Cock And Bull

• Ball For The World

  Posted: March 3, 2010, 5:34 pm by Administrator

  When it became apparent that I won’t be traveling as much as I used to several years ago, I went into a gift shop in Nairobi and bought myself a globe. I then took it home and set it up in my living room so that the tip of my finger could travel to any country in the world from the comfort of my seat. Up till a few days ago, the globe was set up on a pedestal and propped up on a semi-circular metallic bar that enabled me to rotate the miniature world around its axis – just as the real world. But then Wanderi changed all that.

  Wanderi is a 3 year old neighborhood boy that I hang out with once in a while. While I was outside watering some plants, Wanderi sneaked inside my house and I heard something crash. When I quickly went inside, I saw the pedestal from where the globe was propped on the floor separate from the circular ball still attached to the semi-circular bar that enables it to rotate. Wanderi was holding the ball with both hands and when he saw me, he excitedly said, “Ball!”

  So, I extracted the globe from his hands and told him it is “World” as I tried to fit it back on the pedestal. However, the damage was permanent and the little world would not be the same again. Wanderi repeated “Ball!” and I said, “World” and shoed him out of the house to avoid further catastrophe.

  When I looked at the globe later, the only thing that remained to be done was to unscrew the semi-circular bar and let the globe become a ball – just as Wanderi had wanted. When I look at the ball now, I realize that I can look at the world in many different ways that I hadn’t considered before. For example I can look at the map of the world upside down and when I turn it at an angle, Australia takes the shape of Africa.

  I guess it takes people like Wanderi to come into our neat orderly lives and turn one or two things around, and then we are able to see the world from a different perspective. Then an ordinary world that rotates in a single direction at fixed periods of time, can become transformed into loose and carefree ball that can become fun to play with.

• Being Good Regardless

  Posted: March 3, 2010, 5:33 pm by Administrator

  Once in a while, we watch someone on TV who is good at what they do. We watch a top business man and woman giving expert financial analysis, we watch a relationship guru giving incredible dating advice, we watch a footballer being toasted after scoring a crucial goal, we watch a top actor giving a performance that moves us to our core, we watch stories or ordinary people that suddenly became heroes overnight over some fluke of fate. When such viewing catches us in a moment of weakness, one might once again stare out into the wide horizon of life and wonder when their ship will ever come. One looks at all the years of blood, sweat and tears and wonders if all has been in vain?

  But the thing is, in such instances we look at the people who are good at what they are doing at that particular moment and judge our entire life based on that. Rooney is good at scoring goals, but what else is he good at? When Rooney is so good at scoring goals, and I have never kicked a football, does it mean that I am not good at anything? That Rooney is good at scoring goals, does it make me worse at what it is that I am good at? Up till a while ago, everyone knew that Tiger Woods is good at playing golf, period. Is it fair to judge a man’s whole existence on the fact that he can grab a stick and follow a little ball whacking it over and over again towards a hole with incredible precision?

  Despite my failures, what am I good at? Maybe I am good at making my bed, and that might never make it on TV, but it does not mean that my bed making skills any worse now that a stranger with a skill that I do not have has made it on TV. And neither is it fair to myself to judge all the other areas on my life based of a single thing that is not working right, is it?

• Marked For Greatness

  Posted: March 3, 2010, 5:31 pm by Administrator

  I was shaving my beard this morning and thinking about the very first time that I shaved. On that day, my Dad presented me with what I can only describe as a shaving apparatus. It was one of those gadgets that one had to unscrew to dismantle, fit in a razor blade, screw it back again, lather your face and shave. That kind of shave required some skills because the outcome was usually the result of how precisely you fitted the razor blade in the gadget. If not done correctly, you ended up cutting yourself on the face and neck with the depth of the injury based on how awkwardly you placed the razor blade. When I tried it the first time, it was disastrous, and I had to postpone my shaving debut despite the fact that I had looked forward to it by carefully cultivating the wisps of hair on my face.

  Fortunately, it was the only time that I used that gadget because soon after, we got introduced to the plastic disposable shaving gadgets that are now common. After some time, the same gadget was re-introduced with two razors; just in case a single hair escapes the first razor, the second will definitely get it. Again after some time, the same gadget got a third razor; this time, to give you the smoothest shave ever. As a result, shaving has become easier and I can enjoy doing it every day.

  When I look at such events, I see the things that I am struggling with now, and know that things will get better. I remember that at one point in my life, the only promise that I had that I will one day be able to wear (not even own) a watch was a tiny dark birth mark that I have on my left wrist. And that one day I will be privileged enough to wear a tie, I had a similar birth mark on my neck.

  When we were children it was easy to keep hope alive by believing that we were destined to enjoy the things that we thought were out of our reach. As an indication that we were marked for such greatness, we looked for signs on our bodies as pointers. And sure enough, I now own a watch and I have a closet that contains many neck ties. And the fact that now it does not seem like a big feat cannot make me place any less importance to what these things meant to me once.

  That the things that seem out of our reach now, will one day be within reach is for sure. But for some reason many adults seem to wait for other people to tell then what they can or cannot be, do and have. What are your dreams? Like a little child, learn to look for the indications that you are destined for this greatness and believe that it can all be yours and it will be.

• Characters In Our Story Of Life

  Posted: March 3, 2010, 5:30 pm by Administrator

  I once in a while wonder about what it is that makes a person who they are. Take the example of Wanderi a three year old boy, whose physical development seems to be a little different from that of kids his age. I tend to think that being friends with other people is perhaps one of the most important things to him. The reason is because if you become acquainted with him, he will do whatever it takes to make contact with you at every opportunity.

  Yesterday, like many other times before, he saw me tending to the potted plants outside my door. And as usual, he shouted out my name happily and abandoned whatever it is that he was doing, all the while his eyes were fixed three floors up the stairs to where I was. And then he began coming up. In order to do that, he has to hold to the side rail and hoist himself one stair, release the rail to steady himself, take a moment to feel that he is OK, take hold of the rail once again and take the next step. When he reaches the landing, he rests for a while, look up to make sure that you still haven’t given up on him, smiles as if to reassure you that he is making progress, and then goes ahead to tackle the next set of stairs. When he reaches where you are, he just has enough strength to trot eagerly with his arm open wide for you to sweep him from the floor in a huge hug and reward his efforts with a laugh or a word of encouragement.

  Once he has caught his breathe, he will start pointing out things with his fingers and naming them for you: Yesterday, he named “Patrick’s house”…pointing to the apartment where a little boy called Patrick lives. “Bulb”…pointing to an overhead florescent lamp. “Flowers”…pointing to the potted plants on the floor. “Chicken”…pointing to an eagle flying overhead. It always is more fun for him when he thinks that he is teaching you the names of these things and he will go on and on and on. After a while, his sister will call him from downstairs, and it will be time to say good bye.

  Going down the stairs is easier for him and once every few stairs, he will look up and smile at you and give a little awkward wave from his little arm. He will make a few more stairs and once again will look up and wave at you…all the way to the ground floor where his sister will be waiting to hold his hand and take him inside the house.

  And so after another interaction with Wanderi, you realize that even after being with all the characters in the story of your life, you are unsure whether the words on your script that define what makes a person as still the correct ones.

• Easier To Be In Than Not

  Posted: March 3, 2010, 5:24 pm by Administrator

  Recently, a friend pointed out that life is all about relationships. I remember that she clarified her assertion by pointing the index finger of her right hand at the cup of tea that I was holding between the palms of my hand as an example and said, “You have a relationship with your tea.”

  When I think about it now, yes, I do have a relationship with my tea. It is a relationship that has been developed over many years. Each time I make it, the tea leaves have to boil in the water for about two minutes before I add milk. Many people who have taken the tea tend to think that it is too strong. Over time, I have developed a taste for this kind of tea and if I do not take a cup, I will feel that something is missing from my day. As far as my tea is concerned, it is easier to have than not to.

  But it has not always been this way. There are days that I didn’t care whether I took tea in the morning or not. A day would go by without taking tea, and I would not notice. But I remember that these were the days when I wouldn’t be responsible for making my own breakfast. And I suppose this is the case with everyone else as well. That sometimes, they do not care much about something simply because someone else shares the responsibility for it. When we share a house with someone else, sometimes we leave things out of place simply because we know that someone else is capable of putting them back in their place. And at work, there are always arguments about who should have done what but didn’t.

  But as my friend pointed out, life is all about relationships. And I will add that relationships are all about responsibility. If a person takes responsibility for anything – anything at all – that relationship will thrive, and it will be easier to live with that thing than not. So, what about our human relationships? If I take responsibility for the relationship that I am in, it means that it will be mine to make right. And as it always turns out, over time and with responsible nurturing, even the most difficult of human relationships become easier to be in than not to.

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes