Famous last words

Blink and it’s gone. That’s how I would describe this year. Okay you can stop blinking now. Snap! It’s over. Three more days and we would be sending New Year greetings to friends and family and people we barely know. And by the time you finally come round to reading this, it may be many days into the new year already.

It seems the older we grow, the faster time flies. And if you spend one year doing the same thing every day and nothing exciting or extraordinary happens, everything blends into one day, and when you look back at the end of the year all you remember is going to work and coming home and doing the same household chores.

Did you ever wonder why we remember our childhood so vividly, while we struggle to remember what we did this time last year, or last month, or maybe yesterday? Why do we remember our first teacher’s name, our first schoolfriends, our first kiss, or the first day at our new job? There may have been dozens of other people or other days afterwards, but why do those firsts remain in our memories? The reason, I have deduced, my dear Watson, is that when we were young and our minds were open, everything was new and exciting and therefore it was burned into our memories.

As we settle down in life and our transformation into a worker ant is complete, there is no more excitement left in us, and so we readily embrace the yoke and go about it everyday because we have to keep our stomachs full. And that is why we look forward to going on holidays because we hope to experience new things and hopefully resurrect those dormant feelings of excitement and enjoyment and of generally having fun.

Well, I hope I didn’t get you feeling all blue and sad. It was not my intention to write all that stuff when I started writing this post, but you know how it is. You write something and that leads to something else and then some other thing and at the end you discover you have strayed very far from the path.

So, the new year will soon pounce on us, and everyone around us will me making resolutions and newspapers will be full of celebrities promising to do this and quit doing that. I have never been a supporter of resolutions because I am a terrible resolution-keeper. Why make a fool of myself, has always been my policy. Oh I know I am always too guarded and too careful and should be reckless once in a while and throw caution to the winds and make resolutions and shout from the rooftops, but you cannot expect me to change overnight, can you?

I hate people who don’t keep their words and promises, and I know that I will just heap guilt on myself if I announce my resolutions and break them (even if nobody knows or cares) and I am not exactly famous for sticking to resolutions.

While I am anti-resolutions, there are three things I would like to see myself doing more of in the new year. 

Read more: I have piles of unread books on my shelf. The half read books, the brand new books, all yellowing and gathering dust, waiting for me to give them a chance. Yet all I do is dust them once in a while and then forget their existence. A friend asked me how I liked the book she gave me on my birthday, and I replied with a vague “It was very interesting” when the truth is I didn’t even start reading it. I'm hoping to avoid these kinds of situations in the new year.

Write more: Last year (2009) I wrote 52 posts, one every week, and that was because I made an effort to do so. I have written 36 posts this year, including this one. I told myself I was uninspired, was too busy etcetera etcetera but at the end of the day they are nothing but excuses. It doesn’t take more than an hour to write one blog post, so I think I should be able to find that one hour out of the one hundred and sixty eight hours in a week. And the only way to improve your writing is to write more and also read more.

Read the Bible: Oh I know I should be ashamed for writing this, but I am very lazy when it comes to the Good Word. Again, same old excuse, “I don’t have the time.” If you really want to do something, my opinion is you will make time for it.

Another year over

My favourite time of the year is not Christmas, or my birthday, or the day I got my bonus. My favourite times of the year are winter afternoons and summer mornings. Growing up in a house situated on the western side of a mountain, we never get to see the winter sunshine until late morning or noon and we would try to catch as much sun as we could, sitting on the verandah or going up to the terrace. Then living in a hot city for more than a decade where the summer is brutal and everything burns, you learn to appreciate that little window of coolness the mornings offer. You toss and turn the whole night, sweating in your sleep, and in the morning you jump up and take a refreshing shower.. ahh that is one of life’s little pleasures.

The year is almost over, and I realised I haven’t written my customary I-hate-winter-because-it’s-cold post. Don’t worry darlings, I am not going to bore you this year.

Shoes! Tell me, which woman doesn’t love shoes? We of the XX-chromosomed are all Imelda Marcos-es in our own way. You know, if I was the wife of a corrupt country leader with millions to spend I might do the same thing. I don’t blame her at all for buying shoes, how she gets the money is another story which is not relevant right now.

I used to buy lots of shoes, wear them once and then keep them in the box until they go out of fashion or until I give them away. And everyday I would step out in my boring black flats. My mother would go tsk-tsk when everytime I go home I go out and buy shoes. This summer I bought a beautiful pair of high heels, and my mother said to my sis-in-law “If you wait a bit, she will give you this pair”, and her words came true because a few days back I sent the shoes to my sis-in-law. I didn’t wear them at all.

For Christmas this year I am reinventing an old pair of shoes. I bought them four years ago, and the last time I wore them was in September 2007. I loved the animal print design, but as it grew old it started peeling off. So I completely removed it, and painted it red with a fabric colour.

See the white patches on the right pair? That's because I painted it white first, then decided to go Christmassy and switched to red. Hopefully it will not show when I wear it on Christmas. Then maybe I will switch to black, or green, or whatever the colour of the moment is. Forgive me for not being glamorous.

Thisen Thisen

Chutia han damlo na em em pawh chu ka ni chuang lova, mahse kar khat vel chhung khawsik deuhreuh, hritlang bawk si hian ka awm reng a, nimin chu ka va inentir a. Doctor chuan min lo check a, viral fever a nih dawn hi a tia, damdawi min chawh kur ngei nguai a, "Malaria te a lo nih tak hlauhin" a tia thisen test tur in min tir a, test chi thum ngawt mai tih a ngai a.

Hmankum deuha ka damloh in ka hrawk hi a vung vak mai a (pharyngitis) a natzia chu na tak hi a ni ringawt, chil lem dawn pawh hian inngaihtuah fe a ngai. Khata tang khan ka khua a sik a ka inentir tawh hi chuan pharyngitis damdawi hi min lo chawh tel ngei ngei. Tuna ka doctor pawh chuan "I aw te a chhang em" a tia, "Tlem chuan chhang deuh a, mahse a zia tawh" ka tia, a hmet a hmet a, a lo vung aniang chu min chawh lehpek.

Tichuan thisen test na roomah chuan ka va thu ve ta ran a. A test tupa chuan test tube tereuhte te pahnih hi a la a, "Ehe lak tam i va tum ve" ka ti rilru a. Thisen test lohna hi a rei tawh lutuk a, enge a procedure pawh ka lo hre tawh lo a ni ber. Kan naupan lai te kha chuan kutzungtang hmawr kha an vit thi ser ser a, thisen kha glass slide ah an nuai pherh a, a ro hnu ah solution eng engah emaw an chiah hnuah microscope ah an en thin kha ania, kan hmu ve kur zel an tih vel lai pawh. Chutiang chu a lo ni awzawng tawh lo mai. Ka thil hriat ve dan kha a lo hlui lutuk tawh tlat, khawvel in min lo changkansan daih tawh.

Ka kiu chungah hian torniquet nghet tawkin a rawn suih phawt a. Eheu hei chu drugs timi inchiu tur te pawh ka va ang ve, tih rilru ah a rawn lang a. Ka kut chu sek taka hum turin min ti leh a, ka han inhum sek leh a. Chutah syringe te lem lo tak hi a rawn la a, a hmawrah chuan test tube pakhat chu a vuah a. A hip a hip chhuah na tur a nih vang pawh aniang a hriau kua chu a lian kher mai. Dawihzep deuh chu ni ila ka hlau khawp ang le.

Vein a duh ang a hmu thei lawk lo a, a hmet kual a hmet kual a. Kei intibengvar ta reng reng chuan ka vein hmuhtheih ho kha ka lo kawhhmuh vel, "A pan lutuk" a ti daih. A doctor loh thlak khawp mai. Mahse a hmu ta poh a, syringe a vih luh lai tak chuan a thip ve deuh. Thisen a hip chhuah khan na deuh vang vang turin ka lo ngai a, mahse engtinmah a awm lo. Test tube a thisen tling khawm chu hmuhnawm ti deuhin ka en reng ringawt. Hawkdak min ti ngawt ang. Test tube chu a chanve vel a khah hnu chuan a dang chuan a rawn thlak a, chu pawh chu a chanve vel thleng a la a. A lak zawh vek hnu, ka ban hrenna pawh a phelh hnu chuan test tube chu ka lek kual ka lek kual, "Hei hi ni maw ka thisen chu" ti hmel ka pu ngei ang.

Thisen hi vawikhatmah ka la pe ve ngai lo. Kan office ah hian kumtin Blood Donation Camp hi a awm ziah a, ka pe ve ang ka ti kumtin a mahse pe ngai lem hlei lo a. Taksa tan pawh hian a tha e, an ti.

Thisuk nei hi an khawngaihthlak, an duh reng vang a ni si lo a. Ka nau mipa hian a nei a. A nei tih pawh kan hre ngai lo, vawikhat kan naupangchhia lutuk tawh lo, a kut hi a zai a, a en vung vung a, a tlu ta rup mai a nih chu. Kan thenawm doctor a lo len lai tak kha a ni hlauh a, a bawihsawm nghal vat a. A rawn harhchhuak ve leh mai a, mahse tun thleng hian kan la sawi bang thei lo.

Ka ziak tui laklawh, ziak zel ang. Naupan lai chanchin rilru ah a rawn lang. Kohhran kan hlim deuh kha chuan naupang pawh kha a hlim ber ber, lam nasa ber ber kha kan lo ni ve thin a. Sikul chawlh lai a nih phei chuan thiante inah hian kan awmkhawm a, khuang vua in kan zaikhawm thin a. Mi lamruih dan te zirin kan lamrui der thul. "Thisen hlu thisen hlu, thing kraws chunga luang khan..." tih te kha kan sa nasa thei khawp mai. Vawikhat chu tuemawni hian "Isu I thu ka ngaihtuahin" tih kha a rawn thlang a, kan khuangpu (khatih lai khan kum sawm vel awrh a ni ang) khan hla a rawn la a "I thu I thu ka ngaihtuahin" a rawn ti chiah chu kan nui zo vek. Tunah chuan KTP ah pawh an tangkaipui ber a ni tawh. Hmanlai an chang zo ta... ti mai teh ang.