Tuesday, May 16, 2006
D -3: smoking
until the dementia got really bad and his wife and children began worrying that he might burn the house down, for as long as i can remember, thatha used to smoke his pipe. and he was one of those who didn't inhale. which probably explains why his fitness was so good despite the smoking.
even now i can remember his pipe-lighting ritual. he'd have a sheet of newspaper spread out on his lap, onto which he'd dump out the ashes from his previous smoke. and then he'd gingerly pry open his tin of erinmore flake, tear off a pinch of the fragrant, fruity smelling mixture and place it in the bowl. following this, he would tamp it down with his thumb and place the stem in his mouth. with a swift stroke, he'd light the match, and hold it against the tobacco and start puffing away until it caught the flame and started smoking. the lighting ritual completed, he'd lean back against the cushion and puff away for the next half hour or so, just staring contentedly into space, or holding a conversation with someone nearby.
there was this funny incident related to thatha's smoking. we went to tirupati in india for a pilgrimage in 2000. my dad and i shared a room with thatha during our stay there. anyways, my sleeping attire whilst there consisted of my "singapore is a fine city" t-shirt, which had a list of offences along with their fines printed on the back. i'd hung it up to air, whilst my dad and i went out. thatha decided to stay in and have a smoke his cheroot, since he hadn't brought his pipe along to india. when we got back, we saw thatha standing over the toilet bowl, looking all frantic. we proceeded to ask him what the problem was. "do you know that there's a $500 fine for smoking over here?!?!" he replied. what we gathered then was that he had seen the print on my t-shirt and thought that it meant that there would be a $500 fine for smoking in tirupati. after putting out the cheroot, he had attempted to dispose off the incriminating evidence by flushing it down the toilet, but it refused to get flushed down and insisted on floating around, hence thatha's frantic disposition.
even now i can remember his pipe-lighting ritual. he'd have a sheet of newspaper spread out on his lap, onto which he'd dump out the ashes from his previous smoke. and then he'd gingerly pry open his tin of erinmore flake, tear off a pinch of the fragrant, fruity smelling mixture and place it in the bowl. following this, he would tamp it down with his thumb and place the stem in his mouth. with a swift stroke, he'd light the match, and hold it against the tobacco and start puffing away until it caught the flame and started smoking. the lighting ritual completed, he'd lean back against the cushion and puff away for the next half hour or so, just staring contentedly into space, or holding a conversation with someone nearby.
there was this funny incident related to thatha's smoking. we went to tirupati in india for a pilgrimage in 2000. my dad and i shared a room with thatha during our stay there. anyways, my sleeping attire whilst there consisted of my "singapore is a fine city" t-shirt, which had a list of offences along with their fines printed on the back. i'd hung it up to air, whilst my dad and i went out. thatha decided to stay in and have a smoke his cheroot, since he hadn't brought his pipe along to india. when we got back, we saw thatha standing over the toilet bowl, looking all frantic. we proceeded to ask him what the problem was. "do you know that there's a $500 fine for smoking over here?!?!" he replied. what we gathered then was that he had seen the print on my t-shirt and thought that it meant that there would be a $500 fine for smoking in tirupati. after putting out the cheroot, he had attempted to dispose off the incriminating evidence by flushing it down the toilet, but it refused to get flushed down and insisted on floating around, hence thatha's frantic disposition.
thus spake satchithananda at 5:39 pm
