MUSINGS AT MADRAS DURING THE "DOG DAYS..."

WHAT IS MURPHY DOING ON MOTHERS’ DAY?

I was surprised to see my friend Velu Naickar's wife ringing the door bell at 6.45 in the morning….    Though they stay close by, seldom do they visit my place, for both of them work into late evenings, and on a Sunday morning, I wouldn’t expect them to be up so early. All the more because of the sun staying in the vicinity of century plus for last couple of days.

She had come to collect the spare key from the servant maid. She was in a hurry. Both her hubby and she didn’t have the main door key, and the maid has locked and left. Luckily she knew she could locate her at my place. Her mother was apparently sleeping inside, but not responding to the calling bell, or door banging, or even the telephone calls by both of them. She was worried there could be something seriously wrong – not on Mothers’ Day, she hoped.

Problem was, both had ‘assumed’ that the other had the key – once again, putting the proverbial ‘ass’ in front of ‘u’ and ‘me’ ( ass/u/me ), and some tense moments followed. End result? Murphy making his presence felt, once again. If anything CAN go wrong, it WILL. We were talking about ‘Mothers’ Day’ and let us put our friend, Murphy aside, for a while……… Close on the heels of ‘May Day’, we have ‘Mothers’ Day’ today, and tomorrow is ‘Akshaya Trithiya’ Day.... ‘Akshar’, or ‘Akshay’ means, that which doesn’t decay, or doesn’t erode. (Remember, Akshar dham?) Probably, Fathers, Brothers, Sisters, Uncles, and Aunties will have their days very soon, just as every dog having his day. That reminds me. The other day, I was trying to understand how the dog had its day, after all? 

Google will give you the answer thus. Go to the link below:

http://stuntdog.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/origin-of-the-saying-every-dog-has-its-day/

So where did the saying “Every dog has it’s day” or “Every dog has his day” come from? I did some research and found the phrase is over 450 years old. It became popularized from Hamlet by William Shakespeare in the early 1600′s.  However, there are various forms of it that originated earlier.

The meaning of the quote in our current era, “Every dog has its day or every dog has his day”  is very simple. It means everyone gets a chance eventually; or that everyone is successful during some period in their life. (Example: Don’t worry, you’ll get chosen for the team. Every dog has its day. You may become famous someday. Every dog has his day.) This is from the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

Or, if you are a Yahoo devotee, you may go to this link

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090504044511AAf71iw

EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY - "According to the medieval Dutch scholar Erasmus, the saying came about as a result of the death of the Greek playwright Euripides, who in 405 B.C. was mauled and killed by a pack of dogs loosed upon him by a rival. Thus the saying is usually taken to mean that even the most lowly person will at some time get revenge on his oppressor, no matter how powerful the man may be. The Greek biographer Plutarch recorded the proverb for the first time in 'Moralia' (A.D. c. 95) rendering it as 'Even a dog gets his revenge,' and Richard Taverner included the first version in English - 'A dogge hath a day' - centuries later in his 'Proverbs' or Adages' (1539).What was virtually the modern form appeared in John Ray's 'A collection of English Proverbs' (1670) as 'Every dog hath his day'." From "Wise Words and Wives' Tales: The Origins, Meanings and Time-Honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings Old and New" by Stuart Flexner and Doris Flexner (Avon Books, New York, 1993). 

Call it habit, addiction or whatever, I can’t help bringing in my observations during my daily ritual – the morning walk at my favorite Elliots Beach shores. This morning, I was amazed to see a decent – looking, affluent elderly lady parking her car by the pavement side, and start fondling, and caressing an old, sickly dog. This went on for quite a while. She was not mindful or bothered about the quizzical looks of morning walkers. You should have seen the ‘nirvrithi’ kind of feeling exhibited by the dog. Perhaps, he must be mumbling, “Just as you have your day, I too have my day…” 

Obviously, this dog wasn't 'that' dog...

(Wagging) Tail piece:

Later, I called up my friend Velu (full name, Veluchamy Mayandi Naickar) to enquire what happened. I call him Naickaree..... or some times Nai, fondly. Generally soft - spoken, he barks even at me, some times.. He said there was no probs, and everything was fine. he was having breakfast, said they had their favorite 'hot dogs' today, being Sunday.

"Howz ur job, n howz ur boss?" I asked.

"Nai pozhappu daa (Dog's life)"

"Why?"

"Arre, he is too dogmatic yaar. typical dog in the manger case. neither he will do, nor will allow me to do...."

"What happened to ur promotion?" I quipped.

"Disgusting, man! You know this is a dog eating dog world, u know"

THIS WAS GETTING TOO FAR.... I WANTED TO PRESERVE MY THINNING HAIR (OR WHATEVER IS LEFT OF IT).

So, I hung up, bidding good bye to the dog, sorry, to my friend...... 

Enjoy......................

 

a n a n d . . . . .
for ever..........

Friendship isn't about who you have known the longest.
It's about who come and never leave your side.