Tuesday, July 27, 2010

A sparrow on the window sill...

Professor James Middleton, very unlike him, sat staring at the sparrow that had just perched itself on the window sill. A man who hated whiling away time had for some reason chosen that very moment to go gallivanting into his mind’s bower.

Rotten luck!”, thought Middleton Jr., who had, again for reasons unknown, chosen this very moment to present himself to his father and plead for some bridging funds to help him tide over a bleak financial month, not that the other months did not start putting on display ominous black clouds from somewhere during the 17th, had Middleton Jr. chosen to be prudent!

What had caught Middleton Sr.’s attention was not the bird that had chosen to pay the Middleton window sill a visit but two very significant pieces of news that had been delivered to him along with his morning cup of coffee. One was an obituary to ‘Common Sense’ and the other, the news of Rap star Sean “Puffy” Combs a.k.a. Puff Daddy a.k.a. Diddy gifting his just-gone-on-16 son a $360,000 Maybach!

While the sparrow on the sill sat cocking its head at impossible angles, our Professor was at that moment thinking about the traveler from Orhan Pamuk’s latest novel Other Colours, wondering as he did as he stood outside the door from which hung ‘No Entry’, if Diddy’s ludicrously expensive gift meant that he (Diddy) belonged to a class of people who are so loaded with cash that they can buy just what pleases them, old sage ‘Common Sense’ be damned, or was it that he, Professor Middleton, and the likes of him had just got banded into a class of people who begrudged their sons their existing allowances and allowed their pettiness to colour their judgement…

Never before had two entirely different pieces of news clashed like cymbals, leaving our good Professor completely floundering unable to make sense of the dizzying pace at which the world around him was changing…wasn’t it completely true (as the obituary penned by an Unknown Author read) that “Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn), reliable parenting strategies (the adults are in charge, not the kids), and it's okay to come in second…” or how our sage went into a feverish delirium realizing that “six year old boys (were) charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; a teen was suspended for taking a swig of mouthwash after lunch; a teacher was fired for reprimanding an unruly student and schools had to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student but couldn't inform the parent when a female student is pregnant or wants an abortion” and how “Common Sense finally gave up the ghost after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, she spilled a bit on her lap, and was awarded a huge settlement

And the most perplexing predicament was that we are, or so we are told, firmly ensconced in the ‘Knowledge Age’…having progressed a long way from the Stone Age…and we seem to have collectively lost the ability to think in simple terms of right and wrong. Prof. Middleton found this enigma of evolution both frightening and revolting…’are we somehow turning the clock back on ourselves’ thought the good professor, as his eyes fell on his son. “I wonder if it is money that brings you to my study so early in the morning?” quipped the old man.

Middleton Jr.’s long and studied silence elicited a 50 pound bridging fund, much to his amazement. And before we forget, the sparrow which was faithfully pruning itself chose to fly away as soon as the money changed hands!