Many had asked in private communication as to why I seemed
to be in such dedication to correct essays during my "down time" at
work and yet; did not seem to ask for anything in return. Some thanked me for
such "kindness".
I am sad to say that this is not entirely true. I have my selfish reasons. The return is the
countless triggerings in my mind. I do not know how the firing of my neurons would
end. However, mostly ended positively;
for they inspire me both in my writing and musical composition. Sometimes,
their ideas are lifted; sometimes they become slightly different gateways. This
is how I am able to enter to these slightly different universes to enjoy the
immense scenery there. For this I am
most grateful.
Sometimes, they reminded me of things long forgotten, like a
pile of rubbish in a dusty corner of my mind, until I espied a glint from the midst. And; as I approached, it sparkled,
scintillated and beckoning. Then as my
fingers caressed the filigrees of the light that it finally shone in its full glory.
Like a magical touch, the full
realization of what it is now became clear…
Yesterday, I corrected Hoan's entry entitled "My
Childhood"1. In it, she wrote, "I often played a game
of skill with sticks and a ball…"
Given my experience and not knowing the Vietnamese culture, I almost
wanted to correct it to "hockey".
On a second thought, it is most probably not what she had in mind. Finally, I changed it to "I often played
skillfully with ball and sticks…".
Hoan wrote privately and sent a video link2
to explain this traditional Vietnamese game, called Chơi
chuyền.
Upon looking at
the video, I at once realized that it is a variation of "Pickup
sticks" game but with the inclusion of a ball in a game of dexterity, coordination
and mental concentration. This is my gateway
to a slightly different universe. The
video is the glint and is now glowing brightly for in my mind. The filigrees of
light are reaching into the dark abyss of my mind and dredging out some of my
own precious childhood memories lying dormant at the bottom.
I remembered
how grandmama, in order to alleviate my boredom, stopped her work at the sewing
machine and called me to go into the kitchen to get her a cup of uncooked rice
grains. She told me that she had
something to show me. I was excited because even as a kid, I knew she was
making blanket covers from different colored rectangular scraps of cloth. Now what do the grains of rice have anything to
do with the making of a blanket?
The filigrees
of light are now coalescing and glowing even more brightly as I write,
remembering how this grand old lady gave her unconditional love to me.
Eons had passed
in the meantime. I have to thank Hoan's
video link for this. Thank you. For you are
that light in making me think of my beloved maternal grandmother and all the
hours spent telling me bedtime stories of Old China.
Without her, I
won't be what I am partly today.
And when I
returned, there was a piece of rag being cut into five3
smaller triangular shapes. My eyes grew in
wide wonder as she asked for the rice grains.
There she filled them up and painstakingly sewed them into a pyramidal
shape. When she was done, she grouped
them together to form a shape called the "Plum Blossom Heart" (梅花心). There she taught me the rules of how to pick
them up quickly and put them back in a different pattern. It's an variation of Hoan's Chơi chuyền or
"Jacks", "Knucklebones" or "Astralagoi" in
English.
However, I had forgotten the
name she called it. From searching on
the internet, I found that it is called "Catch 7", "Pick up
Gold"4 …
Thus my reason for correcting assiduously.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
3.
The standard game has seven pieces. However, my hands were tiny of then and she
didn't want to make it too difficult for me.
4. However, these names do not sound familiar to me. So after consulting HK gurus from a site, its name is "Wah Tzi" (搲子)
4. However, these names do not sound familiar to me. So after consulting HK gurus from a site, its name is "Wah Tzi" (搲子)
