Monday, July 11, 2005

Sentimentalist :Talking about memories

Lost a bet the other day (not the olympic bid - won that bet) and agreed to write 3 sentimental pieces , this represents no1
Was talking to an old friend from university times, and as with most old friends, the conversation revolved around (you guessed it) old times (geez, think, there's about more than 30 years of these conversations to go, assuming average lifespan) , didn't help that Mr Chirac actually jibbed about Brit food the previous day - that merely guided the conversation to Brit food. That merely triggered memories of really bad hall food (but if you ate at other "halls" - erm, well, it's kinda the devil and the deep blue sea!) and curiously enough "ready, steady, cook" . For those who're longer in the tooth (never did quite figure what that means), long before Jamie Oliver was famous, the selection of tv chefs was kinda limited - there was the immaculate dame of brit cooking Delia Smith , the really weird chefs from channel 4 or 5 and those cool chefs who competed in "ready, steady, cook", of whom Ainsley Harris was a favourite - hey, if you remember that the culinary skills of most guys then were limited to heating up that can of baked beans , you'd agree! Ok, so we watched too much tv but if bearing in mind the weather of a typical day and the limited resources of a student there's only so much travelling, shopping and movie watching possible.

Associative thinking

It's quite amazing how you associate certain things with certain friends or acquaintances, even tv. Whether it is "friends" or "er" with american exchange students and medic students; "ready, steady , cook" and "x-files" with friends from home country; "east enders" and"neighbours" with some brit friends (don't ask why ) and the fav of all " have I got news for you" and "whose line is it anyway" with that senior who introduced yours truly to brit tv, ET ( and nope that's not some description of the guy, just his initials since he hates other forms of shortening his name!). Of course, this was thesame guy who was freaking about Kant and cant even though he aced the exams eventually

Naturally, memories are made of much more than tv , there's music . There's nothing short of Fate that'll allow you to find a friend who has the german version of the obscure song you like which most people don't remember or even more amazing find a friend who shares such similar taste in music; from ella and sinatra to crowded house and that george michael song to that excerpt from Samson - that it's freaky! How do you thank a friend who convinces you Trisha Yearwood isn't all that corny or explain why amidst all the bad memories of 2nd year there's one really weird memory of singing abba songs (which you hate) with a medic, economist and biochemist at a really weird dinner/drink party. And nothing will equal the irony of singing a friend's fav queen's songto him when he finally got married! heehee and the list goes on...

The moral of this story? Forget those interminable translation classes (no thanks to certain smart asses, okie, just kidding). Forget those who made life hellish, they aren't worth the bytes of memory! Remember those good times or funky times when there was laughter, fun and cheer. Even those weird times like when you had to push a stranger's car with a friend and you were really pissed not because the car looked like it had just gone through mud derby , not even 'cos the driver and her friend were individually bigger than you and your friend combined but 'cos the men who drove by had the time to make catcalls and jeer but not help! Above all, thank all those who were there for you through all those really tough times be it lending a shoulder to cry on or a ear to listen. So thank youf or all the memories and for being a friend