Bummer (April26)

 

Numerous bum-cheeks on offer now every side, proliferating. The shorts & dresses were measured and cut just right, though the reveal always did depend on posture, movement, wind, various factors. Daily average might be over a handful, so to speak. Lessening the impulse of the trigger-happy vouyers, possibly; clear the backlog of cases in the courts. The escalator / stair / upper window prospect was a far lesser necessity nowadays. Guy could just go along to his neighbourhood mall, take a seat by the fountain with an ice-cream and happy gandering. Cornucopia. Young Tufail the Kashmiri when he first landed here and was still acclimatising during the first weeks sent a puzzling emoji in one exchange. At first the illustration looked like a boomerang, which produced puzzlement. Ahmm? For his new Aussie mate, something from home?... But apropos of what exactly, it was far from clear. Or perhaps it was signifying homesickness. It was never easy in a new country with new ways; we had spoken about the estrangement. An intention to purchase a ticket back? Lad just unable to hack it more? In fact, no. This was not a gripe, exactly. Adjustment. Acclimatising. Still finding his bearings. Legs, the young man was forced to come out with it. These were a row of legs pictured in the WA, crooked at the knee. (Not a walking gait; no kind of natural pose at all. There need to differentiate from tree trunks, or...?) The preponderance of them on the streets was taking some getting used to here for Tufail. Good Muslim boy; no mention of this particular hardship earlier from the shy young man. On the last weekend during a downpour the cavalier had risen from our table to escort an Indo gal across the street to the market. First time girl under my umbrella, the lad couldn't help gloating a little. Their preponderance. Traffic, malls, heat, the punishing work regime. Nakedly exposed legs topped all as the challenges in the new land for a lad from Srinagar; test of mettle. (Young twenties bachelor at the time. Fixed up later by his father, with a girl from the hometown. Tuf had frankly admitted leaving that daunting choice to his father & mother was a relief.) The cheeks emoji must still be in the works; on last check it had not appeared among all the others. It could not be long