Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Curioser and ...


Yesterday … a very polite letter from a Mr. J*. “Wonder if you remember, we’ve met a few times, hope you are well, I happened to take a photograph of your wife and you, here it is” (framed, even). Very nice of him, I’m sure.

Except that the couple in the photo are total strangers to me.

****

Today … a colleague retires, a ‘farewell’ thingy is organised. Another colleague rises to ‘speak on the occasion’. In totally mangled Bangla, with an Oriya accent as thick as peanut butter, he expounds upon (i) how he’s looking forward to retiring himself so that people can say nice things about HIM (ii) what Ouillem Blacko (William Blake, gerrit?) said about tigers (iii)‘the bourne whence no traveler returns’ (the man is retiring, not DYING!) (iv) how the study of philosophy is a prerequisite for government service (or the natural outcome?)

And all this while I sit at the head of the tale, nodding gravely and occasionally making faces to disguise the storms of laughter that roil my abs.

****

Who needs marijuana?!

8 comments:

??! said...

have you put up the photo, though? if just as a good conversation-piece.

The Marauder's Map said...

If this were an Agatha Christie novel, the couple would turn out to be someone you knew a long, long time ago (this would strike you later of course) and who would then turn out to have been killed mysteriously and you would set out to find out all about them by talking to Colonel This and Lady That and stumble upon several dark doings from two decades back. Maybe I should start writing a series myself with you as the bumbling detective. What say?

??! said...

that sounds wonderful. First Feluda, now Jappyda. Brilliant.

Tabula Rasa said...

try painting a mooch on and see if that helps.

Rimi said...

NO! Shrabonti, you did NOT just say that because I was about to say the same thing you said and you saying it before I did is just so freaky!

*deep breathe*

iz said...

Can abs be roiled? Just asking. Cause I wanna learn how to do that...

Unknown said...

Mr J is probably the spy who came in from the cold . How do ou make your abs roil I wonder ? I sit thru a lot ofdrivel every day when my boss who thinks he's God Almighty addresses us . His English and especially his metaphors are to die for . You're so right - who needs marijuana ?!

J. Alfred Prufrock said...

Koshchen, I returned the photo with a polite letter.

Marauder, detective perhaps, bumbling (alas) most certainly.

TR, the mouche would go on .. the lady?

Rimi, you're hung up on cryptic psychic. You said the same thing to me in a comment some time ago. Oh yes, you did have that post on bhoots

Iz, Eve - re: roiling abs, just stifle a belly laugh.

J.A.P.