an infamous habitual liar, thief or sly, it’s a herculean task to certify with certainty that someone or something is genuine. We speak with a forked tongue, and no wonder our tongue is boneless, and proverbial. Our behaviors depend on situation. I reproduce this – there are no permanent allies, no permanent enemies, only permanent interests – as befits something of this meaning. This is façade.

This façade is aplenty nowadays. It thrives amidst all. It comes in many different guise, of which I have two here. One is an amiable, sweet and seductive façade – armour for personal gain. The other is quite the opposite – a handful of thorns draped in rose petals to inflict pain on somebody. It’s Agay Hap’s gift for Chakpa Sangay. Refresh your memory, and you will agree Agay Hap and Chakpa Sangay aren’t out of place here. We studied them as much as we did Hitler and Mussolini. Now remove your façade, they aren’t as popular as Obama and Osama even in our own locality; but then again, it’s Bhutan History. If Chakpa Sangay was happy with the gift, so are you because you are under delusion. You are headlong on your way to hell, but you think you are climbing up the stairs to heaven.

In passing, let me tell about a graffiti I saw as an innocent kid. By the way, it was very long time ago that I was innocent. A bare, slender and luscious thigh juts out invitingly on a sleazy street corner. A man sees and rushes towards it without a second thought. Ready and waiting behind is a thug with a machete that decapitates him in one fell swoop  – a fatal bolt out of the blue. But it does not surprise him, for that’s the dead end of his lifespan.

Much as both have equal relevancy today, a discussion of the latter is of more personal interest as it involves looking at it from the point of view of someone who is at the receiving end of the latent message beneath a shroud of façade. One façade is casual, other is humorous but both carry the same message. Packaging takes precedence over product, and the product is raw and indigestible. Emotional unpleasantness and not gastritis is the produce. In a crowd, a toddler sits beside his mother. An acquaintance chances upon, and says: “Hi, what are you doing here.” She looks around and spots the toddler beside, and she adds, “You have a good company, a child with a broad forehead, perhaps as big as bamin’s?” “How dare you say so! He is my child.” “Oh, you have a cute baby,” is her immediate response – sort of a two-edged remark. “How old is he?” She gives him a candy and walks away.

The internet has its lavish abbreviation. It’s everywhere. Two friends meet after one year. “You look bald,” comes hot on the heels of ‘hi’. “Only kidding,” follows soon after. It’s not that he looks bald; he is for sure bald. In an online chat, a boy writes to a girl whom he met before. “You are hot and sexy.” He adds “LOL”.  He knows as much as she does what he is saying: both double-edged. This is sweet. Here is a sample of something bitter: “You are a snub.” “Ha ha.” They say many a true word is spoken in jest. A winger passes the ball to a striker. The striker misses it, looks at the winger and claps his hands, thumbs up for his strategic pass. Somebody asks you a 64,000 dollar question. “That’s a very good question,” is your answer, the only answer. This is how you fielded the question. The questioner takes it as a compliment, and the desired answer is now only secondary to it. Sometimes façade loosely encroaches upon sarcasm, and this is even worse.

The bereaved are mourning at a crematorium. All of a sudden the dead jumps off the pyre just before the fire burns and shouts: “Ha! ha! Only Kidding. I’m alive.” I’m optimistic this happens in the not-to-distant future. Loss of mishe lams’ livelihood may be more desirable than loss of relations. Then we will surely need a family-planning clinic in each locality.