Long before we had single button publishing…….

Took me back to 1996, second year of Engineering, a time of upheaval. I was still getting used to staying away from home, and books were something i clung on to, not the engineering type, but fiction, perhaps as a link to a life i left behind. And since RD was something we subscribed to, at home, i sometimes carried it to the hostel. Incidentally, Dad still subscribes, and when i go home, i still get laughs from ‘Humour in Uniform’,’Life’s Like that’ etc.

I remember the time when, after reading the ‘Towards More Picturesque Speech’ section, I sat down to make spanking new oxymorons. It didn’t matter that i had no clarity on whether ‘Picturesque’ was made of two separate words i knew, though i couldn’t see what sense their joining made, or it was a totally new word. Meanwhile, dozens of oxymorons made their way to RD, but only a few managed to get published. Maybe they are still laughing at the ones that didn’t get published.

In the old days of India Post exclusives, I waited for the postman to bring me news of RD accepting my entry and er, paying me. When, eventually they did, I also remember the thrill of getting paid, and for the first time, seeing my words and name on print. Of course, I was also asked to explain the humour in (for example) ‘Mutually Exclusive’ and why it got published. I usually failed. For that particular example, the one that got published in 1996, I remember the picture on the cover too, because that was the last entry i ever sent to RD. Something must have changed after that.

Have you ever tried to look back into your past, a sort of bird’s eye view? And sometimes, while doing so, have you ever felt conflicting emotions? Sometimes I cannot understand myself and why i’d done things I did. And sometimes, I understand myself totally and wish someone had been there to give me a hug that I was longing for. And that still brings a lump to my throat. Maybe I haven’t changed after all.

until next time, published