In The Thick Of July

More than 8 months have passed without trace, and we have received our common test time table again. Sherry said it was like being struck by a sudden thunder, and I was sure she was exaggerating. Comparing to the Mid-Year Exams, you will find that common tests are much less energy-consuming. A thirty-minute test or an one hour "bonus" is like the "lightning attack" that Hitler waged on Poland in 1939. It reduces one to ashes without it being able to realise the quick shock, comparing to the lifelong "marathon" during which you need to remind yourself to eat well and sleep well to prevent fainting on the spot.

Anyhow, the timetable is only a reminder to prick our anaesthesized neurones. As usual, I crammed it into one of my dustmite-covered file and aimed to turn it into a "sleeping beauty" until the time when the exam is looming. Being the prince who gave a gentle kiss to the sleeping beauty, I will muster up courage to make it expose to the sunlight and endure my series of marking, scribbling and highlighting.

Yet, the sea will always be placcid until the storm strikes, so in this precious test-free month, we are still able to put the exams behind and enjoy a better life:) Recently the flag-raising ceremony is continuously balked by the nonstop rain. July is not the monsoon season or the rain season. Still, we are fortunate enough not to experience the real mighty power of the scorching sun and the parching equatorial terrain. Confined in the classroom, I have nothing much to do but to read a book. The village by the Sea is a story about changes and I have just finished it. I like the way the story is stretching out, like a bundle of threads knitting up into a Pussian rag. Now I am amibitiously embarking on To Kill A Mockingbird, a literary material being used by English Literature students. I hope I can manage to understand the theme, it seems like a book depicting the conflict between Black and White in the mid-19th century of the USA. I just read the beginning few pages, it is quite engrossing.

Quote some sentences from Mr Parwallah the watchmender in The Village by The Sea. I like his philosophical comments on changes.

"Things change all the time, boy--nothing remains the same. When our earth was covered with water, all creatures lived in it and swam. When the water subsided and land appeared, the sea creatures crawled out and learnt to breathe and walk on land. When plants grew into trees, they learned to climb them. When there were not enough plants left to eat, they learned to hunt and kill for food. Don't think that is how things have remained. They are still changing--they are going on changing--and if you want to survive, you will have to change, too. The wheel turns and turns and turns: it never stops and stands still. Look, even Bombay is not always the same. Fifty years ago there were hills, gardens, beautiful palaces and villas where you see slums, shops, traffic, crowds. Once I lived in a villa with a garden and roses and fountains--now I live in a pigeon roost over a railway station. So Hari the farmer will have to become Hari the poultry farmer or Hari the watchmender."

That is called adaptation. I wonder whether one day the society will evolve to its most primitive form in which we have to start all over again. Or when is the end of evolution? Is there an end?

(Begin to daydream)