The cough near the stairs*

So what happens when 4 guys who met at the tender age of raging hormones meet up again 30 years later with declining testosterone and receding hairlines. They talk and talk. Gone are the small talks and gigglish teenage pranks. After embracing life in their own strides amidst its ups and downs, the discussion progressed to something intellectual and profound. Conveniently, all the four followed different paths to righteousness. Just like the saying, 'all roads lead to Rome' and 'if you don't know where you are going, any road takes you there' (courtesy: George Harrison), we had representatives from Bahai, Christian, Hindu faiths as well as an agnostic atheist.

 
Just like how Einstein's futile attempt at answering nature's favourite curiosity - Does God exist?- the quartet and wives of 2 embroiled in a stimulating discussion on God, nature, evolution, The Message, as well as bankers! Why bankers? In the new postmodern world, they rule the world, man and beyond, with their economic might and bite. In essence, they are the new God. How appropriate that one of the chaps is a banker by profession.

 
As all discussions by mortals on subjects on Divinity, the parting words were the same. Just continue with what you are comfortable with, as long as it gives you hope and something to hold on to in times of calamities. With that, we are all left to respective lives doing the same thing we were doing with the trust that we were sent, by whoever, for a reason, and it was our duty to provide for our dependents. Rather than trying to appreciate the unknown, it makes more sense to understand our juice of life - the bearer of our DNA and the contributor of the other half!

* melepaskan batuk di tangga!

All talk only?

There is a saying, "Give an Indian a chance to talk and you will have a hard time trying to get the microphone back"! Well, it is not all that bad as you make good candidates of debates out of them. Whether they talk sense or otherwise is another issue.
I enjoy debates screened on the Tamil channels of the satellite TV which I have the luxury of watching on my off days as they are usually shown in the mornings. Their topics are things relevant to daily lives of an average man on the street of the streets of Tamil Nadu and boy, do the speakers articulate (?combat) with so much passion and fury! Unlike their counterparts in other channels, they do not generally discuss world current issues or politics. I suppose then, the passion will propel into a fiery display of unabated rage and emotion!
On Labour Day, there was a show along that line. The topic of the day was (translated) 'In our present day context and scenario, is living a luxury or a torture'.
One group stood steadfast on their belief, life is a continuous struggle. The older generation indeed had struggled all their life to assure a comfortable living for the present generation and the present one is also struggling to bring food to the dinner table sacrificing family bonds and relationship, continuing the never ending struggle of life. Man, as a creature would not stand happy with his achievements but continue to struggle to scale greater heights.
The opposing group, on the group, rebutted by highlighting that life had indeed been made simpler with many of man's modern inventions and used correctly does help in strengthening family bonds.
The joy of watching this show is the use of witty poetic language, their approach in rationalising and the thought process. Themes from Tamil movie, both movie dialogues and phrases from evergreen movie songs with advice on lessons of life which is essentially part and parcel of Tamil language landscape and development is quoted by either side to prove their point. it works both ways and everyone end up winners in the end!

Culture or tokkok (Cock and bull talk)?

When we were growing up, the radio (and TV) were strong propaganda tools used to disseminate political messages and to spread government plans as well as programmes of self improvement to eradicate poverty. With affluence, things of that nature somehow has evolved to sound condescending and insulting.
Have a listen to what a radio for the affluent and bourgeois sounds like... 

It is quite surprising to note that this is indeed a recording made in Malaysia. The male compere is Kam Raslan, the writer and director , born not with a silver spoon but a golden one from the royal family and elitist of Perak and English mother on the other end, who had his basic education and have spent most of his time outside the country. Imagine, his late father, established the Bumiputra Bank! The other regular compere, Shefah Szetu, has some Norweigian roots planted somewhere in her. 

We have come a long way since propaganda radio broadcasting with programmes like 'Hari ini dalam Sejarah', 'Program Hijau' and 'Rancangan Malaysia ke2"! Ah Beng would say, "What's your point? Don't tokkok-lah!"

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