RIFLE RANGE BOY

So it just fizzled out, just like that. All it took was a carefully worded press statement on Facebook, how they, the organizers, stating their heartfelt empathy decided to call it a day. After days of speculation, they called the international level KL Marathon off! Just as soon as the announcement was made, as if the Gods were cheekily laughing, all the skies cleared up like a scene from Jurassic Park with a computer-graphic generated prehistoric crystal clear skyline. Anyway, The Air Pollutant Index (API) was spiraling down since yesterday, much aided by the occasional showers seen all over the country. So, I do not see the great rush to postpone the meet by three months. To top it off, the Met Dept. predicted next days of continuous rain. Guess the decision has been made - no run, no go, no way! Anyway, the mad Met Dept. has always been the butt of any weather joke as they are known to have missed more remarkable things, like a hurricane, for example. All those hours of scr...

So there I was, talking to my old friend on the cell-phone. As per courtesy, when he answered, I asked him whether it was a convenient time to speak. He replied in affirmative as he was just waiting to pick his son from school. My friend had 2 sons and a daughter. I came to understand that this was the second son that he was waiting for. The first, a 12 year old lad, had been packed off to stay with my friend's brother in law in Australia. Why? Has he been banished from our motherland for some unforgivable crime sentenced to the pleasure of the King or something like that? Of course not! They are staying in Klang, with dearth of quality international education in the vicinity, my friend thought that for the sake of his future, his son would be better off let to grow up in a foreign land away from his parents! Well. this is not the first time I have heard off such a 'sacrifice' done by parents, all in the name of securing a bright future for the children (as if children e...