celebration of all things mutton - Updated

It’s a quiet Deepavali. I remember Deepavalis long past when things were truly festive with illegal fireworks, tupperware upon tupperware of cookies and candies, and so much noise and gaiety, nobody slept before midnight. Mutton curry by the potfuls and non-stop stream of relatives, it was all good.

This was when my grandparents still lived in a squatter house of planks and zinc. A kampung in all senses of the word, down to the livestock, mossy well and not to mention the outhouse. Bathing on deepavali morn with fresh well water is not for the faint hearted nor the cold blooded. 

Everything seems brilliant with rose-tinted glasses on your nose. 

Is it time that robs us of innocence and simple pleasures or have celebrations in general cease to have that merry zing with our economic slide and bleak forecasts? Where is the fervour? I hope it’s not a side effect of having grown up.

But one thing never changes. As perennial as muruku and immortal as laddu, Deepavali ain’t Deepavali without those cheesy Tamil musicals on local TV. Forget colours of Ranggoli, give me sun glasses. Must fuchsia be matched with lime green? Against a yellow backdrop? Subtlety has never been the pride of Tamils. I would know, won't I?

Yet what are festivals without indulging in the unimaginably corny? The Christians have their Fat Man that trespasses people’s property every Christmas eve. The Taoists have a multitude of deities that favours porcine offerings. But the Tamils,we outdo them all - for we have Sivaji!

         Not this Sivaji.            

                       

 But THIS: 

It was shown on TV 2 and if have not seen it, where have you BEEN? 

Truly Rajni, Truly India.  

Kolam 101

There is good money to be made from Kolam drawing. All you need is rice - beras hancur is good, poster colour and a real steady hand. For a decent RM200 you can get yourself a pretty blue peacock to grace the entrance of your hall/shopping centre/bank/weapons silo, whatever rocks your boat.  

Drawn on auspicious occassions, kolams are decorative symbols of welcome especially to usher the Goddess Lakshimi, the goddess of prosperity. Don't think its only the Chinese who have their Choy San. She is usually depicted as the 4 armed goddess with coins of gold raining from her palms. Evocative indeed.      

Anyhow The Establishment engaged a professional, a Mr Mohan to do up a kolam befitting the festive season and he did a pretty good job. So for all you kolam enthusiasts out there with bagfuls of rice your mothers have no use for, here is how to recreate your own professional looking kolam. 

   

Meow

A cat found itself up on the 15^th floor where I live. Crying the block down, I assumed somebody brought home a new pet. But when it started to get dark and again I heard its loud complaints, I thought I better go investigate and as I walked onto the landing, lo behold, there was this Siamese cat. Kitteh must have been there the whole afternoon, with no one bothering to help her.  

Greeting me like an old friend as oppose to a scratching post (which is how most feline villains regard me), she wrapped her body around my feet  with a look that kinda went “So THERE you are”.  

A dog person like me seldom have cats friends. And after several encounters that confirmed that I have no cat chemistry, this furry knot around my slippers was a shock to the system.  Got the brother to lift her into a cage that’s been, um, recently vacant.  No good would come from letting her roam all about.

A dog person himself, he held the cat just like how a dog person would. Arms outstretched and as far from the face as possible. She nevertheless was placid, allowed us to pick her up and once in the cage, lapped up the water we offered her. 

She was certainly well looked after judging by her sleek fur, uber manja-ness and the bell around her neck. This cat was certainly not a leftovers gourmand. Not knowing what to feed the poor kitty, frantic calls were made to the few cat whisperers I knew. Thank goodness Jo was good enough to guide me through breathing and deciding what to do next.

After writing a half dozen CAT FOUND notices, as we descended to buy cat food and to stick the notices, we discovered that we forgot the tape. When we got back to the penthouse level again, lo behold (again) there was the cat owner peering into our apartment.

Relieved that we found the cat’s mommy and annoyed with her for being so reckless with her pet, questions were raised as to how she could let her cat go missing for an entire afternoon.  Apparently she just came back from work to discover her pet did a Houdini from the 6^th floor.   After a quick reconciliation and thanks uttered, the cat was back where it belonged. She went with the woman quite obediently and we have not heard concrete reverberating meows since, so I guess the matter was sorted and we got the right person.

 

Funny thing is, I kinda miss the cat. And I hate to admit this but, I am a little disappointed that the owner showed up. I know, rabbits and cats don’t mix but responsive affection is addictive.  Either I am so starved of affection or that kitty just did some cat voodoo on me. 

Stop breaking my heart

Sorry for the lack of updates. Its been a pretty eventful few weeks. 

My beloved pet rabbit Oreo died due to an unknown illness. The poor dear was not able to eat and it came down  to having to feed him pineapple juice with a syringe. His body functions shut down one by one until he was paralysed and eventually died on Wednesday. 

I suspect it is something due to his GI tract but we'll never know for sure. Racked by guilt for not being able to do anything and being utterly helplessness as I watched him die - it was heart wrenching.   

I miss him so. 

Quote of the week

Oddly, or not, the quote that really struck me was from an article on Superman fans saving the run down house where the character was thought up by Jerry Seigeland and Joe Shuster. 

Money was gathered through an online auction to save the dilapidated home.  

Says novelist Brad Meltzer, 

"We're all Clark Kent. We all know what it is like to be boring and ordinary and we all want to be able to rip open our shirt and do something beyond ourselves."

I am getting my cape. 

Public Message

To those who know me personally, they know this well - I don't do pink. Ever.

Well until now.

If I can pink up my website, thankfully just one now instead of two, this is serious stuff. Because I hate pink. But I find that the message behind Pink October too important to let my visual preferences colour my desire to get involve, and get YOU involved, in talking about and thinking about Breast Cancer.

My mom used to work in a Breast Clinic and I work now with colleagues who are breast cancer specialists. It is heartbreaking. It is scary. But it can be cured. There is Hope. During Pink October we also celebrate the lives and struggle of breast cancer survivors in Malaysia.

So Educate Yourself. It can save your mom/sis/daughter/wife/girlfriend/ YOUR life. Find out more at MAKNA

Because this is really important.

I hate pink.

But I love you.

So be aware and take care of the ones you love. Yourself especially. And do that self breast exam dammit. Of get ur bf/gf to do it. Rowrr. See.. incentive!

My name is Cass and I am an Ebay junkie

And thanks to watching me receive my numerous packages, a colleague confided in me that he too was browsing antique cow bells.  

Indeed, there is a compulsive shopper in all of us. And yes, we harbor dark secret desires.  I am getting my tartan skirt in a week or two and the cowbells.. well.. if we receive a noisy package, I will look away discretely. 

Selamat Hari Raya

Maaf Zahir Batin

KL to fight ‘Islamophobia’

The Star 26 Sept

NEW YORK: Malaysia has pledged to be at the forefront of an international effort to fight “Islamophobia”.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said that Malaysia had agreed to work with the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) to play a more positive role in the effort.

To counter the “illogical” portrayals of Islam, he said an international forum would be held early next year in the United States to be attended by the heads of government, scholars and representatives from organisations linked with religious tolerance.

In discus sion: Dr Rais (left) in talks with Commonwealth Secretary- General Kamalesh Sharma (right) and his counterpar t from Uganda Sam Kutesa on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers Meeting in New York on Wednesday. — Bernama

Briefing Malaysian journalists here on Wednesday of his meeting with OIC secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsa-noglu, Dr Rais said there should be a more accurate portrayal of the religion.

The minister, who is leading Malaysia’s delegation to the United Nations General Assembly here, said the OIC had expressed the need for Malaysia’s involvement in the effort.

“If we, as a member nation of the OIC, do not give our co-operation, then we would be failing as a member of the OIC,” he added.

Dr Rais said the United States was picked to host the forum because of “the diverse views of religions here.” “This is also where Sept 11 took place,” he said, referring to the terrorist attacks here in 2001.

He also hoped that the forum would open a new window to better understanding of civilisation, adding that he would present a report to the Cabinet on the plans for the forum.

Monster says: Personally I find it ironic (re: laughable) that Malaysia, of all nations, seeks to engage with representatives linked with religious tolerance.

This is when as Malaysian citizens:

• we are not allowed to hold dialogues on religion freedom (re: Article 11 forums)
  
• unable to sit together to address common issues and religion concerns (re: shooting down of attempts to set up the Inter-faith Commission)
  
• dissuaded from discussing conversion (re: Bar Council’s attempt at its highly politicised public forum)
  
• being intimidated from writing one’s mind over religion (re: RPK’s detention in Kamunting by virtue of s8 ISA )
  
• do not have clear recourse to justice when there is a conflict of jurisdiction. (Re: Shamala Sathiyaseelan v Dr. Jeyaganesh C. Mogarajah;   Moorthy Maniam). There is no progress towards pluging this lacuna because the initiatives by the Bar Council and civil groups have so far failed, and the government does not seem to see a need to legislate.

Hence before our government intends to take on the world in speaking about religious tolerance and dispelling “islamophobia”, perhaps it should take a good hard look in its own backyard and look towards dispelling its own institutionalised “christianophobia”, “hinduphobia”, “buddhistophobia”, all what is essentially its “non-muslimophobia”.  

It’s a two way street. I will defend your right to embrace whatever organised religion or belief system you have. Go ahead. Be an atheist if that suits you. And I seek not your approval nor acceptance of my beliefs, but I seek that you accept that I have a right to mine. And that we all stand equal as fellow human beings.

And if we are as secure in our beliefs as we say we are,  there will be no need for fear, intimidation or disrespect because we will hold true to our common religious values of peace, humility and wholesomeness.  

But then, who ask me to be an idealist. End up I am so constantly disappointed.