Skip to main content

Caulfield's Complaint Is So Mine!

Sometimes, you come across a few lines which sum up exactly what you think or thought up of except that somebody else had already thought it up 50 years before you did and hatefully, had written it down so much better than you could ever hope to. Sometimes you hate that somebody for that. But most times you feel a certain kinship with that somebody. Well, there were so many many many instances of the later kind while I was reading Catcher In the Rye. Take this excerpt -

"And yet I still act sometimes like I was only about twelve. Everybody says that, especially my father. It's partly true, too, but it isn't all true. People always think that something's all true. I don't give a damn, except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age. Sometimes I act a lot older than I am -I really do- but people never notice it."

Holden Caulfield's complaint is mine! It is so true. Take how I behave around my folks - childish , pouty, throwing mock tantrums, etc etc the usual 5 year old's behaviour. But, at times of need, I have often been very perceptive and very wise. But, they rarely remember these moments (It is not important whether these moments of wiseness come but rarely. The important thing is whether they come when needed.) Sigh! I suppose one behaves in a certain unique way with every person in one's life.

Comments

av said…
I completely understand, it happens with me too :-).
Anonymous said…
Absolutely.. Iv been in many situations myself..but its probably life that..no one has ever noticed wt u want them to and has neither looked away when you dint want..lolz..:)

Popular posts from this blog

MBA Updates

I have been accepted into the Kellogg School of Management (1 year program) as well as the Harvard Business School for my MBA. I dont know which one to go to. It's an agonizing decision. Which one, dear reader? Which one?  Some very mature ways of decision making I have resorted to - - if I see two mynahs , it;s a sign I have to go to Kellogg. If I see three, I have to go to Harvard. - if the bus arrives in the next one minute, i have to go to Harvard. - if the leaf falls off the branch and touches my right shoulder, I go to Kellogg. ad infinitum, ad infinitum,and so on.

Elizabeth and Bette

It’s common knowledge that I am a huge fan of Bette Davis. So after an all too long time, I watched another Bette Davis movie – The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1938) in garish Technicolor . Bette of course delivered a stunning performance. There might be some places where she went a tad bit overboard but that was the way they acted back in those days (late 30s). She went as far as to shave her head to create the bald look of the aging queen. Her face was painted white for the entire movie. In all this hideousness, there was something heartbreaking about her portrayal of the Queen. There is this famous scene where she goes on a mirror shattering rampage in the palace. In about 4 seconds in this scene, she examines herself in the looking glass - at her most insecure, most vulnerable, most yearning and most without-a-mask moment. My heart went crack when I saw her just for these 4 seconds. For a minute when you see Bette acting out this breathtaking turmoil on screen, u do...

Dad

This seems to be a season of talking about family :-) ****************** I and my dad constantly bicker. Over everything. Over the laptop, over the last peanut in the packet, over the ‘mess’ in my room, over his lack of ‘cool’ clothes, over his 35 km/h driving, over the best place on the couch. Everything. Dad clogs up the laptop with guzillion web browsers talking about the latest political scandal rocking the old country in three languages (English, Hindi, Telugu). Dad belongs to the generation that considers work as the essence of life. Well, ethics too. And also, honour. And integrity. And..well, nevermind, let me get on. Dad can be as quiet as a cat when he wishes to sneak up to you and catch your greedy hand in the ice-cream tub. He reserves all his clumsiness, breaking unbreakable plates, banging into furniture for the wee hours of the morning. Even his morning Yoga exercises cause weird noises that awaken the stray cats in our building. Dad gives 200% to anythi...