Pink Elephants

Look out! Look out!
Pink elephants on parade
Here they come!
Hippety hoppety
They're here and there
Pink elephants everywhere
Look out! Look out!
They're walking around the bed
On their head
Clippety cloppety
Arrayed in braid
Pink elephants on parade
What'll I do? What'll I do?
What an unusual view!
I could stand the sight of worms
And look at microscopic germs
But technicolor pachyderms
Is really much for me
I am not the type to faint
When things are odd or things
are quaint
But seeing things you know that ain't
Can certainly give you an awful fright!
What a sight!
Chase 'em away!
Chase 'em away!
I'm afraid need your aid
Pink elephants on parade!
Pink elephants!
Pink elephants!

Gummy Bear's Intro

It was the day after my birthday in 2007. I was coming home for break when I noticed my sister skulking around near the road. I didn't really take much notice at first. Just went inside had breakfast and went right back to work. But then when I came back home right after finishing work, there she was again. Still going around the same spot as if she had lost something.

I went up to her to ask what's going on and then she pointed towards the gutter. There inside the small ditch within the gutter I saw the most pitiful looking kitten. It had apparently fallen through a crack and couldn't get right back up.

Within 5 minutes my other sisters had joined us including my youngest bro and all of us began 'Operation: Rescue Kitten'. Our excited squeals, laughter and disappointed 'awwww's (when the kitten didn't fall for our bait) brought on a larger curious crowd. Soon enough nearly all the neighborhood kids had joined in our operation, including my most memorable neighbor, 'Freaky Chick No.1'.

It soon occurred to us after much coaxing and pleading with the kitten to come near the crack so we could grab it- which it didn't, the only way to get it out was to lift the extremely heavy cement block off.

So we took turns trying to lift it but alas non of us could. Not even an inch. So one of us found a stick. It could be one of the neighborhood kids or it could be my step mothers son, Elf, not sure who it was exactly. But we stuck one end of the stick into the crack and pushed the other end down. And it did lift. The cement block was off the ground nearly 10 inches wide, before the stick broke in half and block fell with a heavy thud.

Right at that moment my cousin, Kudey showed up. We explained to him what was going on. He thought about it for a second and tried to lift the cement block by himself. He pulled with all his might and was able to lift it a couple of inches before dropping it again. He tried once again with the same result. After that he tried once more and this time he was able to lift it high enough to create a wide arc.

I stood there thinking, 'Oh dear! What if he couldn't hold it and ends up dropping it while one of us was crouching under the block trying to get the kitten out?'

But no sooner I thought this through, my brother bravely leapt inbetween the cement block and the ditch and snatched the kitten out. There was much 'hurrey' and clapping and the stone block was slowly lowered down.

My bro held up the scruffy-flea-infested-nearly-starved-to-death kitten as if it was a trophy. All the kids gathered around to look at it and finally he gave it to me and asked, "What shall we name it?"

I held it up and said, "I shall name you Gummy and you shall be mine."

And that's the story of Gummy Bear and erm... everyone lived happily ever after. Even Freaky Chick No. 1.

The End

Pictures courtesy of:
Gummy 1 month old by Sham
Recent pic of Gummy by Bulhaa

Nostalgia, Electioneering with a splash of Iced Toddy

The very world surrounding us is a changing. For worse or for better, who knows? 8th October maybe the day the world shifts for some of us. Or it may simply just carry on the way it did for the past 30 years.

I've tried to blog about politics. Gave it a few tries, deleted, tried some more, delete, delete some more. To tell the truth I was just one (or two, three) step behind the fast changing phase of Maldivian political scenarios, so I just made do with discussing them with my friends and family.

So instead of discussing politics I have a spanking great idea of making a nostalgia list. A Nostalgia List, you say?

Nostalgia: a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends -- Dictionary.com

So with the meaning aside. The list is a compilation of anything, anyone, anywhere that reminds of me the good old days. Others are most welcome to contribute.

* Remember those eyeliners we had that comes in a small tin. You rub a piece of rock (I don't know what it exactly is) on the solid eyeliner to turn bits into dust. Then you rub your fingers on the dust and line your eyes.

* The color pencil box that comes with a picture of a robot on the front. The robot had a 'TV' as a face.

* The plastic book bag with pictures of smiling fruits we carried for tuition.

* Majeedhuge. Majeedhu. (he can still invoke fear in me)

* Pencil Cases. Ones with Buttons!!!

* Bicycles. Riding them early in the morning.

* The sound of gun attacks on that eventful November day.

* Kao Shampoo!

* Phones at home. Real phones. Not mobile ones.

* Watching TVM. Only TVM

* Listening to Boduberu on radio early every morning.

* Waking up at 8:00am is considered sleeping in.

* Sleeping at 9:00pm is considered sleeping late.

* Iced Toddy

* Haunted school toilets

* Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper

* UB40, Duran Duran, Aha, MJ, Madonna, Rob Stewart, Dire Straits, The Bangles, Bob Marley etc

* Hindi Movies

* Bad copy English Movies

* Itty bitty shorts for boys, Huge, scratchy princess style dresses for girls with alice bands.

Ok I'm gonna stop for now... If I remember more, I'll include them.


To top it off I'll just add these lines as a sign off and dedication to Maldivian Politics:

I will stop, I will stop at nothing.
Say the right things when electioneering
I trust I can rely on your vote.

When I go forwards you go backwards
and somewhere we will meet.
When I go forwards you go backwards
and somewhere we will meet.
Ha ha ha

Riot shields, voodoo economics,
it's just business, cattle prods and the I.M.F.
I trust I can rely on your vote.

"Electioneering" by Radiohead