All grown, going places...

I can almost swear that his eyes were welling up. It is definitely not the spicy crab dishes that we were savouring for his eyes to glisten. It is understandable. More than 30 years ago, he vividly remembers how he feted his nephew who grew up in a sort of a ghetto, to clear himself of the mud of poverty and secured a place in the local university. That him, that was an achievement. It felt especially good as he himself had been a sort of a poster child to his side of his family.

He grew up in a patriarchal environment where priority was for merriment. Satiety to gastronomic needs and entertainment to fulfil the basic primordial desires took precedence over self-improvement and general zest to come in life. His father, in his single generation, could the first writer of a riches-to-rags story (not the other way around). From a reputable strata in society with wealth to flaunt and parties to throw, they fell fast into the bottomless pit of poverty.

His mother was a lotus. Despite being in the company of mud, pests, creepy crawlies and stench, she was a sight for sore eyes. She was the pillar, the nidus that kept the family together. She tried to inculcate good values and ignite the fire of hunger in her children to succeed. It must have sunk in most of her offsprings. At least, he inherited the drive to go where no man, in his immediate vicinity, dared to do go.

All things must pass, so did his mother, prematurely, long before she could savour the fruit of her labour. When she left the building, her sapling had hardly built woody stems to support himself. Her clock stopped ticking before her time was up.

Fast forward...

Now, that distant past passed us by like a zephyr. That sapling had grown, shed his leaves and had developed rings around its girth. Many had taken protection from its shade and had used it steadfast hold to build themselves a good head start.

History repeats itself they say. Is the glistening a reminder to the teak that life has come a full circle? At least he can hold his branches majestically high with the pleasure of knowing that he had left a largesse that may be a template for his down-line to emulate and hopefully the melancholy of hopelessness that he and his siblings had to endure would indeed be locked away in the deepest dungeon till end of time...

Nostalgia

Recently met a guy whom I last met more than 40 years ago. Yes, 40 years ago! When he was a skinny 20 something year old chap all sprung up to find a place for himself in the big wide world while I was also a skinny lad hardly able to read and write.

We were introduced to each through a common acquaintance and whoosh glazed the avalanche of memories like a flashback scene in  a movie! Of course the memories were patchy and sporadic. The more you tried to think about it, a few more just pops up. That chap was quite amused and sometimes embarrassed with some of the things that I remember about him during his weekend stay in my house.
They say that little things excite little minds, so the little things that he and my uncle did stick permanently on my mind. The sight of with face full of shaving foam was new for me then as my dad never used foam. They used to laugh a lot then while shaving. It was followed by a splash of aromatic liquid from a cute bottle which I came to know later as 'Old Spice' after-shave liquid.
For hair grooming, a little scoop of Tancho with the index finger, rub on the palms almost obsessively, slide over the hair, 10 minutes of grooming and viola you are ready to go. This part was just part of old memories of a bygone era as he had lost his prized crowning glory quite early in life. On the other hand, my uncle is still faithful to his Tancho Pure Vegetable Nourishing Pomade after all these years.
To uncle B, you sculptured the idea in my young mind of how a mach man should be - tall, intelligent, opinionated, articulate and suave!

A Civil War will be anything but civil!

Lincoln (2012)

Director: Steven Spielberg

In a recent research done by a TV station, Abraham Lincoln was voted as the most liked President of USA. Even though portraits of him show him as a serious person, it is because of the olden day imaging technique where prolonged posing in front of the camera is needed for a good picture. He was supposed to be a jovial chap, as seen in this movie where he is seen cracking jokes and telling stories to his subordinates.

The film shows a time after his re-election when he is trying to cajole the House of Representatives to approve the 13th Amendment which approves abolition of slavery. He is worried that as the 4year old Civil War is drawing to an end, he is worried that the free slaves may be re-enslaved. Even though, the film pictures Lincoln as an undying fighter for emancipation, some quarters claim that he himself was a racist. He only did what he did because of the sheer numbers of slaves and the harsh treatments they were exposed to. He did not forsee himself as much as dining in the same table with a slave. His real intention of abolition of slavery was to get them back to their country of origin!

This film may look like a romanticized version of a man's undying fight against a system which was not ready to end slavery, listening in between the dialogue may reveal the true double tongued speak of a true politician. Hats off indeed to Daniel Day-Lewis for a stellar depiction of now people would use as a yard stick of how Abraham Lincoln would have talked and walked. Medical journals say that he had a medical condition called acromegaly (overproduction of growth hormone) explaining his 6ft 4in stature lean physique. The dialogue in the film is in keeping with the flowery language that is associated with Lincoln's speeches.
Besides dealing with the hostile politicians to steam roll his proposition, Lincoln has to fight a war as well as deal with plethora of problems in the family circle. Even though his wife (Mary Todd, excellent depiction by Sally Field) is a pillar of strength sometimes, she is also a nervous wreck who has not got over the loss of their middle son. After his death, she was inflicted with a severe bout of depression which almost got her institutionalized. The high strung Mary also goes ballistic when their eldest son is adamant and finally leaves Harvard Law School to join the Army. 

Tommy Lee Jones plays an a major character in the movie as Lincoln's opposition who mellows down later. Historians claim that there were many inaccuracies in the depiction of his role. 

This movie lasts a good 2 and half hours, draining much of your cerebral energy but is a boon to lovers of history and flowery delivery of dialogue in the English Language...

What do you get for someone with everything?

That was what I was thinking to myself as the days got nearer to the day of my favourite and respected uncle's day of indulgence drew closer. Not wanting to get something and regretting it later, I decided to leave this Herculean task to the eleventh hour.
What would be special enough to be appreciated by someone who has everything? Sure, we all have heard of the sentimentality and love put into the present rather than the price. But then, he is a result centered practical man of stature who decides by the head not by the heart. Perfumes and shirts sound inappropriate as they deem too personal, not right for a nephew to buy.
Accused of being the unimaginative man that I already am, I decided to wander around a premiere mall in pursuit of the perfect present and came up with a tie (a lame present, my daughter thinks). I thought that it would be practical as his profession would require him to be elegantly attired. A tie would make him that kind of man, not that he is not.
Ok, a tie it is, I told myself. Which tie, from where? I cannot be getting a tie which is just hanging off a rack somewhere sold on wholesale with buy one - free one offer, can I?
As I was walking aimlessly failing to locate a shop dedicated to specialty ties, which unfortunately all seem to have closed down as I think most Malaysian men are more comfortable dressing down then up! I thought, maybe the host was just wanted our fellowship, not our gifts. So, the attendance of all the relatives spanning the spine of the peninsular would be the biggest gift. But then, Uncle is always there with something in his hands at all of my important moments without fail. And I have never really bought him anything. Scrolling down Amazon.com one day, I did come across a box set of DVDs which I thought would excite him- a complete collection of Ian Fleming's spy James Bond's films from the 1962 Dr No all the way to the 2008 Quantum of Solace. But then, I pondered too long and procrastinated that by the time I decided on that, it was a wee bit too late to get the gift on time.
Then it manifested... A shop that would leave a mark, a shop that had class, a brand of international standards that would complete a man besides putting the gentle prefix to a man.

It was no garden party but 

was a bash nevertheless! Even

Shahrukh Khan was there!

Then another set of headache... The choice of tie - no! Too loud for a 70 year old, too bright for a lawyer... Finally settled for 2013 Spring Collection which was just out hot from the oven, so to speak, in collaboration with upcoming lunar new year and their entry into the Chinese market. Yeah, right! Business strategy?

G- Music Man 

The salesperson went on taking about their tradition of fabric making in Italy and how their ties can be handed down generations after generations. (I can almost hear the executor of the will reading, "To my last vagabond son, I leave my collection of ties...and the rest of my property goes to charity..." And the son going, "bloody lunatic old fool!" I digress...
I did not even bother to look at the price tag for fear of inciting a missed heart beat but charged it to the card anyway. Happy birthday, LM!

10 things you didn't know about Abraham Lincoln, really?

Every now and then people will come out with wacky facts for the consumption of the general public. In that vein, The History Channel screened an episode called, 'Ten things you didn't know about...'. That time around, it was on Abraham Lincoln, who used many a poor boy's idol to come out of poverty with stories of him studying in the street light etecetera.

Some of facts laid out in the story appeared far fetch with no proper documentation but the producers tried to authenticate the whole thing by having a history professor as the presenter and the interviews with many history academicians from the Mid West universities.

1. Enslaved as a child - As a child, Abe had to have from Kentucky to Virginia. To settle family debts, he was enslaved to work to pay off the debts. As a child labourer, he must have felt the inhumane and unjust treatment of slaves which must have had an impact on his future life.
2. Enjoys a good fist fight - Growing at a time when the strength of the might counted much more than now, Abe enjoyed a good fight to settle issues. During a political speech, he stopped his speech half way to beat up guy from an opponent party who was beating up his own man. After nicely giving the opponent a piece of his mind, Abe continued his speech with the loud approval of the crowd. 
3. A jovial person - Contrary to how Abe appears in the photographs as a stern no nonsense stiff upper lipped kind of a person. in real life, he was said to be a jovial person who livens up a meeting. It is the obsolete photographic techiniques that require prolonged stillness of the subject for this misconception.
4. Never joined a church - Abe was a revolutionary thinker and did not give too much thought of joining a church. he, however, used words used in the scriptures for his political speeches for garner mileage.
5. Is a techno geek - by 1860 standards, that is. Abe is a hands-on kind of a person who would test fire weapons before commissioned for use by the army. He even has a device patented by him to help ferries stalled in the sand bed of the river.
6. Problem connecting with women - AL was considered as uninteresting by marriagable girls of his era and after unsuccessful attempt after rejections and turning 'cold feet', AL married at late age of 34 years. Anyway, his wife, Mary Todd, was a politically correct choice as her father was connected. If fact, early in his marriage, AL had been seen being chased by Mary with a broom and even butcher's knife!
7. Could be considered racist by present standards - In spite of his fight for equality for all, he had said the whites and blacks can never be at par. He had a plan to free the slaves and deport them all to the isthmus of central America!
8. Shared bed with men - During tour of his duty, he had shared bed with 3 other guys ( Billy Green,  Joshua Speed, David Derikson). The relationship with Speed lasted 3 years before his marriage to Todd.
9. Best friends had slaves - AL's friend like Joshua Speed had a farm with many slaves. Perhaps during his visit to the farm, the idea of the emancipation policy must have materialized.
10. Almost shot in head - Months before his assassination, whilst riding home alone on horseback (as he usually he would), he was shot at. The bullet just hit his hat, missing his scalp by inches. That is when he came up with the idea of secret service for the President. The SS was started just a day before his assissination!
11. Was in the same picture with assassin - JW Booth, an actor, was the second most photographed person at that era after the President. In a few shots, he was seen in the same frame. JW often poses majestically as an actor would. JW was in a diiferent camp who despised AL's policy on slavery. He must have become incensed and pulled the trigger when AL suggested equal voting rights for slaves.

Joshua Speed AL's confidant

Supposed to be ten, but No.3 is a bonus!

Autobiography in the making?

I am just toying the idea of coaxing my uncle (LM) to start writing his biography. It may not be much but may be of value in the family in generations to come.

1955

He started reminiscing his old times, as he always does, when his sister (my mother) gave him a courtesy call recently. And for the umpteenth time, (as if I, the little child in his eyes, have not been told before) he retold a part of his childhood stories. This time he started talking about his famous chicken pox episode!

55yrs later

There he was, after changing from school to school more often than they do 'dress change' in Tamil cinema, on the eve of his Lower Certificate of Education (LCE)....
A bit of background...
His mother had succumbed to the dreaded malignancy of the mammary gland a year earlier. His father, the man who lived for the moment, was busy looking for a new bride. He called in a family meeting (basically the 2 sons and himself, as 2 daughters had been married off in haste and Amma had to fend off for herself at the mercy and handouts of others) on the future of the sons as he had found a suitable young victim as a bride.
The boys (15year olds) were asked to work to supplement the income of the family. The younger one obliged. LM told his intention of continuing his studies. His father warned him, "Don't you ever come to me for money! You'll get a sound walloping, that's what you'll get." Back to the eve of LCE....
So, this young 15 year old boy with his vision nicely mapped in his mind, managed to get a place to stay from the kindness of a kind soul and ironed clothes to pay for his school fees. And life rolled on...

It was the eve of the LCE. LM was down fever and papular rash over his body. His heart dropped when he self diagnosed himself to have small pox (it was not eradicated yet). He rushed to his school master's house in desperation as he knew he would be barred from the exams. On hearing the mention of the word 'small pox', he shooed him away and promised to apply for a refund of his fees. He was told, "Nobody can help you!"
Feeling miserable, he walked home. Somebody suggested he called the Director of Schools, a Mr. Shortland. Armed with courage in his heart and the disappointing thought of having to do a whole years' ironing again to finance his schooling for another year, he pleaded his case with Mr Shortland. "It is not within my jurisdiction" - the first time he heard that word in his life - I guess LM must have used it many times in his adult life later as a barrister.  Feeling pity on the young chap's desperation and pure zest in this young man, Mr Shortland must have told, "Think carefully young boy! We can refund the money before the exam. If you sit for the exam and are not able to complete it at any time, you will forfeit the fees." Mama answered assertively to the affirmative.
Mr Shortland then told him, "Well, it looks like chicken pox. You get admitted and I will make sure that sit for the exams!"
Sure enough, early next morning, a convoy led by the State Medical and Health Officer followed by officers from the State Education Department marched into his quarantined ward. And the first hurdle was crossed...
The next day, the National Echo was screaming with a picture of young boy sitting for the LCE in the confines of the General Hospital. The master who had earlier asked LM to go back home and sit for the exam the following year was seen smiling ear to ear posing in the same picture. In the text, he was relating how he arranged with the State Department for the exams!
On the third day, LM actually collapsed during the test. It was not due to the advancement of the disease but rather due to hypoglycemia after missing breakfast! Everything was okay after a short break of bread and milk! Before he knew it, this trying time was over.
When the examination results were out, much to astonishment, he passed with flying colours (Grade 1 and 2 distinctions). He was jubilant, only saddened by the fact that he could not share his joy with pillar of strength - his deceased mother.
He rushed to Mr Shortland's house to thank him. Mr Shortland smilingly told him, "Son, I knew you could do it. Congratulations!"

From rags to ri¢he$

Fred Astaire tap dancing to Putting on to the Ritz 

12.5.10
An unauthorized abridged mini biography of Lincoln Murthi (the man with a mission)

From rags to ri¢he$ (Penny-wise to Ritz*, Shangri-La** and Caviar)

After seven years of marriage, Mrs S. M. Muthu (nee Letchumy Ammal) was getting desperate. She had almost exhausted all avenues of prayers and vows. After three unsuccessful attempts at procuring a son for her cultural needs, she was even toying the idea of adopting a son when it finally happened. On 30th August 1942, a baby boy was born and he was named Samantha Murthi. A nice Tamil name indeed they thought but it also created confusion later when he went to the UK where the English expected a vivacious lady named Samantha but instead their Malaysian candidate was a mustachioed Indian gentleman!

She had many dreams for the young boy but was concerned that her dreams would not materialize as her husband has been showing many unhealthy traits. He found it hard to keep his job, was a spendthrift and a little irresponsible as a father.

These very characteristics are the reason for LM’s education to be frequently disrupted. The frequent changing of jobs and houses had left a toll on his studies. Frequent and hurried transfer left no time for collection of school certificates resulting loss of a year of studies by the time he was twelve. There was an incident when she was told by her friend that LM was seen manning a porridge stall (ordered by LM’s father to stock up his (father’s) pocket money!) A major logger head would ensue and his mother would plead to a school teacher to take LM in. This type of setbacks in LM’s life were far too numerous to be enumerated. These landed him in many schools (usually private schools due to lack of documentation of his studies) which are unheard of and nonexistent now, e.g. Guru Nanak School in Ipoh as well Lutheran School!

At 12 years old he was placed in Std 4 class due to the above reason and made it to Std 6 the following year by Double Promotion. Before entering Form 1 there was another disruption in his studies and LM had missed entering secondary school. This is the time when he walked into a school Headmaster’s office (again private school) to enroll himself into Form 1. After listening to his sob story, the Headmaster (a Caucasian) told him, “Boy, poverty is not a qualification!” and placed in one of his classrooms. He was hoping to be placed in Form 1C but halfway through the day did he realize to his utter shock that he actually was in Form 2A! The first thing that went through his mind when he realized this was the amount of school fees that he would be saving, not whether he could sail through Form 2 without the proper foundation! In spite of dissuasions of his old schoolmates (who were in Form 1C), he stayed on in Form 2 and performed well in his studies. He was aiming the clinch the second last place in class (to convince himself that he was better than at least one student in his class) but he got the fifth place instead. He told himself that he was more than qualified to stay on. He went on to Form 3.

A day before his Form 3 (LCE) examinations, his boat started rocking again. He had high fever and was diagnosed to have chicken pox and was advised hospitalization. He requested for the school authorities to allow him to sit for the papers but his request was vehemently denied. His Headmaster told him, “Son, no one can help you now, except if the Director of Schools gives you special permission.” So this 15 year old disgruntled boy (LM) marched in to the Director’s office and pleads his case. Fast forward, the next day while he was hospitalized, Education officers brought his examination papers for him to sit in the luxury of the hospital bed. So were reporters from the local daily and the same Headmaster (who denied his earlier request) posing gleefully to newspaper photographers!

He passed and went on to Form 4 with pride. They say lighting never strikes twice and the banana tree does not fruit twice (in Malay). Well, LM knows it is not true. In 1959, Madam Letchumi Ammal succumbed to breast cancer after a brief battle with the disease. LM had lost not only a mother but a pillar of hope that played a pivotal role within her means to ensure that her son whom was a gift from the Gods after many trials and tribulations would one day somehow be free from the clutching shackles of poverty and misery.

After the mandatory ceremonies of the death, LM’s father summoned all the 5 young children (including 2 adopted) to get them to start working. LM, of course, refused and stated his wish to continue studying as he had bigger things set on his mind. LM was told to resource his own ways to finance his school fees while his father literally went around the country side and married a lady named Lily in Cameron Highlands a year later. And his daughters of marriageable age were left high and dry at the mercy of relatives for caretaking (spread all around the country).

Like the Americans say, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going! Desperate times demand desperate measures. LM dug deep into his bag of entrepreneurship to device various ways to scrap that extra cash to finance his education. He used to buy boxes of matches from Penang Island (a tax free port then) after his classes and sell it off on the Mainland. It sounds simple but it had its moments of suspense as it was illegal. He was almost stopped at a check-point but hawkeyed LM managed to throw the merchandise off to sea just in the nick of time. Ironing clothes was another way to pay his $15 school fees. It is about this time his acquaintance with Mr Jaganathan blossomed. Mr J took it upon himself to ensure LM’s smooth sail into the ocean of education, in spite of the half a score of his own children to handle.

The elusive light at the end of the tunnel came when he finished his ‘O’ levels (MCE) and secured a place in the Teachers’ Training College. Most ordinary people would be contented with his achievement thus far and then to rest on their laurels, but LM was not the ordinary run of the mill. He had other agendas on his mind. Perhaps the thought of how his distant cousins used to heckle at his childhood poverty and the ridicules when he used to admire their clothes was playing again and again in his mind like a broken record and he was not going to stop as yet.

As a teacher, I sometimes wonder what kind of a teacher he would have been. LM was studying for his ‘A levels’ after he graduated from the college. All his students’ exercise books would go missing as he would be using them to scribble his notes. When the students ask for their respective books, he would reply, “Oh, your book! Your book was handpicked by the Education officer to be used as model to other students.” That would satisfy most students. This must be the mark of a lawyer in the making!

And life went on with its usual frills and spills…

LM made it to University Malaya and graduated with B.A. (Hons) in 1970, the first in his family to do and was a mould for generations to follow. In those days, the convocation was televised on the national TV (not live telecast, but delayed). Amma was keen this see this feat. Unfortunately, our fall from grace had rendered us without a television. We had to scout around for a television but when we finally got to locate a television set at a Mr Tara Singh’s unit, the ceremony was over and we had missed LM’s momentous moment of receiving his scroll.

Matrimony came next to an equally understanding and glove-in-hand ‘Bunty Aur Babli’ kind of partner in the form of Ms Pathmajothy @ Gowry.

Being the disciplinarian that he is, he must have fit well with the Royal Malaysian Armed Forces, serving Port Dickson and Garrison Camp in Kuching. Again, the RMAF must have been his stepping stone to grasp the sacrosanct pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

I had the honour and priviliage of spending some time with LM after finishing my SPM. Amma’s noble intention of sending me there was to learn a thing or two from LM and hopefully a peel or two of his superior qualities would rub off on to me. (It is not for me to judge if it did).

He did his minimal mandatory work with the RMAF, got promoted to the rank of Major and he signed up for the External Law Degree at Lincoln’s Inn in London. He started dodging his work and was concentrating on his Law studies which needed a lot of self study. He told his superiors that he was doing some research on military law. One fine day, he was asked by them to show the progress of his work. I remember that faithful Thursday evening when he came home and asked me to rewrite some text from a book in verbatim for scrutiny by the bosses the following day. I started writing the script at 6.30pm and continued writing all through the night and managed to pass it to him at 7.30am when he comedown for breakfast- much to his amazement on my perseverance (that is RRF training!).

As part of his Law training requirement, he had to attend its highly traditional college dinners. That started his frequent Aeroflot flights to London (via Moskow) and the shock of the English of meeting a mustachioed ‘Samantha’! Of course he sailed through his examinations just like all the ocean voyages that he had cruised through albeit its choppy waters and sometimes storms to endure all his life.

His elusive pot of gold is finally here. LM is now a successful lawyer who has carved a name for himself in his field of expertise and is much sought after while sending shivers down the spine of his opponents.

Madam Letchumi Ammal must be looking down at her son from Heaven and must be nodding approvingly to his achievements, his Shangri La…


* Putting on the Ritz –Taco (1980). One hit wonder, originally written in 1929. Fred Astaire is famous for his tap dancing to this tune. “Putting on the Ritz," means to dress very fashionably (1930s’ slang). Interestingly, in its original song it was mocking the black Harlem dwellers who would spend every dime for a wonderful time parading at Lenox Avenue (later changed to politically correct Park Avenue, a white enclave!). Sounds to me like 'lepakking with their designer jean sipping Starbucks Coffee (deja vu?). The song was featured with the original lyrics in the 1939 film, 'Idiot Delight' where it was performed by Clark Gable!

** Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel, ‘Lost Horizon’ by British author James Hilton.

#Who is Lincoln Murthi? Apparently, Samantha Murthi had great admiration for Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of USA. He used to pen letters to the newspapers with that pseudonym as selected letters were paid handsomely!