RRF to PPSP: Ep. 5: Some quirky mates and their actions!

Mutley (of Wacky Races)

At a time when South Africa was shying away from Apartheid, when the loud sounds of 'Gimme Hope Joanna' were heard in every Soweto* and streets of Johannesburg, Malaysia was embracing racism full scale after the 69 mayhem. What better (or worse) place to perceive this transformation than the local universities.

In my batch (just like the rest of the varsity), the non-Bumis stuck together for play and work. A handful of upper-class middle Malay students would join us every now and then. That's it- they were no 'bro'!

In essence, the Bumis and the nons interacted amongst themselves.

The non-Bumi guys in our batch used to refer to each other with the prefix 'homosapiens' followed by a suffix characteristic of their trait or character. There was a guy who spiced his conversation with unnecessary profanity, hence his title was homo sapien vulgaris; homo sapien negroides- coarse features and thick lips; homo sapien sinensis - Chinese educated student who hummed Mandarin love songs; homo sapien Brahminensis - a vegetarian Brahmin; homosapien caucasionoid - a student with Caucasian ancestry; etcetera.. My juniors (Indian guys) gave the surname 'Soon' to all of us, apparently referring to specific female anatomy in crude Tamil lingo! Ravi Soon, Raja Soon...

At a different time, we were all from the 'Nai' family - 'Nai' refers to a dog in Tamil (நாய்). The first name here too referred to their peculiar habits, e.g. Sori Nai (Scratching Dog) for the guy who was stingy with his daily showers; Karuppu Nai (Black dog) for his dark complexion; Pottei Nai (Bitch) for his effeminate tendencies and so on.

Felix, the cat

And some of the antics of some of the guys...
There was a guy amongst who thought that he was Amitabh Bachchan's lost twin brother. Donning his wall was a photo of him in a posture of him on a scrambler motorcycle similar to one done by Big B. Stories abound that he was born right-handed, he trained himself to eat and write his left. Well, he could pose off in one of the long lists of wannabes but would lose hands down to the maniacs in Bharat Desh!

And another John Travolta look-alike full with the cleft chin and all! He went around the world thinking that he was God's gift to the female gender. He enjoyed being in the company of girls, getting away with whatever derogatory remarks he made (because girls went all flaccid at the sight of him!) until he stepped the wrong toe and got a slipper thrown right smack on his face! He cooled down his activity after this turn of the event spread around varsity like bush fire.

I remember a time when there was Malay girl in class behind whom Tony Romano (Travolta in Saturday Night Fever) look alike used to sit, purposely! Everything was going on fine with the spreading his suave and she flirting shamelessly. The day came when she plunged into a relationship to a guy who joined the bandwagon of enlightened human beings who was preparing themselves for the afterlife rather live for the moment. Slowly, this girl's fashion sense became more conservative - the skirts became longer, and the sleeveless blouses became sleeved...
During this evolution, Travolta, like in the Red Riding Hood upon seeing the changed Grandma, commented, "Wow! You have nice legs." The next day, she was dressed in a sarong. Then, he went on, "Nice neck!" - swish came the mandarin collar; Next, "Nice hair!" - swish came the headgear (tudung); Next "Nice toes!" - swish came the socks. Before he could say, "Nice fingers" and started describing her lips and beyond, she intelligently (are you sure?), changed places and sat far from our macho Romeo!

To be continued.....

* Soweto [(suh-wet-oh, suh-way-toh)]
The collective name for township inhabited by black Africans, located southwest Johannesburg, South Africa.