Omg! Omg! Omg!

Excuse me, believers for going Omg! Omg! Omg! when I am not one of you. Yeah, recently someone told me that atheists should not be using certain words. But till I find something suitable to express the state of my mind, of surprise, shock or thrill, I will be using OMG.

Having made that clear, it is back to business.

Today’s letter O is close at hand and as yet I have no clue what to do about it. Don’t get me wrong. The dictionary is full of words beginning with the letter O, and I do know quite a few of them on a close and personal level, having interacted with them day in and day out. But of which one shall I write about today? That’s the real question.

Oranges?

Let me see. What do I know about them? That is other than the fact that they are excellent thirst quenchers? Another is that they are the only fruits to have a colour for their name. And also that that name came from the old French orenge, adapted from the Arabic nāranj, which came from the Persian nārang, which in turn was from the Sanskrit nāranga. Phew. Quite a line up that, what? But this is hardly stuff enough for a post. On to the next!

Owls?

Owls are a good topic to write about. But sadly I know next to nothing about them. I know they are cute thingamabobs. I follow a page called Owls of the Day and the pictures and videos they post are awesome. I know of course that owls are nocturnal creatures, catch mice and also that they go hoot-hoot at night which the general public considers an ill omen. Bad news will arrive, they say turning pale, of death and I can’t help but roll my eyes. Blaming innocent birds for life’s ways!

By the way, one day I saw a vellimoonga or a barn owl (Tyto alba) face to face. Well, almost. I was sitting down below on the park bench, chatting with a friend and the ghost-like figure of the barn owl was on a headless coconut tree. Vellimoonga! I cried out. Don’t worry, I didn’t startle the bird. It was too high up to hear me. Or was it? Anyway, a little while later, even as I watched fascinated, it spread its wings out and silently flew to the top ledge of the apartment block next-door.

Overjoyed?

Now that is something I could write lots about. There are many things that make me extremely happy, ecstatic. I was thrilled to see the barn owl unexpectedly that day. The sight of dark rain clouds looming in the distance, the cool wind that accompanies it indicating that rain is imminent, the tiny droplets falling on me before finally gathering momentum and starting to steadily pour down, never fail to make me feel overjoyed.

There are other things too that makes me jump for joy. When I am waiting at the airport and see the sons walking out of the ‘arrivals’ gate towards me, I jump for joy. There’s one thing that used to make me really happy, waking up to Luci’s face peering at me. But now I only have her joyful memories for company.

There’s more. But that’s it for today. So, over and out.

©️ Shail Mohan 2024